September 20, 2006 School Committee Minutes

Minutes

Quincy, Massachusetts - September 20, 2006
Regular Meeting of the Quincy School Committee

Regular Meeting

A regular meeting of the Quincy School Committee was held on Wednesday, September 20, 2006 at 7:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers. Present were: Mrs. Anne Mahoney, Mr. Kevin Mulvey, Mr. Dave McCarthy, Mr. James Timmins, and Mrs. Elaine Dwyer, Vice Chairman.

Vice Chair Presiding

The Superintendent called the roll and Ms. Stice and Mayor Phelan were absent.
Also present were: Dr. Richard DeCristofaro, Secretary, and Mrs. Tefta Burrelli,
Clerk; Drs. Mariano and Pattavina. Messrs. O’Brien, Ryan, Walsh, McPhee, Keith Segalla, and Mr. Mullaney; Ms. Todd, Hughes, Powell, and Roberts.

Reg. Minutes Approved 9/6/2006

On a motion by Mr. McCarthy, seconded by Mrs. Mahoney, the Committee approved the regular session minutes for September 6, 2006. The ayes have it.

Supts. Report

The Superintendent reported that Full Day Kindergarten is close to 700 students. The classes are running smoothly and there is new curriculum, new furniture, and new materials. He will be have exact figure when the official enrollment is given in October. The Mayor’s Golf Tournament will be held on October 2 with dinner at 6:00 p.m. This money goes towards Early Intervention Programs. 

The Point Webster, Parker, Beechwood, and Broad Meadows principals will be
present at the next meeting to talk about their School Surveys.

The Committee received copies of the Middle School POS.

Open Forum

Ms. Marie Louise Neumann said parents were disappointed that the option to choose French and Spanish is not offered in the sixth grade. They asked that Foreign Language be built into the elementary school curriculum.

Mr. Henry Brawley, Citywide Parent Council, reported that Citywide reviewed the students being dropped off at North Quincy High School. Citywide feels there are a number of issues there. He asked that the Administration take a look at it.

Mr. Paul Phillips, QEA President, reported that as of August 31 at midnight the QEA contract had expired. QEA had a formal meeting on September 14 and they have the full support of their membership. The QEA is committed to reaching a fair and equitable resolution. They are meeting with the Citywide parents to listen to their concerns.

Bldg. Update

Mr. Canavan updated the Committee on Maintenance projects. At Wollaston they replaced the obsolete intercom system. At the Stadium, electrical and plumbing work is complete and they are now working on the vinyl siding. Lights for the second and third floors at Central have been ordered. At Wollaston, samples have been taken from around a leaky oil tank. That tank will be relined.

Mr. McCarthy asked for a breakdown on boilers--which ones are working and the ones that don’t. Also, the number of boilers we have and the schools where we changed over to gas. Mr. Canavan replied that an outside contractor goes into every school and overhauls the boilers. They inform him of what needs to be done. They will be finished in two weeks, and he will evaluate the needs

Mr. McCarthy asked that the ballasts in the schools be checked as many are not working. Mrs. Mahoney asked Mr. Canavan to look at the Squantum school pathway up to the cafetorium. There is a giant piece of concrete that fell off.

New QHS

Mrs. Dwyer reported that they were going to take a vote tonight on the New QHS Education Specifications for the new Quincy High School. Jim Anderson, Alex Pitkin, Frank Santoro and Mike Ryan were present to answer any questions.

Mrs. Mahoney inquired again about the Auto Body shop. Right now there are 22 students in the class. These students will go through the program. Mrs. Mahoney doesn’t want to see this program dropped. Mrs. Lebo said the program can’t be run as a Chapter 74 major but it could run as an elective with minimal space. A small space would be needed to do some beginning skills in 11 and 12th grades and students could go to an outside facility. For the future students this would be a fair compromise.

Mr. Pitkin said they are in the design process. They have located a spot for Automotive Technology. He will work to carve out an area for that. He will check with the Chapter 74 people and the DOE to make sure.

Mrs. Lebo said it will remain an elective with a certified auto body teacher. 

Mike Ryan reported that there was another meeting today with the MSBA. He presented them some documents, the site plan, and the City Council approval on July 5. Tishman was present. The MSBA is waiting for the results of the Ed Specs.

Motion to Approve Ed. Specs/Programs

On a motion by Mrs. Mahoney, seconded by Mr. McCarthy, the Committee accepted the Education Specifications/Programs with the amendment that Auto Body be kept as an elective.

Mr. Timmins said he had questions regarding the Special Education specs. He asked Ms. Todd her opinion about the allocated size and set up. Ms. Todd answered that the size of the classroom will be more than sufficient. What was exciting to her is that the Special Ed English will be in the English wing. With regard to a behavioral classroom in the school, Ms. Todd said in the planning stages that was looked at and decided that having this in a high school setting was not effective since students can attend the GOALS Program. Ms. Todd did not think it was appropriate for the high school.

McCarthy asked if there were provisions in the SPED areas for devices--anything operational that students need to plug in devices. The programs at Quincy High School will not have SPED students with that intensity. The school will meet all specifications for the handicapped. Mr. McCarthy stressed the need to make sure that doorways and corridors
will accommodate a wheel chair.

Ed. Specs/Programs Approved

On a roll call vote, the motion to approve the Education Specifications/Programs Ed. for the new Quincy High School passed 5-0. Ms. Stice and Mayor Phelan were absent.

Trip Tabled

The out of country trip to France remains on the table.

Nurse Appointed

On a motion by Mr. Mulvey, seconded by Mrs. Mahoney, the Committee appointed Ms. Teresa Connors, R.N. as a School Nurse. The ayes have it.

AYP Report

At this time, Mary Fredrickson and Colleen Roberts reported on the AYP. The Mass Department of Education recently announced Preliminary Determinations of Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for internal quality assurance review and planning purposes only. The AYP is part of a system designed by the MDOE to measure District and School MCAS performance. States are mandated by the federal No Child Left Behind Act to document how students are meeting proficiency standards in English Language Arts and Math. The AYP is designed to indicate where Districts and schools may need to focus extra attention. All students need to achieve proficient test results in English and Math by 2014.

Mrs. Fredrickson explained how the AYP is determined. Colleen Roberts listed all the programs available to those students to help them improve. Mrs. Dwyer urged parents not to be upset when they see these numbers. Rather, they should follow their own child’s progress.

Mr. Phillips said the teachers union and MTA has been following this. The numbers are conflicting and things can be portrayed badly for teachers. Mrs. Dwyer stressed that parents have to judge by what’s going on in their child’s class. The numbers are conflicting.

Gift to Squantum

On a motion by Mr. Timmins, seconded by Mr. McCarthy, the Committee accepted a gift of $2,000 to the Squantum School from Ms. Lisa Li. The ayes have it.

Additional Business

Under Additional Business, Mr. McCarthy asked that Mr. Ryan get together with Mr. Brawley and the DPW and take a look at North Quincy High School drop off traffic. Also, speak with the DPW and take a look at all cross walks. At the next School Committee meeting, Mr. McCarthy asked that Tom Walsh give a presentation on the CORI/SORI procedure that we used for teachers, volunteers, and all other staff. 

Mrs. Mahoney asked about Veterans Stadium. When will the Stadium be finished and is this a concern. The Superintendent will get a timeline and a schedule of alternatives to her.

Bldg. Nds. Subcommittee Meetings

Mrs. Dwyer reported that the Building Needs Subcommittee had two meetings. At the first Building Subcommittee meeting, they discussed the athletic fields, Meetings teen mothers program, auto body, where to put the greenhouse, security, and the placement of programs in the new high school. This has brought us to the point where the Committee needed to take a vote on the Educational Specifications tonight.

At the September 18 Building Needs Subcommittee meeting, the members discussed Central and Sterling and putting proposals together for these next two projects. Ms. Conyngham gave an update on the new MSBA regulations. The moratorium will be lifted on July 1, 2007 but there is a process and we have to get ready. Ms. Conyngham gave a timeline. Also at that meeting we discussed forming a building committee. At the next meeting we will develop a subcommittee and that will consist of School Committee members They will do the work and report back to the school committee and the public.

They also discussed reviewing their previous votes. In 1997, the Committee made a decision that Central would go into the old Quincy High School. This was based on the fact that they thought the new high school was going to be on the corner of Faxon Field. That has since changed. They are considering looking back at some of the votes taken. They think it would be fair for the current committee to have a voice in Central and Sterling. They are hoping that these new votes would supersede the votes taken in the past.

Statement of Interest Forms tabled by Mr. McCarthy

The members received copies of Statement of Interest Forms for Central and Sterling. These two resolves needed a vote by the Committee. However, Mr. McCarthy tabled the resolves until the next meeting. Mrs. Mahoney McCarthy seconded the table.

Appointments

The Committee noted the following appointments:

Teachers: Deborah Baird, Gillian Bianculli, Susan Bill, Jane Bowe, Todd Carmel, U.Maria Cash, Tracey Cessa, Joanna Chen, Sarah Christianson, Rebecca Coffey, Elizabeth Coppa, Teresa Corbo, Kathleen Cronin, Andrea Curtin, Thai Dang, Kathleen Hansen, Elizabeth Holland, Meghan Holt, Beth Houghton, Mary Hurley, Kerri Jacques, Erik Johnson, Christine Kane, Jason Karalexis, Mark Kelly, Shauna Farren, Mary Kay Doyle, Kerry Ginty, Alison Gould, Melanie Kelly, Becca Kronish, Nancy Leslie, Linda Marchi, Jill Marshalka, Richard McAllister, Katherine McElroy, Allison Miller, Michelle Neveux, Susan O’Keefe, Michelle Painter, Deanna Peavey, Kathryn Pinch, Gaitlin Powers, Christopher Ranft, Kenneth Reichel, Carolyn Rosenzweig, Jane Southwich, Pakamas Tongcharoensirikul, Theresa Sprague

Guidance: Colleen Connerty, Bic Lam, Meaghan Lewis, Leah MacPherson, Barbara Tortorella, Jenny Sperounis, Caitlyln Curley

Supv. of Attendance: Jennifer Dondero

ELL: Shauna Farren

Occupational Therapist: Trista Murray

Speech/Language: Michelle Pusateri, Sara Ryan

School Psychologist: Jessica Sikora

Paraprofessionals: Mary Bennett, Eleicea Brandolini, Donna Brodeur, Lorraine Crowell, Diane Dockray, Gina Dwyer, Deborah Finn, Kellee Flynn, Nora Flynn, Barbara Gale, Valerie Higgins, Tristen Houlihan, Erin Leahy, Nancy Lesslie, Donna Mayo, Naomi Loomis-Bennett, Debra McDowell, Nancy McLaughlin, Kathleen Nazzaro, Colleen Nichol

Lunch Attendant: Cecelia Green

Adjournment

On a motion by Mr. Mulvey, seconded by Mr. McCarthy, the Committee voted to adjourn for the evening at 8:35 p.m. There was no executive session.