Minutes
Quincy, Massachusetts - December 12, 2012
Regular Meeting of the Quincy School Committee
Regular Meeting
A regular meeting of the Quincy School Committee was held on Wednesday,
December 12, 2012 at Quincy High School. Present were Mr. Paul Bregoli,
Mrs. Kathryn Hubley, Mayor Thomas Koch, Mrs. Emily Lebo, Mrs. Anne Mahoney,
Mr. David McCarthy, and Ms. Barbara Isola, Vice Chair.
Vice-Chair
Presiding
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There was a moment of silence for Vincent Sullivan, a veteran Quincy Public
Schools Science teacher and administrator for many years, and Jamal Good, a
North Quincy High School student.
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The Superintendent called the roll and all members were present. Also present
were: Dr. Richard DeCristofaro, Secretary; Ms. Laura Owens, Clerk;
Mr. Ahearn, Mr. Connor, Mr. Draicchio, Mrs. Fredrickson, Mr. Gilbert,
Ms. Hallett, Mr. Hennessy, Mr. Jorgensen, Ms. Margaret MacNeil,
Ms. Maureen MacNeil, Mrs. Malvesti, Mrs. Moreira, Mr. Mullaney, Mr. Mulvey,
Mrs. Murphy, Mrs. Papile, Mrs. Pegg, Ms. Roy, Mr. Santoro, Mr. Keith Segalla,
Ms. Shaughnessy, Mr. Shaw, Mr. Taglieri, Ms. Todd, Mrs. Witmer;
Mrs. Tracey Christello, Citywide Parents’ Council Representative;
Ms. Jill Gichui, President, Quincy Parent Advisory Council to Special Education;
and Ms. Allison Cox, President, Quincy Educator’s Association.
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Regular Meeting Minutes Approved
11/7/12
Mrs. Lebo made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Hubley, to approve the Regular
Session minutes for November 7, 2012. On a voice vote, the ayes have it.
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Open Forum
As no one wished to be heard at Open Forum, the School Committee moved to the
the next item on the agenda.
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New Business American Education Week Essay Contest
Ms. Isola moved that the agenda be taken out of order and that the Committee proceed
to New Business. Assistant Superintendent Colleen Roberts then introduced the first,
second, and third place winners for the 12th Annual Poster and Essay Contest. Each
of the Quincy Public Schools submitted ten of their best entries, across all grades
from Kindergarten through Grade 12. A group of retired teachers judge the entries
in the grade level categories for K-1, 2-3, 4-5, 6-8, and 9-12. The theme of this
year’s contest was “How Can My Education Influence My Future?” First-place
winners presented their poster or read their essay to the School Committee. Each
winner received a certificate of achievement, a gift card, and shook hands with the
Mayor, members of the School Committee, and the Superintendent.
For Kindergarten and Grade 1, the winners were from Snug Harbor Ms. Smith’s
Ms. Carr’s Grade 1 classes (1st place); Thomas Plonowski, Atherton Hough
Kindergarten (2nd place); and Ameliya Khadzhen, Clifford Marshall, Grade 1 (3rd
place). For Grades 2-3, Sophie Saint Marc, Lincoln Hancock Grade 3 (1st place);
Aishwarya Rajaram, Clifford Marshall Grade 3 (2nd place); Cinneide Santoro,
Atherton Hough Grade 3; Mahdi Almosawi, Snug Harbor Grade 3 (3rd place tie).
For Grades 4-5, Liana Gao, Wollaston Grade 4 (1st place); Brendan Kilcommons,
Merrymount Grade 5 (2nd place); Lydia Chan, Montclair Grade 5 (3rd place). For
Grades 6-8, Dalia Sadaka, Atlantic Grade 8 (1st place); Vanessa Ly, Broad
Meadows Grade 8 (2nd place); Tianettie McKee, Atlantic Grade 8 (3rd place). For
Grades 9-12, Vicky Chan, North Quincy High School Grade 10 (1st place); Kerry
Phelan, Quincy High School Grade 10 (2nd place); Matthew Gerakis, North Quincy
High School Grade 10 (3rd place)
After a brief recess, the School Committee meeting resumed at 7:00 pm and
returned to the order of the agenda.
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Superintendent’s Report
Superintendent DeCristofaro announced that Quincy High School has once again
received a grant from the State Street Corporation. This $25,000 grant will assist
teachers in integrating curriculum and assist Grade 9 students with the transition to
high school. State Street also sponsored last week’s ‘Tis the Season event, which
was attended by over 700 guests, including students from 12 elementary and
middle schools. In the spirit of the season, School Committee members are invited
to attend the holiday concerts held at each school; a schedule was included in their
packet. The annual Fall Gathering was held on November 14 and attended by over
400 QPS staff members. This event was sponsored by the Tirrell Room and
through the generosity of the QPS staff, over 60 boxes of food were donated to
four local food pantries.
Dr. DeCristofaro announced that Michael Connor has been appointed North
Quincy High School Assistant Principal. Mr. Connor has been serving as Acting
Assistant Principal since September; he joined Quincy Public Schools in 1999,
first teaching SPED at Sterling and Broad Meadows, and later moved to North
Quincy High School as a Social Studies teacher and then Social Studies
department chair.
In November, six students from North Quincy High School competed in the Super
Sunday round of competition for WGBH’s High School Quiz Show. The North
Quincy High School team competed against over eighty local schools and will
now compete in the televised round of sixteen schools which will begin filming in
January. Mira Kriz is the North Quincy High School team advisor and the team
members are Seniors Tim Bill, Nathan Donahue, Cindy Nelson, Kasey Shen and
Juniors Celeste Dang and Yi Fung.
The Patriot Ledger and Boston Globe recognized twenty-eight student-athletes
from North Quincy and Quincy High School as Fall All-Scholastic Athletes in the
following sports: Cross-Country Emily Bryson, Julia Bryson, Danielle Mullaney,
and Mike Mullaney from North Quincy High School and Brendan Cunningham
from Quincy High School. Football Antoine Allen, Eddie Guinto, Matthew
MacPhail, Kevin Pappadopulos from North Quincy High School and Peter
Cedrone, Jalen Green, Jaquan Harris, Alex Heffernan, Jackson Lam from Quincy
High School. Soccer Courtney Campo, Lauren Campo, Shannon McCleary,
James McFarland, Robbie Routhier, Arianna Viscione from North Quincy High
School and Kayla McArdle, Felix Namoanya, James O’Shea, Caique Reginaldo
from Quincy High School. Volleyball Rose Bennett, Carolyn Schwartz from
North Quincy High School and Alysha Dunbar, Emma Kelly from Quincy High
School. Dr. DeCristofaro thanked all of the coaches and advisors for their work
with these outstanding student athletes.
Thanks to our sponsoring partner Bluefin Robotics, the annual HYPER Robotics
Event was held on December 1 at North Quincy High School. At this middle
school tournament, QPS hosted forty teams from around the state and over eighty
QPS students competed.
Dr. DeCristofaro noted examples of Home-School Connection shared with the
School Committee: Curriculum Newsletters from Snug Harbor Community School
and Montclair Elementary School; Monthly Newsletters from Atherton Hough
Elementary School, Snug Harbor Community School, and the GOALS program.
The Superintendent closed his report by noting that the Beechwood Knoll
Elementary School has been recognized by the Massachusetts Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education as a 2012 MCAS Commendation School for
narrowing proficiency gaps.
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Old Business
MASC Conference
Resolutions
Mrs. Hubley reviewed the votes taken at the recent Massachusetts Association of
School Committees Conference General Session on Friday, November 9, 2012.
There were a total of six resolutions, but the sixth applied to districts with charter
schools. At the November 7, 2012 meeting, the School Committee voted
unanimously to support all five resolutions. Mrs. Hubley reported that at the
MASC Conference General Session, the resolutions were all passed with very little
discussion.
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New Business (resumed)
RETELL Initiative
Assistant Superintendent Colleen Roberts and Curriculum Coordinator for
Grades 6-12 and ELL Beth Hallett presented on the DESE’s new Rethinking Equity
in the Teaching of English Language Learners (RETELL) Initiative. Ms. Hallett
spoke of ELL enrollment statewide: 70,000 students, an increase of 57% since
2000. In Massachusetts, 324 of 400 districts have ELL students; in 1,499 schools,
31,595 teachers service ELL students, and only 8% hold an ESL license. In
Massachusetts, the majority of ELL students speak Spanish; Quincy has the twelfth
largest ELL population of all districts in the state. 65% of ELL students in Quincy
are from China, 12% from Vietnam, and the remainder from Spanish, Arabic,
Portuguese, Albanian, and other countries of origin. In Quincy, the majority of
ELL students are in the elementary schools, with Montclair, Parker, and Wollaston
having the highest concentrations. ELL programs are offered at all Quincy Public
Schools; programs range from pull-out instruction in the elementary grades to selfcontained classes grouped by fluency and content-area classes at the middle and
high school levels.
Mrs. Roberts gave an overview of the RETELL Initiative. The US Department of
Justice has mandated preparation and training for teachers with ELLs in their
classrooms. The new DESE regulation is that all educators in Massachusetts with
core academic licensure and the administrators who supervise them must have a
Sheltered English Immersion (SEI) Endorsement. All core academic teachers,
including early childhood educators, teachers of students with moderate and severe
disabilities, and teachers licensed in all curriculum areas must have this
endorsement. In addition, principals, assistant principals, and department heads
will need this endorsement since they supervise these teachers.
Quincy Public Schools is in Cohort 1 because of the incidence of ELL students
within the district. QPS has three years to train the staff who will require this
endorsement. In addition, 15 PDP points of the 150 needed for licensure renewal
must be related to ESL/SEI. Educators who take the full RETELL course may
apply the PDPs earned over two license renewal cycles. In terms of
implementation, the core academic teachers and administrators who are required to
renew their professional educator license with the SEI Endorsement have been
identified and notified. RETELL course schedules have been developed, course
descriptions/expectations are being created, and additional support will be offered
through other Professional Development opportunities, including the WIDA
Framework training.
Ms. Hallett reviewed the credit that the Category training programs previously
offered by QPS will provide to educators; educators who took at least 2 of the 3
courses will be able to take a RETELL Bridge Course. Full RETELL courses will
be rigorous and be the equivalent of three graduate credits. Three different courses
will be offered in the spring and summer: Elementary/General Education teachers;
Secondary Teachers – Humanities; and Secondary Teachers – Math and Science.
The full RETELL course will be divided into three modules: Social-Emotional
and Socio-Cultural Aspects of English Language Education; Linguistics; and
Academic Language and Sheltering Instruction. The Retell Administrator course is
a shorter course and will be offered by the Summer of 2013. Administrators who
wish to maintain a teaching license may take the Full RETELL or the Bridge
RETELL Course, depending on whether they have taken any of the Category
Trainings.
Mrs. Lebo asked for clarification about the credit for Category Training. About
300 Quincy Public Schools teachers have not taken the requisite number of
Category Trainings and so will have to take the Full RETELL Course. The
remaining staff members will be taking the bridge course and/or the administrator
course. Dr. DeCristofaro thanked Mrs. Roberts and Ms. Hallett for their
presentation and spoke of the many initiatives from DESE and the need to innovate
and plan and adhere to their timelines.
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Out of the Country Travel
Mayor Koch made a motion to approve the out of the country travel of Quincy High
School students to Rome, Italy and Paris, France from April 12, 2013 through
April 19, 2013. Mrs. Lebo seconded the motion and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.
Overnight Travel
Mayor Koch made a motion to approve the overnight travel of the Central Middle
School Grade 7 students to Camp Wing in Duxbury, Massachusetts from
June 11, 2013 through June 14, 2013. Mrs. Hubley seconded the motion and on a
voice vote, the ayes have it.
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Reports of Subcommittees
Teaching and Learning Subcommittee
Mrs. Lebo presented a summary of the three Teaching and Learning Subcommittee
meetings that were recently held. She noted that the Middle School Improvement
Plans, the High School Improvement Plans, and all Program Improvement Plans
are posted on the Quincy Public Schools website at www.quincypublicschools.com.
On November 8, 2012 the middle school principals presented the individual
Middle School Improvement Plans. Each principal reflected on their 2011-2012
goals and discussed their goals for 2012-2013. Each school has goals related to
MCAS performance for Mathematics and English Language Arts, as well as a
Wellness goal to benefit the students and staffs of each school. Many of the
middle schools had a school culture goal to continue the integration of antibullying strategies.
On November 13, 2012 the high school principals presented their School
Improvement Plans, reflecting on last year’s goals and discussing their goals for
2012-2013. Quincy High School completed the NEASC accreditation process in
2011-2012, showed impressive MCAS achievement, and fostered the growth of
the school’s interdisciplinary teams. North Quincy High School is preparing for
their NEASC accreditation visit in the fall of 2013, and has revised their core value
statement with input from all members of the school community. North Quincy
High School had impressive MCAS proficiency rates for 2012 and among the
2012-2013 goals, there are initiatives that are supported across multiple
departments related to the implementation of the Common Core State Standards,
especially for informational texts.
On November 26, 2012, Curriculum Coordinator for Grades Pre-K through 5 and
Title I, Ms. Madeline Roy presented the Literacy Program Improvement Plan. The
Literacy program’s focus is on Pre K-Grade 3 and student growth by Grade 3,
where the switch is from Learning to Read to Reading to Learn. The Literacy
staff’s primary roles as interventionists are reviewing data, progress monitoring,
and determining and providing resources for teachers. For 2012-2013, the Literacy
Team is focusing on Progress Monitoring and the consistency of tools used across
the district. The goals for 2012-2013 are: (1) During the 2012-2013 school year,
the literacy team will continue its goal to decrease the number of Tier 3 students,
those at risk, to represent 8% of the total district students in Grades K through
Grade 5. (2) During the 2012-2013 school year, the Literacy Team will work with
classroom teachers to increase the number of students in Grades 2 and 3 who read
above grade level by 10%. Reading above grade-level is defined by the Group
Reading Assessment Diagnostic Evaluation (GRADE) as scoring at the stanine 7-9
levels in the passage comprehension subtest of the GRADE.
Ms. Roy then presented the Pre-Kindergarten Program Improvement Plan; the
team’s goals for 2012-2013 are to: (1) Complete a standards analysis and
alignment to the 2011 Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks for ELA/Literacy
and Mathematics and continue to align instructional routines, assessments and
tasks to the Work Sampling Guidelines. (2) To form a study group to increase the
team’s knowledge and expertise on effective, sustainable family engagement.
Mrs. Roberts, Ms. Roy, and Ms. Hallett presented a draft Curriculum Plan; the
plan is evolving and action items are added as changes and more supports come
out of DESE. The plan also shows the required timeline for implementation over
four school years. The team shared the curriculum initiatives that have been taking
place in the past year, the plans for this year, and the projected plans for the next
two years. This plan also shows the related professional development initiatives
for each curriculum initiative, and the work being done to align with the new state
assessments and reviewed the accountability system.
Mrs. Lebo made a motion to approve the Broad Meadows, Point Webster, Sterling,
Atlantic, and Central Middle School Improvement Plans; the Quincy and North
Quincy High School Improvement Plans; the Career and Technical Education,
Literacy, and Pre-Kindergarten Program Improvement Plans; the DRAFT
Curriculum Plan; and the November 8, 2012; November 13, 2012; and November
26, 2012 Teaching and Learning Subcommittee Meeting minutes. Mrs. Hubley
seconded the motion and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.
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Facilities and Security Subcommittee
Mr. McCarthy reviewed the Facilities and Security Subcommittee meeting that
Meeting that was held on November 20, 2012 and was focused on the proximity of
the President’s City Inn to the new Central Middle School, as well as the
perimeter. Lt. Dan Minton is assigned to the Central Middle School/President’s
City Inn issue and is working closely with hotel management. Lt. Minton
confirmed that most calls are received during the evening and are problems with
short term guests. Any issues have been isolated to the hotel property and the
owner will continue to be asked to address issues with guidance from the Quincy
Police Department.
Central Middle School Owner’s Project Manager Eugene Caruso from Tishman
Construction reminded the Subcommittee that all classrooms are on the opposite
side of the property from the President’s City Inn. He also reiterated that the
existing 4’ wall which is 60’ in length will remain between the two properties.
Additional fencing will run the length of the property and be screened. Mr. Caruso
noted that the contractors have seen no negative activity at the President’s City Inn
during construction. Lt. Minton pointed out the design of hotel is changing and all
access to the hotel will be through a main lobby. There will no longer be direct to
access rooms from the parking lot.
The Subcommittee agreed to consider if it is possible to incorporate additional
buffers between the President’s City Inn parking lot and Central Middle School as
the construction proceeds on both sites: (1) 6’ high fencing; (2) heavy green
coverage/bushes along entire perimeter; and (3) additional physical access controls
on the Central Middle School parking area which abuts hotel. Mr. McCarthy
asked if the hotel can be asked to provide additional buffers on their side if deemed
necessary. The Subcommittee members agreed to have Dr. DeCristofaro contact
Attorney Fleming and the hotel owner to request additional improvements on the
President’s City Inn side of the perimeter. He will also notify them that the School
Committee may request them to appear at an upcoming School Committee meeting
to present an update on their project plans and progress towards completion.
Mr. McCarthy made a motion to approve the minutes from the November 20, 2012
Facilities and Security Subcommittee Meeting. Mrs. Hubley seconded the motion
and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.
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Policy Subcommittee
Mr. Bregoli reviewed the Policy Subcommittee meeting that was held on
November 28, 2012. Mr. Keith Segalla presented the Information Technology
Program Improvement Plan, by giving an overview of the six teams that make up
this department: Data Processing; Elementary, Middle, and High School
POS/Scheduling; Information Technology; and the Secretaries Team. Each team
has multiple goals, many that continue from year to year. For 2012-2013, each
team has a goal related to the installation and training for the new Student
Information System. The Data Processing Team’s goals are: (1) To meet all
DESE data reporting requirements for SIMS, EPIMS, SCS, SSDR, and federal
CRDC reporting by June 2013. (2) To meet all district reporting dates for
electronic progress reports and report cards during the 2012-2013 school year. (3)
Introduction and training of the new Student Information System. The Elementary
School POS/Scheduling Team’s goals are (1) Review and improve upon process of
StarBase electronic schedules for elementary schools to comply with DESE
EPIMS/SCS reporting. (2) Introduction and training for the new Student
Information System by June 30, 2013. The Middle School POS/Scheduling
Team’s goals are (1) To complete middle school schedules by June 2013. (2)
Review and update 8th Grade High School Course selection process as needed by
January 2013. (3) Introduction and training for new Student Information System
by June 30, 2013. The High School POS/Scheduling Team’s goals are: (1) To
consistently communicate scheduling issues, timelines, appropriate tasks, and data
dissemination so that high school student schedules can be produced by August
2013 that reflect class sizes within School Committee policy. (2) To produce a new
program of studies document for the 2013-2014 academic year by December 2012
that contains course descriptions reflecting the new Frameworks (Common Core)
consistent at both high schools as well as reviewing course naming/numbering
conventions within the new Student Information System. (3) To produce a new
Curriculum Flowchart reflecting graduation requirements prior to the course
selection process, which commences March 2013. (4) Produce Pathways Booklet
and Course Selection mechanism by March 4, 2013. (5) Develop an
implementation and training schedule that begins in January 2013 for the new
Student Information System scheduling module for all high school guidance staff.
The Information Technology Team’s goals are: (1) Meet all required MA DESE
and District-Level requirements during the 2012-2013 school year. (2) Complete
the installation and transition to the new QPS Student Information System by June
30, 2013. The Secretaries Team’s goal is to design, develop, and implement a
Student Information System Training schedule for all Secretaries Team members
by June 2013.
The Subcommittee then discussed the items currently in Policy Subcommittee for
review. Most items were retained and several were referred to other
Subcommittees, including Advertising/Sponsorship Opportunities, which Ms. Isola
suggested could be part of the Budget discussions.
Mr. Bregoli made a motion to approve the minutes from the November 28, 2012
Policy Subcommittee Meeting and the Instructional Technology Program
Improvement Plan. Mrs. Mahoney seconded the motion and on a voice vote, the
ayes have it.
Mrs. Mahoney suggested that when the Advertising/Sponsorship Opportunities are
discussed, research could be done into what other cities and towns have as policies.
She also suggested it might be premature to move the item to the Budget and
Finance Subcommittee before reviewing the current School Committee Policy that
does not allow for advertising.
Mr. McCarthy made a motion to retain the Advertising/Sponsorship Opportunity
discussion within the Policy Subcommittee. Mr. Bregoli seconded the motion and
on a voice vote, the ayes have it.
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Health, Transportation, and Safety Subcommittee
Mrs. Hubley reviewed the Health, Transportation, and Safety Subcommittee
Meeting that was held on December 3, 2012. The meeting was a joint Subcommittee
Meeting with the Policy Subcommittee. A draft of the revised Quincy Public
Schools’Wellness Policy was presented and a discussion ensued about adjusting
the draft Wellness Policy to allow for a certain number of exemptions per year for
school-wide events. Dr. DeCristofaro will work with the Wellness Advisory Team
to finalize the specific guideline wording, seek the Principals’ input and then
present a revised Wellness Policy. At individual schools, the Principal, Site
Wellness Team, School Council, and Parent-Teacher Organization will work
together to decide on the school-wide events that will utilize the exemptions.
Subcommittee members agreed that high school sports boosters will not be granted
exemptions. The high school sports boosters may sell food items before and after
school, but not during the school day, unless the food items adhere to the state’s
competitive food nutritional guidelines. At the conclusion of the discussion,
approval was given to refer the Wellness Policy revision to the Policy
Subcommittee.
Mrs. Hubley made a motion to approve the minutes from the December 3, 2012
Health, Transportation, and Safety Subcommittee Meeting. Mrs. Mahoney
seconded the motion and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.
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Central Building Committee
Mrs. Mahoney gave a summary of the December 10, 2012 Central Building
Committee Meeting based on the draft meeting minutes provided by City Solicitor
Jim Timmins. The building foundation is complete, along with under slab
electrical and plumbing work; all major structural steel has been erected. Masonry
work and metal stud installation is ongoing. The project is on schedule with a
substantial completion date of September 5, 2013; a more detailed timeline will be
provided at the next Central Building Committee meeting on February 25, 2013.
Mrs. Mahoney will update the Central Building Committee on the discussion at the
November 20, 2012 Facilities and Security and the desire for additional
accommodations in terms of perimeter fencing and shrubbery.
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Adjournment
On a motion by Mayor Koch, seconded by Mr. McCarthy, the School Committee
went into Executive Session at 8:25 p.m. for Collective Bargaining. On a roll call
vote, the ayes have it 7-0. The School Committee did not return to Open Session.