Minutes
Quincy, Massachusetts - September 15, 2010
Regular Meeting of the Quincy School Committee
Regular
A regular meeting of the Quincy School Committee was held on Wednesday,
September 15, 2010 in the City Council Chambers, City Hall. Present were: Mr.
Dave McCarthy, Mrs. Emily Lebo, Ms. Barbara Isola, Mrs. Jo-Ann Bragg, Mayor
Thomas P. Koch and Mrs. Anne Mahoney, Vice Chairman.
Vice Chairman
Presiding
The Superintendent called the roll and Mrs. Dwyer was absent. Also present
were: Dr. Richard DeCristofaro, Secretary; Mrs. Tefta Burrelli, Clerk; Messrs.
Mullaney, Draicchio, Mulvey, Murphy and Keith Segalla; Ms. Roberts, Tenaglia,
Todd, and Hughes. Ms. Allison Cox, QEA President and Ms. Tracey Christello,
Citywide.
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The Committee observed a moment of silence for Mrs. Carol Shiffer and Mr.
Steve O’Donnell who recently passed away.
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Special Meeting Mins. Approved
6/10/2010
On a motion by Mrs. Bragg, seconded by Mr. McCarthy, the Special Meeting
minutes for June 10, 2010 were approved. The ayes have it.
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Reg. Session Mins. 6/16/2010
On a motion by Mrs. Lebo, seconded by Mayor Koch, the Regular Session
minutes for June 16, 2010 were approved. The ayes have it.
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Exec. Session Mins. 6/16/2010
On a motion by Ms. Isola, seconded by Mrs. Lebo, the Committee approved
the Executive Session Minutes for June 16, 2010. On a roll call vote, the
motion passed 5-1. Mrs. Bragg ABSTAINED and Mrs. Dwyer was absent.
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Occupational & Physical Therapy Room named after Carol Shiffer @ Amelio Della Chiesa Early Childhood Ctr.
On a motion by Mr. McCarthy, seconded by Mayor Koch, the Committee
approved a request to name the Occupational and Physical Therapy Room at
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the Amelio Della Chiesa Preschool after Carol Shiffer. Mrs. Shiffer served
the young children in Quincy for almost 30 years. She supervised the
occupational therapists and physical therapists for many years. The ayes
have it. Mrs. Bragg asked that, in the future, requests like this appear on two
agendas before approval is given.
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Rachael’s Challenge
Students from North Quincy High were present to invite everyone to watch
Rachael’s Challenge. Rachel Scott was a student who was killed at Columbine.
This is student run program.
Supts. Report
Backpack Initiatives has become an annual initiative with our Quincy partners.
This year, 2,100 backpacks were handed out to our elementary schools students.
Appointments
Mr. Nicholas Ahearn was appointed principal of Marshall Elementary School,
Dr. John Franceschini was appointed Assistant Principal of the Reay E. Sterling
Middle School, and Mrs. Kerri Connolly has been appointed Special Education
Team Administrator at the Amelio Della Chiesa Early Childhood Ctr.
The Committee received a listing of school Open Houses for this new school
year. Tis the Season….. will be held on December 7, 2010 at the new Quincy
High School auditorium. There was a very informal orientation gathering held
for our new teachers.
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Open forum
As there was no one who wished to speak at Open Forum, the committee went
on with the business at hand.
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Bldg. Update Mr. Murphy reports
Maintenance and custodial staff worked very hard over the summer. There
were over 100 moves—(besides the big move at Quincy High School) tables,
chairs, desks, computers, etc. Floor tiles and new floors were replaced at
Parker, Beechwood Knoll, Squantum, Point Webster, North Quincy, Atherton
Hough, Marshall and Atlantic. A complete fence repair for dump enclosures
were done at several schools, several air conditioning repairs, a new heating
system along with a new expansion tank at Veterans Stadium, numerous
rooms were painted, through a grant, two retaining walls were built at Sterling,
five new computer labs at North Quincy, and a new gym floor at Merrymount.
Mr. Murphy said that the Merrymount gym floor cost approximately $30,000.
It is an epoxy type material.
Mrs. Bragg asked about a security issue (paving school yards) which she had
brought up several times before. Mr. Murphy said there was some progress.
Potholes were filled in, but there has been no repaving. Mayor Koch said there
is no money right now for repaving. He will try to get to it under capital
improvement. He is going to the City Council for funds and of that money
will be school related. Mr. Murphy said Alantic, Bernazzani, Squantum, and
Snug Harbor had pot holes filled. Mrs. Mahoney said she saw the City tarring
the inside of the Veterans Stadium. The Mayor said the money used for that
is from a bond issue for the Stadium project. That money had been specifically
allocated for improvements at the Veterans Stadium. The timing of it was
unfortunate as there were events scheduled for that day also.
Mrs. Lebo commended and thanked the custodians and maintenance staff for
their work getting the new Quincy High School ready to open.
Mr. McCarthy inquired about access to the old Quincy High School. The
Mayor said he will report at next meeting on old Quincy High School and
Coddington Hall.
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New QHS Supt. Reports
The Superintendent thanked everyone who attended the grand opening for the
new Quincy High School held Sunday, August 29. It was a huge success.
Mr. McCarthy inquired about the punch list. The Superintendent said they
are working on that he will try and get Jim Anderson at next meeting to go
through the punch list. Mayor Koch said there are some issues and still
some work to do. The City is working on who is responsible for what.
When Mrs. Dwyer returns, we have a walkthrough with Tishman and come
back with a refreshed punch list.
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Central Bldg. Comm. Mrs. Bragg Reports
Mrs. Bragg expressed concern with the amount of time between meetings
for the Central Building Committee. She asked the Superintendent and/or
the Mayor to schedule a meeting on the new Central. She would like to begin
visiting other middle schools. Mayor Koch said things are going well. He
will present a draft report for the new Central at the next School Committee
meeting. He hopes that the School Committee will take a vote at this time
and he can go on to the City Council. The Superintendent will work with
Mr. Cunniff on Coddington Hall and what he envisions for a layout if we’re
going to move the Administrative offices there.
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Enrollment/Class Size
Mrs. Colleen Roberts reported on the preliminary class sizes. We have a total
of 9,347 students. Mrs. Roberts explained that the first priority of all the schools
is to make sure that the students registered are put into Star Base. We then
take a look at the class list to make sure we find out where any students who
are not in front of a teacher are--if they moved, etc. That stage is happening
at this time. The numbers that the Committee received are preliminary. The
final numbers have to be sent in to the Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education on October 1. Mrs. Roberts should have the exact figures on or before
the October 13 School Committee meeting. At this time, there are two grade 3
Montclair and Snug Harbor and one grade 4 at Squantum with 26-27 students in a
class. All have a skill support teacher in their class. The skill support
teacher works in conjunction with the full time teacher every morning for
reading, writing, and math. At middle school, there are six classes 29 and
above. At high school there are 40 classes that are 30 or above. We are
watching class size very closely. Schedules in high schools constantly change
for the first month.
Mrs. Lebo asked Mrs. Roberts to come back to the Committee with the
breakdown for informational purposes. She has a concern with the standard
classes being 30 or above. Mrs. Isola asked that her report include level,
subject, and the school.
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Summer Programs
Ms. Janice Erler reported on this past summer programs. There were 183
teachers that worked. Funding came from grants and tuitions. Also, 16 students
graduated in August from the Evening High School. A short video of the students
that participated in the summer programs was presented.
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Fall SC Leadership Team Tasks
The Superintendent listed his fall school committee and leadership team tasks.
They are: MCAS results, common core students, technology upgrades,
system wide, the DIP, School Committee leadership tasks, School Improvement
Plans, Bullying, tardiness procedures, Athletic waivers, the free and reduced
lunch process, full day Kindergarten, Opportunities and Challenges, open
enrollment policy. We need to look at our facilities, look at demographics,
student achievement, our graduation rate. The Committee reviewed the items
in their subcommittees.
Subcommittees
Updated
Under Safety and Security Subcommittee, the Committee removed:
HS Health Curriculum
Under Budget and Finance Subcommittee, the Committee removed:
High School Health Curriculum
Bus Rental Fees
Building Rental Fees
Revolving Funds 5-yr. History
Advanced Placement Policy 10.15.1
RTTT
Curriculum Director
The Committee added to the Budget and Finance Subcommittee:
Opportunities and Challenges
Full Day Kindergarten
Free and Reduced lunch
Short and long term goals for budget
Under Health, Safety, Security and Transportation, the Committee removed:
High School Health Curriculum
Under School Policy Subcommittee, the Committee removed:
Teacher Evaluations
Grade Configurations
The Committee added to the School Policy Subcommittee:
Attendance & Tardy Policy with High School Principals
CPR/AED and First Aid Training
Students Use of Electronics
Open Enrollment Policy
Anti-bullying Policy
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Out of Country Travel NQ to France
On a motion by Mayor Koch, seconded by Ms. Isola, the Committee approved
a trip to Paris, France for North Quincy High students from April 12, 2011 to
April 23, 2011. The ayes have it.
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Staff Evaluations
Mrs. Lebo asked to see a report on the last two times staff evaluations were
done. She also wants to make sure promoting and marketing is going on for
the late fall, early winter CTE programs. Ms. Isola wants people to be assured
that even though there is a change in the name, it is still technical education.
Mr. McCarthy is looking for a transportation update on our vendors for the
next School Committee meeting from Mr. Draicchio. How is it working out
with all transportation? Mr. McCarthy asked Mrs. Roberts to look at Mr. Carew’s
position with the a cappella choir. Is he half time at both high schools?
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Budget Subcommittee Mrs. Mahoney reports
At the Budget Subcommittee meeting earlier this evening, Mr. Mullaney went
through the budget to date. We need to pay attention to some areas. The Superin-
tendent will re-evaluate short term and long term goals. There are two sources
of stimulus money coming in--$1.3 million for the educational jobs program, that
money can be spent anytime going back to August 2010 up until the first quarter of
2012. The $101,000 SFSF Funds money, which can be spent any time this fiscal
year or the first quarter of FY2012.
Mrs. Mahoney cautioned that we move slower with the larger portion. The
Superintendent will come back with recommendations in the areas of the
budget with short term and a longer financial picture so that we can evaluate
the best way to proceed with these additional funds.
Mrs. Mahoney requested from the city side a forecast that they have been
working on so we will be able to look at what the City is doing, so the
Committee can make the best choices. The Committee also requested updates
between the quarterly budget reports.
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Appointments
The Committee noted the following appointments:
Teachers: Jaclyn Baltrukonis, John Daley, Ciane Newell, Catherine O’Connor, Paula Parker, Angela Yu
Resignations
The Committee noted the following resignations:
Teachers: Lisa Bellask, Colleen Carlson, Elizabeth Collura, Jennifer Eddy, Emily Gude, Paula Radzewich, James Scott
Bus Driver: John Doran
Sr. Clk. Typist: Allyce Kenney
Paraprofessional: Nancy McLaughlin
Retirements
The Committee noted the following retirements:
Conf. Secretary: Janice Francis
Paraprofessional: Francis Kabilian, Ann Marie Norris
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Leaves of Absence
The Committee noted the following Leaves of Absence:
Teachers: Mark Connerty, Karen Kelliher, Katie Kunevich, Michelle Nixon, Stacy Reed, Maria Weber
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On a motion by Mrs. Bragg, seconded by Mr. McCarthy, the Committee voted Adjournment
to adjourn at 8:35 p.m. for the evening. There was no executive session. On
a roll call vote, the motion passed 6-0. Mrs. Dwyer was absent.