Minutes
School Health, Transportation and Safety Subcommittee Meeting
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
A meeting of the School Health, Transportation, and Safety Subcommittee was held on
Tuesday, May 29, 2012 at 5:00 pm in the 2
nd Floor Conference Room of the NAGE Building.
Present were Mr. Paul Bregoli, Ms. Barbara Isola, Mr. Dave McCarthy, and Mrs. Kathryn Hubley,
Chair. Also attending were Superintendent DeCristofaro, Mrs. Colleen Roberts, Mr. Keith
Segalla, Mr. Mike Draicchio, Mrs. Jane Kisielius, Mrs. Joanne Morrissey, Mrs. Maura Papile; Ms.
Allison Cox, President of the Quincy Education Association; and Ms. Laura Owens, Clerk.
The meeting was called to order at 5:05 pm by Mrs. Hubley.
The first item on the agenda was the Current Quincy School Committee Wellness Policy. A
copy of the current policy was shared with everyone and Mrs. Hubley noted that the current
policy will need to be revised once the federal and state wellness standards are finalized.
Mrs. Papile presented on the next two agenda items: New Nutrition and Wellness Standards:
Overview and Timeline and Health, Nutrition, and Wellness Advisory Team. She discussed the
May 25, 2012 Health, Nutrition, and Wellness Advisory Team meeting which was attended by
Quincy Public Schools staff members including Mrs. Papile, Mrs. Kisielius, and Mrs. Morrissey;
representatives from Manet Health, Quincy Medical Center, parents, Mrs. Hubley, Paul
McAndrew from the Alliance for Healthier Generation, and Jane Biaggi from the Norfolk
District Attorney’s Office. Each school has formed site-based Wellness teams and most are led
by the school nurses. The new site teams are going to meet every other month and will be
guided by the Advisory Team. There will be training for Food Services staff and schools will be
required to implement guidelines related to Competitive Foods. There is a lot to be managed
on a system level.
Mrs. Kisielius spoke of the DESE education forum she recently attended; some schools shared
their current policies (including Quincy). She met Mr. McAndrew at that forum; he is with the
Alliance for a Healthier Generation, founded by American Heart Association and President
Clinton to combat childhood obesity. The Alliance offers participating school systems nine
hours of training and a framework for employee and student wellness. They have suggested
goals in each category and these will help the school sites create goals and action steps for their
School Improvement Plans. Mr. McAndrew will speak with the school principals at their
meeting on June 5, 2012 and at the training planned for June 20, 2012. Site-based Wellness
team leaders will be trained on September 6, 2012.
Mrs. Papile explained that there are three stages to the training: three hours for the site
leaders, focused on helping them become familiar with the framework; three hours for making
a plan of action; and three hours for content experts/site support on different topics. Quincy
Public Schools is one of only four districts in the state (Boston, Brockton, and Fall River) that are
part of this program. The Alliance for a Healthier Generation are experts in both the state and
national regulations. Mrs. Morrissey spoke of the evaluation piece that goes with the new
regulations; school systems will be required to develop an evaluation tool to document their
process. Dr. DeCristofaro pointed out the draft goals on the Advisory Team meeting agenda as
possible starting points for the schools in developing their School Improvement Plan goals.
Dr. DeCristofaro mentioned that the new Nutritional regulations are being implemented July 1,
2012. Mrs. Morrissey said that the Alliance for a Healthier Generation will assist in
implementing these guidelines. Mrs. Morrissey noted that the state’s competitive food
regulations have not been amended yet. Bake sales will be addressed in revised advisory to
come from DPH; the governor has ordered the policy to be revisited. It may require a School
Committee vote to accept a policy. Mrs. Morrissey said that Food Services will be
implementing the new guidelines for the opening of school.
Dr. DeCristofaro concluded by saying that there is a lot of work to be done collaboratively; the
revised policy to be developed in the Health, Transportation, and Safety subcommittee and
then shared with the Policy Subcommittee. Mrs. Morrissey noted that we will need to work
with principals to develop materials to help educate students and families about the new
regulations. Mr. Bregoli noted for future discussion, he’d like to consider adding Health
Education as a High School class.
Science Lab Safety Mr. Keith Segalla gave an overview of work done to date: signage review
and safety equipment check and first aid kit installation complete at both high schools. The
survey of the middle school labs is underway, Point and Central are still to be done. Any
needed signage, first aid kits, etc. will be installed after school gets out in June. Ms. Isola asked
about the replenishment of first aid kit supplies; concerned that the Science instructors need to
be able to notify someone when an item gets used. Dr. DeCristofaro agreed that a process
needs to be developed for this.
Mr. McCarthy made a motion to adjourn the Health, Transportation, and Safety Subcommittee
meeting at 5:35 pm. Ms. Isola seconded the motion, and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.