NASHOBA REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING
November 2, 2006
School Committee in Attendance: Don Adams, Ellen Sturgis, Tricia Kelly, Brian Burke, Monica CampoBasso, David Horne, Mel Govindan, Cathy Giunta, Laura O’Neil
Absent:[Marker]
Administration in Attendance: Michael Wood, Superintendent of Schools, George King, Assistant Superintendent for Finance
CALL TO ORDER
Chair Don Adams called the meeting to order at 6:00 PM. in the Office of the Superintendent.
APPROVAL OF THE WARRANTS OF NOVEMBER 3, 2006
WARRANT NO. DATE DESCRIPTION AMOUNT
2728 [Marker]11/03/06[Marker] VENDOR $ 236,861.69
2729 11/03/06 BENEFIT $ 54,965.30
2730 11/03/06 PAYROLL $ 999,059.18
MOTION
Cathy Giunta made a motion to approve the warrants as detailed in the memo dated 10/18/06 and noted above. Seconded by Brian Burke. IN FAVOR: Tricia Kelly, Don Adams, Brian Burke, Ellen Sturgis, Monica CampoBasso, David Horne, Mel Govindan, RECUSED: Cathy Giunta VOTED AND PASSED. (7-0)
APPROVAL OF THE OCTOBER 19, 2006 MINUTES
MOTION
Ellen Sturgis made a motion to approve the minutes of October 19, 2006 as amended. Seconded by Brian Burke. IN FAVOR: Tricia Kelly, Cathy Giunta, Don Adams, Brian Burke, Ellen Sturgis, Monica CampoBasso, David Horne, Mel Govindan VOTED AND PASSED.< FONT SIZE=2 FACE="Arial">UNANIMOUS (8-0)
CORRESPONDENCE
□ Foreign language article
□ Copy of letter to Mr. Wulfson of the DOE, signed by School Committee Chair Don Adams, regarding proposed regional school district regulations.
□ Rennie Center for Education article Are Boy’s Making the Grade?
□ MASC Bulletin
□ Invitation sent through the listserve from the Whitman-Hanson School District to join the Project Phoenix program.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT (This report is available on the District website at www.nrsd.net)
Early Release
Mr. Wood reported to the committee that Tuesday, November 7th is an Early Release Day.
Calendar Committee Volunteers
Mr. Wood reported to the committee that the Calendar Committee will be meeting in December and January to put together recommendations for the 2007 - 2008 academic school year. He told the committee that the Calendar Committee consists of administrators, teachers, staff, and parents and the role of the committee is to make a recommendation of a calendar to the Superintendent of Schools for consideration prior to making his recommendation to the School Committee.
He told the committee that anyone interested in participating should submit their name, address, telephone number and email address to ldestasi@nrsd.net. Mr. Wood said that invitations with the details about the first meeting will be sent to those selected for the Calendar Committee.
District's Annual Audit Update
Mr. Wood told the committee he Nashoba Regional School Districthas received a copy of a draftaudit report and Mr. King, Assistant Superintendent of Finance, will be reviewing itfor accuracy with his business staff. Mr. Wood also said that he and Mr. King would then review it together before meeting with the Audit Advisory Committee. He said the actual report will be viewed by the full school committee, most likely in December.
School Committee Video Taping of Meetings
Mr. Wood reported to the committee that Linda DeStasi, School Committee Secretary, contacted the Clinton Cable Company at Mr. Adam's suggestion, and they are willing to loan the school district the necessary equipment for videotaping school committee meetings. He said the District is now seeking student volunteers from our high school to sign up for regular volunteering for our meetings. Mr. Wood said that some steps still need to be worked out, including how to get the videos copied andwhere the budget is for this but it appears we may be able to get started as early as the first meeting in December.
Parent Access Training
The Superintendent reported on upcoming Parent Access training. He said that Nashoba Regional School District sees communication about student performance as a key attribute in holding high expectations for all learning and spoke of the School Committee’s decision to strategically enhancehow teachers can communicate with parents, to provide access to student grades as teachers enter them into the electronic gradebook that the District has been using for the past three years.Mr. Wood said the Reporting To Parents has been revised to greatly enhance the way teachers will be able to ge t timely information to parents, enable parents to decide if further follow up is needed and enhance the way parents talk with their children to encourage and motivate them as learners. Mr. Wood told the committee that the policy requires that parents receive training in how toaccess andread the formatin which the information is presented. The training sessions for parents have been scheduled. He said
letters will be coming home from middle school students within the week and that training sessions will be held:
Hale Middle School: November 28th at 9:00AM and 6:30PM
Florence Sawyer School: November 29th at 6:30PM and on November 30th at 11AM
Luther Burbank Middle School: November 30th at 9:00AM and 6:30PM
All sessions will be held in the school auditorium.
School Bus Evacuation Training Today
Mr. Wood reported that Bus Evacuationwill be held on Monday, November 6th at all of our schools.
FY 07 Evaluation Advisory Committee for Department of Public Health
Mr. Wood told the committee that Ms. Ann Farrell has been appointed to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health's School Health Unit FY 07 Evaluation Advisory Committee. He said they will be evaluating the critical areas of health care delivery identified by the committee in previous work including parent satisfaction, vision screening referrals, and utilization of school health service programs and that the overall goal is to continue to improve school health services.
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS
Ex-0fficio Report by Ms. O’Neil
Ms. O’Neil reported the following to the committee:
In the last few weeks, there have been many fieldtrips. Art classes went to the DeCordova sculpture park in Lincoln. The Anatomy and Physiology classes went to the Body Works exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science. Last Thursday and Friday, American Lit classes went to the Salem Witch Museum, the Peabody-Essex Museum, and the House of 7 Gables in Salem following their study of the play The Crucible. Yesterday, three senior English classes went to a production of Hamlet at The Strand Theater in Do rchester.
The guidance department is very busy processing college transcripts. The first Early Action and Early Decision deadline for applicants was this Wednesday, November 1, 2006.
The 20 German students left yesterday for New York, where they will spend a couple days before departing for Germany.
The fall sports season is quickly coming to an end. On Friday, the field hockey teams tied their last game with Bromfield. Yesterday, the boys’ soccer teams concluded their season in games against Leominster. The girls’ soccer team’s last regular season game was yesterday against St. Peter-Marian. Their first playoff game is Monday. The cross country league meet was on Tuesday. The boys’ varsity team finished 2nd at the race and 2nd in the league. The girls’ varsity team finished 3rd in both the race and the league. Both teams had three runners in the top ten (out of 42). Alee Wade, a
sophomore, won the girls’ junior varsity race.
The varsity football team’s last home game is this Friday. A ceremony to honor the seniors will begin at 6:30. A new feature at this week’s game is the “Nashoba Spirit Couch,” organized by the Student Council. The opportunity to sit on the couch, which will be decked out in Nashoba colors and gear, including super-fan tee-shirts and noise makers from the school store, is being raffled off to students. The couch will be set up in a prime viewing spot, and the winner will receive a free pizza and drinks delivered to them during the game.
Student Council is also busy organizing class competitions which will begin on the Friday before Thanksgiving and will conclude with the pep rally on the following Wednesday.
Facilities Subcommittee, by Ms. Kelly
Nothing to report.
Finance Subcommittee, by Ms. Giunta
Nothing to report.
Personnel Subcommittee, by Mr. Adams
Mr. Adams reported that the Personnel Subcommittee met and discussed bargaining strategies and things that would help contract negotiating.
Policy Subcommittee, by Ms. Kelly
Ms. Kelly reported that the Policy Subcommittee met and discussed three topics; School Committee Donations Policy, Early Childhood Education and Care, and CORI Policy.
Ms. Kelly said they discussed School Committee Donations Policy and they reached a consensus that the School Committee would say “no” to groups who approach them for funding during the fiscal year. She added that the committee will ask the schools to budget accordingly for known transportation costs, supplies and other expenses.
Regarding Early Childhood Education and Care, Ms. Kelly told the committee that subcommittee discussed draft language concerning all day kindergarten slots, which would provide direction for the administration and parents. She said the administration will review this language before it comes back to the subcommittee.
Ms. Kelly told the committee that the subcommittee looked at possibly revisiting the CORI Policy regarding the issue of requiring a CORI for vendors that work specifically with children in our schools, but not employed by us. She said that legal counsel has determined we are only responsible for our employees and that seeking to CORI others would increase the District’s liability. Ms. Sturgis asked that parents be notified of this in cases, such as Hale, where vendors are using the building for after school activities.
NEW BUSINESS
Chapter 70 Formula Review
Mr. King presented a PowerPoint presentation of the Chapter 70 Formula and called the committees attention to the handouts with this information which was included in their meeting packet. He gave a brief overview of the comparison of aid calculation for FY06 to FY07. Mr. King distributed spreadsheets to the committee with information and graphs, showing specific numbers for Foundation Aid, down payment of fully-phased in foundation aid, and growth aid. Mr. King told the committee that Chapter 70 Aid for FY06 was $5,332,823 and for FY07 is calculated at $5,871,972. Mr. King told the committee that from his current calculations and understanding of the formula it would appear the district has a reasonable opportunity to have the funding increased for FY08 if the overall program is funded by the legislature. Discussion ensued among the
committee. C ommittee member Tricia Kelly inquired about School Choice students, asking if the School Choice students coming into our district were included in our district’s enrollment numbers. Mr. King responded that he believed they would be included in their hometown school’s enrollment, but would check on that. Committee member Ellen Sturgis told the committee that the Finance Committees of the three towns should have this information as well and Mr. King said he could present this information to them individually or at Tri-Town.
NREA (Unit A) Stipend Appendix
Mr. Adams called the committee’s attention to the Stipend Appendix, which was included in the meeting’s packet, and told the committee the appendix needed to be approved by the School Committee. Mr. Wood told the committee the stipend figures before them are the same ones that have been in place for the last 2-3 labor negotiations and were part of the last bargaining agreement, so changes cannot really be made on those until the next negotiations. Ms. Kelly told the committee that at the next negotiations this should be discussed. Discussion took place regarding the stipends. Mr. King said the key issue was to get a list of all stipends in the contract. He said the benefit of this was that it would enable teachers to receive retirement benefits if they are receiving a listed stipend. Ms. CampoBasso inquired about a stipend for the Lacrosse
coach as that was not listed. Mr. King responded that the Association had not asked for that but that it would need to be added. Ms. Kelly commented that she was appalled at the huge difference in some of the stipends and questioned the fairness of that. Mr. King told the committee he thought the district’s stipends were in line with the surrounding communities and were actually lower than many.
MOTION
Motion moved by Cathy Giunta to approve the Stipend Schedule for 2006-2007/2007-2008 as outlined in Appendix VII-B in a memo dated MOA 5/31/06. Seconded by Mel Govindan. IN FAVOR: Don Adams, Mel Govindan, Brian Burke, Ellen Sturgis, Monica CampoBasso, David Horne, Cathy Giunta
OPPOSED: Tricia Kelly VOTED AND PASSED. (7-1)
OLD BUSINESS
Nothing to report.
CITIZEN INPUT
Corrine Greene of the Bolton Common inquired about the BA Step 1 rate and how that percentage was figured for the stipends. Mr. King responded that the BA Step 1 is $36,233 and the stipends set in the schedule would be that percentage of the BA Step 1 amount.
EXECUTIVE SESSION
MOTION
Motion moved by Ellen Sturgis to enter into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing a pending legal matter and to include the Superintendent, Assistant Superintendent, and School Committee Secretary. Seconded by Cathy Giunta. IN FAVOR: Tricia Kelly, Cathy Giunta, Don Adams, Brian Burke, Ellen Sturgis, Monica CampoBasso, David Horne, Mel Govindan VOTED AND PASSED. UNANIMOUS (8-0)
RETURN FROM EXECUTIVE SESSION
ADJOURNMENT
MOTION
Motion moved by Cathy Giunta to adjourn. Seconded by David Horne. IN FAVOR: Tricia Kelly, Cathy Giunta, Don Adams, Brian Burke, Ellen Sturgis, Monica CampoBasso, David Horne, Mel Govindan VOTED AND PASSED. UNANIMOUS (8-0)
The meeting adjourned at 8:42 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Linda DeStasi
Executive Assistant
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