NASHOBA REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING
March 22, 2007
School Committee in Attendance: Ellen Sturgis, Brian Burke, Monica CampoBasso, Cathy Giunta, Mel Govindan, Tricia Kelly,
Absent:[Marker] Laura O’Neil, Don Adams, David Horne
Administration in Attendance: Michael Wood, Superintendent of Schools, George King, Assistant Superintendent for Finance
CALL TO ORDER
Vice Chair Cathy Giunta called the meeting to order at 6:03 PM. in the Office of the Superintendent.
APPROVAL OF THE WARRANTS OF MARCH 23, 2007
WARRANT NO. DATE DESCRIPTION AMOUNT
2763 [Marker] 3/23/[Marker]07 VENDOR $384,248.06
2764 3/23/07 BENEFIT $ 609,115.77
2765 3/23/07 PAYROLL $ 994,962.92
MOTION
Brian Burke made a motion to approve the warrants as detailed in the memo dated 3/22/07 and noted above. Seconded by Tricia Kelly [Marker]IN[Marker] FAVOR: Ellen Sturgis, Brian Burke, Monica CampoBasso, Cathy Giunta, Mel Govindan, Tricia Kelly VOTED AND PASSED. UNANIMOUS (6-0)
APPROVAL OF THE March 8, 2007 MINUTES
MOTION
Ellen Sturgis made a motion to approve the minutes of March 8, 2007 as amended. Seconded by Mel Govindan. IN FAVOR:
Ellen Sturgis, Brian Burke, Monica CampoBasso, Cathy Giunta, Mel Govindan, Tricia Kelly, VOTED AND PASSED. UNANIMOUS (6-0)
CORRESPONDENCE
¨ Copy of letter to the Select Boards in each of the three District towns informing them of the acceptance by Mr. Paquette of the offer of Judgment.
¨ Email correspondence concerning the high school Lacrosse program from a District parent
¨ Message from NRHS Athletic Director Tom O’Brien concerning the high school Lacrosse program
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT (This report is also available on the district website at www.nrsd.net)
Mr. Wood told the committee that the District was very well represented at the North Central Regional Spelling Bee, which was held or Wednesday, March 22, 2007. Luther Burbank’s Emily Castner finished fourth overall and Sawyer’s Angelina DeSocio finished second overall in the Bee.
Mr. Wood also told the committee that on Tuesday night, March 20th a meeting was held to discuss the feasibility of fundraising for the Athletic Complex. Mr. Wood said there were approximately ten individuals who were able to attend and several others did RSVP who could not attend and said they wanted to be connected and to help in whatever way they could. He said
he thinks the overall feeling was that this could be accomplished, that it would need a supportive group of ‘go getters’, and that group needs an inspirational leader. We left with a tentative plan:
• A prospectus for the full project will be developed over the next two weeks. This should include an overview of the project, cost analysis, and potential offsets by fund raising.
• The groups represented are going to go back and talk to their respective Boards of Directors and determine their capacity to assist in the effort.
• will seek a meeting with the Executive Board of the Nashoba Endowment Fund to discuss how they could act as a financial agent because of their 501 c3 status. This may have an advantage rather than the District being the fiscal agent, especially for grants.
Mr. Wood told the committee that as part of his mid year review process for administrators he has been immersing himself in the buildings and observing how the schools operate. He said he is proud of what he is seeing. First, he said, the level of activity is amazing. He told the committee he observed with the Principals, teachers using data to inform instruction; He watched the kindergarten classes tie music, movement and community together as the learned how to square dance; and, he observed a science class using the computer lab to view a virtual zoo. Second, he told the committee, there are some great things going on in our schools. He
said that between the integration of technology, everything from laptops and tablets to video production, our students are getting exposure to authentic purposes for using technology. And lastly, he said he is increasingly aware that the District still needs to be aware of the space issues (interior and exterior) we are facing in most of our buildings. He said some of his time at the elementary meetings was spent talking about how to arrange space to continue the same programming for next year. Mr. Wood said there are
several changes that need to come about regarding how the District uses space to ensure that what we currently offer students continue.
Mr. Wood told the committee that one issue is identifying space for extended day. He said that the district has wait lists for both the Stow and Bolton programs and that we are looking for staff to address these needs. He said he has asked Ms. Caless, Coordinator of Extended Day to give him an update by April 13th.
Mr. Wood reported that CASE Collaborative hired Theresa Watts as the new Executive Director. She will start in July. Theresa is currently the Director of Special Services in Lincoln for the PK -8 school system. He told the committee that she has vast experiences as teacher, program coordinator, school board member and director which make her a great fit for this organization.
Mr. Wood told the committee he attended the junior version of Guys and Dolls on Sunday put on at Hale by a parent group. He said the musical was excellent the students really put their hearts and souls into singing, dancing and acting and that it was a great afternoon
Mr. Wood reported that he, along with Mary Marotta, Jeremy Roche, Tanya Daniels, Su Qi participated in a conference call with Intel from California. He said that representatives from Marlborough also participated. The topic was introducing one to one computing for students. Mr. Wood said that we are very much at the exploratory stages, but there are some very intriguing results from 1:1 computing projects across the country and we are looking at what, if any impact this should have on our planning.
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS
Ex-0fficio Report by Ms. O’Neil
Ms. O’Neil gave the following report to the committee via a written statement:
Seven students from the business classes competed at the State DECA Competition held in Boston last Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Four out of the seven Nashoba students competing received Achievement Awards for scoring above the National Level on the written test.
At the IJAE (March 8th) jazz competition, the Advanced Jazz Ensemble received a silver medal. Also, three students were recognized for an outstanding performance. This past Saturday, the ensemble competed in the Berkley Jazz Festival, where one student from Nashoba received honors for an outstanding performance.
This past Sunday, many Nashoba students volunteered their time to help the Scholarship Foundation with its annual phone-a-thon, successfully raising over $17,000 surpassing a goal of $16,000. The money will go towards local scholarships that the foundation sponsors.
This weekend, the drama society will be performing the musical Hello Dolly on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. The show features seniors Lindsay Capone as Dolly and Liam Whalen as Horace.
On Friday and Saturday, the Nashoba Robotics Team will be competing at Boston University in the US FIRST Robotics Competition against 50 other teams in the Boston Regional Competition. Depending on how they score, they have the chance to go to the national competition in Atlanta.
On March 30th and 31st, Nashoba will be hosting and performing in the MICCA Choral Festival. On Saturday the 31st, the Concert Band will be performing at the MICCA Concert Festival, which will be held at Hopkinton High School.
Facilities SubCommittee, by Ms. Kelly
Nothing to report.
Finance SubCommittee, by Ms. Giunta
Nothing to report.
Personnel SubCommittee, by Ms. Giunta
Ms. Giunta reported to the committee that the Personnel Subcommittee met on Thursday. March 15th. She said they discussed exit interviews, the School Committee’s role with personnel, the high school principal search, and the last part of the Superintendent’s evaluation. Ms. Giunta asked the committee to return their completed evaluations. Ms. Sturgis asked if Mr. Adams had spoken with MASC (Massachusetts Association of School Committees) regarding the exit interviews. Ms. Giunta said she was not sure if had gotten an answer yet. Ms. Kelly commented that she would hope the Personnel Subcommittee would see this as a management issue and that they have a responsibility to make sure the management of personnel issues does not get out of hand.
Policy SubCommittee, by Ms. Kelly
Ms. Kelly reported to the committee that the Policy Subcommittee discussed the Early Childhood Education and Care Policy at their last meeting, and that the School Committee would do a second reading of this policy later in this meeting. She also said they discussed the Health & Wellness Policy and the nutritional guidelines. Ms. Kelly told the committee that they discussed making sure food choices are selected based on nutritional value and not on profit.
SPED PAC, by Mr. Burke
Mr. Burke reported to the committee that SPED PAC met the previous evening ( March 21, 2007) at the Florence Sawyer School Library. He reported to the committee that there is a new leader stepping forward, Joan Finger. Mr. Burke said that they also discussed the meeting schedule for the remainder of the school year and the goals they had for SPED PAC.
NEW BUSINESS
Minuteman Science and Technology Agreement
Mr. Wood called the committee’s attention to Appendix VIIIA. He told the committee that this agreement embodied the spirit of what the district is doing in the other programs. Ms. Sturgis mentioned that she did not see Grade 5 mentioned for the three District middle schools. Mr. Wood said he did note that and had spoken with Minuteman about making that change to the agreement. Mr. Wood told the committee Minuteman is fine with putting the added verbiage “Grades 5-8”. Ms. Sturgis inquired about an overall evaluation of the program. Mr. Wood told the committee he was giving it to them in advance of asking for their approval to give them time to review it.
OLD BUSINESS
Early Childhood Education and Care Policy (Second Reading)
Mr. Wood called the committee’s attention to appendix IX A1 and A2. he said this policy included two parts- one is Early Intervention, which talks about preschool, and the other is Early Childhood, which gives a formula to help parents understand what happens with class size and waiting lists. The committee discussed the policy draft. Some suggestions were made regarding changes to the verbiage concerning waiting lists in the Early Childhood section. It was decided that it go back to subcommittee so that they could look at this.
CITIZEN INPUT
Nothing to report.
ADJOURN
MOTION
Motion moved by Brian Burke to adjourn the regular meeting of the School committee Seconded by Monica CampoBasso IN FAVOR: IN FAVOR: Ellen Sturgis, Brian Burke, Monica CampoBasso, Cathy Giunta, Mel Govindan, Tricia Kelly, VOTED AND PASSED. UNANIMOUS (6-0)
The meeting adjourned at 7:50 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted,
Linda DeStasi
Executive Assistant
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