Town of Bolton, MA - Nashoba Regional School Committee Meeting Minutes of November 1, 2007

Nashoba Regional School Committee Meeting Minutes of November 1, 2007


	NASHOBA REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING October 18, 2007 SCHOOL COMMITTEE IN ATTENDANCE: Brian Burke, Monica CampoBasso (6:20 p.m.), Richard Fly, Lynn Colletti (6:20 PM), Mel Govindan, Don Adams, Cathy Giunta, David Horne (6:15 PM), Cristina Shea ABSENT:[Marker] N/A ADMINISTRATION IN ATTENDANCE: Michael Wood, Superintendent of Schools, George King, Assistant Superintendent for Finance, sally Sullivan, Director of Teaching & Learning, and Martha Baxley, Curriculum Instruction and Assessment Coordinator CALL TO ORDER Chair Cathy Giunta called the meeting to order at 6:03 PM. in the Office of the Superintendent. APPROVAL OF THE WARRANTS OF OCTOBER 4, 2007 WARRANT NO. DATE DESCRIPTION AMOUNT 2824 [Marker] [Marker] 10/19/07 VENDOR $497,024.40 2828 10/19/07 BENEFIT $ 638,068.23 2826 10/19/07 PAYROLL $ 1,032,315.27 MOTION Monica CampoBasso made a motion to approve the warrants as detailed in the memo dated 10/4/07 and noted above. Seconded by [Marker]Don Adams[Marker] IN FAVOR: Richard Fly, Monica CampoBasso, Mel Govindan, Don Adams, Cathy Giunta VOTED AND PASSED. UNANIMOUS (5-0-0) [Marker]APPROVAL OF THE[Marker] OCTOBER 4, 2007 MINUTES MOTION Don Adams made a motion to approve the minutes October 4, 2007, as amended. Seconded by Monica CampoBasso. Richard Fly, Monica CampoBasso, Mel Govindan, Don Adams, Cathy Giunta VOTED AND PASSED. UNANIMOUS (5-0-0 CORRESPONDANCE Mr. Wood reviewed the correspondence in the evening’s packet, which included: ¨ Letter from the Department of Revenue informing district of unencumbered Excess & Deficiency funds available as of July 1, 2007 is certified. ¨ Letter from Massachusetts School Library Association (MSLA) informing the district that pat Fontes, Library Teacher for Nashoba Regional High School has been chosen to serve on the Executive Board of Massachusetts School Library Association, as Area Co-Director. SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT (The Superintendent’s Report is available in full on the NRSD website at http://www.nrsd.net/ http://www.nrsd.net) Mr. Wood reviewed his written report to the committee. Topics included: ¨ Bolton Waste Water Treatment Plant ¨ Professional Development ¨ Benchmark Assessment Work ¨ Parent Access ¨ Security Presentation ¨ Team Chair Hires ¨ Special Education Van The School Committee decided to take agenda item VII C of New Business out of order. NEW BUSINESS GASBE 45 Actuarial Report Mr. King addressed the committee and gave a brief overview of the GASBE 45 Actuarial Report. He said that we are now required to show what we would have to put aside should the district cover the full cost of employee health insurance. Mr. King told the committee we are now required to show this amount on our audit as an unfunded liability. He explained to the committee that in many ways this is a theoretical exercise, but that the same thing was done with retirement funds several years ago and then we were told that we need to be fully funded by 2028. The School Committee returned to the regular order of the agenda. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS Ex-0fficio Report by Ms. Shea Ms. Shea reported that currently Nashoba is the site of a lot of old and new. Following are items included in her report: Early Action Deadline- ¨ Today is last day to hand in transcript request forms is today. Teachers are finishing recommendations, etc… ¨ Many kids meeting w/ English teachers to get feedback on essays Homecoming- ¨ was last Friday and the game was against St. Bernards. Nashoba won with the score of 27-6. The dance afterwards was hosted by Student Council and had much better attendance than 1^st dance, and Student Council made a lot of money. Student Council- ¨ Plans its class wars competitions for the week prior to Thanksgiving leading up to the pep rally ¨ Adding new events to the pep rally: possibly obstacle courses, prize giveaways, cheering competition ¨ Considering new fundraisers Matball tourney- ¨ 2^nd annual ¨ Teams sign up & pay to win the honor ¨ Teams of 10-14- $2 per person Sports- ¨ XC: Bob McIntyre-Bay State invitational- despite injured runners, girls came in 18^th out of 40 teams. Boys came in (2^nd?). ¨ Field Hockey: close to districts, need 2 wins to get there ¨ Volleyball: coming to a close; 2 games left and finishing with a first year record of 7-7 Facilities SubCommittee, by Mr.Fly Mr. Fly reported to the committee that at the last meeting of the Facilities Subcommittee they discussed the Bolton Waste Water Treatment Plant. He said the sub committee was open to the school district paying for the capacity it used but that since it was designed to handle the future needs of the town it seemed appropriate to have the town pay for those uses. He said they also discussed a modular unit for the Emerson Building for TV and based on information they did not recommend doing that. He said Mr. Spratt, Facilities Director reported on the progress of the security card initiative and that the plan was to have everything ready to go by the end of October. Another topic addressed at the meeting was the turf field and Mr. Spratt updated the subcommittee regarding this. Finance SubCommittee, by Mr. Burke Mr. Burke told the committee that the Finance Subcommittee met on October 11^th and discussed the format for the all day FY09 Budget Meeting. He said they also discussed the Actuary Study at length and that they felt this should be presented to School Committee and Tri-Town at a future date. Personnel SubCommittee, by Mr. Adams Nothing to report. Policy SubCommittee, by Mr. Adams Nothing to report. SPED PAC, by Mr. Burke Mr. Burke told the committee that at the last SPED PAC meeting Gail Greene of the Federation for Children with Special Needs presented to the Nashoba and Harvard SPEDPAC Groups on the topic: Basic Rights and Beyond. Mr. Burke encouraged everyone to look at the SPED PAC calendar and to join the SPED PAC listserve. ESBS by Ms. Colletti Ms. Colletti told the committee the ESBC met on October 10^th and discussed the topic of Project Manager. She said the Request for Qualifications was complete and sent to Bill Wrigley, Stow Town Administrator. Additionally, Ms. Colletti reported that a posting for 3 associates was done. CCC by Cathy Giunta Ms. Giunta reported that envelope stuffing has started for the mailing of the flyers. She stated that the national Honor Society, Life Skills Class and also the Girl Scout Troop 117 assisted with this project and thanked them for their help. [Marker]NEW BUSINESS [Marker] 2007 MCAS Results [Marker]Sally Sullivan,[Marker] Director of Teaching & Learning addressed the committee regarding the 2007 MCAS results. She reviewed a PowerPoint presentation and was assisted by Martha Baxley, Curriculum Instruction and Assessment Coordinator. Ms. Sullivan took questions from the committee regarding the information she presented. Ms. CampoBasso said she had concerns about the distribution of scores among the district. Ms. Sullivan explained that the district now has a plan so that all subjects will be covered. She said the plan includes looking at what curricula supports the standards and benchmarks and support that. Ms. Sullivan told the committee that we now have a better lens to look at what is covered and see what is not working as well as any gaps. Ms. CampoBasso asked how long Bolton and Stow have been using Every Day Math and raised concern that Lancaster is not. Ms. Sullivan said that math is the next thing the district is looking at heavily. She said this will include what we will use and also what is not working. Ms. Sullivan also said that she was expecting the MCAS scores that would be taken this coming Spring would show improvement, but that improvement would not been seen until the Fall. Mr. Wood told the committee that benchmarking is happening now and the district is now getting these resources and tools to support the MCAS. He added that we do not want to stop our curriculum for MCAS. Mr. Horne referred to the spreadsheet distributed to the committee with neighboring District MCAS scores. He asked if the committee could see this MCAS data broken out further to include the three district towns as well and Mr. Wood said he could get that. Mr. Horne also asked for regularly scheduled and measured checkpoints that would lead to improved MCAS scores. Mr. Fly commented that small variations in percentages per year could be attributed to students and that he worries that we can be too focused on MCAS and teaching to that test. Several members of the district community were present at the meeting. Rachel Vanasse. Lancaster parent, commented that she had concerns regarding Mary Rowlandson School Grade 3 & 4 math scores. Parent Gina MacNeil said she had children at the Mary Rowlandson School in Grades 1 & 2 and she also raised concern about the math scores. MASC Resolutions Mr. Wood called the committee’s attention to the MASC Resolutions which will be voted on at the MASC/MASS Joint Conference on November 14, 2007. School Committee Lynne colletti will be representing the committee at this conference. Discussion ensued among the committee. MOTION Don Adams made a motion to endorse Resolution 1, Sharing Information On Students Attending Charter Schools With The Sending School Districts. Seconded by Mel Govindan IN FAVOR: Richard Fly, Monica CampoBasso, Mel Govindan, Don Adams, Cathy Giunta, David Horne, Lynne Colletti VOTED AND PASSED. UNANIMOUS (7-0-0) (Committee member Mr. Burke not present for this vote) MOTION Don Adams made a motion to endorse Resolution 2, Resolution Regarding The Inclusion Of Special Education Transportation Costs In The Circuit Breaker. Seconded by Mel Govindan IN FAVOR: Richard Fly, Monica CampoBasso, Mel Govindan, Don Adams, Cathy Giunta, David Horne, Lynne Colletti, Brian Burke VOTED AND PASSED. UNANIMOUS (8-0-0) MOTION Don Adams made a motion to endorse Resolution 3, Public Policy Agenda. Seconded by Mel Govindan IN FAVOR: Richard Fly, Monica CampoBasso, Mel Govindan, Don Adams, Cathy Giunta, David Horne, Lynne Colletti OPPOSED: Brian Burke VOTED AND PASSED. (7-1-0) MOTION Don Adams made a motion to endorse Resolution 4, Foundation Budget. Seconded by Mel Govindan IN FAVOR: Richard Fly, Monica CampoBasso, Mel Govindan, Don Adams, Cathy Giunta, David Horne, Lynne Colletti OPPOSED: Brian Burke VOTED AND PASSED. (7-1-0) OLD BUSINESS Nothing to report. CITIZEN’S COMMENTS Nothing to report. ADJOURN MOTION Motion moved by Brian Burke to adjourn. Seconded by Monica CampoBasso. IN FAVOR: Cathy Giunta, Brian Burke, Monica CampoBasso, Richard Fly, Lynn Colletti, Mel Govindan, David Horne, Don Adams VOTED AND PASSED. UNANIMOUS (8-0-0) The meeting adjourned at 8:20 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Linda DeStasi Executive Assistant