Natick Public Schools
SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES
January 26, 2009
The School Committee held a meeting on Monday, January 26, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. in the School Committee Room, Third Floor, Town Hall. Chairman Meyler called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m.
Members Present: Karen Adelman Foster, Anne Blanchard, Dirk Coburn, David Margil, Stephen Meyler,
Anne Zernicke
Anne Blanchard arrived at 7:40 p.m.
Others Present: Peter Sanchioni Superintendent
Karen LeDuc Assistant Superintendent
William Hurley Director of Fiscal & Management Services
Camille Napier Bernstein Teacher Representative
Corinne Worthington Student Representative
Sharon Reilly Recording Secretary
PUBLIC SPEAK
Mr. Jeff Silverstein, member of the Natick Forever Committee extended an invitation to School Committee members and community to attend a candidate’s forum on February 24, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. at the Morse Institute Library. For more information visit their website at natickforever.org.
Mr. Silverstein, speaking as a private citizen, discussed reasons why he did not believe the School Committee should hold a forum for School Committee candidates. He did not feel these types of forums should be conducted by town boards and committees and feels there are enough opportunities at other forums for candidates to address the public.
STUDENT ADVISORY BOARD
Members of the Natick High School Student Advisory Board, Corinne Worthington, Jessica Knight, Dan Raffol, Becky Coan, Jaime McDonald and Tiffany Chen, were present and provided updates of the various high school departments.
MUSEUM OF SCIENCE/MATHWORK’S PARTNERSHIP
Dr. LeDuc introduced Ms. Kathi Browne, Natick High School Science Department Head, who discussed the following partnerships she has been involved with:
1. Partnership with Boston Scientific to bring laboratory safety training to the high school staff and to work with them on laboratory safety issues such as organization of chemicals, disposal of chemicals, etc. Boston Scientific has also donated furnishings and equipment to the high school.
2. Biotechnology grants that have been obtained through MassBioEd. These have allowed teachers to receive training in the use of and implementation of biotechnology in the laboratory. With grant funds they have been able to purchase equipment and supplies for the high school biology classes. Funds have also made it possible for speaker programs and field trips to businesses and colleges which promote careers in biotechnology. This included a field trip to MassBay Community College where students toured the biotechnology labs, received a tour of the college, and were exposed to an overview of the programs available at MassBay. Students
were able to register for MassBay and the school graciously waived the registration fee for those students.
3. Engineering is Elementary Program for grades 1-4 which has been funded, in part, by Comcast. This is now in its second year of implementation. Another grant, funded through Worcester Polytechnic Institute and in conjunction with the Museum of Science, will allow all Kindergarten teachers to receive training and equipment. This professional development will take place on Feb. 5.
4. MathWorks and the Museum of Science. MathWorks is funding the traveling programs offered by the Museum of Science. Programs are being presented at Lilja, Brown, Ben-Hem, Johnson and Kennedy. The programs are appropriate for the various age levels, adhere to the curriculum frameworks, and have been well received. These programs will continue throughout the remainder of the 2008-2009 school year.
Mr. Margil requested receiving a schedule of when these programs were being held at the various schools.
Ms. Adelman Foster expressed her gratitude for the many people and organizations in the community who have donated to the schools and suggested putting a page of thanks and appreciation on our website.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEMBERS CONCERNS
Mr. Coburn reported that according to the local paper, one of the candidates for the two three-year School Committee seats has withdrawn, so the race will not be contested. He suggested that the School Committee may want to rethink its idea of inviting School Committee candidates to a future meeting to discuss their candidacy. He has spoken to members in the community, and although the idea of doing this was well intended, community discomfort with the idea might warrant downgrading this session, or perhaps having the candidates address the School Committee during Public Speak. Chairman Meyler asked Mr. Coburn if this could be covered later in the evening as it is on the agenda. Mr. Coburn agreed.
Ms. Blanchard asked for clarity on the Governor’s FY09 budget cuts, specifically the local aid cut of 10% and his statement that no cuts will be made to education (Chapter 70). Dr. Sanchioni explained that although no cuts will be made to Chapter 70 (Direct Aid for Education), the Chapter 70 funds are rolled into one pot of state aid that the towns receive which include lottery and other the state aid. This pot is then divided up amongst schools, police, fire, DPW, etc. If there was a cut to lottery aid, that would affect the schools and that indeed, the school receives more in local aid than simply chapter 70. Any time there is a cut in any local aid there is a trickle down effect to education. Dr. Sanchioni further explained that even if you were able to separate out the Chapter 70 aid from
the State Aid that Natick receives, the Chapter 70 aid would be less than that which the School Department would receive as a result of, for example, a 60/40 split of the State Aid. Dr. Sanchioni indicated that on Wednesday morning the amount of local aid coming to Natick will be unveiled and we will then see what effect that will have on the school system.
HIGH SCHOOL REPORT
Mr. John Hughes provided the School Committee with reports on the following:
NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress)
Mr. Hughes announced that Natick High School has been selected to participate in NAEP, an assessment of student achievement in major subject areas across the nation. NAEP is also known as “The Nation’s Report Card”. Approximately 95 seniors will be randomly selected by NAEP to take the assessment. Natick High School was chosen to participate because of the school’s demographics. Mr. Hughes reported that there is no need for students to study or prepare, they should be encouraged to try their best to answer each question and results are anonymous. The testing is scheduled for March 3, 2009 and will take approximately 90 minutes. When the results are released, a variety of data will be available on student achievement and instructional practices for twelfth
graders in our state.
Drop Out Rates
Mr. Hughes reviewed the 2007-2008 Dropout Data Summary Report for Natick. He is proud that Natick’s dropout rate is only .3% which translates to 4 out of 1255 students who have dropped out of school. He attributes this low number to the atmosphere and quality of programs offered at Natick High School. The state average is 9.4%
Update of Mascot
Mr. Hughes provided an update on the NHS Mascot. Beginning with the 2008-2009 school year, the administration was charged with selecting and implementing a new name and mascot/logo for the high school teams. It decided on the team name of “Red & Blue”which was used previously. In order to get some type of visualization or mascot/logo, a contest was publicized for the students to come up with ideas. Mr. Hughes reported that only 5 out of 1257 students came forward with ideas. Ideas such as knights, an elk, an eagle and a python came forward. An election was held and the winning design was that of a knight holding a shield of half red and half blue submitted by Becky Coan. Mr. Hughes passed around a copy of the winning design. Mr. Hughes stated that he would like to
hold off on accepting this logo until he is comfortable that the majority of the school has embraced the idea given that only 22.3% of the students voted. They have made progress and will keep the School Committee informed.
High School Graduation Requirements
Mr. Hughes provided the School Committee with a comparison of Natick High School’s graduation requirements vs. that of the Massachusetts High School Program of Studies (MassCore), a recommended, rigorous course of study based on standards in Massachusetts’s world-class curriculum frameworks that align high school coursework with college and workforce expectations. Mr. Hughes reported that Natick High School’s requirements match up pretty closely with that of MassCore. Mr. Hughes pointed out that one area that would have financial implications in order to be aligned with MassCore would be the 1 year requirement for Art. Art is currently an elective at NHS. Ms. Adelman Foster pointed out that a few years ago, the Natick School Committee sent a letter to MassCore recommending
that the arts be included in their Program of Studies as it addresses different styles of learning, is part of classical education, and is valuable and intrinsic to all other applications.
Mr. Hughes pointed out the MassCore is not a state graduation requirement; it is a recommended program of studies. Mr. Hughes responded to questions from the Committee.
APPROVAL OF SICK LEAVE BANK POLICY
Dr. Sanchioni requested that the School Committee approve the Sick Leave Bank Policy as amended and presented to the School Committee at its last meeting. Ms. Adelman Foster moved for approval. Ms. Blanchard seconded. It was approved by a vote of 6 members. Mr. Murphy was out of the room for the vote.
APPROVAL TO INVITE SCHOOL COMMITTEE CANDIDATES TO AN UPCOMING MEETING
Chairman Meyler began the discussion on the idea of inviting School Committee candidates to an upcoming meeting to allow them to speak for up to five minutes on their candidacy. This item was first discussed at the meeting of January 21. After discussing and giving this idea some thought, it was the consensus of the School Committee members that it would not be in the best interest for the School Committee to do this. Mr. Meyler withdrew his proposal.
TECHNOLOGY BUDGET REVIEW
Mr. Dennis Roche provided an in-depth presentation on Natick Public Schools Technology. He reviewed:
§ project updates
§ replacement funds summary
§ community awareness and fundraising
§ challenges for 2009-2010
The project updates included a library circulation system, replacement of First Class System which will allow a better solution for teacher web pages, new email and archiving solution, network improvements and laptop refresh.
Mr. Roche introduced Ms. Amy Mistrot and Ms. Chris McLarnon, Parent Coordinating Council Co-Chairs, who have been organizing the “Taste for Technology Fundraiser” being held on or around February 7th. Ms. Mistrot announced that the Natick Education Foundation has agreed to be their fiscal agent and has joined them as a full sponsor. She provided a summary of some of the various events taking place. As of today they have 38 hosts who are holding events for anywhere between 4 couples to a 100 people. Last week Ms. Mistrot along with Ms. McLarnon and Mr. Dennis Roche attended the Cognex Award Reception. Cognex has pledged to award $10,000 this year for Natick Public Schools technology initiative and $10,000 each year for a total of $50,000. Members
of the School Committee expressed their thanks and appreciation for these fabulous donations.
Mr. Roche reviewed his FY10 budget and discussed his unmet needs. He discussed two town positions which have been transferred to the school technology department – the Data Entry clerk and the Data Base Administrator and the fact the town has only transferred funds for the Data Base Administrator. A discussion continued and members expressed their concern that the town did not transfer funds for both positions and asked if other positions within the department could absorb the workload. Mr. Roche believes that within his team the work could be spread amongst others but it will have an impact on their workload.
Mr. Roche responded to questions raised by Committee members. Chairman Meyler requested that Mr. Roche come back in the Spring for another update.
SPRING WARRANT ARTICLE UPDATE
Dr. Sanchioni indicated that he would like to prepare warrant articles for the Committee’s review in order to recapture the Circuit Breaker funds which were returned to the Town as well as an article for transportation. Ms. Adelman Foster moved for approval for the superintendent to prepare these articles. Mr. Margil seconded. It was unanimously approved.
40S REMBURSEMENT
Mr. Hurley wanted to alert the School Committee that in his discussions with Patrick Reffett, Director of Community Development, the proposed Paperboard site, if developed, qualifies as a Smart Growth Project which falls under Chapter 40S and would provide reimbursements to communities to cover additional costs which may result from increased enrollments.
ADVERTISING POLICY
Dr. Sanchioni provided the School Committee with draft language for an Advertisement Policy. Suggested language was offered. Dr. Sanchioni will rework the language and bring back to the next meeting.
PUBLIC HEARING ON THE FY10 BUDGET UPDATE
Chairman Meyler announced the there will be a pubic hearing on the FY10 Budget on Monday, February 2, 2009 here in the School Committee Room, 3rd Floor, Town Hall. The meeting begins at 7:30 p.m.
Chairman Meyler announced that he would like to hold a retreat on Monday, February 9th at 7:00 p.m.
At 11:10 p.m., Ms. Zernicke moved for approval to enter into Executive Session to discuss Collective Bargaining in accordance with the provisions of Chapter 39, Section 23b of the Massachusetts General Laws. Mr. Coburn seconded.
At 11:50 p.m. the School Committee returned to open session. Ms. Adelman Foster moved to adjourn. Ms. Blanchard seconded. It was unanimously approved.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
At 11:10 p.m., Mr. Coburn moved to adjourn. Ms. Blanchard seconded. It was unanimously approved.
Peter Sanchioni, Ph.D.
Superintendent
Secretary to the School Committee
Attest:_____________________________ Sharon Reilly
Recording Secretary
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