Tuesday, August 22, 2017

Live reporting: School Committee - Aug 22, 2017

Present: Bilello, Scofield, Douglas, Bergen, O'Malley, Schultz, Jewell
Absent: none


1. Routine Business
Citizen’s Comments
none

Review of Agenda
nothing to change

Minutes: I recommend approval of the minutes from the August 8, 2017 School Committee Meeting.
motion to approve, seconded, passed 7-0

Payment of Bills - Dr. O’Malley
Payroll -  Mrs. Douglas
Correspondence:
Register of Deeds announcement of Informational Seminar on Land Record Research


2. Guests/Presentations
a. New Superintendent Induction Program – Dr. Irwin Blumer, Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents
coach for Sara in the new program, previously Superintendent at Concord/Carlisle and Newton Public Schools
program has worked for last 8 years, over 175 superintendents total covered
very lucky to have her, 'biased' opinion
thinking from 'managers' to 'system organizers'

3 year program, 8 content days, 2 attended, 6 more
6 hours of coaching each month

2nd year, 4 days, 4 hours of coaching
3rd year, 3 days, coaching in group

objectives defined over a three year period
entry plan (tonight)
3 components: talking, reading, seeing (being in school)
report on progress, final report in Dec/Jan to SC
not to be confused with strategic objectives

at end of this year to provide the 3-5 year plan to improve instruction for all children in Franklin 

C - O'Malley - previously was thrown to the water and allowed to sink or swim, it is appreciated

Q - Bilello - given how educated candidates are and the positions maybe needing to create culture
A - answer is to look at the culture, how to allow the folks within the building to do what they need to do; making sure it is in synch across the stakeholders; the social media piece has added another dimension to the position

A - my role is to work with Sara, Dorothy Presser-School Committee association has met with you; Sara needs to do the team building, how do we measure success; it is an integral part of the program


b. New Hires – 2017-2018 / Introduce new Administrators
Kim Booth, interim at JEfferson
Christopher Naylor, Director of Lifelong Learning
Matthew Terril (?), Asst Principle Parmenter
Linda Ashley at Kennedy
Shannon Barca, Parmenter

listing of new hires across the district
names, positions, backgrounds, some added today

c. Student/Parent Handbooks


changes and updates
Peter, district level
elementary, middle, high school

3 sections
sec 1 district wide, sec 2 level specific, sec 3 - school specific

all of the changes have come before you as they are your ploicies
dress code, homework, substance abuse policies were adopted and this is their first appearance in the handbooks

Eric Stark - elementary - sec 2
homework policy meant to provide meaningful work with recognition of students backgrounds, removal of the number of minutes

Beth Witcoff - middle school - sec 2
Google classroom has helped the middle level in improving the homework experience tremendously

Q - are teachers working to stagger the reports and tests out over a period
A - one of the common planning items is to cover the schedule of assessments, I can speak confidently, teachers are always looking not to create conflicts

Paul Peri - high school - sec 2
157 pages for FHS alone
attendance records, looking for interventions early on, the 1% drive the #s as mentioned before
discipline adds e-cigarettes and paraphernalia, some of the handbooks was missing for sections, now complete
ban on phone usage being interuped by parents texting students
enrollment at 1787, may be over 1800 as school year begins
352 spots for parking, 351 seniors signed up, hence none for juniors on the high school grounds; parking at the rink is an extension of the high school so the students there are under the handbook rules as well

Freshman banquet and sophomore banquet, will be made for the class only avoids some of the substance abuse issues previously as well as feedback from the seniors on spending more time together as a class

recommendation to read the handbook

Q - on parent notification for middle school, possible wording issues to be research
A - related to legal language

C- thanks for inclusion of the new policies
Q - school committee members are not listed alphabetically

C - thanks for improvements to the process and amount of details
format in Google is so nice to see the sections, can that be done so parents can read it as well

restrictions on web and translations, maybe also provide a link to the 'other version'
Peter thanks to the principals for all the work done on the language and the format
it is something they do well, it is a great starting pointing, attention to detail


d. Summer Professional Development recap / September 1 Professional Development Preview

Summer 2017 Professional Development
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0wjbnXDBhczWXFQODhDYkRJbGZDNXBVcGNPbWdJdDNNbWFj/view?usp=sharing

2 high school teachers presented to the Boston Learning Centers (BLC) conference in Boston this summer
session on mystery skype use in classroom
other attendance in professional development camps run by participants (ed camp model, or 'open space')

Peter, Sara, and Joyce attended a conference that provided great sessions and networking opportunities

mentors in the District working with others
Google training, presentation at conf in FL this summer
1 teacher on standard setting and MCAS development of questions

all in, above and beyond the normal reimbursement of professional training

C - possible to bring some of the presentors to a future meeting

C - presenting requires learning at a higher level, they should be commended for putting that together


Professional Development - Sep 1
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B0wjbnXDBhczc3FTdWJrbWVyc1dYOWREWUxCamNHWGZwRGJF/view?usp=sharing

extensive 7 page plan for the Friday before
Jessica Minehan, a specialist on Social Emotional Learning for half day
second half devoted to curriculum development
adoption of the science standard

special education working together
at high school, working by department
nurses working together on best practices with Police Dept

most either team based or curriculum based
lot of logistics to bring it all together

the work done this summer gives confidence that the district will be ready for the opening

(break)

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