Town of Carver, MA - SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES

Cathy Sharon-Matthews, Vice President, addressed the committee with three items: (a) the formation of a committee to consider the questions/issues regarding stipends for extra-curricular activities; opening of renegotiations of a new contract; and looking forward to work to be accomplished on January 16, 2007 professional development day.

Brittany Sherwood reported the following: Seniors had a fun trip to Newport, RI in December, the Senior Show will be in March and the annual Blood Drive will be January 31^st from 2-7 pm. Juniors donated $1000 to Heifer Project as a community service, are selling breast cancer bracelets and are working on details for their Prom. Sophomores are trying to plan a dance and are selling sweatshirts and the Freshmen will have a Karaoke Night on January 12^th. Student Council: had a bonding Laser Tag game, will organize and implement Stress Free week after mid-year exams and January will be History Dept appreciation month.

Tom Piepiora, President, of the Captains Council explained the philosophy of the Captains Council. It encompasses all three sports season. There are about 20 members with a council board of President, Vice President, Treasurer, Secretary and Public Coordinator. He also provided updates on the winter sports teams standings. Currently Carver “SuperFans” t-shirts are on sale and for the basketball games, if you wear your shirt you get into the games free.

B. Makepeace Neighborhood Fund – The superintendent received an e-mail from the Director of Marketing and Communications at A.D. Makepeace Company inviting us to submit an application for rants ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 for a share of the $200,000 grant money available to Carver, Wareham, Plymouth and Middleboro. Suggested projects will be brought before the Committee for review and Level II funding requests will be checked. The superintendent will prepare an application. Due date 3/13/07.

C. CCAT – The superintendent read a letter of support which is being submitted on behalf of the Carver Community Access Television station for the reorganization with the Town. The committee was in agreement to sign the letter of support. Mary Kaminski indicated the appreciation of the coverage of school activities and meetings. Barry Struski reminded the community there will be an open forum hearing for support of the CCAT on January 18^th at the Public Library.

A. Recognitions – Kudos to the Carver Public Schools Music Teachers: Gil Barakat, John Bianchi, Deborah Giokas, and Jeremy Teunis for the wonderful holiday concerts! Thank you to Nancy Buttermore and the Music Boosters for their support for the music programs in Carver Public Schools.

B. Personnel – We are fully staffed with the exception of the following openings: Athletic Trainer, Speech and Language Pathology Assistant (p-t); Occupational Therapist (p-t), Paraprofessional for Pre-School program (p-t).

Discussion of isolated aspects of the MCAS report will take place over the coming months. At this meeting, the focus was on the cohort report for each of the classes. The Administrative Leadership Team found the difference in the number of students who took a single test as fourth graders and the number of the same students who took the test as tenth graders is larger than expected. If approximately 20-25 students go to vocational schools in grade 9, there a still a large number of children who move in and out of Carver Public Schools. Carver Public Schools has a higher rate of transience in the student population than is expected. Mary Kaminski asked if our numbers are unusual and also what assessments are used for students who enroll during the school year.

F. In the News: Mary Kaminski complimented Scott Knief and Maureen Gaughan for their perseverance with working on strengthening and reorganizing the Alternative HS program. This was in response to a news article in the 12-21-06, Boston Globe, regarding several schools lowering their dropout rates including Carver. Also, in the Carver Reporter In the Through the Grapevine section – indication was made of the Carver Schools receiving a Mass Cultural Council Creative schools grant and a comment from the newspaper’s editor regarding the 2006 performance report card – “It is the best presentation for the public, put together by a school department that I have ever seen”.

All of these items were on the Kingscott & Associates recommendations for facilities and if we are successful in receiving the funds, we would not have to take the items to Capital Outlay again. These projects have been on Capital Outlay lists for the past five years. Matt Gillis had attended the CPC meeting earlier this evening and reported the process is on-going and some revisions would need to be made.

H. Celebrate Success! The Administrative Leadership Team composed a retrospective look at the milestones and indicators of success for the Carver Public Schools in the 2006-2007 school year. This was presented through the technology efforts of Bonnie Staiger-Matatall who was thanked for putting the presentation in a very creative and professional video format. Students and teachers were thanked for their contributions in photography. As we begin the FY 08 budget process, we start with “Celebrate Success” to remind us of our Mission, Vision, Beliefs, and Goals. It is the aim of the Administrative Leadership Team to work with the School Committee and the Town of Carver to provide a sustainable budget for the Carver Public Schools for FY 2008.

The School Committee was very complimentary of the project and really felt the pride of the school and the appreciation of the town community. In the budget books distributed to the School Committee, the superintendent pointed out that in addition to the line item budget by departments and district, a value added section was also included. This highlights monies received through entitlement grants, competitive grants, boosters clubs, gifts, funds raised by children, parent groups which support different events/items in the schools. These almost $1 million value added are outside of town revenue or the state Chapter 70 revenue and are to be celebrated as well. As part of that money, almost $75,000 of grant money goes toward professional development, 5% of our total teaching staff are paid for by grants, and 6% of our total professional staff are paid for by grants.

Also noted, the committee was given two budget proposals; one taking back the transportation fees within the school budget and one without the fees absorbed. If we include the transportation fees in our budget, this would result in a 3.71% in-crease to our budget. If we do not include transportation, our request would be 3.35% increase .If the state maintains the same Chapter 70 monies as last year; we can come in at 2.5% budget requests.

A. Policy Actions: Second Reading of the Parental Notification Relative to Sex Education Policy. No discussion. Motion to approve by Mary Kaminski. Second by Barry Struski. All in favor to accept policy as written.

Second Reading of the Fundraising Policy. Concern raised by Mary Kaminski relative to Item #10 that debt follows the class as well as the money raised and not expended. Policy will be changed to read, “If funds are not expended in the school year, or if any debt is incurred, the remaining funds or debts will follow the class/student group.” Al Spicer made a motion to accept with the revision. Barry Struski second. All in favor to accept policy as revised.

First Reading of the Student Activities Account Policy. No discussion, no action required at this time. After this policy is accepted, the superintendent will meet with principals and advisors of student groups to make sure they are compliant.

1. A check in the amount of $4,500.00 has been donated by Cathy Sharon- Matthews of the Middle School faculty for the purpose of purchasing technology (3 LCD players/carts and 3 laptops) for the middle school social studies department. She makes this gift on the occasion of her retirement. The School Committee thanked Ms. Sharon-Matthews for this generous gift and remarked how much this showed her love and commitment to the students of Carver. Barry Struski made a motion to accept this gift. Mary Kaminski second. All in favor.

2. A gift in the amount of $2,000.00 has been given by Wal-Mart to the Governor John Carver Elementary School. Patricia Sullivan, Principal, received a phone call before the Thanksgiving holiday indicating our school had been nominated by Wal-Mart’s customers for giving back to our community. In an informal survey of the elementary staff the following were considered for purchase with this gift: reading and cultural arts programs, playground equipment or training books. Cultural arts programs were decided with a 99% vote. The committee thanked Wal-Mart and commended the elementary school for their good work. Mary Kaminski made a motion to accept the gift. Barry Struski second. All in favor.

C. Out of State Field Trip Request – The Senior Class requested permission to for a ski trip to Waterville Valley, N.H. on Saturday, January 27, 2007. Al Spicer made a motion to approve. Mary Kaminski second. All in favor.

Pat Sullivan, Principal, of Gov. John Carver Elementary presented the revised plan with an 06-07 activity time line, goals and action outline, formation of a leadership team and literacy team and in early February teachers will meet with a literacy specialist. Barry Struski made a motion to approve the revised improvement plan. Al Spicer second. All in favor.

Dan Daly, Principal, presented the Middle School revised plan highlighting the need for more attention to on math goals on IEP plans. He also introduced a new program called STUDY ISLAND. This program is an MCAS prep program with not only math (which the Middle School is focusing on) but reading and English and 5-8 science to be used during the day by teachers and students, after school, on-line and can be accessed by parents as well. Middle Staff were given an opportunity to view a presentation of this program and raved about its potential. Math and special education teachers will be trained on this program on January 23^rd. Mary Kaminski made a motion to approve the revised improvement plan. Barry Struski second. All in favor.