Town of Carver, MA - SCHOOL COMMITTEE MINUTES 10/15/07

Recognition: Alyce Buchenan, member of the Senior Class of 2009, was recognized as a Commended student in the National Merit Scholarship Program. This honor comes as a result of her qualifying PSAT test scores in October of 2006. Her future plans include attending four year college to study engineering.

Michael Riordan and Connie Koffman were in attendance. A formal letter to request the start of negotiations with the Carver School Committee for a new contract was distributed.

Erica Kierstead and Kayla Morrison, Student Advisors reported the following: The spaghetti dinner held for the benefit of Acacia Rizzo was held on October 13^th and approximately $3000 was raised and gift basket raffle tickets will be sold until the end of November at football games and drawn at Thanksgiving. The senior class will bake 20 apple pies for social for senior citizens on October 17^th and student council will again “Trick or Treat for Cans” in the community. The Senior Class is working on Homecoming, the theme is “Hollywood”. Junior class is working on prom which will be held at Indian Pond Country Club and they will be hosting the 2^nd annual Craft Show on Sat., Nov. 3^rd from 9am to 3pm. The Sophomore Class is completing their Yankee candle fundraiser and the Freshman class will sell snack and drinks at the Homecoming Dance.

Erik Caldarone and Lacey Olson will be the Captain’s Council representatives for the year. They reported the fall sports season is well underway and Winter Sports sign-up are November 15^th and November 29^th for the High School and Middle School respectively. On October 30^th, from 7-9 p.m. the Wizards Basketball team will play members of our teams with proceeds going to Acacia Rizzo. Scott Knief, HS Principal will officiate the game.

Recreation Committee Appointment – Roberta DiRado made submitted an application indicating interest in serving on the Recreation Committee. She was unable to attend this evenings meeting. A recommendation to appoint her to the committee was made by Mary Kaminski, second by Randy Webster all in favor. Ms. DiRado will receive a letter of appointment from the Superintendent.

A. In the News – Articles in the Carver Reporter were presented about the significant improvement in our SAT scores and the opening of the Fitness Center and updates on our tennis and basketball courts. A press release regarding the audit of our district from the Department of Education – Coordinated Program Review (CPR) relative to the following programs: Civil Rights, Special Education and English Language Education will be conducted on-site during the week of October 29, 2007. The Superintendent commended Maureen Gaughan, Director of Special Education and her staff for the outstanding and massive effort. Also, retired faculty member, Cathy Sharon-Matthews was thanked for her time in copying/collating every document.

B. NEASC – Scott Knief is going this week to Connecticut to be part of an NEASC accreditation team. It is a wonderful professional development opportunity to visit other school districts and review their standards which is good preparation for our next accreditation.

C. MASC Delegate – Randy Webster made a motion to nominate Kay Spencer as the voting delegate to MASC from Carver School Committee and Mary Kaminski as alternate. Barry Struski made a section to the motion. All in favor. The MASC/MASS Annual Conference will be at the Four Points Sheraton, Hyannis from Nov. 14-16, 2007.

E. Open meeting law regulations – Matt Gillis provided open meeting law reference information distributed at a Town Hall Dept. meeting. These regulations are reviewed annually with department heads and were outlined by Kopelman and Paige, PC the Town’s attorneys. This information is for our reference.

F. MASBO – Matthew Gillis, Chief Operations and Financial Officer will be a presenter on October 30^th. His topic will be, “Tennis, anyone?” which will give an overview of our tennis/basketball renovation/construction projects and work with the CPC. Matt is a Board Member of MASBO, Massachusetts Association of School Business Officials.

Louise McCarthy, Director of Transportation retired on September 17, 2007 after serving with the district for 26 years. Maureen Dickinson was appointed the Acting Transportation Director through the end of the school year.

Dennis Nobrega, Science Department Chair and Science Teacher retired on September 28, 2007. Shari Fedorowicz was appointed Science Department Chair and Science Teacher, as of October 22, 2007. She was introduced to the committee and community. She comes to us from Weymouth Public Schools.

B. Science Trip Request – Michelle Littleton, CHS Science Dept, presented a slide show on the Environmental Science trip in June 2007 to San Salvador, Bahamas. A request to offer this trip to science students in grades 9-11 for Summer 2008 was presented. Randy Webster made a motion to approve, Mary Kaminski second. All in favor.

C. Enrollment – monthly figures of enrollment by grade, school and district indicate at this time our enrollment is 30 students less than 2006. Chapter 70 money is figured on our enrollment and the value of student losses changes each year but could be up to $200,000.

D. Migration – this report tracks the enrollment and withdrawal numbers of students by building, by month from the close of school last year through today. From June to August 68 students were enrolled and 90 withdrawn. From September to October 1^st, 34 students were enrolled and 36 withdrawn.

E. Fundraising Updates - A calendar of all approved fundraising activities by school was presented. This report details how we are working to comply with our school committee policy. This information is shared with school councils and PTO’s for planning purposes throughout the year.

F. Time Task Force – A committee has been established to look at the feasibility of having one opening and closing time for both the primary and elementary schools. Mary Beth Rodman, EK Washburn Primary Assistant Principal will lead this task force. An organizational meeting will be held on October 22, 2007, parent surveys will be conducted. A data meeting will be held on November 5, 2007 and a Public Hearing will take place at the Washburn/IMC on November 28, 2007 at 6:30 p.m. The Time Task Force update will be brought to the school committee on December 10, 2007.

G. Free & Reduce Lunch - a significant reduction (3%) in the number of students applying for Free and Reduced Lunches is indicated at this time. Outreach via Connect-Ed has been done and our Director of Food Services indicates that several more applications are coming and are currently being processed. This is how we calculate money derived from entitlement grants from the state.

H. Full Day Kindergarten Task Force – Liz Sorrell and Candy Weiler have submitted a grant for $105,000 to assist with the planning for a full day kindergarten program. Candy Weiler, Principal of the E.K.Washburn Primary has been appointed as chairperson to study the feasibility of full day Kindergarten for all Carver students. The report will come to the school committee in January 2008.

I. Tardy to School Improvement - Christine Cabral, Middle School Assistant Principal and Kevin Cyr, High School Assistant Principal submitted a report on tardiness. One of the benefits of being able to provide busing to all students is the significant reduction to tardiness to school. Early results indicate a marked improvement. The senior incentive has also helped improve these statistics.

J. DCAP – The District Curriculum Accommodation Plan is a tool for all staff to use specific accommodations to help students access the curriculum in regular education classes. It was recently revised by the Curriculum Team Leaders and the Administrative Leadership Team.

A. Mass Cultural Council Grant - This grant, for $24, 800, is a second year award for professional development and curriculum projects in art and science at the elementary and middle school. A motion to accept the grant was made by Barry Struski, second by Mary Kaminski, all in favor.

C. Private School Policy - As a result of the opening of a new private school in Carver, the Christopher Donovan Center, it will be necessary to adopt policy and procedures for the approval of a private school. A draft was distributed for a First Reading. The superintendent, Director of Curriculum, Instruction and Technology and High School Principal have made an initial visit and survey of this school based on the check list distributed with the policy. Randy Webster and Mary Kaminski both expressed concern about the Committee’s role in the approval process. There was apprehension as to the committee being sufficiently trained to decide on appropriate curriculum. Randy asked the Superintendent if we could pass this responsibility off to the state. An inquiry will be made with Department of Education and committee will be updated.

APPROVAL OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS The School Committee shall approve private schools within the boundaries of the Town in accordance with the Massachusetts Compulsory Attendance Law, Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 76, Section 1. The approval process includes a site visit by a School Committee/school administration team, criteria checklist,ratings, and develop- ment of a descriptive report and recommended School Committee action, based upon criteria as defined under Procedures.

Barry Struski encouraged the community to participate in the various fundraisers for Acacia Rizzo and her family, a high student who has undergone a lung transplant. Mary Kaminski referred to the Educational Forum held by the Town Planner, Jack Hunter. Mary, Kay Spencer, Barry Struski and the Superintendent were invited to speak about some of the challenges that will face our schools in the future.

Personnel Hearing: Four employees were on the agenda for Executive Session to discuss personnel matters relative to discipline surrounding the breech of working conditions. Three employees (2 paraprofessionals and 1 bus driver) were represented by Attorney John Sullivan and asked to waive their rights from executive session to open session discussion. The attorney requested the discipline for each of the women to be vacated. Mary Kaminski, school committee vice chair, excused herself from any vote/decision because she was personally involved in an event attended by the three employees. The last employee, a bus driver, addressed the committee with her rationale for eliminating her discipline. Kay Spencer, Chair, thanked the employees for their participation and informed them the committee would send them a decision in writing.

Barry Struski made a motion to go into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing personnel issues, not to return to regular session. Randy Webster, second. Roll call to approve.