June 24, 2020 Special Meeting

Agenda

Quincy School Committee
Special Meeting

Coddington Building
Wednesday, June 24, 2020 at 6:00 p.m.

Per Governor Baker’s order suspending certain provisions of the Open Meeting Law,
G.L. c. 30A sec. 20, the public will not be allowed to physically access this School
Committee meeting. Members of the Public can access the meeting audio live on
QATV Channel 22 or at www.qatv.org. The meeting will also be recorded for rebroadcast
and posted on the QPS website on Friday, June 26, 2020.

I. Chairman’s Update - Mayor Koch

II. Approval of Minutes: June 10, 2020 Special Meeting Minutes

III. Open Forum -  Mr. Andronico

Open Forum items may be submitted to School Committee via email to:
[email protected]. Please include your full name and
mailing address as part of the email.

IV. Quincy Public Schools Superintendent Search -  Mr. Andronico, Mr. Santoro

  • Survey/Focus Group Update

  • Selection Criteria

V. Remote Learning High School Grading - Mr. Gutro

VI. High School Graduations Update - Interim Superintendent Mulvey

VII. Private School Application - Interim Superintendent Mulvey
Rising Tides Academy

VIII. QPS Reopening Task Force - Interim Superintendent Mulvey

IX. Adjournment

Minutes

Quincy, MASSACHUSETTS – June 24, 2020

Special Meeting of the Quincy School Committee

Special Meeting

A special meeting of the Quincy School Committee was held remotely on Wednesday, June 24, 2020 at 6:00 p.m. Interim Superintendent Mulvey called the roll and present were Mayor Thomas Koch, Mr. Paul Bregoli, Mr. Douglas Gutro, Mrs. Kathryn Hubley, Mrs. Emily Lebo, Mr. Frank Santoro, and Mr. Anthony Andronico, Vice Chair.

Vice-Chair Presiding

Also present were: Interim Superintendent Kevin Mulvey; Ms. Laura Owens, Clerk; Mr. James Mullaney, Ms. Maura Papile, Ms. Erin Perkins, Ms. Madeline Roy, Mr. Robert Shaw, and Mr. Lawrence Taglieri.

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Chairman’s Update

Mayor Koch reviewed that the COVID-19 cases in Quincy have continued to decline even as businesses have moved further into Phase 2 re-opening.

Mayor Koch updated School Committee that the robust response to the Summer Programming has increased the cost from $250,000 to $400,000 which will be funded through the CARES Act, along with $60,000 for personal protective equipment. As discussed previously, the 7,000 Chromebooks for Grades 5-12 students and 1,500 laptops for Quincy Public Schools staff have been ordered for Fall 2020 use.

Mrs. Lebo thanked the Mayor and the Recreation Department for the programming that will begin next week for elementary and middle school age students.

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Approval of Minutes

Mr. Gutro made a motion to approve the minutes for the June 10, Special School Committee Meeting. Mrs. Lebo seconded the motion and on a roll call vote, the ayes have it, 7-0.

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Open Forum

Mr. Andronico noted that Open Forum participation is through the Quincy Public Schools email [email protected].

Ms. Maggie McKee on behalf of the Education Committee of Quincy for Transformative Change submitted a letter requesting that the School Committee include a criteria for a commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion in the Superintendent Search candidate screening process.

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QPS Superintendent Search

Mr. Andronico reviewed that updated SuperintendentLeadership Profile Survey data has been shared with School Committee, over 950 responses received to date. The Focus Group Summary Report was also submitted by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees on June 23 and has been shared with School Committee.

Mr. Santoro said the Superintendent Search Committee will be finalizing questions for the semi-finalist interviews at the June 25, 2020 meeting. Commissioner of Health Ruth Jones has confirmed that Superintendent candidate interviews can be in person and these will be held in the Quincy High School auditorium.

Mr. Santoro made a motion to add additional selection criteria for the matrix: Special Education, English, Vocational Education, Social-Emotional Well-Being (including Bullying), Diversity (including equity and belonging), and Student Safety. Mrs. Lebo seconded the motion and on a roll call vote, the ayes have it, 7-0.

Mr. Andronico asked if all candidates will be asked a consistent set of questions, prefers this as it is consistent with Quincy Public Schools interview process. Mr. Santoro said that after consulting with Mr. Koocher of MASC, the interview questions are public as they are referred to in the Search Committee minutes.

Mrs. Lebo said that since candidates may answer questions during their opening statement, so the Search Committee is looking for the option to ask follow up questions. Mrs. Lebo said that some questions are different for internal or external candidates.

Mr. Bregoli said agreed that the questions need to be as consistent as possible to allow for comparing the candidate.

Mrs. Hubley agrees that the questions should be the same, whether the candidates are internal or external. Some of the Search Committee members may have an existing knowledge of a candidate but not all of the Search Committee members do and neither do all the School Committee members.

Mr. Bregoli clarified that Search Committee members were asked to provide a backup question in case the candidate answered the question during their opening statement.

Mr. Andronico believes that the Search Committee can finalize the interview questions without a School Committee vote.

Mr. Bregoli said that there was an overlap in the draft questions and this will be resolved during the finalization process.

Mr. Santoro said the Search Committee members selected from a list of topics and feels the interview questions match the criteria established by School Committee.

Mr. Andronico thanked the Superintendent Search Committee for all of their work to date.

Mr. Andronico said that the top-line data from the Survey Results and Focus Groups will be publicized at the end of the search process. Mr. Andronico would like to ask Mr. Koocher to prepare public versions following the conclusion of the survey on June 26.

Mrs. Lebo made a motion to request the Massachusetts Association of School Committees to prepare a report for publicizing the Survey Results and Focus Group Summary. Mrs. Hubley seconded the motion and on a roll call vote, the ayes have it, 7-0.

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Remote Learning High School Grading

Mr. Gutro reviewed his request for information on districts that graded students during the time of remote learning. Mr. Mulvey shared the chart of the survey of local cities and towns and the approaches to grading for the 3rd and 4th terms for high school students. Mr. Mulvey said that the Quincy Public Schools Re-Opening Task Force will take up this topic during the planning process and if remote instruction continues, it will be very different, synchronous and more rigorous, and expects the grading to reflect this.

Mr. Gutro asked about the Aspen processing problem that caused a GPA miscalculation for students who had received a grade of 100 in an earlier term. Mr. Mulvey said the IT department is working on rectifying the issue.

Mr. Gutro revisited the issue of grading during the 3rd Quarter, students who had done well before school closed have missed the opportunity to improve their GPAs. Mr. Gutro asked that the Guidance team be included in the discussion about grading for remote learning moving forward.

Mr. Andronico thanked Mr. Shaw and Mr. Taglieri for all of their work and noted that this is just the beginning of the discussion. Remote Learning Survey results will be available shortly and the guidelines from Governor Baker and DESE Commissioner Riley should be forthcoming.

Mr. Gutro asked if School Committee will be apprised of the grading plan for any remote learning in the fall.

Mrs. Lebo asked Mr. Mulvey to share the Remote Learning Survey results when they are available. Mr. Mulvey agreed and shared that the draft Remote Learning Survey for Teachers is with the Quincy Education Association for review and will be shared with School Committee by the end of the week.

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QPS High School Graduations Update

Mr. Mulvey reviewed that the response to the Graduation ceremonies has been strong, 200 for North Quincy High School and 156 for Quincy High School morning and 157 for the Quincy High School afternoon, with follow up phone calls happening this week. The Boston Cannons are providing professional ticketing for the events and will be meeting with the planning group.

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Private School Application

Mr. Mulvey reviewed that an application has been received from Heather DiNino on behalf of the Rising Tides Academy and asked for School Committee input on how to proceed.

Mr. Gutro made a motion that the Superintendent’s Leadership Team review the application and make a recommendation to School Committee. Mrs. Lebo seconded the motion.

On the motion, Mr. Santoro asked if there is a time constraint on the review and approval process. Mr. Mulvey said the assumption is that the school is scheduled to open in September and will reach out to Ms. DiNino to clarify the timeframe.

On a roll call vote, the ayes have it, 6-0. Mr. Bregoli had technical difficulties and was not able to vote.

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QPS Re-Opening Task Force

Mr. Mulvey said there are currently nineteen members on the Quincy Public Schools Re-Opening Task Force to prepare plans and options for the re-opening of Quincy Public Schools, based on the guidelines to be provided by the Department of Elementary & Secondary Education. In addition to Mr. Mulvey, the Task Force has members from the Leadership Team (Rita Bailey, Michael Draicchio, Sara Dufour, James Mullaney, Maura Papile, Erin Perkins, Madeline Roy, Keith Segalla, Kevin Segalla); High School Principals Rob Shaw and Larry Taglieri, middle & elementary school principals to be named; Public Buildings Commissioner Paul Hines, Health Department Commissioner Ruth Jones, a Quincy Education Association representative, a Citywide Parent Council representative, a QPAC parent representative, and an ELPAC parent representative.

Topics to be discussed include personal protective equipment, distance guidelines, occupancy limits, remote instruction, in-person instruction, hybrid instruction, food service delivery, specialists and support staff shared between buildings, pull out services, Advanced Placement program for Grade 5, minimizing contact while changing classes, permanent long-term substitutes to supplement staff for high risk, and the associated impact bargaining for all units. The focus is on supporting students, families, and staff and making the process the least stressful possible.

Mr. Gutro asked about having more teacher representatives, similar to the Superintendent Search Committee. Mr. Mulvey said this is an ongoing discussion with the QEA, who intends to have their own subcommittee and appoint a single representative to the Task Force.

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Adjournment

Mrs. Lebo made a motion to adjourn the Special School Committee meeting at 7:00 pm. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Hubley and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.

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