Minutes
Quincy, Massachusetts - March 9, 2011
Regular Meeting of the Quincy School Committee
Regular Mtg.
A regular meeting of the Quincy School Committee was held on Wednesday, March 9, 2011 in the F.W. Parker Elementary School. Present were: Mr. Dave
McCarthy, Ms. Barbara Isola, Mrs. Jo-Ann Bragg, Mrs. Elaine Dwyer, Mrs. Emily
Lebo, Mrs. Anne Mahoney, and Mayor Thomas P. Koch, Chairman.
Chairman
Presiding
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The Superintendent called the roll and all members were present. Also present
were: Dr. Richard DeCristofaro, Secretary; Mrs. Tefta Burrelli, Clerk; Messrs.
Mulvey, Mullaney, Draicchio, and Mulvey. Ms. Roberts, Tenaglia, Hughes and
Todd. Ms. Allison Cox, QEA President, Tracey Christello, Citywide and Meaghan
Peterson, QHS Student Representative. The members observed a moment of
silence for former school employees, Paul Stanton and Gordene Everett.
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Reg. Meeting Mins. Approved 2/9/2011
On a motion by Mr. McCarthy, seconded by Ms. Isola, the Committee approved
the regular session minutes for February 9, 2011. The ayes have it.
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Principal Welcome
Principal Maryanne Palmer welcomed everyone to the Parker Elementary School.
She thanked her staff for the work they do there every day. The fifth grade
chorus, under the direction of Ken Walsh, entertained the members with songs.
Ms. Palmer said that the Parker learning community is like a family in the neighborhood. All students walk to school together with their families. The students
are taught to give back to the community by doing community service projects.
One of their partners, Big Sisters, has volunteers who come to the school and
become a mentor to one of their female students. North Quincy student volunteers
come to Parker afternoons to volunteer in the 21st Century Community Learning
Ctr. Program. Tonight, North Quincy student volunteers Tim Tran and Devin
Killeleah were present and recognized for their leadership in this volunteer project.
QARI Staff Recognition John Brothers
For the last four years QARI has closely partnered with the Quincy Pubic Schools
to assess the needs of immigrant students and their families. They focus on
supporting the school system in integrating students and their families. They
also developed supplemental services including after school mentoring at Quincy
High School. They offer a three hour in-school orientation for all new students
and their parents, support for the school registration of new immigrant students,
and assist with translation of school documents, interpreter services for parent
teacher meetings. Mr. John Brothers, QARI, was present to receive a Certificate
of Appreciation from the School Committee.
Supts. Report
The Superintendent thanked Jim Rendle, coaches and students for a fine winter
sports season.
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Open Forum
As no one wished to be heard at the Open Forum, the Committee went on
with the business at hand.
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Bldg. Update
The Maintenance Department was very busy over the school vacation week.
At the elementary schools, the electrician installed a new all-call system at
Parker School, security cameras at Squantum and a new outside security light
system at Montclair. Carpenters repaired ceilings at Central and Lincoln
Hancock. They repaired desks at Squantum, the walls in the girls’ bathroom
at Sterling, window and door repairs at North Quincy High, Central, Atlantic,
Marshall and Wollaston. Many heating and plumbing calls were addressed at
Merrymount, Wollaston, Montclair, Bernazzani, Atherton Hough, Snug Harbor,
and Marshall. Floor tiles were repaired at Beechwood Knoll and Wollaston,
painting at Beechwood Knoll, and several areas at North Quincy and Atherton
Hough. Moves and deliveries were made at Sterling, Point Webster, North
Quincy, and Lincoln Hancock.
Mrs. Bragg thanked Mr. Murphy for installing the all-call system at Parker School
and replacing the tiles at the Wollaston School.
Mr. McCarthy inquired about the money appropriated to try and fix the heat
at the Lincoln Hancock Pool. Mr. Murphy said that money was appropriated,
but there is no problem with the temperature of the pool. They will use
some of that money to put hot water storage tanks at Broad Meadows. Mr.
McCarthy also inquired about the furniture at the old Quincy High School.
Mr. Murphy has been looking at utilizing the chairs in the auditorium at other
schools. However, the chairs have to fit the slope in those auditoriums. It is
contingent upon the height of the front legs and the back legs. Everything has
been disconnected and will be moved next week out of the cafeteria and kitchen.
He has met with Joanne Morrissey and some of the equipment will go to other
schools. The Superintended added that doors, chairs, locks, everything has
been scrapped. The building has been stripped.
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Quincy High School Mrs. Dwyer reports
The Quincy High School Building Committee met on February 11. They
had a presentation from Wheatstone regarding the two wells from underground
oil tanks put there in the 70s. There is still 1/8” of oil coming out of the
ground. Wheatstone thought by now the oil would have stopped. The DEP
understands that this could go on forever. They came up with a long range
plan over the next five years. All existing wells except for two will be closed
and Wheatstone will go in on a quarterly basis and take the oil off.
There were 12 elbows pipes that were faulty. All 12 of those were supposed
to be replaced. Mrs. Dwyer will get an update for the next meeting. Also,
we will have an update on the punch list next week.
They did ask Gilbane to come to our next March meeting to get an update
about anything going on at the school. There will be one more walk through.
Tishman is still on board and Gilbane guarantees their work and is not
going anywhere.
Gary Cunniff scheduled the placement of the solar panels on the high school
roof as soon as the weather gets better.
Mr. McCarthy asked if there were any other leaks at Quincy High School
since February vacation. The Superintendent said there was only one small
issue. During the next school vacation, all these elbows will be changed.
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Central Middle School Supts. Reports
The Superintendent said he is looking at the next School Committee meeting
for a presentation on the schematic design for the new Central Middle School. Ai3 is still finishing the schematic design, the project scope and
budget. A meeting is scheduled with the MSBA on Monday.
With regard to scheduling public meetings, Mrs. Bragg asked that they
work with the ward councilors and the subcommittee of the Central Building
Committee. The Superintendent will work on a calendar for these meetings.
He will tie in the scope work on the ENC site for the next meeting.
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ELL Program
Ms. Beth Hallett greeted the Committee in Italian. As of October, 2010,
Quincy has 1,102 ELL students. ELL students are those whose first language
is one other than English and are in need of services to learn English.
There are 593 Former Limited English Proficient (FLEP) students who no
longer receive services in English.
The mission is to provide all ELL students appropriate English language
instruction to achieve essential interpersonal skills and academic language
and to become viable members of their schools and community.
All non English speaking families register their children at the Central
Registration Office. They are given Diagonistic tests. After that, grade level
and an ELL program plan is determined. Beginners receive 2.5 hrs. of English
language instruction every day, intermediate students receive 1 hour per day,
and advanced to transition students receive .5 hrs. a day.
The ELL staff consists of 28 ELL teachers, 5 ELL Tutors, 11 ELL Paraprofessionals, and 2 ELL Student Support Counselors and 1 Team Administrator.
The funding for ELL services come from the Quincy Public Schools Budget,
and grant funding – Title III, Title IID, 21st. CCLC Grant, Academic Support,
and District School and Accountability Center Grant.
Students are assessed through the Massachusetts English proficiency Assessment
(MEPA Reading/Writing Massachusetts English Language Assessment – ORAL
(MELO-O) many factors contribute to the decision to move a student who
is ready for mainstream classes out of the program. When a student has exited,
he/she is classified as Former LEP (FLEP) for two years.
There are 1,102 students in the system that receive ELL services. Two percent
of our budget or$l.89million is spent on ELL services.
Mrs. Lebo asked why there isn’t ELL services at North Quincy High. The
Superintendent replied that we have to look at a balancing off our demographics
in the City. They still adhere to a desegregation that would look at all
numbers and see there should be a balance. This was initiated by way of
the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Mrs. Lebo thought
the program is spectacular but would like to talk to the Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education and see what their feeling is today.
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Gifts: CTE
On a motion by Mrs. Bragg, seconded by Mr. McCarthy, the Committee
accepted the gift of $2,000 from Mr. Daniel Quirk towards new automotive
tools and equipment for the Automotive Technology program. The ayes
have it.
To Health Office
On a motion by Mrs. Lebo, seconded by Ms. Isola, the Committee accepted a
year’s supply ($2,880) of EpiPens for the school system from the Rural Lodge
of Masons. The ayes have it.
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Additional Business
Mrs. Bragg inquired about the questions given to the Committee by Mr. Chris
Chetwyn about the pile of dirt at Faxon Field. The Mayor said there is no issue
at Faxon Field. This item will be on the next agenda.
Mr. McCarthy inquired about the status of the traffic at North Quincy High
School. Mayor Koch said it is a state project – Mass DOT. It is not progressing
as quickly as he would like. The Lt. Governor had met with Mayor Koch and
said he will look into this.
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QHS to Boston Overnight
On a motion by Mrs. Dwyer, seconded by Ms. Isola, the Committee approved
a trip for Quincy High students to attend the Massachusetts Youth and Govern-
ment Model Government Conference on March 24-26, 2011. The ayes have it.
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Budget Subcommittee Mtgs. Mrs. Mahoney reports
The Budget Subcommittee met on February 16 to review the Pre-K and
Kindergarten Programs. Mrs. Edith Hughes and her staff gave a presentation
on the program. A lot of questions were raised regarding Full Day Kindergarten.
The members asked Mr. Mullaney to come back at the next Budget Subcommittee
with answers. On a motion by Mrs. Bragg, seconded by Mr. McCarthy, the
Committee approved the Budget Subcommittee minutes for February 16. The
ayes have it.
The Budget Subcommittee met again on March 8 to discuss the Academic
Programs/Full Day Kindergarten. Mr. Mullaney presented the requested
information from the previous meeting. He had charts showing the free and
reduced incomes. As of October 2010 there were 44% of Quincy families on
free and reduced lunches. As of January 27, there are 45.4% on free and reduced
lunches. A large population of free and reduced lunch families would impact
the funding sources. If we charged tuition, we would lose the $261,000 grant.
There would be savings in the first and second year but we would lose our
foundation money. We could lose $.5 million in the 2012 year. They discussed
tuitions at $4,000 down to $1,500. Collecting 56% of the money needed just to
sustain the program is questionable.
Free Full Day K Approved
Mr. McCarthy made a motion, seconded by Mrs. Lebo, to leave the free full
day Kindergarten in tact for 2011-2012. On a roll call vote, the motion passed
6-0. MRS. BRAGG voted PRESENT.
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The Committee thanked the schools for inviting them to Read Across America.
They also thanked North Quincy for inviting them to the dedication of the North
Quincy High Auditorium to Peter Chrisom.
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Adjournment
On a motion by Mrs. Bragg, seconded by Mr. McCarthy, the Committee adjourned
for the evening at 9:20 p.m. On a roll call vote, the motion passed unanimously
7-0. There was no executive session.