Minutes
Quincy, Massachusetts - September 23, 2009
Regular Meeting of the Quincy School Committee
Regular Meeting
A regular meeting of the Quincy School Committee was held on Wednesday,
September 23, 2009 in the City Council Chambers, City Hall. Present were
Mrs. Anne Mahoney, Mr. Ron Mariano, Mrs. Elaine Dwyer, Mr. Nicholas Puleo
Mrs. Jo-Ann Bragg, Mayor Koch, and Mr. Dave McCarthy, Vice Chairman.
Vice 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.
Mullaney, Murphy, O’Brien, Draicchio, Segalla, Ms. Roberts, Todd, Tenaglia,
and Hughes. Ms. Tracey Christello, Citywide and Mr. Paul Phillips, QEA.
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Reg. Session. Min. Approved 9/9/2009
On a motion by Mayor Koch, seconded by Mrs. Mahoney, the Committee
approved the regular session minutes for September 9, 2009. The ayes have it.
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QHS – Adams Hall
The dedication of Adams Hall at Quincy High School was held on Tuesday,
September 15, 2009. Quincy High staff, students and decedents of the
Adams family was present. It was a great moment for Quincy High School.
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MCAS
The Superintendent, Rich O’Brien, Mary Fredrickson, and Colleen Roberts
gave their presentation on the recent MCAS scores. The AYP/MCAS overview
spoke to Performance Targets, Converting MCAS results into “AYP Report
Card” Ratings, Quincy’s 2009 MCAS Results, Quincy’s AYUP Report Cards,
Assessment, Planning, Implementation, the DESE Performance Ratings,
the 2010 Science Requirement, Progress towards Competency Determination
and Progression of Cohorts. By 2014, schools need to reach 100%. This,
they said, is an impossibility.
The Committee appreciated all the work that went into the presentation.
Quincy Public Schools is heading in the right direction and always trying
new initiatives to help the students improve.
The Committee stressed that parents need to look at their child’s scores.
If they have questions, they need to speak with their child’s teacher. Their
child’s teacher is looking at the results also.
Mrs. Mahoney said that it is more important to focus on the children
individually. Parents can log on to our website. She thought reaching
100% is unrealistic. There are a lot of tools in the classroom that we
are using. There are many other ways to assess our kids.
When the numbers warrant that we have not met AYP for two years
in a row, the state says something different needs to be done. Principals
will look at what different things they can do to reach the subgroups to
help raise scores.
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Open Forum
Mr. Chris Chetwynd inquired about a letter written and signed by Mrs. Bragg,
Mr. Mariano, and Mr. Puleo. He didn’t think that the letter was accurate.
Mr. Mariano asked for a point of order and said that it was not a School
Committee issue. The rest of the School Committee did not participate
in the letter. Mr. McCarthy told Mr. Chetwynd to speak to Mr. Mariano,
Mr. Puleo, and Mrs. Bragg personally.
Ms. Tracey Christello, Citywide, said that Citywide is concerned with the
safety and security of the children during any election process. They asked
that the polling locations in the City be changed.
Mr. Paul Phillips, QEA President, spoke to the proposed Charter School. The
application he said has no merit. No representative of the QEA or School
Committee ever approved it.
He commended the administration for working very hard on the MCAS
presentation. In 2014, he predicts that 97% of Massachusetts schools will
have failed to meet the target. The MCAS system was designed for failure.
Every student must be above average. The idea that all children are “above
average” is a joke. Teachers now think we are testing too much. Parents
need to look at their child and judge it based on their own child.
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Bldg. Update
Mr. Kevin Murphy reported that Maintenance continues to work on the IT
closets. Over the summer, the carpenters built a new bathroom at Sterling,
put in library shelving at Bernazzani, painted at Atherton Hough and Broad
Meadows. The majority of the needs identified on the School Improvement
Plans have been addressed. Most school PAs have been replaced. Pot holes
have been filled by DPW. Mr. Murphy will email the SIP list to Mrs. Dwyer
With regard to crosswalks, Mr. Draicchio said work on all school crosswalks
is completed. Mrs. Mahoney inquired about the crosswalk at Wollaston
school. Mr. Draicchio said there never was one. However, Mrs. Mahoney
asked that now that we have additional walkers, he should take a look at it.
The Superintendent will get the ADA report to Mrs. Dwyer.
Mr. McCarthy asked for a report on what Honeywell has done, what
they were supposed to do, and what was completed for the schools.
Mayor Koch will get Mr. Timmins and Mr. Cunniff to provide a simple
report on those issues that relate directly to the schools.
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New QHS Building Mrs. Dwyer Reports
Mrs. Dwyer spoke to the security issue at the new Quincy High School. There
were two incidents this summer. Gilbane has assigned a person for each night
of the week. At their last meeting, they discussed the problem with the electrical
outlets in the Science labs at the new Quincy High School. In the Science labs,
there is water nearby and the circuits trigger failure. If students are working
with a hot plate, it trips the plug. This still remains on the punch list. Everyone
has met for months for a solution without rewiring the whole room. The situation
is not resolved yet.
Mrs. Bragg asked if our own Maintenance Staff had looked at the situation, and
Mrs. Dwyer answered that they were instructed by Mr. Timmins not to touch
anything in case it is a design flaw and they decide where the responsibility
lies.
Mr. McCarthy asked the Superintendent to get Mr. Cunniff at the next meeting
to give an update on the QHS project. He asked for a full presentation of the
status of the project. Mr. Santoro will be part of the presentation.
Mr. McCarthy added that the gate near the tennis courts is too high and kids
can roll underneath it. He wants the security guards moving around the site.
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Central Bldg. Committee Mrs. Bragg reports
On September 14, the Central Building Committee met with the OPM sub-
committee at the SBA. They explained the process used to pick Tishman.
The SBA has approved Tishman as Project Manager for Central. They
have negotiated a contract which the Mayor will sign. Previously, they
met at Central to come up with their next steps:
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Acquisition of property
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Presentation of the site at next meeting
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Three appraisals on the property
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Hire an architect
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Come before the Committee for approval of the site
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Request that Mr. Timmins evaluate to make sure money is
in place to do these step.
Sterling
The MSBA wants the Sterling SOI reopened to keep Sterling on the flow
chart. The Superintendent has faxed that to the SBA and we are in the queue
for refreshing.
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Opportunities & Challenges
The Committee received a memo from Mr. McCarthy and Mayor Koch with
a listing of groups/contacts for the Ad Hoc Committee. The Superintendent
will work with the groups/contacts to enlist representatives. The
Superintendent will present the representatives to the Committee at the
October 21 meeting. Also, a Quincy residence requirement will be adhered
to with the exception of administrators within our school system. They will
work through the Superintendent in order to get the right balance on the
committee to look at open enrollment city wide.
Mrs. Bragg said she is fine with this process. She asked that one of the
representatives be from the Chapter 74 Programs.
Ad Hoc Committee list approved
On a motion by Mr. Puleo, seconded by Mr. Mariano, the Committee
approved the listing for the Ad Hoc Committee for Open Enrollment city-
wide and will come back on the October 21st with names. The Mayor said
the committee will bring a report back to this body and the School Committee
will make a decision. It is a School Committee decision. On a roll call vote,
the motion passed unanimously 7-0.
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ELL Report
Ms. Colleen Roberts and Ms. Eddie Hughes gave an overview of our
ELL program. They spoke about the ELL students currently enrolled
in the Quincy Public Schools, the variety of languages and staffing,
the assessments, fluency levels, student programmatic services,
implementing services and ELL category trainings. The ELL teachers
have to be ELL licensed teachers. Quincy sends teachers to the DESE
training programs and they come back and teach our teachers. There are
54 different languages being spoken in the QPS. All ELL students have to
take the MCAS test. We are looking at different grants and programs to
help these students reach the competency determination.
.
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Gift – LH Homeless
On a motion by Mayor Koch, seconded by Mrs. Bragg, the Committee
accepted a gift of $325.00 donated by the Lincoln Hancock School
for services to homeless students. The ayes have it.
Out of Country Travel NQHS to Italy
On a motion by Mayor Koch, seconded by Mrs. Bragg, the Committee
approved a request by the North Quincy High students to go to Italy
from April 12 to April 24, 2010. The ayes have it.
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Financial Advisors Approved
On a motion by Mrs. Bragg, seconded by Mr. Puleo, the committee approved
the 403 vendors, Oppenheimer Funds and Waddell-Reed Financial Advisors.
The ayes have it. This was presented by Mr. James Mullaney.
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Charter Schools
Mr. Puelo spoke against the proposed charter school in Quincy and all charter
schools. He thought it was a detriment to public education when certain schools
without taxpayers oversight can draw public funding away and keep their costs
down. We would have to pay them $9,000 for the average student. Looking at
the Quincy proposal that focuses on Mandarin speaking ELL students as their
prime target, they are only a small percentage of our ELL population. This
charter school focuses on Mandarin but there are 54 other languages in Quincy.
There is no obvious indication that ELL learners will out perform ELL students
in local schools. The public schools, he said, serve the ELL population very well.
He did not retract statements he has made. No one from the proposed Quincy
Charter School has come to the School Committee. He vehemently opposes this.
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Additional Business Furnace Brook Golf Course
The Licensing Board approved the request by the Furnace Brook Golf Course
to have liquor. Since the School Committee is opposed to this, Mr. McCarthy
asked that Mr. Mulvey pursue this. Mr. Mulvey added that the matter has
been addressed and the Committee should work with the City Solicitor.
Busing for Bernazzani
Mrs. Bragg asked the Superintendent to take another look at busing for
the Bernazzani School. The Superintendent said they sat down with Mr.
Draicchio, Mrs. Constantino and Mr. Mullaney to try to do different things
with the resources we have. It is impossible to shift things around with
time constraints. The cost for a bus would be $45,000 for the year.
Mrs. Bragg asked that they take another look at it. These distances are too
far for a young child to walk.
Mrs. Bragg asked for the list of 16-20 clubs--which ones have been around
for years and the budgetary figures.
Mrs. Bragg will hold a policy subcommittee on October 7 or 14.
Mr. McCarthy asked that Mr. Rendle come before them some time in end of
October with a draft schedule of the fall sports that involve the Quincy High
School gym we are lacking.
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Letter by 3 Members of the SC to the public
Mr. McCarthy spoke to a letter that appeared in the Quincy Sun signed
by Mrs. Bragg, Mr. Puleo and Mr. Mariano. He said he was disappointed that
the rest of the membership didn’t get a courtesy call to tell them it was going
out. He has received many phone calls about the letter and had no knowledge
of it.
Mrs. Bragg, Mr. Mariano and Mr. Puleo stated that the letter went out as an
individual letter and didn’t name the School Committee.
Mr. McCarthy answered that when a letter of this magnitude goes out, a
courtesy and professionalism is given to the other members. The letter
that went out was very disturbing, and he was very upset about it.
Mrs. Dwyer also spoke against the letter. She thought it was unethical
and a violation of the Open Meeting law. She thought it misrepresented
the School Committee and a disservice to their colleagues. They
signed their names and Quincy School Committee on the letter.
Mayor Koch answered that those statements are far reaching and outrageous.
This was three elected officials expressing an opinion about a candidate.
The charge that it is unethical is outrageous
Mrs. Dwyer answered that they wrote about the high school, Central, Sterling
and the GIC. She was going to call the State Ethics Commission and the DA.
She asked the Mayor if he knew about the letter before it went out.
Mayor Koch said yes he absolutely knew about the letter and he encouraged
Mrs. Dwyer to contact the Commission.
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Appointments
The Committee noted the following appointments:
Jennifer Dodge, Deborah Durkin Finn, Thomas Mullen, Susan Newcomb
Carpenter: Vincent Contrino
Paraprofessional: Donna Roganito
Maintenance: Patrick Stedman
Resignations
The committee noted the following resignations:
Paraprofessionals: Serena Limoncelli, Carol Shields, Suzanne Spargo
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Adjournment
On a motion by Mrs. Mahoney, seconded by Mr. Puleo, the Committee adjourned
for the evening at 10:15 p.m. On a roll call vote, the motion passed unanimously,
7-0. There was no executive session.