Minutes
Quincy, Massachusetts - September 24, 2012
Special Meeting of the Quincy School Committee
Regular Meeting
A special meeting of the Quincy School Committee was held on Monday,
September 24, 2012 in the Gillooly Room of the NAGE building. Present were:
Mr. Paul Bregoli, Mrs. Kathryn Hubley, Mayor Thomas Koch, Chair,
Mrs. Emily Lebo, Mrs. Anne Mahoney, and Ms. Barbara Isola, Vice Chair.
Vice-Chair
Presiding
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There was a moment of silence for Merrymount student Ethan Coffey and his father
Thomas Coffey, who were killed in an accident over the weekend.
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The Superintendent called the roll and Mr. Bregoli, Mr. McCarthy, and
Mayor Koch were absent. Also present were: Dr. Richard DeCristofaro,
Secretary; Ms. Laura Owens, Clerk; Mr. Draicchio, Mrs. Fredrickson, Ms. Hallett,
Mrs. Kisielius, Mrs. Morrissey, Mr. Mullaney, Mr. Mulvey, Mrs. Papile,
Mrs. Roberts, Ms. Roy, Mr. Keith Segalla; and Mrs. Tracey Christello,
representing the Citywide Parents’ Council.
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Open Forum
As no one requested to speak at Open Forum, the School Committee went on with
the business at hand.
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Old Business
There was no Approval of Minutes or Superintendent’s Report on the Agenda, so
the Vice Chair moved directly to Old Business and noted that the minutes from the
January 28, 2012 Special School Committee meeting had been included in the School
Committee packets should anyone need to refer to them.
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New Business
Ms. Isola then moved to the New Business section of the Agenda and spoke about
the purpose of the meeting: for each Subcommittee chair to look at their current
goals and Agenda items, review the status of each one, and set a time frame for
achieving those goals. Ms. Isola expressed her appreciation for everyone taking the
time to participate in this evening’s meeting, noting that last January’s Special School
Committee meeting was very effective in terms of what was accomplished over the
rest of the school year.
Mayor Koch arrived at 5:40 pm.
District Improvement Plan Overview
Dr. DeCristofaro then spoke about the District Improvement Plan, the Team
Organization structure, and the focus on working in a team and having common
goals. Quincy Public Schools is a distributive model of management, with each
person in the system having a place in site-based or system-wide teams. The school
system is focused on curriculum and instruction, both organizationally and through
budget appropriations. Each team reviews the Framework standards, key questions,
indicators, and benchmarks to plan their work and then work their plan through goal
setting aligned with documentation and other sources of evidence. The Department
of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) has standards and indicators that are
aligned with the Quincy Public Schools Standards; the Team Alignment chart
illustrates which standard each team works under. The School Committee falls under
Standard 1, Leadership, Governance, and Communication. DESE Conditions of
School Effectiveness are used by the schools at all levels in developing and assessing
their goals. The DESE District Analysis, Review, and Assistance Tool (DART)
information will be incorporated into the updated Annual System Profile and Progress
Report. Other components of the District Improvement Plan include the Technology
Plan, the Professional Development Plan, the Budget Book, and the School and
Program Improvement Plans. The District Improvement Timeline shows the cycle
for each of the District Improvement Plan’s components for planning, implementing,
assessing, and reflection. All of the components are readily available to the public on
the Quincy Public Schools website on the QPS Info page; an Overview links to each
of the District Improvement Plan’s components and supporting documentation.
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District Improvement Plan ~ School Committee Connections
The School Committee and Superintendent and Leadership Team members present
then split up into Subcommittee groups to discuss their goals and to review the items
on the Agenda for each Subcommittee. A draft calendar of proposed meeting dates
for the October and November review of Program Improvement and School
Improvement Plans was shared for each Subcommittee to consider.
Mr. Bregoli arrived at 6:05 pm.
When the group discussion resumed, each Subcommittee had the opportunity to
propose additions and changes to their goals and to set meeting dates. For the School
Committee Purpose statement and Goal, all agreed to leave to them as they are
currently worded. For the Budget and Finance Subcommittee, their goal and purpose
will stay the same, but the meeting calendar will be revised back to quarterly
meetings. The meeting dates for this year are: October 22, 2012; January 14, 2013;
April 8, 2013; and April 29, 2013, which will be the first meeting for the FY2014
budget. All meetings will be held at 5:00 pm. For the Health, Transportation and
Safety, the first two items on the School Committee Agenda are ongoing. The third
item is about safety enhancements for the Middle and High School science labs. Mr.
Keith Segalla updated the School Committee that the middle schools have had
signage and first aid kits installed; for ongoing monitoring and replenishment, the
High School Safety Teams will be responsible in their buildings and the possibility of
creating these for the Middle Schools is being explored. This item will also be
retained on the Agenda to be reviewed at a later date. An additional item was
referred to this Subcommittee, Positive Behavior Interventions and Support (PBIS),
an initiative that will be piloted at the Parker, Lincoln Hancock, and Marshall
Elementary Schools with Student Support Services. The next Health, Transportation,
and Safety Subcommittee meeting is November 15, 2012 and the Health Services,
Student Support Services, Food Services, and Transportation PIPs will be reviewed.
For the Policy Subcommittee, all items currently in Subcommittee on the Agenda will
be retained. The first meeting will be October 9, 2012 to review the Instructional
Technology PIP and set priorities for the fall among the items currently in
Subcommittee. There will also be a Policy Subcommittee meeting on October 25,
2012. The Special Education Subcommittee has its first meeting on October 17,
2012; the remaining meeting dates are January 16, 2013; March 27, 2013; and May
15, 2013. The goals for this year were set at the last Subcommittee meeting in May
and include facilitating communication about the implementation of the Special
Education Program Improvement Plan by further developing the website to include
updated information; monitoring and reporting on progress report distribution, IEP
implementation, the adoption of the substitute checklist, the rollout of the new parent
guide and Special Education Handbook; and updating the Special Education Program
Booklet. The Teaching and Learning Subcommittee retained their first goal and
updated the second and third goals to be: (2) To be informed and updated on all
issues regarding the Massachusetts Frameworks and to work with the district to align
and implement curriculum, assessment, and instructional practices while analyzing
and determining curriculum needs and their costs by March 2013. (3) To be informed
and updated each fall on data indicators that will describe trends and proficiency gaps
and work with the district to identify opportunities to improve. In addition to
meetings to review the Elementary, Middle, and High School Improvement Plans and
the Academic Program Improvement Plans, the Teaching and Learning
Subcommittee will hold a meeting on November 26, 2012 to discuss the Annual
District Profile and Progress Report and Graduation Requirements; the Policy
Subcommittee will also be invited to attend. At a meeting on December 17, 2012,
the Teaching and Learning Subcommittee will discuss the new Educator Evaluation
System; Kevin Mulvey will be invited to attend, along with the Policy
Subcommittee. Beginning in January, the Teaching and Learning Subcommittee will
meet on the third Monday of the month, as needed. Mrs. Lebo asked about moving
the Graduation Requirements item from the Policy Subcommittee to the Teaching and
Learning Subcommittee; this will be discussed at the October 9, 2012 Subcommittee.
Dr. DeCristofaro will follow up with Mr. McCarthy about the Facilities and Security
Subcommittee Meeting on October 16, 2012 and reviewing the Subcommittee’s goals
and items currently on the Agenda.
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There was no Additional Business, Communications, Reports of Subcommittees, or
Executive Session.
Adjournment
On a motion by Mrs. Hubley, seconded by Mrs. Mahoney, the Special School
Committee Meeting was adjourned at 6:45 pm. The ayes have it.