Minutes
Quincy, Massachusetts – May 4, 2016
Regular Meeting of the Quincy School Committee
Regular Meeting
A regular meeting of the Quincy School Committee was held on Wednesday,
May 4, 2016 at the Coddington Building. Present were Mr. James DeAmicis,
Mrs. Kathryn Hubley, Ms. Barbara Isola, Mayor Thomas Koch, Mrs. Emily Lebo,
Mrs. Anne Mahoney, and Mr. Paul Bregoli, Vice Chair.
Vice-Chair
Presiding
§
The Superintendent called the roll and all were present. Also present were:
Dr. Richard DeCristofaro, Secretary; Ms. Laura Owens, Clerk; Mrs. Janet
Baglione, Mrs. Elizabeth Bates, Mr. Michael Draicchio, Ms. Joanne Fox, Ms.
Beth Hallett, Ms. Jessica King, Ms. Annie McDonald, Mr. James Mullaney,
Deputy Superintendent Kevin Mulvey, Dr. Maryanne Palmer, Mrs. Maura
Papile, Mrs. Erin Perkins, Ms. Madeline Roy, Mr. Keith Segalla, Ms. Judy Todd;
Quincy Education Association President Allison Cox; North Quincy High
School Student Representative Luke Molloy; and Mr. Scott Alessandro,
Citywide Parent Council Co-President.
§
There was a moment of silence for members of the armed services serving at
home and abroad.
§
Regular Meeting Minutes Approved
4.13.16
Mrs. Hubley made a motion, seconded by Ms. Isola, to approve the Regular
Meeting minutes for April 13, 2016. On a voice vote, the ayes have it.
§
Open Forum
Mrs. Susan Rheault read a letter on behalf of Atherton Hough, Grade 3 parents.
Enrollment has dropped to 26 students and there is concern there will be one
classroom for Grade 4. Mrs. Kathleen Tracey finished reading the letter as Mrs.
Rheault exceeded the four-minute limit. Mr. Dave Mullen, Mr. John Froehlich, and
Mrs. Theresa DiBona also spoke in support of retaining smaller class size for
Grade 4 next year.
Mrs. Joanne Petrongolo, Mrs. Dana Calabro, Mr. Frank Calabro, Mr. Jim Jaehnig,
and Mrs. Sara Regan Levine spoke of concerns about the North Quincy High School
Basketball Coach interview and hiring process.
§
Superintendent's
Report
After a brief recess, Dr. DeCristofaro opened the Superintendent’s Report with
Inspire Quincy featuring highlights of Digital Learning Week events in the
Quincy Public Schools.
Dr. DeCristofaro noted that the week of May 2-6 is Teacher Appreciation Week
and May 6 is Nurses’ Appreciation Day. Both the Quincy High School and North
Quincy High School choruses will be performing at the Thomas Crane Public
Library this week on May 3 and 5. Upcoming events include Cleaner Greener
on Saturday, May 7 at 9:00 am; the Quincy Retired Teachers Association
Scholarship Ceremony on Tuesday, May 10 at 7:00 pm at Central Middle School;
the Quincy High School Fashion Show on Thursday, May 12 at 7:00 pm; North
Quincy High School Career Day on Friday, May 13; the Walk for Juvenile
Diabetes at Beechwood Knoll on Saturday, May 14 at 9:30 am; and the Citywide
Art Show on Saturday, May 14 at noon at the Art Spot.
North Quincy High School received a Silver Medal designation from US News
and World Report for being in the top 20% of high schools in Massachusetts,.
Quincy High School students LaQueen Arias, Jhonata Sousa, and Keren Garcia
were awarded first place in the MWRA Video Contest.
Dr. DeCristofaro announced that the Quincy Public Schools has once again been
awarded a Gateway Cities Grant for $164,328.00 for Summer Enrichment for
English Language Learners. The SWELL Academy will be held at Point Webster
Middle School during the month of July.
Upcoming Quincy School~Community Partnership Events include the
Elementary/Middle School Robotics on Saturday, May 21 at 10:00 am at Quincy
High School; the Community Service Learning Breakfast on May 24 at 9:00 am
at the Tirrell Room; the Student Athlete Summit on June 3 at Granite Links; and
the QPS Retirement Luncheon on June 7 at 11:30 am at the President’s Cafe.
The Little Mermaid is being produced by Broad Meadows Middle School on May
4 and 5 at 7:00 pm and also by Atlantic Middle School on May 5 and 6 at 7:00
pm and May 7 at 2:00 pm.
At the next School Committee meeting, graduating National Honor Society will
be recognized. The meeting will be at Central Middle School at 7:00 pm.
§
New Business
FY2017 Budget
Overview
Mayor Koch presented an overview of the FY2017 City of Quincy Budget, which
was also presented to City Council on May 2. City Council may make line item cuts
to any department with the exception of Quincy Public Schools. City Council
approves the bottom line funding for Quincy Public Schools. The education
budget will be presented to City Council on May 25.
The Quincy Public Schools appropriation from the City is just under $99 million,
scaled to meet contractual needs for step and level raises and provide level
services for all Quincy Public Schools students. Salary breakage from retirees will
be retained by Quincy Public Schools and the School Committee works together to
prioritize allocation of available funding. Additional funding is provided by grants
and other items in the city budget for Police, Public Buildings/Maintenance,
Department of Public Works, Debt Service, Parks, and employee benefits are
directed to Quincy Public Schools.
In addition, Mayor Koch presented a 5-Year Capital Improvement Plan to City
Council. Many of these capital investments are earmarked directly for Quincy
Public Schools, including technology, facilities upgrades, new buildings, and
transportation. For all facilities projects, Quincy works closely with the
Massachusetts School Building Authority and their grant programs. The capital
plan will next go into the City Council Finance Subcommittee for discussion.
§
New Business
High Needs Team
Director of English Language Learners Beth Hallett, Director of Elementary
Curriculum & Programs Erin Perkins, and Director of Special Education Judith
Todd formed the High Needs ELL team in 2014-2015 to serve the needs of High
Needs students in the Quincy Public Schools. High Needs students are those who
are at risk of educational failure or otherwise in need of special assistance or
support, due to factors such as low income, literacy below grade level, learning or
social and emotional disabilities, or being English Language Learners.
Mrs. Joanne Fox spoke about ELL students and their challenge of acquiring a new
language while learning new content. While it usually takes two years for
students to acquire social language fluency, it may take 5-7 years for academic
language acquisition. Many ELL students come from rural areas, with little or no
exposure to formal education. Other ELLs are born in the United States, but have
another home language and/or families with low literacy levels. Some ELLs may
have experienced trauma or have learning disabilities.
Ms. Todd said that the team incorporates the six principles of Special Education
law and the guidelines of appropriate evaluation when reviewing high needs
students for further interventions. Mrs. Perkins reviewed that the High Needs
team is an opportunity for teachers from different areas to come together to
articulate the goals for early intervention and identification, assessment, and
implementation of multiple services for children in this special population.
ELL, Special Education, Student Support, Literacy, Title I staff members make up
the team and in the first year, goals were created around sharing information,
processes, evaluation tools, and protocols. The final goal was to create a draft
document for information collection and identification of ELLs needing SPED
services in Grades K-5.
Key questions include (1) How does QPS identify learning disabilities in ELL
students? (2) How does Literacy Support integrate with Special Education and
ELL? (3) How can Title I services support ELL and Special Education? (4) What is
the progress monitoring process for all students, including High Needs ELL? (5)
How can Response to Intervention be incorporated as a model for intervention
with High Needs ELL students?
ELL teachers shared information about the WIDA English Language Proficiency
Levels: (1) Entering; (2) Emerging; (3) Developing; (4) Expanding; (5) Bridging;
and (6) Reaching. All ELL students take the ACCESS test in January to determine
levels and results are shared with parents. Literacy specialists shared the DIBELS
and DRA trends for ELL students and how to coordinate that information from
ACCESS assessments. Discussion focused on how to support students who were
not progressing. Special Education teachers and school psychologists use
Educational Assessments such as CTOPP, GORT-4, Woodcock Johnson III and
psychological assessments such as UNIT and WISC, but it is difficult to accurately
assess ELL students because of language barriers.
In the 2015-2016 school year, the team piloted the new QPS ELL Student
Information Forms at the five represented elementary schools with assessment,
reflection, and possible roll-out to all elementary schools in 2016-2017. The team
also provided a joint Professional Development workshop for system-wide ELL,
Literacy, and Special Education teachers at the elementary level. The team is also
investigating Response to Interventions that are most suitable to implement with
struggling English Language Learners.
The ELL Student Information Forms were collaboratively developed and Form 1 is
administered during the intake process for all new ELLs at Central Registration.
Form 2 is used to collect information for review at ILT meetings.
The result of this team is stronger collaboration between ELL, Special Education,
Literacy, Guidance, and regular education, ensuring participation in ILT meetings,
team meetings, data analysis, classroom observations to share best practices,
uniform procedures, and language. Development of IEP goals and benchmarks is
supported by the collaborative data gathered by the cross-functional ILTs.
Looking forward to 2016-2017, the High Needs ELL team will research
Interventions appropriate for ELLs and continue developing a protocol outlining
the RTI process for ELLs. The Team Organization will expand to include general
education teacher representatives and add representatives from the other six
elementary schools. Eventually, the initiative will expand to middle and high
school.
Mrs. Lebo asked about translations for the Special Education assessments. Ms.
Todd said the publishers don’t provide translated editions. Mrs. Lebo asked which
schools are involved, the four Title I schools (Lincoln Hancock, Clifford Marshall,
Parker, and Snug Harbor), plus Wollaston.
Ms. Isola thanked the presenters, noting that it is once again great to see the
collaboration. Ms. Isola asked about the vertical issues. Most participants are K-5
educators, hoping to extend to middle and high school.
Mrs. Mahoney asked about communication with ELL parents about Special
Education issues, this is a population typically not focused on advocation. Ms.
Hallett said that the collaboration begins with Central Registration, the ELLSIF1
form has been very valuable tool, allows parents to open up and for registrars to
present the importance of connection to school. Through our partnership with
QARI, QPS presents parenting workshops for families of ELL students with guest
speakers and pyschologists in a small group workshop format. Parents have the
opportunity to discuss the challenges of raising children in a foreign culture.
Mr. Bregoli said this is a great starting point for assisting families. He asked about
South Cove, they are our partners for Vietnamese language speakers. Mr. Bregoli
asked if academic language acquisition takes 5-7 years, how do the staff know if a
Grade 2 or 3 student needs Special Education interventions. Ms. Todd said each
student is discussed at ILTs, failure to make incremental progress often an
indicator of other interventions being needed.
Dr. DeCristofaro recognized the teamwork and collaboration presented here
tonight, creating a culture of research-based discussion, sharing with colleagues.
Very proud of the outstanding, caring professional staff. Thanks to this team for
blending these sometimes very different worlds.
§
New Business
School Choice (Vote)
Mayor Koch made a motion for Quincy Public Schools to withdraw from the
obligation to enroll non-resident students in the Quincy Public Schools for the
2016-2017 academic year. Mrs. Lebo seconded the motion and on a roll call vote,
the ayes have it 7-0.
§
New Business
Out of State Travel
Mayor Koch made a motion to approve the Out of State Travel of Atherton Hough
Elementary School Grade 5 to Canobie Lake Park, Salem, New Hampshire on June
17, 2016. Ms. Isola seconded the motion and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.
Mayor Koch made a motion to approve the Out of State Travel of Montclair
Elementary School Grade 5 to Canobie Lake Park, Salem, New Hampshire on June
15, 2016. Mrs. Hubley seconded the motion and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.
§
Additional Business
Mrs. Mahoney asked for Hiring Procedures to be placed on a future agenda.
Mrs. Mahoney asked for additional information on the Atherton Hough class size
issue.
Mrs. Mahoney asked for the amended Opportunities & Challenges presentation.
Dr. DeCristofaro said Additional Business is for emergency items.
As a point of information, Mayor Koch said that School Committee members may
call Dr. DeCristofaro to request agenda items. Bringing up items under Additional
Business is putting School Committee at risk of violation Open Meeting law.
Mrs. Mahoney said this is a request for information, not an attempt to discuss, so
not jeopardy of Open Meeting law.
Mayor Koch said it is clear than none of these items are Additional Business, these
can be agenda items on subsequent agendas or subcommittee meetings.
§
Communications
Upcoming meetings were announced: Regular Meetings on May 18, 2016 at
Central Middle School and June 15, 2016 at the Coddington Building, both at 7:00
pm; Subcommittee Meetings for Budget & Finance Subcommittee on Wednesday,
May 11, 2016 and Tuesday, May 17, 2016 at 5:00 pm; Special Education on
Wednesday, May 25, 2016 at 6:00 pm.
§
Reports of
Subcommittees
Mr. Bregoli noted that all Subcommittee meeting minutes are posted online at
www.quincypublicschools.com.
Special Education
Subcommittee
Mrs. Mahoney reviewed the Special Education Subcommittee meetings of March
23, 2016 and April 6, 2016. Both meetings focused on the dyslexia legislation
currently in committee in the Massachusetts House and Senate. Ms. Todd and
Mrs. Perkins reviewed assessments and interventions. Parents shared
information of their involvement with the legislative process and will work with
the Superintendent and Leadership Team to develop parent education
opportunities.
Ms. Isola reviewed the Teaching & Learning Subcommittee meeting, where
reflections on two initiatives were shared: the Elementary School Report Card
for Grades 1-5 and the Advanced Placement Pathways for Grades 6-12.
Subcommittee Meeting
Minutes Approved
The minutes of the March 23, 2016 and April 6, 2016 Special Education
Subcommittee Meeting minutes were accepted as amended. As there were no
corrections to the meeting minutes for the May 2, 2016 Teaching & Learning
Subcommittee Meeting, the minutes were approved as presented.
§
Executive Session
Mayor Koch made a motion for School Committee to go to Executive Session for
the purpose of contract negotiations at 9:00 p.m. Mrs. Hubley seconded the
motion and on a roll call vote, the ayes have it, 7-0. Mr. Bregoli noted that School
Committee would be reconvening after Executive Session.
§
School Committee returned to regular session at 9:15 pm.
MOA with QPS
Paraprofessional Unit
Mayor Koch made a motion to approve the Memorandum of Agreement between
the Quincy School Committee and the Quincy Public Schools Paraprofessional
Unit SEIU Local 888. Mrs. Lebo seconded the motion and on a roll call vote, the
ayes have it, 7-0.
§
Adjournment
Mayor Koch made a motion to adjourn for the evening at 9:20 p.m. The motion
was seconded by Mr. DeAmicis and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.