Minutes
Quincy, Massachusetts – May 17, 2017
Regular Meeting of the Quincy School Committee
Regular Meeting
A regular meeting of the Quincy School Committee was held on Wednesday,
May 17, 2017 at the Central Middle School at 6:30 p.m. The Superintendent called
the roll and present were School Committee Chairman Mayor Thomas Koch,
Mr. James DeAmicis, Mrs. Kathryn Hubley, Ms. Barbara Isola, Mrs. Emily Lebo,
Mrs. Anne Mahoney and Mr. Paul Bregoli, Vice Chair.
Vice Chair Presiding
Also present were: Dr. Richard DeCristofaro, Secretary; Ms. Laura Owens,
Clerk; Mr. Michael Draicchio, Ms. Mollie Good, Ms. Beth Hallett, Mr. James
Mullaney, Deputy Superintendent Kevin Mulvey, Mrs. Maura Papile, Ms. Cara
Pekarcik, Mrs. Erin Perkins, Ms. Madeline Roy, Mr. Keith Segalla, Mr. Robert
Shaw, Mr. Lawrence Taglieri; Quincy Education Association President Allison
Cox; Citywide Parents Council Co-Presidents Scott Alessandro and Courtney
Perdios; and Quincy Parent Advisory Council to Special Education Board
Members Debby Nabstedt and Cassandra Beck.
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There was a moment of silence in memory of Ms. Lottie Mahoney, Teacher at
Great Hill, Snug Harbor, and Atherton Hough Elementary School for 40 years and
Mr. Joseph Ryan, Math Teacher at Central Junior High School for many years.
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Regular Meeting Minutes Approved
5.3.2017
Mrs. Hubley made a motion, seconded by Ms. Isola to approve the Regular
Meeting minutes for May 3, 2017. On a voice vote, the ayes have it.
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Open Forum
Mr. Scott Alessandro thanked Principals Nicholas Ahearn, Maureen MacNeil,
Lawrence Taglieri and Senior Director of Student Support Services Maura Papile
for the presentation on Transitions at the most recent Citywide Parent Council
Meeting. Mr. Alessandro then spoke about four areas to consider for additional
budget support: Middle School Library Media (additional positions to ensure full
coverage for all grades at all schools), Technical support (to address the growing
use of technology in classrooms and for assessment), Elementary Library Support
(refocus on technology), and Dual Enrollment (QPS support for tuition/fees to
increase the number of student opportunities).
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Superintendent's
Report
Dr. DeCristofaro opened the Superintendent’s Report by recognizing Ms. Cara
Pekarcik, recently named as the Massachusetts Teacher of the Year for 2018.
Mayor Koch said that Ms. Pekarcik represents all the best of Quincy Public Schools,
and has brought well-deserved recognition to North Quincy High School and the
whole city.
National Honor Society Advisors Mollie Good (Quincy High School) and Cara
Pekarcik (North Quincy High School) then introduced the graduating Senior
members of the National Honor Society. The following students were recognized:
Yusra Ahmed, Kayla Ahrens, Noor Al-Saad, Yaseen Alkhafaji, Emily Barker, Lucia
Buzzell, Bailee Carey, Jessica Chen, Gary Chi, Joanne Chung, Sammy Cordahi,
Alexander Cox, Brianne Dane, Abdelrahman Elhashash, Isabelle Flaherty, Anthony
Fong, Emma Fuchs, Maeve Hernon, Amy Huang, Alexander Huynh, Emilia Kapcia,
Maysoon Khan, Jason Kung, Man Ching Lam, Tien Lam, Jessie Lei, Emily Li, Daniel
Liang, Alex Liu, Zhi Yang Luo, Judy Luu, Vanessa Ly, Owen Lynch, Alexandra
MacPherson, Colin Maloney, Harold Marcheski, Michelle Mark, Shauna McColgan,
Brigham McKee, Tianettie McKeen, Theresa McMillen, Alicia Murphy, Amanda Ngo,
Minhthu Nguyen, Tara Nguyen, James O’Leary, Imane Oubtrou, Danielle Parry,
Linda Phung, Margaret Powers, Joelle Robinson, Liam Rogers, Jacqueline Ryan,
Ethan Sit, Paolo Soares, Michael Soohoo, Shaheen Soto, Stephanie Stalder, Alissa
Tam, Quan Thi, Yvonne To, Kristen Tran, Thomas Tran, Vincent Tran, Nhi Truong,
Wilson Wong, Yashi Xu, Andy Zhen, Mona Zheng, Joey Zhuo, Wendy Zhou, Rachel Zisk
Dr. DeCristofaro praised the students for their accomplishments, their parents for
all the support, and their teachers and principals for nurturing their talents. Mrs.
Mahoney, Mr. DeAmicis, and Mr. Bregoli also thanked the students and told them
of our pride and hopes for their future.
After a brief recess, Superintendent DeCristofaro resumed his Report. At last
night’s Quincy Retired Teachers Association Scholarship Ceremony, over $75,000
was awarded to 37 graduating Seniors. Yesterday was the final Mentor Team
meeting of the year, over 60 professional staff mentors and proteges under the
leadership of Principal James Hennessy and Senior Curriculum Director Madeline
Roy. Thanks also to NAGE for their annual donation of $10,000 to support the
Mentor program.
For MSBA Projects, Dr. DeCristofaro and members of the Sterling Middle School
project team met with Sterling staff on May 9, answered questions about summer
construction and changes for Fall 2017 when construction will be underway.
Accelerated Repair Program projects are scheduled to start on June 27 at
Beechwood Knoll (windows, doors, roof, boiler room). Representatives from the
Public Buildings Department presented at the Beechwood Knoll PTO meeting last
night. Additional classroom space will be created within the Sawyer Center to
address projected enrollment at Beechwood Knoll over the summer.
Upcoming Quincy School~Community Partnership Events include the Elementary
& Middle School Robotics Challenge at Quincy High School on May 20; the
Community Service Learning Celebration on May 31; the Student Athlete Summit
on June 2 at the Tirrell Room; and the Quincy Public Schools Staff Retirement
Lunch on June 8, sponsored by Quincy Education Association. The Spring edition
of the Partnership Newsletter was shared with School Committee
Upcoming Quincy Public Schools events include a presentation on Effective
Strategies for Students with Anxiety by Jessica Minihan on May 22; the Welcome
to Kindergarten Parent Academy on May 23 at Central Middle School; the
Middle School Chorus Festival at Central Middle School on May 25; and the
Health & Wellness Symposium for Principals, Assistant Principals, Health
Educators & Interventionists, Food Services, Physical Education on June 7.
Monclair Elementary School PTO is hosting the annual May Festival on Saturday,
May 20 and Bernazzani Elementary School PTO is hosting a Spring Fair on
Saturday, June 3.
The Quincy Public Schools Summer Scene Brochure was shared with School
Committee; it is posted online on www.quincypublicschools.com and was sent out
to families via email.
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Old Business
There was no Old Business on the agenda.
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New Business
FY2018 Quincy Public
Schools Budget
Superintendent DeCristofaro and Director of Business James Mullaney presented
the FY2018 Quincy Public Schools budget, reviewing the positions and additional
funding added over the last four years: 18 new professional positions have been
added, Middle School Technical Education and Library have been reinstated; class
sizes have remained favorable; Special Education, English Learner Education,
Literacy, Student Support, and Health Services have all seen growth. From the
city’s Capital Improvement Plan, Quincy Public Schools has seen significant
investments with $850,000 in Technology and $500,000 for Transportation; QPS
will also benefit from city upgrades for fiber optics and telephone systems still to
come.
The Mayor’s FY2018 appropriation of $105,875,951 is a 2.91% increase over
previous year’s budget. Circuit Breaker funding is expected to grow by $400,000.
This level-services budget allows Quincy Public Schools to meet all contractual
obligations for the 2017-2018 school year, including percentage raises and step
and level increases. $1,233,962 is available to address class size, academic
programs, academic support, non-academic support, academic expenses, and non-academic expenses.
For Academic Classroom Teachers, the proposal is to add 2 classroom teachers for
class size (Grade 4 at Lincoln Hancock and Clifford Marshall). At the same time,
retirements and leaves of absence will remove 4 positions (1 elementary, 2 middle
school, 1 high school). A 0.5 position increase will ensure Tech Engineering for all
middle school students in Grades 6-8 and Grade 5 at Point Webster and Sterling.
For Academic Program Teachers, the proposal is to add 2.0 ELL teachers
(Beechwood Knoll and Quincy High School) and 2.0 Middle School Library/Media
specialist to complete restoration of program, each middle school will have full
library support. In addition, a 0.3 position for General Music will assist with
additional elementary class sections. A 1.0 position will be added for Special
Education at Quincy High School, and through re-allocation of staff, a new PreKindergarten CARES class at Della Chiesa ECC will be established.
For Academic Support, the proposal is to add to one nurse to assist with caseload
at Clifford Marshall, Lincoln Hancock, and Parker. For ELL, an additional ELL aide
and increased funding for translators are also proposed. No changes to NonAcademic Support are proposed beyond Contractual Obligations. For the
Subsidized Services accounts, no changes are recommended to the fees for
Transportation, Building Rentals, or Athletics. For Food Services, the
recommendation is to raise lunch prices to $2.50 for elementary school, $2.75 for
middle school, and $3.00 for high school.
For Academic Expenses, Special Education tuitions are expected to rise by
$1,000,000, which will be partly offset by an anticipated increase of $400,000 in
Circuit Breaker funding. Also proposed is an increase of Assessment funding of
$35,000. Software line would increase by $130,000 for Baseline Edge, Aspen, and
Instant Alert.
For Non-Academic Expenses, decreases in electricity, fuel, telephone, gasoline,
postage will offset increases for Special Education transportation and student
furniture.
Mrs. Mahoney asked whether the decrease in the electricity budget line item is
conservative. Mr. Mullaney agreed, saying that this is early days on the solar
panels being operational. Mrs. Mahoney asked to see a reconciliation of what has
not been restored from the budget cuts of 10 years ago.
Mrs. Lebo said that she is thrilled to see the increased positions for Middle School
Library Media and Tech Engineering, full services for all students. If there is
additional savings to be allocated, Mrs. Lebo would like to see $30,000 spent on
extending the MAP Assessments to all middle school grades.
Mrs. Lebo made a motion to increase lunch costs as recommended and Mrs.
Hubley seconded the motion. On a roll call vote, the ayes have it, 7-0.
As there was no further discussion needed on the FY2018 Budget, Mrs. Lebo made
a motion to move the FY2018 Quincy Public Schools Budget forward to the Public
Hearing on May 31. Mrs. Hubley seconded the motion and on a voice vote, the
ayes have it.
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New Business
Partnering with
the Landmark School
Director of Special Education Erin Perkins presented on the collaboration between
Quincy Public Schools and the Landmark School. The collaboration began in
2011-2012 school year, with the Landmark Writing Workshop for all Elementary
and Middle School Special Education teachers. In the 2012-2013 school year,
Landmark presented a Study Skills/Executive Functioning Workshop for Middle
and High School Special Education Teachers. In the 2013-2014 school year, the
Landmark Writing Workshop was attended by all Literacy Specialists, EL
Teachers, and Elementary Special Education Teachers. For the 2014-2015 school
year, the collaboration grew to include working with Landmark Consultant Caitlin
Parker. Over the last three years, Ms. Parker has worked with the Elementary and
Middle School Language Development Teachers and middle school site-based
teams to support Executive Functioning.
Landmark Writing, although developed for students with language-based
disabilities, has been successfully used in English Learner classrooms as well.
Landmark Writing uses explicit instruction to introduce new concepts, uses
sentence hierarchy, integrates picture support, vocabulary building, and
encourages theme development.
Senior Director of Student Support Services Maura Papile presented on the
collaboration with Landmark about executive functioning, the cognitive
management system of the brain. In the middle school grades, support for
students in managing the tasks of daily life is crucial. Support for executive
functioning is built around self-awareness building, managing focus, materials,
and time. The middle school Health Educators are also working with students on
coping with anxiety, self-assessment, and supporting parents and teachers in
establishing learning and home environments. Teachers and parents can create
expectations and routines, learn about consistent follow-through on consequences
in a consistent way, rewarding positive results, acknowledging challenges, and
giving constructive feedback and praise.
Working with middle school Guidance Counselors, a Parent Academy will be
planned next fall on how to assist and support students in creating a growth
mindset. Senior Curriculum Director Madeline Roy said that this is part of the
Grades K-8 District Professional Development plan. All the work to create solid
curriculum is for naught if students are disorganized and not prepared to learn.
Next steps are for middle school teams to design an implementation plan for next
year, continuing our partnership with Landmark through Professional
Development, Site Visits, and Coaching. Spring 2018 check-ins are planned.
Mr. Bregoli thanked the presenters. Mrs. Lebo said she is thrilled to see this
collaboration, both for the writing and the executive functioning.
Mr. Bregoli asked about students currently attending Landmark. 10 students
attend this program. Mr. Bregoli asked if ultimately the goal would be for teachers
to be able to meet the needs of the students in QPS. Mrs. Perkins said that is
always the first goal, but students sometimes need the extra support of this type of
outside placement.
Mrs. Mahoney thanked Mrs. Perkins, this presentation shows the progress of this
collaboration over time. There will always be students in need of the special
offerings at these outside placement, but seeing that our teachers are expanding
their tools to meet the needs of these students as much as possible. We are
stressing our students through the amount of assessment they face, glad we are
addressing this and supporting students.
Dr. DeCristofaro said this type of Professional Development that goes across many
roles in the school system is important in addressing our student needs.
§
New Business
Out of State Travel
(One Day)
Mr. DeAmicis made a motion to approve the Out of State Travel (One Day) of
Atherton Hough Elementary School Grade 5 to Canobie Lake Park, Salem, New
Hampshire on June 14, 2017. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Hubley and on a
voice vote, the ayes have it.
§
Additional Business
Mr. Bregoli asked for School Committee’s indulgence to consider an additional Out
of State Travel request as an item under Additional Business.
Mrs. Hubley made a motion to approve the Out of State Travel (One Day) of
Wollaston Elementary School Grade 5 to Canobie Lake Park, Salem, New
Hampshire on June 19, 2017. The motion was seconded by Mr. DeAmicis and on a
voice vote, the ayes have it.
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Communications
Upcoming meetings were announced: School Committee on June 14, 2017 at 6:30
pm at the Coddington Building. The FY2018 Quincy Public Schools Budget Public
Hearing is May 31, 2017 at 6:00 pm.
Upcoming Subcommittee meetings were announced: Special Education will meet
on May 24, 2017 at 6:00 pm., and the Athletics Subcommittee will meet on June 5,
2017 at 5:00 pm.
Mrs. Lebo requested that the Resource Fair be added to the Special Education
Subcommittee meeting for discussion.
Ms. Isola left the meeting at 8:00 pm.
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Reports of
Subcommittees
Mr. Bregoli noted that all School Committee and Subcommittee meeting minutes
are posted online at www.quincypublicschools.com.
Facilities & Security
Mrs. Hubley reported on the May 8, 2017 Facilities & Security Subcommittee
which featured a presentation on the Massachusetts School Building Authority
Accelerated Repair Program Boiler replacement projects planned for Atherton
Hough, Beechwood Knoll, Merrymount, and Wollaston Elementary Schools.
As there were no corrections, the minutes for the May 8, 2017 Facilities & Security
Subcommittee meeting, the minutes were approved as presented.
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Athletics
Mayor Koch reported on the May 8, 2017 Athletics Subcommittee. This inaugural
meeting focused on Athletics as it relates to Budget and participation and a list of
topics for further discussion was generated.
As there were no corrections, the minutes for the May 8, 2017 Athletics
Subcommittee meeting, the minutes were approved as presented.
§
Mrs. Lebo reported on the May 10, 2017 and May 16, 2017 Budget & Finance,
noting these meetings were covered in the presentation earlier in this meeting.
As there were no corrections, the minutes for the May 10, 2017 and May 16, 2017
Budget & Finance Subcommittee meetings were approved as presented.
§
Executive Session
Agreement with the
QPS Security Force
Association
Mayor Koch made a motion to go to Executive Session for the purpose of Contract
Negotiations at 8:15 p.m, noting that School Committee will return to Regular
Session. Mrs. Hubley seconded the motion and on a roll call vote, the ayes have it,
6-0. Ms. Isola was absent.
School Committee returned to Regular Session at 8:25 p.m.
Mayor Koch made a motion to approve the agreement between the Quincy School
Committee and the Quincy Public Schools Security Force Association. Mr.
DeAmicis seconded the motion and on a roll call vote, the ayes have it 6-0. Ms.
Isola was absent.
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Adjournment
Mayor Koch made a motion to adjourn for the evening at 8:30 p.m. The motion
was seconded by Mrs. Hubley and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.