May 3, 2023 School Committee Meeting

May 3, 2023 School Committee Meeting
Posted on 05/01/2023
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Agenda

Regular Meeting of the Quincy School Committee

Wednesday, May 3, 2023, 6:30 pm
City Council Chambers, Historic City Hall

I. Approval of Minutes:

A. Regular Meeting Minutes for April 5, 2023

B. Executive Session Minutes for April 5, 2023

II. Open Forum: An opportunity for community input regarding the Quincy Public Schools. Community in this context is defined as a resident of the City of Quincy, a parent of a student who attends the Quincy Public Schools, or an employee of the Quincy Public Schools. Non-community persons not permitted to speak at Open Forum may submit written statements to the School Committee. After giving his or her name and address, each speaker may make a presentation of no more than four minutes to the School Committee. An individual may not exchange their time or yield to others.
Interested parties may also submit written statements to: [email protected].

III. Superintendent’s Report

A. Student Recognitions: Class of 2023 National Honor Society

B. Elementary & Middle School Spring Concerts

C. Recent QPS Events

D. Upcoming QPS & City Events

IV. Old Business:

A. 2023-2024 QPS School Year Calendar (VOTE) - Mr. Bregoli

B. Proposed Revision of School Committee Policy Book Section 5.2.3 Emergency Closings (VOTE) - Mr. Bregoli

V. New Business:

A. QPS Summer Programs - Ms. Perkins, Ms. Roy

B. QHS NEASC Report - Superintendent Mulvey

C. South Shore Educational Collaborative Board Representative - Superintendent Mulvey

D. Grant: $32,000.00 for the ST Math Program for Point Webster & South~West Grades 5 and 6 - Superintendent Mulvey

E. QPS Emergency Response Plans - Mr. Gutro For referral for the Facilities, Security & Transportation Subcommittee

F. Out of State Travel (One Day) (VOTE): Broad Meadows Middle School Grade 8 to Canobie Lake Park, Salem, New Hampshire on June 16, 2023. - Superintendent Mulvey

G. Memorandum of Agreement with the SEIU Local 888 Quincy Paraprofessionals Union (VOTE) - Mr. Santoro

VI. Additional Business:

VII. Communications:

A. Upcoming School Committee Meetings: May 17, 2023 and June 14, 2023 at 6:30 pm at the Coddington Building.

B. Upcoming Subcommittee Meetings (at the Coddington Building):

  • May 24, 2023 beginning at 6:00 pm: FY2024 Budget & Finance, followed by Facilities, Security & Transportation and Special Education.

  • May 31, 2023 beginning at 6:00 pm: FY2024 Budget Public Hearing, followed by Teaching & Learning and Policy.

VIII. Reports of Subcommittees:

A. Quarterly Budget & Finance Subcommittee: Mayor Koch to report on the April 26, 2023 meeting.

B. Teaching & Learning Subcommittee: Mrs. Lebo to report on the April 26, 2023 meeting.

C. Policy: Mr. Bregoli to report on the April 26, 2023 meeting.

  IX. Executive Session: Contract Negotiations

X. Adjournment:

 

 

Minutes

Quincy, MASSACHUSETTS – May 3, 2023
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Regular Meeting of the Quincy School Committee

Regular Meeting

Vice-Chair Presiding

A meeting of the Quincy School Committee was held on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 6:30 p.m. in the City Council Chambers of Historic City Hall. Superintendent Kevin Mulvey called the roll and present were Mayor Thomas P. Koch, School Committee Chair, and School Committee Members Mr. Paul Bregoli, Mrs. Tina Cahill, Mr. Douglas Gutro, Mrs. Kathryn Hubley, Mrs. Emily Lebo, and Mr. Frank Santoro, Vice Chair.

Also present were: Superintendent Kevin Mulvey, Assistant Superintendent Erin Perkins, Ms. Lauren Abbott, Ms. Kim Connolly, Ms. Allison Cox, Mr. Michael Draicchio, Mr. Keith Ford, Mr. Dan Gilbert, Ms. Kerriann Hart, Ms. Sara Levine, Mr. James Mullaney, Ms. Maura Papile, Ms. Madeline Roy, Mr. Keith Segalla, Mr. Larry Taglieri; and Ms. Laura Owens, Clerk.

A moment of silence was observed former Quincy Public Schools employees who passed away recently: Constance Ryan, a school nurse for four years and David To, English Learners educator for 20 years at Quincy High School.

Mr. Santoro read the following statement into the record: Pursuant to the Open Meeting Law, any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or may transmit the meeting through any medium. Attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or transmissions are being made whether perceived or unperceived by those present and are deemed acknowledged and permissible.

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Approval of Minutes

Mrs. Hubley made a motion to approve the minute of the Regular Meeting for April 5, 2023. Mrs. Lebo seconded the motion and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.

Mrs. Cahill made a motion to approve the minutes of the Executive Session for April 5, 2023. Mr. Gutro seconded the motion and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.

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Superintendent’s Report

Class of 2023 National Honor Society

Mrs. Lebo made a motion to take the Agenda out of order and move to the Superintendent’s Report. Mrs. Hubley seconded the motion and on a roll call vote, the ayes have it. 7-0.

Superintendent Mulvey recognized the 128 members of the Class of 2023 National Honor Society from North Quincy High School and Quincy High School. All of these students merit special recognition for maintaining their academic performance during the challenges of the last few years. The students are accompanied by their advisors Lauren Abbott and Kerriann Hart and Principal Dan Gilbert from North Quincy High School and advisor Sara Levine and Principal Keith Ford from Quincy High School.

From Quincy High School: Amira Aitsaid, Onuchi Olamba, Sarah Alberione, Zaila Alves, Jason Au-Duong, Matt Bartkus, Madeline Baryza, Victoria Bentley, Jayda Berry, Kayla Blatcher, Marissa Cakuli, Caroline Campbell, Audrey Capone, Vanessa Chan, Aliciana Charbonier, Kenny Chen, Charles Coffey, Rebekah Dang, Catharine Demopoulos, Xingwen Deng, Mary Doherty, Jouri Elsadek, Kloee Gora, Kaitlym Gough, Brandon Hibbard, Huy Ho, Paige Holleman, Bonnie Huang, Sophia Huang, Ronak Jahangirian, Sarah Kabay, Alexandria Kane, Brianna Keddy, Shubham Kumar, Aden Le, Tiffany Le, Josephine Leung, Ruby Levine, Tess Louzan, Meidong Ma, Deekshita Madhalam, William McCoy, Yu Fan Mei, Ariel Nguyen, Casey Nguyen, Dante Nguyen, Emily Nguyen, Katherine Nguyen, Lena Nguyen, Lillian Nguyen, Nhi Nguyen, Sophia Nguyen, Tranh Nhu, Delia Nichol, Thomas O’Neil, Angela Pham, Kelly Phu, Dheeraj Aravind Prakash Viswanath, Victoria Rak, Jamie Sansouci, Annika Schmitt, Elham Shah, Sadeq Shareef, Reese Smith, Max Spendlove, Sam Spendlove, Brynn Toler, Caroline Tracey, Anna Tran, Katrina Tran, Steven Tran, Samuel Traynor, Kaitlyn Vo, Almona Vojkollari, Skyla Whelan, William Wismar, Anna Zheng

From North Quincy High School: Nathan Caldwell, Anson (Yuet Tang) Chan, Helen Chen, Jessica Chen, Justin Chen, Vanessa Chen, Anthony Cheung, Erica Cheung, Ava Coffey, Dominique Dang, Julian De Jesus, Maya Egan, Nicholas Enbar-Salo, Urangoo Enkhjargal, Linda Gao, Ashna Guha, Ira Habiba, Sue (Van) Hoang, Megan Huang, Elton Huynh, Katie Jiang, Michaela Lam, Kayla Lew, Alex Li, Ivan Li, Jason Li, Hedy Lin, Keyi Lin, Amy Lu, Melanie Moy, Nicholas Moy, Grant Murphy, Catherine (Cate) Murray, Mollie Nelson, Sophie Nerine, Isaac Ng, Mia Pecevich, John (Jack) Pickering, Madeline Power, Alexander Stankov, Maxwell Toomey, Antonie Tran, Lily Tran, Kaitlyn Vu, Stella Wong, Isabelle Wu, Josie Wu, Sophia Xie, Amy Zheng, Ciney (Zixi) Zheng, Elaina Zou

After a brief recess, School Committee reconvened and returned to the order of the agenda.

Open Forum

Student Tyler Lam spoke in support of recognizing Lunar New Year as a Quincy Public Schools holiday. Parents Bartholemew Jae, Kate Campbell, Esther Lee, Scott Alessandro, Erin McCoy, Courtney Perdios, Truc Lai, Albert Lee, also spoke in favor of Lunar New Year being recognized as a holiday.

Ms. Owens read letters submitted to the School Committee Open Forum email account from parents and community members: Susan Chinsen, Man Cheuk Lam, Mai Du, Grace Young-Jae, Kristin Perry, Samson Lee, Heather McDuffus, Andrea So, Thuy Leung, Andrea Reiff, Ben Hires, Annie Trieu, Kim Gillis, Jessica King, and City Councillor At-Large Nina Liang.

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Old Business

2023-2024 School Year Calendar

Mr. Gutro made a motion to take the agenda out of order and move to Old Business Item A. The motion was seconded by Mrs. Lebo and on a roll call vote, the ayes have it, 7-0.

Mr. Bregoli reviewed that the 2023-2034 Quincy Public Schools School Year Calendar is on the agenda for vote.

Mr. Gutro made a motion to approve the 2023-2024 QPS School Year Calendar as presented. Mrs. Hubley seconded the motion.

On the motion, Mr. Gutro asked for clarification about the changes between this year’s calendar and last year. Ms. Owens clarified that Election Day is a no school day and that a list of cultural and religious holidays was added to the calendar.

Mr. Gutro said that the city has welcomed immigrant groups from all over the world without previously creating additional holidays. The changes to this year’s calendar indicate that all cultures and religions are treated equitably. If holidays are established, there needs to be a process for re-evaluating demographics. Creating an additional school holiday would create a hardship for parents who would be required to work that day. Mr. Gutro asked how we can ensure schools respect these dates in terms of scheduling, Superintendent Mulvey said that he will work with school principals and the Athletic Director to ensure compliance.

Mrs. Hubley thanked Mr. Gutro for his thoughtful words, supports the calendar format.

Mrs. Cahill noted that the first day of the Lunar New Year is a Saturday in 2024, so should not be a consideration for the next school year. Mrs. Cahill is concerned that students have missed school due to COVID over the last few years.

Mrs. Lebo thanked Mr. Gutro, his words reflected her thoughts. The City is supportive of the many cultures, does not agree with singling out a particular culture in contrast to others.

Mayor Koch asked for clarification on which school districts observe Lunar New Year, Brookline observes when the date falls during the week. Mayor Koch suggested adopting the calendar as is for next year and conduct a calendar survey of parents to determine the wishes of the community.

Mr. Santoro apologized to the students and parents who attended the Policy Subcommittee where there was no discussion, the parents who will have to call in for an excused absence, and the students who will have to choose between attending school and observing this holiday. Mr. Santoro thanked student Angela Chen for organizing petition with 1200 signatures.

Mr. Santoro asked for someone to make a motion to amend the calendar to include Friday, February 9 as a holiday. Seeing none, the Superintendent called the roll on the original motion.

On a roll call vote, the ayes have it 6-1. Mr. Santoro voted NO.

School Committee moved back to the Superintendent’s Report.

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Superintendent’s Report

A preliminary schedule for elementary, middle, and high school concerts was shared with School Committee. The schedule will be updated as additional dates are scheduled. Calendar invitations will be sent to School Committee to attend events as their schedules permit.

Superintendent Mulvey reviewed recent Quincy Public Schools events: Last Friday, over 700 students from Point Webster, South~West, and Central Middle Schools were recognized by the Boston Celtics/Arbella Insurance Foundation for high performance on the All-Star Program writing and art contests and perfect attendance. Thanks to Executive Director Keith Segalla who coordinated the program with principals Christine Barrett, Rick DeCristofaro, and Courtney Mitchell and the school staffs.

The Quincy High School History Bowl team has returned from a successful weekend at the National Competition in Washington, D.C. The competition included 95 varsity teams and 54 JV teams from 38 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. Seniors Yu Fan Mei, Dheeraj Prakash, and Liam McCoy, and Freshman Eddie Giza were excited to bring the team back to the competition for the first time since 2018. With a record of 7/10, the Quincy High School team earned the Varsity Afternoon Group Champion award. Eddie Giza, the Massachusetts Junior Varsity History Bee Champion, also participated in the Junior Varsity National History Bee on Sunday. Thank you to Quincy High School History Teacher James Ikeda for working with the students throughout the season.

Superintendent Mulvey then reviewed upcoming Quincy Public Schools and City of Quincy events:

  • Quincy High School Fashion Show, Thursday, May 4 at 7:00 pm in the Lloyd Hill Auditorium

  • Cleaner Greener Quincy, Saturday, May 6 from 9:00 am to noon at school and park sites throughout the city

  • ELPAC Meeting, Thursday, May 11 at 6:00 pm on Zoom

  • Quincy Multicultural Festival, Saturday, May 13 from noon to 4:00 pm at Fore River Field

  • Swing on the Common, Saturday, May 13 from 2:00 to 5:00 pm on the Hancock Adams Common

  • QPS Robotics Challenge for Grades 5-8, Saturday, May 20 at Quincy High School beginning at 9:00 am

  • Montclair Elementary School May Festival, Saturday, May 20, from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

  • QPS Community Fitness Night for students in Kindergarten through Grade 5, Tuesday, May 23 at 6:00 pm at Veterans Memorial Stadium

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Old Business

Revision to Policy Book Section 5.2.3

Mrs. Lebo made a motion to approve the revision of School Committee Policy Book 5.2.3 Emergency Closings. Mrs. Hubley seconded the motion and on a roll call vote, the ayes have it 7-0.

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New Business

2023 QPS Summer Programs

Assistant Superintendent Erin Perkins and Senior Director of Student Support Services Madeline Roy presented an overview of the 2023 Quincy Public Schools Summer Programs. Thanks to Mayor Koch and School Committee for fully funding this robust summer program to provide important academic and social-emotional support and enrichment for our students. Elementary school programs that will run for four weeks in July include Bridge to Reading & Mathematics (academic support, by invitation) and Quest for Learning (enrichment activities in the humanities and STEM). For middle school, programs include Summer Boost (academic support for essential prerequisite skills, by invitation); Hands-On Math (enrichment); Summer STEM Academy (enrichment); and a possible two-week drama program (still in planning stages). For high school students, the Summer Pathways to Success provide the opportunity for credit recovery; Ladders 2 Success for Grade 8 students transitioning to high school; Summer YouthWorks to provide workplace experience in public, private, and non-profit organizations within Quincy; and Early College High School Pathway Summer Institute (free tuition, fees, textbooks, and materials).

For students with disabilities, the Learning Center Pre-Kindergarten program will be at the Della Chiesa Early Childhood Center and for Grades K-12 at South~West Middle School. Transitional Kindergarten students are invited to a continuation of the program at Clifford Marshall, along with the Language Development program for Grades 1-8. English Learners have the opportunity to participate in Camp Can Do (emerging EL students in elementary school) and SWELL Academy for middle school students, focused on Science and Social Studies with local history and natural resources as the focus.

Social-Emotional learning is embedded in all programs through guidance staff support, Calm Classroom, BOKS, and confidence boosts and peer connections. Quincy Public Schools is partnering with Quincy Asian Resources and Walker Therapeutics on the Living Out Loud groups for middle and high school students. The Summer Feeding program will be serving lunch for the months of July and August at Parker, Snug Harbor, Montclair, and Lincoln Hancock Elementary Schools and the Ward 2 Clubhouse.

Staffing for the summer programs is underway, facilitators have been selected and educators are encouraged to apply for positions. Summer program information will begin to be shared with families in the QPS Community Notices email blast; schools are sending invitations for the selected students.

Mr. Bregoli asked which businesses are participating in the YouthWorks program. Mr. Segalla said the YMCA, the City of Quincy, Stop & Shop, Shaws, the Quincy Art Association, Quincy College, the Chamber of Commerce and we are looking to recruit additional partners.

Mr. Gutro asked about the demand and funding for the Summer programs. Ms. Perkins said that families are very interested in the programs, we began the staffing process earlier this year. ESSER funding is being used for the program costs. Mr. Gutro asked about programs that had low enrollment and were discontinued. Ms. Perkins said the high school EL and Bridge to High School programs had low interest.

Mrs. Hubley asked about how parents will be informed. Ms. Perkins said the information will be posted online on Friday and signup will begin on May 8. Invitation-based programs will be sent out next week; Special Education program invitations have gone out.

Mrs. Lebo suggested considering literacy supports for students in their native languages, even for younger students. As students become fluent in English, they may be losing their bilingual skills.

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New Business

QHS NEASC Report

Superintendent Mulvey reviewed that the NEASC report for Quincy High School was shared with School Committee. Ms. Perkins thanked the Quincy High School Steering Committee for the work done to prepare for the NEASC Assessment process, beginning with the self-analysis and report, followed by the Collaborative Conference (visit by NEASC and interviews of students, staff, parents, administrators). The next steps are for the Quincy High School staff to develop an improvement plan and work through that over the next two years. The three priorities were to (1) develop a vision for the graduate; (2) creating a formal tiered intervention process; and (3) updating/aligning curriculum maps.

Mr. Santoro said that this requires a tremendous amount of work for already busy staff and administrators, asked about North Quincy High School, which is scheduled for 2024.

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New Business

SSEC Board Representative (VOTE)

Mr. Bregoli made a motion for Superintendent Kevin Mulvey to serve as the Quincy Public Schools representative on the South Shore Educational Collaborative Board for the 2023-2024 school year. Mrs. Lebo seconded the motion and on a roll call vote, the ayes have it, 7-0.

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New Business

Curriculum Grant for ST Mathematics

Quincy Public Schools will partner with the 18 Foundation for a grant to benefit Mathematics instruction in Grades 5-6 at South~West and Point Webster Middle Schools for three years, beginning next school year. The grant will fund the licenses for the online ST Mathematics program and has a value of $32,000 for the 2023-24 school year.

Mrs. Cahill made a motion for Quincy Public Schools to accept the grant of licenses for the online ST Mathematics program for Grades 5 & 6 students at Point Webster and South~West Middle Schools valued at $32,000.00. Mr. Gutro seconded the motion and on a roll call vote, the ayes have it, 7-0.

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New Business

Referral to Facilities Subcommittee

Mr. Gutro made a motion to refer the QPS Emergency Response Plans to the Facilities, Security & Transportation Subcommittee for review. Mrs. Cahill seconded the motion, and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.

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New Business

Out of State Travel/ One Day

Mrs. Hubley made a motion to approve the Out of State/One Day Travel of Broad Meadows Middle School Grade 8 to Canobie Lake Park, Salem, New Hampshire on June 15, 2023. Mrs. Lebo seconded the motion and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.

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Additional Business

Mr. Bregoli noted that there is an Ordinance that precludes that ice cream trucks cannot be near schools as this is a danger to students. Superintendent Mulvey said principals can notify Mr. Draicchio and/or the School Resource Officers. The Licensing Board can be notified as well.

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Communications

Mr. Santoro noted that Regular School Committee meetings are scheduled for May 17, 2023 and June 14, 2023 at 6:30 pm at the Coddington Building. Upcoming Subcommittee meetings include the FY2024 Budget & Finance Subcommittee on Wednesday, May 22, 2023 at 6:00 pm, followed by Facilities, Security & Transportation.

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Reports of Subcommittees

Mayor Koch reviewed the Quarterly Budget & Finance Subcommittee meeting held on April 26, 2023, where Director of Business James Mullaney reviewed the 3rd Quarter of FY2023, ended March 31, 2023 and the warrant process.

Mrs. Lebo reviewed the Teaching & Learning Subcommittee meeting held on April 26, 2023, where a review of the Mentor Program, Kids Voting, and the ST Mathematics grant opportunity were presented.

Mr. Bregoli reviewed the Policy Subcommittee meeting held on April 26, 2023 where the 2023-2024 QPS School Year Calendar was discussed.

As there were no corrections, the minutes of the April 26, 2023 Quarterly Budget & Finance, Teaching & Learning, and Policy Subcommittee meetings were accepted as presented.

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Executive Session

Mrs. Cahill made a motion to move to Executive Session for the Purpose of Contract Negotiations at 8:40 pm. Mr. Gutro seconded the motion and on a roll call vote, the ayes have it, 7-0.

School Committee will return to Regular Session to discuss New Business, Item G.

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New Business (Resumed)

MOA Approval: SEIU Local 888 Quincy Paraprofessionals Union

School Committee returned to the Regular Meeting at 9:15 pm and opened New Business, Item G. Mayor Koch, Mr. Bregoli, and Mr. Gutro did not return to the Regular Meeting.

Mrs. Lebo made a motion to approve the Memorandum of Agreement between the Quincy School Committee and the SEIU Local 888 Quincy Paraprofessionals Union for September 1, 2023 through August 31, 2025. Mrs. Hubley seconded the motion and on a roll call vote, the ayes have it, 4-0­.

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Adjournment

Mrs. Hubley made a motion to adjourn the Regular Meeting at 9:20 p.m., which was seconded by Mrs. Lebo. On a voice vote, the ayes have it.

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