NEWTON SCHOOL COMMITTEE

MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING — FEBRUARY 26, 2001

EDUCATION CENTER, FRAZIER ROOM, 7:30 P.M.

PRESENT: Chairperson Verne Vance, Vice-Chairperson Anne Borg, Susan Albright, Rodney Barker, Susan Heyman, Anne Larner, Nancy Levine, Mayor David Cohen

ABSENT: Andy Vizulis, student representatives

OPEN SESSION

At 5:00 p.m., it was announced that the Committee would entertain a motion to convene in executive session.

MOTION: It was moved, by roll call vote, to convene in

executive session for the purpose of discussing

matters related to collective bargaining. If

passed, the Committee will reconvene in open

session at 7:30 p.m.

(Albright -Barker)

8 - 0 - 1

Absent: Vizulis

ROLL CALL VOTE BY WARD:

Ward I, absent (Vizulis); Ward II, "yes" (Albright); Ward III, "yes" (Larner); Ward IV, "yes", (Levine); Ward V, "yes" (Heyman); Ward VI, "yes" (Barker); Ward VII, "yes" (Vance); Ward VIII, "yes", (Borg); Mayor David Cohen, "yes"

CALL TO ORDER

Chairperson Verne Vance called the meeting to order at 7:30 p.m.

COURTESY INTERVIEW FOR MICHAEL WELCH, PRINCIPAL OF NEWTON SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL

Introductions

Chairperson Verne Vance welcomed and congratulated Mr. Welch on his appointment. They have heard much positive feedback from people about his role as interim principal.

Opening Statement by Candidate

Michael Welch is grateful to have been offered the permanent position as principal of Newton South. He has enjoyed his experiences to date. He looks forward to growing and evolving in this position and admitted he will make mistakes and will learn from those mistakes. Newton South is a wonderful school, with challenging curriculum, and a breadth of program. The staff is remarkably committed to teaching. However, he believes there is work that needs to be done in terms of humanizing the facility for students.

Questions from Committee Members to Candidate

Anne Borg complimented him on his consistent and exemplary examples of communication with parents, particulary the "Mane Mumble" newsletter. She wondered if this type of communication could permeate the entire school.

Michael Welch stated that he would like to see some structures put into place for better communication with parents at each grade level. He would also like to find time when staff can meet to discuss individual students’ needs, similar to what occurs with the team model at middle school.

Susie Heyman commented on how well he has been received by staff, parents and students in the short time he has served at the helm and she is pleased he has decided to take this assignment on a permanent basis. She asked for his thoughts about the amount of stress on high school children.

Michael Welch talked about some of the factors that drive students to high stress levels, such as their own or parental expectations and peer group and teacher pressure. They have to be careful when considering institutionalizing methods to address stress levels because one can make assumptions that are not necessarily correct. For instance, if they review report cards of students who take a lot of advanced placement and honors courses, the majority are doing very well, so they do not want to unduly constrain students’ ability to manage their course load. At the same time, they need to monitor stress levels and perhaps modify the way the school day is structured in terms of the schedule so that there is some more flexible time available for the various needs of the student body.

Rodney Barker wondered how much of the stress comes from society’s expectations.

Michael Welch believes society’s expectations play a role. The pressure on getting into the "right" college begs the question of that means. He is a product of an excellent state university education because it was what was affordable for his family at the time. At the same time, he spent seven years coaching at MIT and saw what stress did to many students at that school.

Susan Albright noted that his resume indicates he was a physics teacher and wondered about his thoughts of making science more accessible and getting more students interested in the subject.

Michael Welch explained that mechanical engineering was his major but he dropped out, because he realized it was not the direction in which he wished to head. However, this background in engineering is what drove him into teaching physics. There was nothing more exciting than seeing the expression on a student’s face when something clicked and they understood a concept. The model they are moving toward at Newton North is in providing physics at the freshmen level. They need to explore and discuss this more at Newton South.

Mayor Cohen complimented Mr. Welch on the way he handled some very stressful situations at his school this year, in a firm, but calm manner. He wondered if there are proactive plans that he may be working on to possibly avoid these types of future situations.

Michael Welch stated that there are students who feel they are not being heard or seen by the school community. Their best defense against that are strong connections between adults and children. In the hiring process, he always feels that the most important criterion is how well a person works with students. Skills can be learned, but character is inbred. It does not have to necessarily be the guidance counselor or teacher who makes the connection. It can be custodians, secretaries, nutritionists, aides, etc. The important thing is that students have an adult that they are comfortable with in talking about problems, issues, or concerns.

Superintendent Jeffrey Young noted that Mr. Welch is bright, compassionate, and has a wonderful sense of humor. The population of Newton South is going to increase by approximately 50% over the next five years and it will be a very different place. He is exactly the right fit for the building and will be a great leader as they move into the future.

PUBLIC COMMENT

Debra Iles, 23 Norman Rd., Newton Highlands, board member of the Mason-Rice After School Program, talked about factoring in the needs of the after-school programs when making decisions regarding redistricting and long-range planning. The school system’s commitment to these programs has always been strong. She appreciates the partnership between the two entities and hopes they will continue their support.

RECOGNITIONS

The following students were selected as National Merit finalists:

Newton North Newton South

Jeffrey Arbeit Ilya Abyzon

Benjamin Elias David Durschlag

Arianna Kelly Darah Fine

Andrea Letvin Carl Gold

Sarah Lewis Timmy Ho

Jamay Liu Katherine Murphy

Elizabeth Magruder Tam Ngo

Douglas Norton Rui Nie

Lindsay Palmer Vivek Rao

Joel Rosen Alissa Rothchild

Eliza Rosenbaum

Leela Sarathy

Benjamin Weisburd

Dror Ladin

APPROVAL OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES

MOTION: It was moved to approve the executive session

meeting minutes of 1/19 and 1/22/01 and

minutes of the special public forum on

redistricting of 1/29/01.

(Larner — Albright)

8 — 0 — 1

Absent: Vizulis

VOTE TO AMEND CONTRACT FOR LEGAL COUNSEL

Anne Borg explained that there are some minor "housekeeping" items regarding Attorney Michael Loughran’s contract that require a School Committee vote.

MOTION: It was moved to amend Attorney Michael

Loughran’s contract, as presented.

(Larner — Heyman)

8 — 0 — 1

Absent: Vizulis

ACTION ITEMS

VOTE ON PRELIMINARY PLANS FOR THE HIGH SCHOOL PROJECT

Carl Franceschi, Architect for DRA, summarized the material, which requires a vote by the Committee, in order to obtain the necessary approval from the School Building Assistance Project (SBAP) to realize reimbursement. The educational specifications outline the program plans in a specifically detailed manner, as required by the State. The first part of the document speaks to current and projected enrollment and their goal of equalizing the two schools. The second part outlines the existing space in the facilities and the additional square footage needed based on the program, which was developed through numerous meetings with staff. The third section addresses miscellaneous spaces, which are support areas that directly relate to the educational program, such as the auditorium, library, guidance offices, gym, locker rooms, etc. The remainder of the material is backup to support the data and to detail how they arrived at their projections.

Mayor Cohen asked how the actual costs compare to the allowable costs under the reimbursement plan.

Carl Franceschi replied that they are well under the allowable costs.

Susie Heyman reassured the public that while tonight’s discussion is focussed on numbers and spreadsheets, there has been a great deal of conversation throughout the process among the architects, School Committee, and staff around programmatic needs.

Verne Vance mentioned public interest regarding the need for a swimming pool at Newton South High School. The original proposal did include this item. However, it would not have qualified for State reimbursement and, therefore, had to be dropped from the plans. It is important to remember that the goals outlined for the program include equivalent size buildings, with basic parity and equity in terms of the educational program, but not necessarily absolute identical facilities. In evaluating the usage of the pool at Newton North, it was determined that the majority was for community activities vs. student programs. While it was a desirable addition, the resources are limited and priorities had to be made. Each school will have something that the other does not. For instance, while Newton North has the swimming pool, Newton South will have a regulation-size indoor track. Newton South will have an undersized auditorium compared to Newton North, but classrooms will be larger. While they regret having to make some hard decisions, they have attempted to balance off enhancements for each facility.

The Committee questioned some of the specifics in the material and noted that there appears to be some inaccuracies. However, they were assured that the bottom line is correct and the material will be reviewed prior to submission, to be certain that all the backup material supports the bottom line.

MOTION: It was moved to approve the educational

specification document, as presented by DRA,

in accordance with the Newton South High

School Preliminary Square Footage Program,

dated 2/15/01, and the Newton North High

School Preliminary Square Footage Program,

dated 2/24/01 (Attachment B).

(Barker — Larner)

8 — 0 — 1

Absent: Vizulis

REPORTS

CURRICULUM UPDATE

Carolyn Wyatt, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction, outlined the curriculum review process.

Nancy Levine asked how the Framework alignments fit within the reviews.

Carolyn Wyatt talked about each specific Framework area and what changes, if any, were made to the curriculum to address the alignment issues.

Rodney Barker mentioned that the work they are currently doing on the social studies committee is not going to fundamentally change the sequencing of the curriculum other than grade four, but should address some issues that have arisen.

Some questions were raised with regard to the math curriculum and it was noted that they are reviewing this subject matter to evaluate its strengths and weaknesses, as well as the necessary professional development support.

Carolyn Wyatt talked about the articulation between middle and high school and the need to focus K-12. The goal is to open the field of mathematics to all children and make it attractive to the most reticent and challenged learners simultaneously. The standards-based approach that they have adopted in Newton should be able to address this goal and allow them to have discussions around the very difficult issues of tracking/grouping.

Anne Borg mentioned that just as one would never say that some children cannot learn to read, no one should assume that some children will do well in math and others will not. Staff need the tools to teach in a variety of ways so that all children learn the subject matter.

Carolyn Wyatt agreed and noted that for years people dismissed children not doing well in math as if it were some genetic reason. Just as in any subject matter, all children can learn and staff need the strategies to make all children successful.

Susan Albright would like to have a discussion about high school math at a future meeting.

REPORT ON PRIVATE SCHOOL ENROLLMENT

Sandra Guryan, Assistant Superintendent for Business, Finance & Planning, noted that there is a slight increase this year in the number of Newton students attending private schools, although it stays within the traditional 16-17% level. The material includes grade level and historical data, as well as the number of students in outside special education (SPED) placements.

Anne Borg talked about the increase in SPED placements from Newton South, particularly seniors. She asked if they could break this report down by gender, to see if there are any trends in this area. She also talked about the increased costs for outside placements due to the more complex needs of students.

Susie Heyman hopes that with the renovations at the high schools, there will be more room to expand on some of the programs that would keep students in the public school setting. One of the possibilities for the increase of students attending private schools could be the anticipation of the upcoming high school building projects, just as an increase was noted when they moved to a true middle school model and incorporated sixth grade into that level. Sometimes these types of transitional events may cause people to choose to remove their children from the setting.

Susan Albright mentioned that some of the trends might have to do with the economy. During good times private school enrollments tends to increase.

Susie Heyman mentioned the possibility of people choosing private schools to avoid the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) tests, which are not required in those settings.

DISCUSSION ITEMS

UPDATE ON TELEPHONES/TECHNOLOGY AT THE HIGH SCHOOLS

James Marini, Assistant Superintendent for High Schools & Operations, reported that the new telephones have been connected to the intercom system at Newton South and are functional. A new console is required at Newton North, but in the meantime they are looking at wiring throughout the existing system to each teacher workstation. In addition, voice mail will be added, as well as an Internet drop, all in advance of construction. The computers in the labs will also be Internet accessible. They expect to have this work completed by the end of this year.

Anne Larner asked if there are working intercoms in every classroom.

Jim Marini stated that each room will have a working intercom.

Anne Larner asked about the hardware.

Jim Marini stated that they are still discussing both the needs and the costs.

Jeff Young added that there will be some proposals around technology in the upcoming budget.

Anne Borg thanked the administration for their efforts in this area and asked if Newton South would also have voicemail.

Jim Marini replied that they did not think they would be able to incorporate voicemail at South in the original proposal, but will review the funding to see if that is a possibility.

CONTINUED DISCUSSION RE: REDISTRICTING

Carol Bock, Director of Capital Planning & Operations, displayed the City’s student population using the General Information Systems (GIS) mapping program. The maps show that more students live in the northern half of the City at the high school level. However, the disparity between north and south did not appear as dramatic as she would have suspected. She will verify this with the City’s GIS coordinator, who worked on the material.

Verne Vance requested they plot the east/west population as well.

The Committee continued discussion around capacity and standardizing space.

Susie Heyman suggested that the School Committee’s subcommittee work with Ms. Bock on developing a template for determining capacity. The Committee was in agreement.

COMMUNICATIONS

Verne Vance announced that Nancy Levine has agreed to serve as the School Committee representative to the Mayor’s Open Space Planning Committee.

PUBLIC COMMENT

There were no members of the public who wished to address the Committee at this time.

ADJOURNMENT

The meeting was adjourned at 10:25 p.m.