MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING –
PRESENT: Chairperson Anne Larner,
Vice-Chairperson Dori Zaleznik,
Gail Glick, Susan Heyman, Patricia Kellogg, Marc
Laredo, Nancy Levine, Reenie Murphy, Mayor David
Cohen, Casey Lynch, student representative - Newton North High School
ABSENT: student representative -
OPEN SESSION
At
MOTION: It was
moved, by roll call vote, to convene in executive
session for the purpose of discussing a grievance related
to the custodian's contract and other personnel issues. If passed, the Committee will reconvene in
open session at
(
6 - 0 - 3
Absent for vote: Heyman, Zaleznik
Absent
for meeting: Mayor Cohen
ROLL CALL VOTE BY WARD:
Ward I, "yes" (Glick); Ward II, "yes" (Murphy);
Ward III, "yes" (Larner); Ward IV,
"yes" (Levine); Ward V, absent for vote (Heyman);
Ward VI, "yes" (Kellogg); Ward VII, "yes" (
CALL TO ORDER
Chairperson Anne Larner called the meeting to order at
PUBLIC COMMENT
Rich Frantz, Newtonville, supports the construction of a new high school,
if that is what the professionals believe is in the best interest of the
students. He also trusts their decisions
with regard to the design of the program space.
However, as a neighbor, he would like to address the aesthetics of the
plan. The current design does not gel with
the late 19th and early 20th century homes surrounding the school. Creating a mirror image of the existing
building on another location on the site is repeating past errors. A school more centrally located on the site
and architecturally matching the neighborhood would be better served, even if
that means loss of some athletic space.
This is an opportunity to get the project right and he thanked the
Committee for their hard work.
Donna Cymrot,
Newtonville, asked the Committee to consider the
impact on the adjacent residential neighborhood in making their decision on the
high school project. She urged them to
consider traffic and safety in their deliberations.
David DelPorto,
Newton Centre, stated that he serves on the
Sustainable Newton Commission, which looks to evaluate different ways in which
Vic Voydock,
Newtonville, expressed opposition to the location of
a new high school on
Lisa Cohen, Newtonville, addressed the Committee regarding class size
and enrollment projections. While the
focus is on the high school project over the next several years, she urged them
to also keep their attention on remaining issues at the elementary
schools. Horace Mann is nearly at
capacity. She hopes that there is a plan
for replacing the modulars, as they are getting quite
old and one is leaking.
James Robertson, Newtonville, expressed concern about the possibility of
building a school on
Sam Robbins,
Casey Lynch supports the
construction of a new school. She
witnesses on a daily basis the inefficiencies of the present structure. Given that there is not a great difference in
cost between the hybrid and a new school, it seems that supporting the latter
would be a good investment. She
concluded by noting that the school bus passes are still not being
checked.
Nancy Levine mentioned
that the schools should be checking the passes at random as students get off
buses.
Anne Larner
stated that they will investigate to be sure that this is being done.
The following recognitions
were acknowledged:
Kevin So,
as
a candidate in the 2004 competition for a Special Scholarship sponsored by
Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation and awarded by
the
National Merit Scholarship Corporation.
Steve Silverman, Coordinator of Instructional
Technology, and
Marc Richmond, Web Facilitator, who were recognized
for their presentation “Shaping Innovative Learning Communities (SILC)
to
Support Technology-Infused Systemic Models” at the 2003
Christa McAuliffe
Conference in
APPROVAL OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES
MOTION: It was moved to approve the School Committee
regular meeting minutes of
and the executive session meeting minutes of
(Levine-
Kellogg)
unanimous
REPORTS
SUPERINTENDENT’S PERSONNEL
REPORT
Superintendent
Jeffrey Young announced that Carol Daynard, Assistant
Superintendent for Pupil Services, and Roberta Dollase,
Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources, have both submitted their intent
to retire effective
FY04 BUDGET UPDATE
Jeff
Young noted that there is not much change in the report from last month. He mentioned the rapid turnaround in
implementing the contract settlements with custodians and secretaries and
thanked the staff for this effort.
OPERATIONS STATUS REPORT
Jeff
Young noted that there are a number of important matters on this month’s
report. As the charter maintenance
account becomes depleted, they will be focusing on emergency work orders
related to health and safety. The Angier
gym floor is finished. In response to a
previous speaker’s comments about green buildings, he once again mentioned the
work of Michael Cronin, Chief of Operations, and his staff around making the
buildings more environmentally friendly.
Anne
Larner asked if they could have some information by
the next meeting on the issue of the leaking modular that was raised this
evening.
Dori
Zaleznik asked about burst pipes that occurred in
some of the buildings this past weekend.
Mike
Cronin replied that preventive measures were put in place anticipating the
severe drop in temperature. Thermostats
were run all weekend at 68 degrees.
Despite these efforts, three pipes burst; two in classrooms and one in a
closet. Fortunately, damage was
minimal. Temperatures are expected to
drop again later this week and they will keep the boilers running all night in
an attempt to prevent pipes from breaking.
The Building Department is overwhelmed trying to service all city
buildings and have hired a subcontractor for assistance. There will be times when there may be some
delays in responding to situations, as it will be necessary to prioritize.
Marc
Laredo asked if this is going to have an impact on the budget.
Mike
Cronin stated that the cold weather taxes the charter maintenance funds and if
these temperatures continue it will be depleted at a more rapid pace.
Jeff
Young talked about the success of the grand opening of the
Michael
Welch, Principal of Newton South, explained that they are revving up for yet
another move this weekend, when 1/3 of the teachers will be leaving an old
section of the building for the newly renovated areas. Another 1/3 of the staff will move the
following weekend. This will leave the
last remaining 1960-era portion of the building (Cutler House) to be
renovated. The all-school assembly was
an opportunity to commemorate the change from the old to the new. While people are very excited about the new
building, living through the renovation was difficult and challenging. He commended staff and students for their
patience and professionalism throughout the ordeal.
SPECIAL EDUCATION UPDATE
Jeff
Young mentioned that between 12/1 and
Reenie
Murphy asked how they are dealing with the space issues with these increasing
numbers.
Carol
Daynard replied that a new program was just added to
this building in a small piece of a room.
This is the last of the available space in the
Dori
Zaleznik noted that they seem to be having better
success this year in terms of filling aide positions.
Carol
Daynard replied that part of this can be attributed
to less turnover as a result of the economy.
Dori
Zaleznik noted that the number of aides for the
elementary schools is larger than projected and does not seem to coincide with
increased enrollments.
Carol
Daynard explained that, with the opening of the new
program at Countryside, they had anticipated being able to cut some aide
staffing. This did not materialize
because of the needs of the students who ultimately ended up in this
program. In addition, there were several
unanticipated move-ins; forcing them to utilize the rest of their reserve
funds.
CLASS SIZE REPORT
Sandra
Guryan, Assistant Superintendent for Business,
Finance & Planning, highlighted the major areas of the report: 1.)
The average elementary class size this year is 19.8; 2.) middle school
class size remains at an average of 21 and team size at 91; 3.) high school classes
with fewer than 20 students have decreased significantly.
Anne
Larner noted that, at the elementary level, the
actual results appear to be in line with the strategies put in place in the
budget guidelines to retain the class sizes.
Cindy
Bencal, Principal of Burr Elementary School, noted
that lower class size makes such a difference in a school. Teachers get to know their students better
and there are fewer behavioral problems and greater achievement.
Mark
Springer, Principal of Mason-Rice Elementary School, added that the smaller
class sizes have also been beneficial in the implementation of the literacy
program.
Susie
Heyman raised the issue of some large classes at
John
Jordan, Principal of Brown Middle School, stated that it has to do with the
function of teams as well as the organization of math classes.
Paul
Stein, Principal of Day Middle School, added that there will always be large
accelerated math classes because the number of students do
not fit neatly into each section.
However, the nature of the course is the ability to work independently,
so the fact that the classes are larger is not necessarily disadvantageous.
Gail
Glick wondered if math teachers utilize any interventions, such as small groupings,
which might take the edge off large classes.
Murph
Shapiro, Principal of Oak Hill Middle School, replied in the affirmative.
Dori
Zaleznik asked about the experimental 8th
grade team this year at Brown.
John
Jordan explained that, as a result of budget cuts last year, they had to make
some changes to the team structure. He
felt it was important for 8th grade students to have a different
teacher for each subject. In order to
construct that scenario, they created a six-person team. While the structure was primarily a
money-driven situation, it has actually been quite beneficial in terms of
preparing students for the transition to high school. It has also allowed for them to plan a camp
experience for all students that could be spread out over two weeks. However, a down side is that not all six
teachers share all students. In thinking
forward, he would not necessarily retain a similar structure because the staff
feels that the benefit of sharing the same students outweighs the transition
factor.
Patty
Kellogg mentioned that her son is in the six-teacher team and is very happy and
doing well. She asked about the world
language classes of 35-39 and whether students are getting enough individual
attention.
John
Jordan explained that these are elective Latin courses and the students are
quite motivated. Admittedly the
opportunities for participation in class are clearly compromised because of the
numbers and a few have dropped out, so the numbers are now slightly lower. However, they did not have enough staffing to
split the sections. A lot of peer work
and grouping occurs in these classes.
Anne
Larner stated that the Committee aimed for team sizes
of 90 in last year’s budget, as well as not to increase the number of classes
over 25 and they seemed to have gotten very close to these goals. She asked if there is anything that they
should be cognizant of as they approach yet another difficult budget year.
Judith
Malone Neville, Assistant Superintendent of Schools, stated that, in order to
maintain a full middle school program, they must retain team sizes at a good
level, while at the same time keeping a full breadth of electives. The balancing of the two will be a challenge.
Paul
Stein stated that tradeoffs are made in arts and physical education programs
when making these staffing decisions, such as what happened after last year’s
cuts. In some cases program was impacted
and in others it was the number of students in the classes. One positive situation for Day has been redistricting,
which has taken the edge off very large team sizes.
Jeff
Young noted that once again there will be difficult choices that will have to
be made given the fiscal situation they are facing. They continue to try to keep core academic
class sizes at appropriate levels while maintaining opportunities for children
to test out their interests in electives.
He is not sure they are going to be able to continue to retain this
equal balance for so long.
Anne
Larner stated that in general things look good at
this level, especially compared to other school systems. However, it is obvious that some erosion has
taken place and a price has been paid.
The Committee needs to be sensitive to the tradeoffs.
Susie
Heyman asked about the tradeoffs at the high schools
in reducing the number of classes below 15.
Jennifer
Huntington, Principal of Newton North, stated that there were some low-enrolled
electives that were eliminated.
Michael
Welch mentioned that there are always classes that are eliminated based on
enrollments. However, they are now being
much more rigid. In addition, in class
sizes of 23 or 24, where in the past they may have easily split those into two
sections, they now have to weigh these options more carefully.
Susie
Heyman asked if canceled classes are ever brought
back in future years.
Mike
Welch stated that some are brought back and in a few cases they have looked at
cross-enrollment with Newton North, as well as the virtual high school project.
Jennifer
Huntington mentioned that in wanting to keep the Curriculum 2 classes within
the 20-24 range, conscious decisions were made to increase the numbers in the
Honors and Curriculum 1 courses.
Dori
Zaleznik asked about safety issues in terms of the
numbers in science classes, which involve labs.
Jennifer
Huntington stated that they do not compromise on safety and she does not believe
this is a factor in these classes.
Michael
Welch added that the one large science class at Newton South is astronomy,
which is not a lab-based course.
Anne
Larner stated that their goal of minimizing the
number of classes below 15 seems to have been successful, but at the expense of
increasing the number of classes above 25.
She asked if there are any other issues that the Committee should be
made aware of as they delve into another difficult budget.
Jennifer
Huntington replied that they can anticipate more of the same situations next
year.
Michael
Welch stated that they will need to look carefully at their ability to continue
to maintain the breadth of world language classes. They have been as creative as possible to
date, but at some point they are going to be faced with some difficult decisions
around breadth of program and class sizes.
If they are fortunate enough to receive the smaller learning communities
grant, this will be an opportunity to restructure the high school program and
perhaps address some of these concerns.
ENROLLMENT ANALYSIS REPORT
Sandy
Guryan wished to thank all staff involved in the development
of this report. They continually attempt
to improve the statistical data each year.
The official
Dori
Zaleznik wondered if, in the schools that are close
to capacity, there might be a way to utilize a three- vs. five-year projection
just to be sure they are not missing any trends.
Sandy
Guryan stated that this can be done quite
easily. However, the strategy for
dealing with unanticipated enrollment changes is through reserve teachers. The other type of recalibrating would
actually change the population distribution.
Dori
Zaleznik was thinking more in terms of physical space
capacity.
Jeff
Young noted that while no one ever wants to consider redistricting, it is
always something that is on the table.
Dori
Zaleznik asked if there is a way to determine if/when
that discussion might materialize through the projections.
Jeff
Young responded that the projection data is important, as is the GIS (Geographic
Information System). They are looking at
a variety of tools that will be helpful in this process.
Susie
Heyman commented that they have received three-year
projections in the past and she recalls that they did not provide much more
information that would be helpful in this regard. They are all anxious to get back to looking
at space needs and renovations for the elementary schools.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
DISCUSSION OF SOCIAL STUDIES
CURRICULUM
Janet
Buerklin, History & Social Sciences Coordinator,
began the presentation by mentioning that the curriculum revisions provide
another opportunity to look at the program K-12, which was last conducted seven
years ago and prior to the final passage of the Frameworks. Their charge is to take what is in place and
review the Framework mandates and align them with the curriculum. At the elementary level, the two major
changes will be a pilot program in North American geography, as well as some
new curriculum in grade 6. The other
revisions are more minor and require tweaking and/or adding to the
curriculum. The revision committee will
consist of approximately 20 people representing administration, teachers,
parents and students.
Mark
Laredo noted that they are going to be faced with some difficult choices around
sequencing of subjects, particularly at the secondary level, and he will be
interested to hear how that progresses.
He noted that in grades K-2 the Frameworks seem to be focused on
Janet
Buerklin explained that one of the reasons for not
planning any significant changes at the primary level is because the standards
have to do with the beginning of civic education, which is covered in ways
other than in the
formalized social studies program. For
example, every class has a morning meeting time where the Pledge of Allegiance
is recited and discussions occur around the flag, social competency, and
sharing of common experiences. In
addition, in English language arts and music, students might hear a folk tale
or dramatize a story that covers these topics.
Marc
Laredo understands that learning takes place in a variety of contexts, but the
2nd grade social studies curriculum does not seem to cover what the
State requires and he wondered if it should be a more formalized process.
Janet
Buerklin responded that the second grade units
contain a geography strand, which utilizes maps and globes. Children do get exposure to the concepts in
the Frameworks.
Carolyn
Wyatt, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction, added that
there is a range of nonfiction work that students are also reading as part of the
balanced literacy program that underscores some of these components.
Gail
Glick asked about the sequencing issue in terms of the Massachusetts
Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) exam.
Janet
Buerklin replied that this is going to be a difficult
challenge facing the committee. There
are concerns about both the amount of information that is required for the
eighth grade World History curriculum, as well as its placement in terms of
being developmentally appropriate. Many
teachers feel that this is the time when students are having a heightened
awareness of rights and are expressing strong opinions and that it is an
excellent opportunity for teaching the Constitution. There is also the issue of how the sequencing
at this level impacts the AP history courses at the high school.
Dori
Zaleznik commented that there is some tension between
learning a body of facts vs. learning how to analyze material. Many in the audience studied history at a time
when the learning of facts was the priority.
She believes it would be good to expand the discussion to address this
issue.
Janet
Buerklin agreed that the conversation needs to go
beyond the curriculum and what they are going to teach at any one grade
level. Research skills are very
important.
Jeff
Young asked the high school staff if they could address the issue of
sequencing.
Jonathan
Bassett, History & Social Sciences Dept. Head at Newton North, stated that
there are two interrelated issues – where to place MCAS and the sequencing
leading up to that decision, and whether it will be chronologically or
regionally. Administering MCAS in the 11th grade would allow them to
preserve a great deal of the program that is currently in place. There will be a lot of input around this in
the committee’s discussions.
Marshall
Cohen, History & Social Sciences Dept. Head at Newton South, pointed out
that there is a danger in the high stakes test, in terms of the narrowness of
what it covers and the tendency to only teach to those specifics. While the State claims world history is
important, it is not included on the test.
Gail
Glick expressed concern about the current sequencing of U.S. History in grade
eight and then waiting until the junior year to pick it up again.
Marshall
Cohen admitted that this presents a problem.
Jonathan
Basset added that they have an obligation to prepare students for the high
stakes test and that is the charge that will be before their committee.
Carolyn
Wyatt stated that part of the dilemma is that there is no history of a country which
is separate from the rest of the world.
They are trying to build a curriculum that draws from the
Anne
Larner noted that given the lateness of the hour and
the obvious desire on the part of the Committee to continue the discussion, they will try to
place this on the agenda for a future meeting.
CONTINUED DISCUSSION OF
Jeff
Young noted that following tonight’s meeting they will be talking with staff
again, in order to keep them apprised of the status of the project and to make
sure they are fairly representing the program that has been discussed to
date.
Carl
Franceschi, DRA, noted that tonight’s material
contains the updated square footage program, with some adjustments to the areas
that have been under discussion. In looking
toward future flexibility, having a greater number of full size classrooms will
serve them better, so they have increased those numbers. The physical education program has been
adjusted to consider a larger gym, such as what is in place at Newton South. This can provide an opportunity for an indoor
track, several basketball courts, and bleachers. While the square footage of the gym is
approximately the same, the space has been redistributed. There is also an adjustment to address the
need for realigning of the library space.
In addition, they have done some revision to the cafeteria. If it is now going to be built new, it can be
customized for the intended capacity of 1,950 students in three seatings. They have
slightly enlarged the spaces along
Marc
Laredo wondered if the cafeteria seating plans would be sufficient for any
future increased enrollment.
Carl
Franceschi replied that on any given day there is a
certain absentee rate and they have some slight room for additional seating.
Marc
Laredo is concerned about the lack of flexibility with locking into a cafeteria
that at its inception is at capacity. He
then asked if 55 square feet per teacher is enough for each
staff member to have an individual office.
Carl
Franceschi stated that this would not provide each
staff member with individual space, but there are conference rooms and other
teacher-related spaces in the program.
In addition, they have heard from staff that some departments value
collective spaces, where the classroom or workspace becomes their office. Finally, there is the issue of all staff not
needing individual space at the same time.
Marc
Laredo would like to know the square footage that would be necessary to have
individual offices for each teacher so that they can see how much of an
increase that would require.
Jeff
Young noted that this is not just a question of square footage, but also the
cost of the walls, doors, and other periphery items that would be necessary to
accommodate individual spaces. The broad
square footage is an attempt to allow enough capacity to design a matrix of
private space, small group areas, and larger rooms.
Anne
Larner requested that, as the administration
discusses this further with staff, the Committee be provided with information
on how the space specifically impacts on programs. While the square footage is helpful, they
need a better understanding of how the space might add, constrain, or provide
flexibility for programs.
Nancy
Levine mentioned that this is only the feasibility study and there will still
be plenty of opportunity for public input around site location of the building
and fields. It is their intention to do
their best to mitigate the impact on the neighborhood.
Carl
Franceschi added that this presents an opportunity
not only to build a new school, but also to solve some of the traffic issues in
the neighborhood.
CONTINUED DISCUSSION OF
TRANSPORTATION & USER FEES
Nancy
Levine noted that the memorandum in tonight’s material represents the opinion
of the majority of the subcommittee, but it was not unanimous. The material draws on the discussion from the
last meeting and puts forward some proposals for consideration.
Marc
Laredo noted that it is no secret that he is the dissenting voice on the
subcommittee’s report, as he has made his views well-known regarding
transportation fees. He continues to
believe that they should be eliminated.
Reenie
Murphy wondered about the possibility of delaying the vote in order to collect
additional data.
Anne
Larner stated that they have to give the
Superintendent some guidance for the development of the budget within the next
few weeks. The type of information
outlined the report deals more with the administering of the program. The issue of extending the fees is primarily
economics.
Reenie
Murphy expressed concern over the amount of the fee.
Dori
Zaleznik explained that, in working on the material,
the subcommittee recognized that they do not have all of the information that
they would like in order to determine how to make some
adjustments, such as one-way rides or other flexibility that might
better meet the needs of families. The
recommendation is to continue the fees for another year. They hope that with some adjustments they
might attract back some additional riders and keep revenues the same.
Susie
Heyman suggested writing to their legislators
expressing concern about the cuts in funding for transportation and requesting that
they revisit the issue.
Dori
Zaleznik noted that their subcommittee had a limited
charge and she wondered if they should terminate the existing group in favor of
one that would deal with more information gathering and a broader scope of user
fees in general.
Due
to the lateness of the hour, it was decided to continue this discussion at the
next meeting.
REVIEW OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE
CALENDAR FOR REMAINDER OF YEAR
Dori
Zaleznik requested some additional time for a further
discussion on the social studies curriculum, as well as an agenda item
regarding the building needs of the elementary schools.
VOTE TO ACCEPT DONATIONS
MOTION: It was moved to approve the annual donation from
Lueders
Environmental, Inc.
(Heyman – Levine)
8 – 0 – 1
Absent for vote: Mayor Cohen
COMMUNICATIONS
None.
PUBLIC COMMENT
There
were no members of the public who wished to address the Committee at this time.
ADJOURNMENT
The
meeting was adjourned at