MINUTES OF REGULAR
MEETING, JUNE 27, 2005
PRESENT: Chairperson
Anne Larner, Vice-Chairperson Dori Zaleznik, Gail Glick, Susan Heyman, Patricia
Kellogg, Marc Laredo, Nancy Levine, Reenie Murphy, Superintendent Jeffrey Young
ABSENT: Mayor David Cohen, student representatives
(graduated)
OPEN SESSION
MOTION: At 6:00 p.m., 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.
(Murphy - Levine)
8 –
0 – 1
Absent: Mayor Cohen
Ward I, “yes” (Glick);
Ward II, “yes” (Murphy); Ward III, “yes” (Larner); Ward IV, “yes” (Levine);
Ward V, “yes” (Heyman); Ward VI, “yes” (Kellogg); Ward VII, “yes” (
CALL TO ORDER
Chairperson Anne Larner
called the meeting to order at 7:35 p.m.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Geoffrey Epstein, Underwood
parent, believes that next year’s financial situation is going to be the same
as this year and he hopes the administration and School Committee will do a
better job of communication. Most of the
time parents hear about news from the PTO newsletter or the TAB rather than the
school system directly. Given the size
of the system’s budget, certainly a more effective method of communication can
and should be developed. The budget
process needs to be more transparent.
Minutes of School Committee meetings need to be more readily
available. There needs to be more
opportunities for conversations between the Committee and the public other than
a three minute, one-sided time allotment before meetings. There are several specific areas of the
budget in which he and other residents have offered suggestions for
improvement, but no
feedback. He also feels that the input and/or
suggestions made by the public this year were basically ignored.
Lucia Dolan, Mason-Rice
parent, talked about the math program.
Basic skills seem to be randomly taught throughout the system based on a
teacher’s interest and ability. The challenge materials currently provided do not
connect to the curriculum and are not always reviewed or corrected. She is pleased that there is an effort
underway to better standardize the program, but does not believe that will be
sufficient. She is concerned about the
achievement gap and the inequity in the fact that some families can afford
private tutoring. She believes teachers
themselves require more training and professional development in math. Rather than creating their own curriculum,
there are several that are available that create a good balance between basic
skills and every day math style skills and she would be happy to provide that
information for examination.
Bruce Henderson, Newton
Highlands, also feels there needs to be a better flow of information between
the system and the public. There has
been some talk about an online discussion group, which would be a good
start. There was one area that the
administration did listen to the public on and that was the voluntary transfers
of elementary students in order to equalize class sizes, for which he thanked
them for that effort.
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES’ DISCUSSION
None.
RECOGNITIONS
The following recognitions
were acknowledged:
Students,
staff and parents throughout the system for mobilizing and engaging in a
variety of educational and fundraising efforts around earthquakes, tsunamis and
the countries of South Asia. Their
efforts resulted in donations of over $60,000 to a number of agencies providing
direct relief services, as well as email messages, cards and letters from
All
those involved in the
event
to assist Hector Paniagua, a student and athlete at
basketball
game against
tournament.
APPROVAL OF SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
Patty Kellogg noted the
following correction to the 3/1/05 minutes:
page 2, second paragraph, misspelled name -- DeVitto should read DeNitto.
MOTION: It was moved to approve the School
Committee
budget meeting minutes of 3/16/05 and executive
session
meeting minutes of 3/21/05, as amended.
(Zaleznik
– Heyman)
8
– 0 – 1
Absent: Mayor Cohen
COURTESY INTERVIEWS FOR PRINCIPALS OF
MEMORIAL-SPAULDING AND
Jeff Young welcomed
Donette Wilson-Wood and Stephen Griffin, Principals of Memorial-Spaulding and
Introductions
Committee members
introduced themselves to the candidates.
Stephen Griffin - Zervas
Opening Statement by
Candidate
Stephen Griffin
commented that today has been an interesting day and one filled with emotions. He began with saying goodbye to students and
faculty on the last day of school at
Questions from
Committee Members to Candidate
Susie Heyman commented
on the various roles and interests he has taken on in his career, which
indicates his commitment to life-long learning.
She asked about the transitions at each stage.
Stephen Griffin stated
that each change resulted from close discussions with others engaged in
teaching and learning. As a pre-school
special education teacher, he was fascinated by language development. In talking with other teachers and parents
about the needs of this population, he realized he wanted to learn more, which
is what prompted him into the area of speech and language pathology. One of the most professionally satisfying activities
in his career was being part of an active teacher research group that reviewed
its own classroom practices and then shared that work. He cannot emphasize enough the importance of
people talking with one another about their craft.
Dori Zaleznik wondered
if he has had any opportunity to think about the literacy program in
Stephen Griffin replied
that he will be vague as he does not know enough yet about
Marc Laredo asked if
there is anything he will bring from his past experience that he might like to
implement in
Stephen Griffin assumes
that a great deal of what he would bring here is probably already in place to
some degree. One example would be
getting families engaged in the school.
From what he has seen to date at Zervas this is not going to be a
problem. It will be important to see if
there are parents who are not as engaged and to determine what they might be
able to do to strengthen that effort. One
of the traditions at Hosmer was recognizing good citizenship, but the specifics
of that have to work differently at each school depending upon the culture
within the building. These type of
things cannot be imposed from outside but must come organically from within.
Anne Larner asked how he
spends his free time.
Stephen Griffin
responded that one of his goals was to run the Boston Marathon, which he did
three years ago when he turned 50.
However, since that time he has not been as active in the sport. He has recently taken it back up again and remembered
that it serves as both a good stress reliever and a time for
problem-solving. He also enjoys
traveling and will be visiting
Questions from
Candidate to Committee Members
Stephen Griffin asked if
the Committee had any advice for a new principal.
Nancy Levine stated that
he will be fine if he continues to take the approach he has been speaking of
around letting things grow organically out of a culture.
Dori Zaleznik added that
listening before making any moves is probably the most important thing for
anyone new to the system.
Anne Larner noted that a
sense of humor and taking up running again will be beneficial.
Gail Glick suggested he
take advantage of the fantastic people in the system.
Susie Heyman stated that
if he loves what he does he cannot do a bad job.
Closing Statement
Stephen Griffin closed
by remarking on how impressed he is with the quality of staff and the commitment
of parents at Zervas and he cannot wait to start.
Donette Wilson-Wood – Memorial-Spaulding
Opening Statement by
Candidate
Donette Wilson-Wood
began stated that her goal is to create a school that is a benchmark for
excellence, for which
Reenie Murphy asked
about any challenges she envisions coming from a charter school to a public
system.
Donette Wilson-Wood
replied that patience will be her greatest challenge. Charter schools do not have the years of
experience and are creating from scratch, whereas
Susie Heyman was
impressed by her years as the Director of the Boston Efficacy Initiative and
asked about the tools she can bring to
Donette Wilson-Wood
stated that making the data around achievement transparent is key, as is making
that information user friendly so that people can have good conversations around
the material to develop strategies to meet their goals. The importance of involving parents is
already in place in
Marc Laredo asked what
excites her about coming to
Donette Wilson-Wood is
excited about the wonderful welcome she has received from the
Memorial-Spaulding community. She feels
totally comfortable in her new role.
Patty Kellogg asked
about her style in terms of balancing the needs of students, parents, staff,
and administration.
Donette Wilson-Wood replied
that it is important to prioritize needs.
At the same time, she has to respectfully address each issue and explain
that while others issues might take precedent, she is not ignoring the person
or group and will raise their concern at an appropriate time.
Anne Larner asked how
she unwinds.
Donette Wilson-Wood
stated that she loves to read and is involved in a book club. She also enjoys swimming.
Questions from
Candidate to Committee Members
Donette Wilson-Wood
asked what they see as their biggest challenge over the next five years.
Anne Larner replied that
finances will be their greatest challenge.
They also need to develop processes that will allow them to have constructive
dialogue with the various constituencies in the community, as budgets get
tighter and programs are more carefully reviewed.
Donette Wilson-Wood
asked about the accomplishments made by the School Committee over the past
several years of which they are most proud.
Susie Heyman is proud of
the way the group pulls together as a team to support the Superintendent and
administration, as they all work toward the same goal of providing the best
services possible for the students in the Newton Public Schools. This is particularly difficult during
stressful fiscal times, but they are determined to meet this challenge.
Nancy Levine is most proud
of the literacy initiative.
Closing Statement
Donette Wilson-Wood is
very excited to be here and looking forward to the coming year.
REPORTS
SUPERINTENDENT’S PERSONNEL REPORT
Superintendent Jeffrey
Young referred to the personnel booklet commemorating the 40 retired employees
for the 2004-2005 school year. He
thanked them all on behalf of the children of the Newton Public Schools.
Reenie Murphy commented
on the time and thought put into each of the individual letters in the booklet,
given that the end of the school year is a very busy time. This says a great deal about the quality of staff
that are leaving, as well as those remaining.
Anne Larner echoed
Reenie’s comments and thanked all the retirees for the years of service they
have provided to the system.
REPORT ON ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS FACILITIES PLANNING
Anne Larner announced
that at the beginning of the year she appointed Susie, Nancy and Dori to the
Elementary Facilities Review & Planning Subcommittee. Their charge was to begin the process of
addressing the goals outlined in the challenge letter last spring around the
elementary facilities and to return to the Committee with a proposal that will
help clarify the scope of the work and the timeframe.
Dori Zaleznik,
chairperson of the subcommittee, began by stating that as the subcommittee
discussed the various things that needed to be accomplished in order to set
forth long-term goals in this area, they realized that there was an enormous
amount of data required. It was decided
that the best approach would be to take a step back and conduct this work in
phases beginning with an inventory that includes the strengths and deficiencies
in each building. Everything to follow
rests on having a good assessment of their current stock. They are requesting that the Committee allow
them to prepare a Request for Proposal (RFP) to hire a consultant for this
purpose. One question that arose was
whether this should be only elementary schools or if it should also include the
middle schools. They would anticipate
working on this proposal over the summer and presenting it to the full
Committee in the fall, with the opportunity for the public to weigh in on the
document.
Gail Glick agrees with
the importance of having a baseline inventory in place. In terms of the RFP, she suggested it be
written with the stipulation of building in an ongoing revision process. She also wondered if they had given any
thought to hiring other type of professionals to conduct this study, such as
engineers or project managers, vs. an architect.
Dori Zaleznik responded
that they were building upon a model presented by the Building Commissioner,
but this is a valid question that should be part of the discussion.
Susie Heyman commented
that the reason they were considering an architect is because in addition to
providing an inventory of the building stock, an architect can also help them
think through the standards for an excellent school system and development of
the associated criteria, with input from various constituents.
Reenie Murphy hopes they
plan to have an educator on the steering committee that will work with whoever
is hired.
Marc Laredo is pleased
that they are conducting long-range planning and outside help in this area
seems to make sense. He asked about the
funding mechanism.
Dori Zaleznik commented
that they have not left any funds in the budget to pay for this study. However, in conversations she has had with
the Mayor, it seems that there may be a willingness on his part to consider
options for funding. Estimates indicate
it will take approximately eight months to complete and the timetable needs to
be vague until they can determine the funding source.
Marc Laredo asked what
steps they envision taking so that this does not become another report that
collects dust on a shelf.
Dori Zaleznik responded
that this type of discussion would take place in the next phase of the process,
where they begin to establish their next steps.
It is certainly going to be a well utilized report.
Anne Larner added that
the facilities report conducted in 1994, which surveyed all the elementary
schools, led the system to the tiered projects and also addressed middle school
capacity. It was this document that was
the impetus for the funding of the first of the three tiers. The 1999 high school study was also key to
their work at that level. Neither of
these studies gathered dust and that is because the School Committee and
administration kept them alive, which will happen in this case as well.
Marc Laredo asked if
they would be using the original elementary study in their work.
Nancy Levine stated that
they will not be reinventing the wheel and will use that report as the base for
beginning the update.
Patty Kellogg asked if
they had considered a K-8 model in the subcommittee discussions.
Dori Zaleznik stated
that they wanted to keep open all possibilities in the programmatic piece,
which they see as the second part of the process. The initial phase is to address the inventory
and lifespan of the buildings.
Patty Kellogg believes that
adding the middle schools to the inventory makes sense since this is a long-term
project.
Dori Zaleznik noted that
the subcommittee felt it would be useful to include all the buildings. While the focus will be on the elementary
schools, there is some unfinished business in the middle schools that should be
included in the plan.
Susie Heyman does not
want to leave the impression that all they are doing is taking an inventory of
buildings. They expect that the
professionals conducting the study will have a lot of interaction with staff
around program needs, so that they can take those standards out into the
community for input. The Mayor has
agreed that this is a logical step as they move toward additional bonding money
becoming available within the next couple of years. This is the time to start developing future
projects so that when the money is available they will be prepared.
The Committee was in
agreement to have the subcommittee move forward with their work and to include
the middle schools in the scope of the RFP.
UPDATE ON PROPOSAL FOR CONSULTANT SERVICES
Anne Larner provided
some history on this subject.
Discussions from budget deliberations and salary negotiations prompted
the Committee to consider hiring a consultant to conduct a study on the
classification and compensation for executive and management personnel, as well
as a study of the organizational structure for administrative services. She, Reenie and Dori have been working with
the Superintendent around this issue.
Their research found that there are not a lot of people that do this
type of work for public schools, but they feel they have identified a few. They would like to develop an RFP to see if
they may find additional ways of gaining efficiencies while still maintaining
support for the programs. They also
would like to do this work over the summer so that they can bring it back to
the Committee in the early fall.
Susie Heyman likes the
notion that the RFP can be either bundled as a combined study or as two
separate bids. Without additional State
funding, they have to look more carefully at how money is being spent and try
to develop new strategies.
Dori Zaleznik stated
that the need for more transparency in the system has been vocalized by the
public. In addition, the Committee needs
to feel confident about the organization and decisions they are making. She thanked the Superintendent for his
willingness to examine these areas.
Marc Laredo would like
to see the scope of the organizational structure extend beyond just the
Reenie Murphy asked if
this study will be completed before they begin their budget process next year.
Anne Larner replied that
it is their intent to get this moving as quickly as possible. In terms of the actual timeframe, that will
depend upon the specifics in the RFP around the intensity and scope of the
project. The classification and
compensation piece is more finite in terms of gathering data from other systems,
although it may be difficult to obtain all the data over the summer
months. The organizational structure for
administrative services is a function not only of access to people for data,
but discussion and processing as well.
The hope is that all of this work can be completed well in advance of
the budget so that it can dovetail into that process.
DISCUSSION ITEMS
None.
ACTION ITEMS
REQUEST FOR ESTABLISHMENT OF REVOLVING ACCOUNT
Jeff Young noted that
this is a request to establish a revolving account for the purpose of
collecting funds for a Communications Disorders Program, which the Newton
Public Schools will jointly sponsor with
Reenie Murphy had some
questions regarding the estimated numbers.
Margie Daniels explained
that originally they had hoped to hold two sessions and that is what the
figures in the memo reflect. However, at
the last minute there was a glitch with one of the schools, so at this time
there is only one session scheduled for January. The dollar amount in the information reflects
both sessions, which they still hope to be able to offer once they work out the
issues.
Anne Larner asked if
they have to set a maximum amount in the revolving account.
Sandra Guryan, Assistant
Superintendent for Business, Finance & Planning, replied in the
affirmative. This is why they are
suggesting setting the dollar amount at $5,000, so that they do not have to
revisit this if they end up with both sessions.
Marc Laredo asked if the
system will incur any costs associated with this program.
Sandy Guryan stated that
there would be no rental fees because it would be under the auspices of a
Newton Public Schools program.
Margie Daniels added
that the program will run after school and should not go beyond 6:00 p.m., when
additional custodial charges are added.
Dori Zaleznik asked if
they anticipate expansion of the program in the future to families outside of
Margie Daniels stated
that at present it is their intention to keep it as an internal program.
Reenie Murphy asked if
they are making allowances for families who cannot afford the tuition.
Margie Daniels stated
that this is not part of the proposal, but it is something she could explore
with the liaison to the schools.
MOTION: It was moved to ask the Board of Aldermen
to
authorize the establishment of a revolving
account
(up to $5,000) for the purpose of collecting
funds
from parents for a new after-school speech and
language therapy program, as outlined in the
memorandum of 6/27/05.
(Heyman
– Zaleznik)
8 – 0 – 1
Absent: Mayor Cohen
REQUEST TO ESTABLISH PETTY CASH ACCOUNTS
Anne Larner mentioned
that when this item was presented, she asked for some background on their
practices with regard to petty cash accounts, which is included in the
materials.
Sandy Guryan noted that
there are very few petty cash accounts in the system. Currently the high school athletic
departments and the
Marc Laredo understands
the need for these accounts and that they need to keep these at a minimum. He asked if they could be more specific about
the needs in the Springboard program.
Sandy Guryan explained
that Springboard has some spontaneous needs around reimbursing students for
transportation expenses for appointments and this is currently being routed
through the general
MOTION: It was moved to approve the request
regarding
the establishment of three petty cash accounts
(Preschool
Program, Springboard, Newton Community Education Commission), as outlined in
the 6/22/05 memorandum.
(Zaleznik –
Glick)
8 – 0 – 1
Absent:
Mayor Cohen
APPROVAL OF GRANT
Anne Larner noted that
pieces of this grant have not yet been awarded and she wondered about the
legality of voting to approve anticipated grants.
Sandy Guryan cannot
answer the legal part of her question but can provide some background on why
they put this forward at this time. The
Grants Manager needs to set up the accounting for these grants over the summer,
so they wanted to get a head start on this work. While they are certain the grants are
forthcoming, it is the actual dollar amounts that are not confirmed, so she is
uncertain what to recommend the Committee do at this point.
Dori Zaleznik does not
believe it is prudent to accept grants before they are actually confirmed, but
suggested they authorize the Grants Manager to set up the necessary accounting
mechanisms and then vote approval in the fall.
Sandy Guryan responded
that this could slow down the process, but she will investigate this further.
Susie Heyman asked if
they could accept the grants with an acknowledgement that the specific dollar
amounts are unknown at this time. She
also noted that she is disappointed to see that the No Child Left Behind
funding is decreasing or being level-funded.
Marc Laredo is not
comfortable accepting grants without a specific dollar amount attached, but
does not have a problem authorizing the Grants Manager to commence with the
necessary paperwork.
Anne Larner suggested
they accept the grants that have been awarded and hold a special meeting over
the summer as soon as the others are finalized or they have additional
information.
MOTION: It was moved to accept the following grants from
the list outlined in the 6/12/05 memorandum:
Community Partnerships for Children, SPED 94-142,
SPED
Program Improvement: Teacher Induction, SPED Early Childhood Allocation,
(Heyman –
Zaleznik)
8
– 0 – 1
Absent: 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 9:15 p.m.