Amherst School Committee
October 21, 2014
Library, Amherst Regional High School
In Attendance:
Katherine Appy, Chair Maria Geryk, Superintendent
Lawrence O'Brien Mike Morris, Assistant Superintendent
Rick Hood Sean Mangano, Finance Director
Amilcar Shabazz (arrived @ 6:08) Kathryn Mazur, Human Resources Director
Absent: Debbie Westmoreland, Recorder
Kathleen Traphagen
1. Welcome 6:00 p.m.
A. Call to Order—Ms. Appy called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and reviewed the agenda.
B. Approve Minutes—Mr. O'Brien moved to approve the minutes of September 17, 2014. Mr. Hood seconded and the motion was unanimously approved.
2. Public Comments 6:01 p.m.
There were no public comments.
3. Subcommittee Updates 6:01 p.m.
The committee reviewed the Amherst Subcommittees and each member agreed to keep their current assignments with only one exception. Mr. O'Brien will be the 2014-2015 Amherst Community Television Liaison, replacing Mr. Hood in the role.
5. New and Continuing Business 6:03 p.m.
A. FY14 End-of-Year Budget Report
DOCUMENT: Amherst School Operating Budget FY2014 End-of-Year Report
The FY14 final budget report was distributed to the School Committee in advance for their review. Mr. Mangano briefly reviewed the highlights and answered clarifying questions for the School Committee.
B. FY15 Regional Budget First Quarter Update
DOCUMENTS: Amherst School Operating Budget FY2015 First Quarter Report
The FY15 first quarter budget update was distributed to the School Committee in advance for their review. Mr. Mangano briefly reviewed the highlights and answered clarifying questions for the School Committee.
C. MSBA Update
DOCUMENT: Memo to the Amherst School Committee from Maria Geryk, Superintendent regarding MSBA Update dated October 17, 2014
Mr. Morris reported that the Wildwood Building Committee met for the first time today. He publicly acknowledged Ron Bohonowicz’s hard work over seven years in getting the district invited into the feasibility study. Mr. Morris noted that the anticipated reimbursement rate was 60% when the project was presented at Town Meeting, but the actual rate will be 68%. He explained that the next step is to select an Owner’s Project Manager (OPM) and a selection subcommittee was appointed at today’s meeting. It is hoped that the OPM will be appointed by February. Ms. Appy noted that information will be posted on the ARPS website throughout the feasibility study since community input is an important part of the process. Mr. O’Brien asked who the members of the Building Committee are. Ms. Geryk noted that the members are:
· Sonia Aldrich, Comptroller, Town of Amherst
· Maria Geryk, Superintendent
· John Musante, Town Manager
· Katherine Appy, Amherst School Committee Chair
· Ron Bohonowicz, Director of Facilities
· Maria Geryk, Superintendent
· Nick Yaffe, Principal
· Michael Morris, Director of Evaluation & Assessment
· Sandy Pooler, Director of Finance for the Town of Amherst
· Ludmilla Pavlova, Senior Facilities Planner & Adjunct Professor UMASS (Architect)
· Irv Rhodes, Business Consultant
· Mangala Jagadeesh, Classroom Teacher at Wildwood Elementary School
· Carole Learned-Miller, Parent at Wildwood Elementary School & prior teacher and principal
· Sherril Willis, Reading Intervention Teacher at Wildwood Elementary School
· Miki Gromacki, Assistant Principal of ARHS and Parent
· Sean Mangano, Director of Finance, Amherst Public Schools
· Monica Hall, Director of Diversity & Equity
· David Ziomek, Assistant Town Manager, Town of Amherst
Mr. O’Brien stated his appreciation for the make-up of the committee, noting it is better to go big so that many voices are included in the process.
D. Superintendent's Goals (Draft)
DOCUMENTS: Amherst, Pelham and Amherst-Pelham Regional Schools District Improvement Plan: A Blueprint for Continuous Growth dated September 2014; Superintendent Evaluation: 2014-2015 Self-Assessment Goals and Action Steps
Ms. Geryk distributed a revised draft of the District Improvement Plan and the Superintendent's goals for 2014-2015. She noted that the goals are now color-coded to show the source of the goals. Red represents one of the four priority elements from the School Committee, green represents an additional, non-priority element from the School Committee, and blue represents a goal suggested by a community member and/or SETF priorities. Discussion followed with the School Committee asking clarifying questions and providing feedback on the various goals. Mr. O’Brien stated that he likes the goals and self-assessment for each of them, but noted that the planned action steps for the district improvement and consensus-building goals are a bit too general. He encouraged Ms. Geryk to be more specific with the action steps. Mr. Hood asked if there is a plan for reviewing goal process on the calendar. Ms. Geryk noted that formally there is a mid-cycle and an end-of-year review, but there can be an update any time the School Committee would like one. Mr. Shabazz asked if the district transitions team is for sixth grade moving to seventh as well as secondary transitions. Ms. Geryk explained that the transitions work really begins with age 14; however, there are district equity goals that support transition from sixth to seventh grade. Mr. Shabazz suggested that clarity could be provided to families regarding some areas, particularly residency requirements since that is an area of concern that was brought to his attention by a family. He thanked Ms. Geryk for her follow-up on the issue when he made her aware of the concern. Ms. Geryk noted that Dr. Guevara has oversight of residency so she can ask her to include a departmental goal around the issue. Mr. Shabazz asked if there is a plan to provide MCAS, INFORM and AIMS Web data to the School Committee to inform their assessment of progress toward the goals. Ms. Geryk noted that early literacy is the area of greatest focus this year. Mr. Morris explained that INFORM data can be disaggregated in all of the ways MCAS data is disaggregated and can be provided to the School Committee. Mr. Shabazz requested that the data be provided to the School Committee as early as possible in order to inform their evaluation rather than waiting until June. Ms. Appy noted that it was informative to have the department goals in addition to the Superintendent’s goals because it gives a scope of what is going on in the district. Ms. Geryk noted that she will revise her goals based on this feedback and will distribute it to the full committee.
E. Enrollment Update
DOCUMENTS: Amherst School District Enrollments as of October 1, 2014 (Enrollment including Choice Students); Enrollment Projections (Unofficial) Amherst Elementary Schools dated October 2014
Ms. Mazur gave a brief overview of the current October 1 enrollment figures, noting that the district is right on target with projections. She also reviewed the projections for next year and school choice enrollments, noting that there are currently 53 Choice students in the district. Discussion followed with Ms. Mazur and Ms. Geryk answering clarifying questions from the committee. Mr. Shabazz noted that Crocker Farm looks like the school with the smallest enrollment based on the reports, but it actually has the largest enrollment when you add in the preschool numbers. He suggested that it is important to bear this in mind when thinking about resources for each of the schools. Mr. Hood noted that it would be helpful to have the report Ms. Mazur provided last year giving an overview of the reasons for the enrollment decline. Mr. O’Brien requested that it include information on homeschooled students.
F. FY16 Budget Guidance Discussion
DOCUMENTS: Memo to Amherst School Committee from Maria Geryk, Superintendent regarding FY16 Budget Priorities Discussion dated October 16, 2014; FY15 Budget Priorities
Ms. Geryk noted that it is helpful to have general guidance from the School Committee as budget discussions begin, noting that the Town of Amherst has given guidance of a 2.2% increase for the Amherst Schools. Mr. Hood noted that he feels the discussion around goals addressed the School Committee's priorities and could serve as budget guidance. Ms. Appy agreed, noting that she believes the District Improvement Plan should drive the budget. Mr. Shabazz asked about the additional library material purchases at the end of last year, noting that he has heard concerns from the elementary librarians about the cuts to the book budget over the years. Mr. Morris noted that the library budgets were cut in 2007 or 2008. He noted that the additional funds at the end of the FY14 fiscal year were given to the librarians to purchase more books and resources in recognition of their working with less. Mr. O'Brien noted that he appreciates the format of the budget guidance last year and would like to see the same format used again.
G. Approve Gifts
DOCUMENTS: Memos to the Amherst School Committee from Mary Wallace, District Treasurer dated August 20, 2014 and October 17, 2014
Mr. Shabazz moved to accept $400 from Laurie Rabut for the Laurie Rabut String Scholarship Fund; $468.96 from the Fort River Parent Council for upgrades to the Fort River gym PA system; $1,250 from AEF for Developing Arithmetic Fluency in Early Grades; $1,675 from various donors for the Robin K. Fund donations for camp given in honor of Mary May; $100 from Laurie K. Doepel for the Fort River Fund for science education; $497.78 from Stop and Shop A+ School Rewards for Crocker Farm at the Principal's discretion; $578.82 from the Stop and Shop A+ Rewards program for Fort River at the Principal's discretion; and $987.26 from Target Take Charge of Education for Fort River at the Principal's discretion. Mr. O'Brien seconded and the motion was unanimously approved.
6. School Committee Planning 7:03 p.m.
A. Calendar and Future Agenda Items—Ms. Geryk distributed and reviewed an updated calendar of meetings. Future agenda suggestions included a vote to formalize the SETF as a subcommittee of the Amherst School Committee as well as the Regional School Committee (added to November agenda); increased Kindergarten grant requirements and potential lobbying regarding labor-intensive data collection tied to the funds (requested by Ms. Geryk); use of safety term "lockdown" and potential use of an alternative term (requested by Mr. Shabazz for consideration even if not on agenda); update on effectiveness of new teacher evaluation method (add to December, requested by Mr. Shabazz). The first part of the November 18 meeting will be posted as a joint Amherst and Region meeting for the DIP and Superintendent's Goals discussion.
7. Adjournment 7:20 p.m.
Mr. O'Brien moved to adjourn at 7:20 p.m. Mr. Hood seconded and the motion was unanimously approved.
Respectfully Submitted,
Debbie Westmoreland