Topsfield School Committee (Tsc)

PERMANENT MINUTES

TOPSFIELD SCHOOL COMMITTEE (TSC)

REGULAR MEETING

PROCTOR SCHOOL LIBRARY

AUGUST 22, 2013

6:00 PM

Members Present:Susan Archer (Chairperson), Katherine Carlson, Joe Quigley and Rosemarie Lucey,

Members Absent:Gordie Spater

Others Present:Dr. Bernard Creeden (TRI TOWN UNION Superintendent), Christine Elliot (TRI TOWN UNION Director of Curriculum), Steve Greenberg (TRI TOWN UNION Assistant Superintendent of Operations), Sarah O’Leary (Principal, Proctor School) and Ellen Gaskell (Recording Secretary)

1. ROUTINES:
2. Call to Order: Chairperson S. Archer called the meeting to order at 6:13pm.
3. Remarks from the Public:None
4. REPORTS:
5. Reports from Other Committees:
6. Dr. Creeden said the Board of Selectmen will now begin to accept department annual reports for FY 2013 in July.
7. Report of the Superintendent:
8. Personnel Update:
9. Larry MacElhiney is the long-term substitute for Steward Principal Michelle Costa during her maternity leave. M. Costa will be at new student orientation.
10. MaribethInconigliosis the new Kindergarten teacher.
11. Melissa Goldner is the new Early Childhood ABA Teacher at Steward.
12. Julie Avalloneis covering the child-rearing leave for K-5 Music Teacher, Dina Reilly.
13. There will be one teaching intern instead of two;Endicott College student Shannon Linnehan will be working at the Language Learning Lab at Steward. Nancy Rudder will be supervising Ms. Linnehan.
14. Ben Killham is covering Brittany Austin’s (Grade 2) child rearing leave of absence until December.
15. Meghan Kleinpeter (Grade 4) has resigned: Mindy Murphy will take her place.Gr. 5 Teacher Nate Wentworth also resigned; John Deveney has been appointed to this position.
16. Donna Ellis is covering Kristen Nicholson’s (Grade 5)child rearing leave for the full year.
17. Erin Cheney will replace Proctor Behavior Specialist Alison Pechalk, who has resigned.
18. Jessica Minnaar will cover Marianne Monbleau’s (.60 FTE Reading) child rearing leave for the school year and Lynne Clark will cover Jessica Minnaar(.80 FTE Reading).
19. Proctor Part-time Custodian Nick Leblanc will cover Head Custodian Shawn Conary’s medical leave. K. Carlson said Masco outsourced its cleaning crew and has experienced a good cost savings; Dr. Creeden said outsourcing this service at Proctor has been considered but there’s a lot of merit in having custodians that take ownership of the building.
20. There was a general discussion about school safety. Dr. Creeden said that in Topsfield 911 calls will begin to be directed to the Regional Emergency Communication Center (RECC) located in Middleton in the fall. S. O’Leary said Proctor has 12 radios that can communicate to the Police and Fire Departments and internally. The radios will also communicate with Steward.
21. Planning for School Opening and Readiness Meeting:
22. There is a meeting on August 27thfor new teacher orientation; Joe Quigley plans to attend.
23. On September 3rda Staff Meeting; breakfast will be served; S. O’Leary and Larry MacElhiney will attend.
24. Dr. Creeden and S. Greenberg met with the bus drivers yesterday. K. Carlson asked if the some of the bus routes could be consolidated because there are some students picked up as early as 7:45 am. S. Archer reminded her that one bus had to be cut out of the budget. C. Elliot said that if bus rides were shortened, it could make it harder for working parents because they’d have to be home for their children earlier. The Coppermine Road bus route was discussed.
25. Enrollment Update: See the handout in the packet. Proctor School has two additional students (Grade 5) who will be living in Topsfield in the fall that are included in the enrollment number; the current 5th Grade enrollment is at 91. Grade 6 enrollment is at 82 students. Grade 4 enrollment is high at 94 students.
26. The TSC is concerned that the class sizes in Grade 4 are too large. They thought that another Grade 4 class might be afforded in part by the cost savings provided by Mr. Wentworth’s resignation and his replacement by John Deveney, which should be about $20K. Dr. Creeden would rather not add another 4thGrade classroom, but instead have an additional teacher to work with the entire 4th Grade class. Dr. Creeden noted that Proctor also has both a full-time Reading and a full-time Math specialist that can be deployed. S. Archer spoke of the advantages of small classes. J. Quigley thought adding an additional classroom at this point would be disruptive. S. Archer wants the size of this 4th Grade class to be more accounted for in next year’s budget and to have more proactive approach to this class in the future; Joe Quigley agreed.
27. Planning for DESE Coordinated Program Review: Dr. Creeden, S. Lyons and Melissa Shoer will meet next week with Nathan Lemmonand Joan Brinckerhoff of DESE. Dr. Creeden would like DESE to do one site visit for the Tri-Town, but right now there will be separate visits for the three towns.
28. CLIC Program Update: Dr. Creeden reported that the liability insurance question forthe CLIC Program remains open and unresolved.There is still a possibility that the program can be incorporated into the Tri-Town Council including the provision of liability insurance.
29. Report of the Director of Curriculum
30. Federal Grants Fiscal Year 2014: Title I Allocation: C. Elliot presented the Recommendation for Math Support/Title 1 Funding: Topsfield handout, included in the packet.
31. Topsfield will receive $81,664 in Title I funding in 2014; a $65K increase from 2013. The Title I funding is based on 2010 Census data.Since the census is only done every ten years, it is hoped that this level of Title I funds will continue in the future. C. Elliot said there are restrictions in using Title I funds. C. Elliot is proposing adding a new position, a Title I Reading/Math Curriculum Coach, to be funded through Title I funds.

R. Lucey motioned to file a grant proposal for a Title I Reading/Math Curriculum Coach, 2nd J. Quigley; motion passed unanimously.

1. Report of the Assistant Superintendent of Operations
2. Technological Implementation Update: 30 iPads were purchased. S. Greenberg is reinforcing the technology staff – C. Esolon will be the Technology Network Coordinatorfor the three towns; S. Greenberg is currently interviewing for a Tri-Town help desk person. Jan Peetz (Network Technician) and Paula Klipfel (Digital Learning) are the remaining Topsfield technology employees.
3. FY 2013 Closeout Update: Topsfield schools turned back $5.00 to the Town’s General Fund.
4. New Website Launch Update:The new Tri-Town Union website is up and running; S. Greenberg asked the TSC to check it out. Dr. Creeden spoke of a new feature, the Virtual Backpack.
5. Summer Facilities Project Update: School Security Request for Purchase (RFP). Only one vendor was deemed to be fully responsive to the Request for Proposals, but the price quoted was too high ($173-$179K). The project was to provide a security card system for all the elementary schools in the Tri-Town; they hoped to spend $110K. There are two options at this point: either send out another RFP or do the project in phases.

1. NEW BUSINESS
2. School Committee Planning:
3. Student/Parent Handbook 2013-14 Final Revisions (Vote):
4. The TSC should send any changes to S. O’Leary as soon as possible.
5. The schedule of TSC meetings will be published in the handbook.
6. R. Lucey moved to accept the Topsfield Schools Handbook, pending any changes, for the 2013-14 School Year, 2nd J. Quigley; motion passed unanimously.
7. Requests for Waiver of Enrollment Prior to Residence Policy (Vote): The Bettano family is building on Grove Street and expects to receive an occupancy permit by Oct. 11ththe family would like their son Brandon to enroll in Grade 5 at Proctor.K. Carlson moved to give Dr. Creeden discretion to Approve Waiver to Residence Policy Requests, 2nd J. Quigley; motion passed unanimously.
8. School Committee Annotated Agenda Calendar 2013-14: will be considered at a later meeting.
9. Correspondence: None
10. Other:
11. K. Carlson suggested opening the Proctor parking lot open to Fair parking as a fundraiser.
12. CONSENT AGENDA:
13. Minutes of Previous Regular Meetings:7/11/13:
14. Page 1, Section2c., iii., should read like this (Waiver of Residence Policy Requests)
15. A family is building a house and anticipates occupancy in March. A letter was included in the packet. They have a Kindergartener and a 2nd Grader. Steward hasn’t had a request with such an extended time period before occupancy before and it may be best for the children start in Danvers.
16. The family is still engaged in the permitting process for new construction. No action taken tonight. Dr. Creeden will communicate the policy back to the families.
17. R. Lucey moved to accept the minutes as amended, 2ndJ. Quigley; motion passed unanimously.
18. Bills and Payrolls: were distributed at the meeting.
19. Sign and Vote:

1. Vote Only:

Iii R. Luceymoved to approve the Bills and Payrolls, seconded by J. Quigley; motion passed unanimously.

1. Acceptance of Donation to Schools: R. Lucey moved to accept a donation from the Topsfield Education Foundation, in the amount of $10,000, to be used towards the purchase of iPads ; seconded by K. Carlson; motion passed unanimously.
2. Declaration of Surplus Materials and Equipment:
3. K. Carlson suggested that Principal Flaherty of Masco be contacted to see if Masco wants the surplus computers for its Xcel program; they offer a class on making computers.
4. R. Lucey moved to accept consent agenda, 2ndJ. Quigley; motion passed unanimously.

1. EXECUTIVE SESSION:None
2. ADJOURNMENT:At 8:49p.m., R. Luceymade a motion for the purpose of adjournment, seconded by J. Quigley. Motion passed unanimously.

Respectfully Submitted,

Ellen Gaskell

Recording Secretary 2013-14

Per the Open Meeting Law, here is a list of the documents either distributed to the TSC before the meeting in the packet or at the meeting:

1. Agenda
2. Attendance Log
3. Bills and Payrolls Handout
4. 7/11/13 Superintendent’s Report
5. Previous Minutes from Previous Meetings
6. Recommendations for Math Support/Title I Funding Topsfield
7. Enrollment Anticipated 9/13; Updated August 19, 2013
8. Waiver from Residency Policy Request: Farris family
9. Topsfield Schools Handbook 2013/2014
10. Income Eligibility Guidelines (Eff. 7/1/13-6/30/14)
11. Boston Globe article 8/18/13: Closely Watched
12. Surplus Equipment:
13. Surplus Items submitted by M. Costa (books, etc.)
14. Steward (technology)
15. Proctor (technology)

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