WHITMAN-HANSON REGIONAL SCHOOL COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING
Minutes of February 13, 2008
Held at the Whitman-Hanson Regional School High School
Meeting convened:7:01p.m.
Meeting adjourned:8:13p.m.
Members present:Mrs.Rich, McSweeney
Messrs. Hayes (arrived at 7:34 p.m.), Evans,Trotta, Kryzanek
Members absent:Mrs. Holbrook, Mrs. Cerilli, Mr. Tuffo, Mr. Powers
Administrators present:John F. McEwan, Superintendent
Sharon Andrew, Director of Business Services
The meeting was called to order by Mrs. Patricia Rich at 7:01 p.m. The meeting was held in the high school lecture hall.
Student Advisory Report
Miss Elizabeth Sussky reported on student academic, sports and extra-curricular activities. School vacation begins the Friday. Both the boy’s and girl’s track teams won the ACL titles and will compete in the Class B Championships. TheDrama Club will present the play “Our Town” this week. Student Council is working on hosting a dance in March to raise money for a Tara O’Connor scholarship fund. March madness events will be held the week of March 17. Student Council raised over $1100 for Special Olympics in the Passion Plunge.
Superintendent’s Report
A quorum could not be reached at this time during the meeting so the superintendent suggested presentations be made as scheduled on the agenda.
Compass Presentation
Ms. Lauren Belden, Director of the COMPASS School Program, provided a presentation of the COMPASS program and an overview of the School, its mission statement, policies, emotional, academic and social/behavioral support systems. The program is specific to meet the needs of at-risk students who have difficulty participating in a traditional school environment and mainstream school curriculum. Ms. Belden was assisted by teacher Shawn Kain in presenting information about the program. The level system, a behavioral modification system, is used on a daily basis to help students stay on track and was discussed in detailwith the committee. COMPASS has other components to the program, including citizenship projects and working actively with the community through CSL. Currently, 25 students are enrolled in the program.
Community Evening School Presentation
Mr. Ryan Morgan, Director of the Community Evening School presented an overview of the Community Evening School. This program was developed to enhance the transitional night school program. Prior to the development of this program students had to travel to Middleboro or other surrounding towns to earn their diploma. At the Whitman-Hanson Community Evening School, students can not only earn a diploma, but can also take classes make up credit work in their regular or traditional school programs. Enrollment is up this year over last year. This is a self-supporting program. Additional staff would needed in order to handle any additional Currently, 127 students are enrolled in the program.
New District website Presentation
Mr. Mark Stephansky updated the committee on the progress of the new district website. Each school has a webmaster assigned to make adjustments and manage to their individual school sites. The site is more user friendly, easy to navigate and will help parents connect with their children’s schools for news and information more readily. The new and improved site should be ready to launch after the February school vacation. Mr. Stephansky provided an on-line demonstration for the committee to see the layout of the new site.
Mr. Hayes resumed the meeting after the presentations were made. Mr. Hayes attended the D.A.R.E. graduation ceremony at Hanson Middle School earlier that evening. He informed the committee that Hanson D.A.R.E. Officer, Rick Nawazelski, was named the D.A.R.E. Officer of the Year in Massachusetts. The Superintendent will send a formal letter congratulating D.A.R.E. Officer Rick Nawazelski on his Massachusetts D.A.R.E. Officer of the Year Award.
Approval of Minutes
Mr. Evans motioned; Mrs. McSweeney seconded; to approve the school committee minutes from the regular school committee meeting held on January 9, 2008. The motion carried 6-0-0.
Mr. Kryzanek motioned; Mrs. Rich seconded; to approve the school committee minutes from the budget breakfast school committee meeting held on February 2, 2008. The motion carried 5-0-1 (Mrs. McSweeney abstained).
Superintendent’s Report
Budget Update
The superintendent reported there was not much to add since the budget breakfast meeting held on February 2. The superintendent has been in contact with Representative Allen McCarthy who informed him that local aid funding appeared a little better in the House II Budget.
At the March 12 school committee meeting, solid data is expected and recommendations for assessments will be made. The district is looking to restore some lost programs and positions lost due to prior year’s budget cuts. The district will continue to look for creative ways to handle the needs of the district and seek new revenue sources while continuing to work with the towns. Mrs. Andrew presented an update to anticipated revenue sheet in response to a request for actual figures made at the budget breakfast meeting. It was reported that half of the Chapter 70 funding has been received. Issues surrounding revenue for the district include the noticeable reduction in revenue from the athletic account. We are not meeting the user fee goals. It was suggested to share the school facilities with other towns to bring in additional game receipts revenue. Establishing a stabilization account was discussed. This would need two-thirds of the school committee vote to be approved.
The Superintendent reported on the recent celebration of the Chinese New Year held at the high school on February 7. This was on of the biggest celebrations held at the new high school to date. Each of the schools in the district contributed to the celebration and held performances in the Performing Arts Center. It was a huge success and over 1,000 people were in attendance.
An incident at a Randolph school during the primary election prompted concerns from the Hanson community to consider re-locating primary elections away from the Maquan Elementary school to a new location. Concerns with student safety and security while voters are in the school building were expressed.
It was the consensus of the committee to have the superintendent contact Hanson town officials asking them to consider moving primary and national elections to a different location, namely the Hanson Middle School for safety and security reasons.
The district is currently reviewing two different student software programs that will be implemented for the 2008-09 school year. The current student system is outdated and finding an adequate program that can be integrated with specifications from the Department of Education has become a priority. Mr. Finley and the technology department have been doing a great job assessing software programs and interviewing potential companies. Presentations were made by the two finalists and a decision will be made as soon as possible so that professional development and training can begin.
Concerns surrounding the COMPASS School lease, which up this year, were expressed. It was requested this issue be addressed at a future meeting.
2008-09 District Academic Calendar
Mrs. Rich motioned; Mr. Kryzanek seconded; to approve the 2008-09 School District Academic Calendar as presented. The motion carried 6-0-0. The committee is aware the format of the calendar may change prior to printing and there may be a date change to parent-teacher nights.
Field Trips
Mr. Evans motioned; Mr. Kryzanek seconded; to waive the nurse requirement and approve the high school overnight school sponsored field trip to Boston for the DECA Massachusetts State Conference March 13-15, 2008. The motion carried 6-0-0.
Mrs. Rich motioned; Mr. Trotta seconded; to approve the high school overnight school sponsored field trip to Worcester for the High School Special Olympic Team to participate in the Special Olympic Winter Games February 29-March 3, 2008. The motion carried 6-0-0. The superintendent also reported that special education teacher, John Odom, has announced his retirement this year. He was also nominated to the Special Olympics Hall of Fame for all of the tireless work he has done over the years theSpecial Olympic program.
Policy for Athletic Camps
The superintendent presented a first reading for a new policy for athletic camps. These include summer sports camps for soccer, football, etc. The new policy will enable the district to ethically control financials and revenue received from the camps. All tuitions (camp fees) are deposited into the Athletic Revolving account. Each camp’s deposits will be kept separate using sub-accounts. Five percent (5%) of gross income from each camp is to be allocated to the “Athletic Reserve Account”. Liability insurance shall be provided by the District.
Policies will be streamlined for other camps in the near future, including theater/drama and science.
Mr. Kryzanek motioned; Mrs. Rich seconded; to waive the first reading and approve the Policy for Athletic Camps as presented. The motion carried 6-0-0.
5k Road Race – Panther Prowl
Mr. Evans motioned; Mr. Kryzanek seconded; to approve the 2nd Annual 5k Panther Prowl Road Race & Walk scheduled for March 22, 2008 conducted by the Whitman-Hanson Athletic Department. The motion carried 6-0-0.
Subcommittee Reports
Facilities Subcommittee
The committee has not met to date. The Superintendent would like to schedule a tentative date of March 12 at 5:30 p.m. (prior to the school committee meeting that same night).
Negotiations Subcommittee
The committee needed to go into executive session to discuss negotiations.
Legislative Report
Mr. Evans reported he and a few others from W-H attended the Stand for Children workshop at Reading High School on January 26. Mr. Evans was also present at the MASC GIC informational meeting.
North River Collaborative
Mrs. McSweeney reported the collaborative is holding a career fair on February 27 in the new building. There are also many new grants in the works. The Superintendent reported that the assistant director, Larry Sauer, has resigned.
Phoenix Project
The next meeting is scheduled for March 5, 2008 in the high school library. Stand for Children representative, Ms. Meg Ansara, is the guest speaker.
Maquan Feasibility Study Committee
The Superintendent reported that work is ongoing with the consultant company and the basic level cost for the renovation project is $6 million and increases from there. The net meeting is scheduled for February 27 at 6:00 p.m. at the Maquan School. Project presentations will be available soon to school committee and at town meeting.
Mrs. Rich motioned; Mr. Kryzanek seconded; Roll Call voted 5-0-0; to go into executive session at 9:27 p.m. for the purpose of negotiations. * Please note: Because the committee would be discussing negotiations in executive session, school committee member, Robert Trotta, excused himself and was not present for executive session due to a conflict.
Mrs. Rich motioned; Mr. Kryzanek seconded; Roll Call voted 5-0-0; to come out of executive session at 9:35 p.m.
Mr. Evansmotioned; Mr. Kryzanekseconded;to adjourn the meeting at9:35p.m. The motion carried unanimously 5-0-0.
Minutes by Michelle K. Kelley
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Secretary/Clerk
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