September 12, 2006
Wellesley Public Schools
School Committee Meeting - Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Wellesley High School Library
The meeting was called to order by the Chairman at 7:35 pm. Mr. Young , Ms. Allen, Ms. Jablonski, Ms. Littlefield, and Ms. Newman were present. Also present were Dr. King and Ms.Wong. Representing the Student Congress was Kelsey Woerner.
PERSONNEL ANNOUNCEMENTS
Increase in Teaching Time
Sydney Moody, Occupational Therapist, 0.2FTE increase from 0.5FTE to 0.7FTE, effective August 28, 2006
Appendix A Appointments
Mathematics Resource Teachers
Bevin Hale and Heather Maffei - Grade Five (shared stipend)
Departmental Assistant
Dayle Dickinson - Literacy
John Brown and Julie (Hathaway) Spilka - TV/Video (shared stipend)
Performing Arts Technical Support
Philip Sequeira • High School Auditorium Manager • Middle School Auditorium Manager • Middle School Sound Director • Middle School Technical Director High School Technical Director
CONSENT AGENDA
Upon motion made by Ms. Jablonski, seconded by Ms. Newman, it was unanimously VOTED:
Minutes
To approve
Minutes (corrected) of Regular School Committee meeting dated August 30, 2006
Salary Lane Change
Master’s
• Brian Allieri, effective September 6, 2006
• Suzanne Whitehouse, effective September 6, 2006
Master’s Plus 60
• Heather Haskell, effective September 6, 2006
RECOGNITIONS
Wellesley Kiwanis, host of the annual luncheon for new teachers on their first day of work. Lynn Moore-Benson and her staff of Technology Specialists, who continue to troubleshoot and assure working technology especially at the middle school while renovations continue. Middle School Faculty, who continue to teach with grace, resilience and good humor in the face of continuing renovations in an occupied school. Fiske Faculty, who helped in many non-traditional ways on the first day of school as modular units were delivered to Hastings Street. John Brown, Interim Athletic Director, who managed a successful night football community event September 8.
SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT
Dr. King described how the middle school and high school communities observed the fifth anniversary of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, New York, and the Pentagon.
SCHOOL COMMITTEE REPORT
As the middle school renovation project proceeds, power in classrooms is sometimes intermittent, but teachers have been very flexible and resilient. As the installation of modulars at Fiske and Schofield proceeds, planning is underway through the Permanent Building Committee to respond to requests from the Design Review Board for some landscaping at Fiske. In conjunction with the high school project, a new land utilization task force will consider thoroughly the uses of all land adjacent to the high school building. The Friday night football game on September 8 was a very successful community wide event. The superintendent search timeline anticipates that Dr. King’s final day will be June 30, 2007, and that a new superintendent will be appointed in the early winter of 2007 to allow for some transition. The RFP to identify a search consultant has been posted. Student Congress representation will be rotated this year among Ryan Speers, Kelsey Woerner, and John McDermott. Ms. Woerner reported that at its first meeting this year, the students considered organizing a central club council to help unify the goals of the various clubs at the high school and to sponsor a forum to help students learn about the variety of opportunities that are available. School council elections will take place soon.
CITIZEN SPEAK
There were no citizens present who wished to speak.
ACTION ITEMS
School Improvement Plans and Reports Mr. Young welcomed the elementary principals, who were present to discuss with the committee the school improvement reports/plans from 2005-06 and 2006-07, which were developed by individual school councils. Dr. King noted that Wellesley has extensive improvement efforts underway system wide. As a result, the individual school improvement plans are uniquely tailored to each school, based on their own contexts, and express a unique focus for each school. The ensuing discussion covered a variety of topics, including definition of 504 plan; formulation of the school improvement plans, how and by whom; physical plant differences/challenges among the schools; focus on mathematics; plan sharing among all levels of the system.
Upon motion made by Ms. Jablonski, seconded by Ms. Littlefield, it was unanimously
VOTED: To accept 2006-07 school improvement plans for Bates, Fiske, Hardy, Hunnewell, Schofield, Sprague, and Upham schools, as presented.
The motion CARRIED unanimously (5-0). Middle School Principal John D’Auria and High School Principal Rena Mirkin joined the discussion, describing the process by which the school council is formed annually and how focus points are identified for the development of plans for secondary schools. The discussion referenced the recent emphasis in the high school on student stress and gpa/grade weighting, and concern about possible variables among the middle school houses in the amount of homework assigned to students.
Upon motion made by Ms. Jablonski, seconded by Ms. Littlefield, it was unanimously
VOTED: To accept 2006-07 school improvement plan for Wellesley Middle School, as presented.
The motion CARRIED unanimously (5-0).
Upon motion made by Ms. Jablonski, seconded by Ms. Littlefield, it was unanimously
VOTED: To accept 2006-07 school improvement plan for Wellesley High School, as presented.
The motion CARRIED unanimously (5-0). FY08 Capital Budget Guidelines Dr. King reported a change in the school committee agenda calendar. The FY08 capital budget will be presented on October 10, and the committee will approve a capital budget request on October 24. This will allow the committee to present its capital budget needs to Advisory on November 8. The five-year elementary capital plan, developed in conjunction with the architects and presented to school committee last year, will factor in the development of the FY08 budget and in the prioritization of projects at the schools. Uncertainty about the scope of a high school project will affect planning. Upon review of the FY07 capital budget guidelines the committee concluded that it was comprehensive of the system’s needs and that no changes would be necessary in the document for FY08.
Upon motion made by Ms. Littlefield, seconded by Ms. Jablonski, it was unanimously
VOTED: To approve FY08 Capital Budget Guidelines as presented and approved by School Committee for FY07 on September 13, 2005.
The motion CARRIED unanimously (5-0). CITIZEN SPEAK
There were no citizens present who wished to speak.
ADJOURNMENT
The public session was adjourned at 8:45 pm
Executive Secretary
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