DRACUT SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Regular Session Minutes Date: November 28, 2016 Location: Dracut High School Learning Commons School Committee Members Present: Betsy Murphy, Chair Joseph Wilkie, 1 st Vice Chair Daniel O Connell, 2 nd Vice Chair Matthew Sheehan Allison Volpe School Personnel and Others Present: Steven Stone, Superintendent of Schools William Frangiamore, School Business Administrator Attorney Brian Akashian Cynthia Curtis, Recording Secretary Call To Order: The regular session meeting was called to order by Mrs. Murphy at 7:00 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance and Moment of Silence Chairperson Murphy called for the pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence. Grade 5 students from the Campbell School led the pledge of allegiance. Students were Jonelyn Pineda, Bobby Michaud, Nilay Patel, Alexas Caron, Charlotte McIntosh, Cassidy Chartier and Dylan Eld. Principal Snyder explained that these grade 5 students are Kindergarten helpers who assist the Kindergarten students with afternoon bus pick up. A moment of silence was held for Charles Panageotopoulos, former Dracut Police Sergeant and former School Attendance Officer. Approval of Minutes 1. Motion by Mr. Wilkie, seconded by Mr. Sheehan to approve the November 14, 2016 school committee meeting minutes. Approval of Bills and Payrolls Bills and payrolls will be signed by the Committee at the conclusion of the meeting. 1
Presentation by Student Representative Alyssa Bigos provided updates on events occurring at the high school. Fall Sports is scheduled for November 30, high school open house is December 1. Monday is the Chris Herren presentation. A parent athlete information night is scheduled for December 2. December 7 is early release for students due to professional development for teachers and staff. Community Input Sabrina Heisey, parent, of 1465 Lakeview Avenue, addressed the Committee with concerns on spending and direction of the school department with the school department being asked to do more with less. Ms. Heisey offered suggestions to help students at risk and improve scores. Suggestions were using students to help students. Ms. Heisey stated that people are confident in the leadership of the schools and district. A suggestion was having volunteers analyze data, and having an inventory on school books. Ms. Heisey asked about educating parents in regard to MCAS test results. Ms. Heisey asked the Committee to let parents know what they can do to help. Committee Reports No Committee Reports. New Business Acceptance of Donation Mr. Wilkie introduced Andrew Albano and Ron Cardillo who addressed the committee with a donation of $2,080 for the Dracut Public Schools with $1,040 to be used towards the Chris Herren presentation and $1,040 to be used for the Maker Spaces. The donation is made in honor of his father who passed away from Cancer a few years ago. Each year a golf tournament is held in his honor to benefit the Jimmy Fund. This year, money was raised for the Dracut Public Schools. Mr. Wilkie commented on the donation and their efforts in helping the community. Mr. Wilkie thanked Mr. Albano and Mr. Cardillo on behalf of the Committee. 2. Motion by Mr. O Connell, seconded by Mr. Wilkie to accept the donation of $1,040 to be used towards the Chris Herren presentation. 3. Motion by Mr. O Connell, seconded by Mr. Wilkie to accept the donation of $1,040 to be used towards the Maker Spaces. Superintendent s Informational Items John and Abigail Adams Scholarship Recipients Fifty-Four students from the Class of 2017 qualify as recipients of the John and Abigail Adams Scholarship. Principal Richard Manley indicated that for students to qualify they must achieve at least one advanced and at least proficient on the remaining two on the 2
MCAS test and fall within the top 25% of class results. A congratulations will be forwarded to the students. Dracut High School Athletic Hall of Fame Superintendent Stone commented on the Dracut High Hall of Fame induction held on November 25 th. Inducted were Bob Rudolph, Coach from 1972-2006; Sean Harrington, Class of 1991 playing Cross Country and Wrestling; Kristina Graham Sheahan, Class of 1999 playing Volleyball, Basketball, Softball; Joseph Nazzaro, Class of 1999 playing Soccer, Basketball, Volleyball; Nichole Gavel, Class of 2002 playing Volleyball, Basketball, Track & Field; and Jennifer Fontaine Elder, Class of 2002 playing Soccer, Basketball, Track & Field. Joseph Wilkie, also the Master of Ceremonies, congratulated all the inductees. Mr. Wilkie commented on the inductees. Nicole Gavel attended Harvard and was an Olympic hopeful. Jen Fontaine Elder was Captain of Fitchburg State Basketball and holds the school steal record to this day. Kristina Sheahan attended Stonehill College. Joe Nazzaro was captain of soccer at Vassar College. Sean Harrington was three time All-American at University of UMASS Lowell and competed twice in the Olympic trials. Gavel, Nazzaro, Elder and Sheahan were all three twelve letter athletes and three sport captains. Mr. Wilkie commented on the years of coaching for Robert Rudolph in Baseball, Football and Wrestling. Mr. Wilkie thanked Mr. Manley and Mr. Coddaire for attending. Mr. Wilkie thanked the All Sports Boosters, Lettermen's Club and thanked Chris Cahill, Mike Maille, Paula Hould, and Phil Gacek for making the event happen. Dracut High School Open House Superintendent Stone indicated there is an open house for all incoming freshmen students and parents on December 5. Mr. Wilkie congratulated Mr. Stone and his team for the promoting of Dracut High and retaining the students we have and bringing back students. Mr. Stone stated the district needs to be aggressively competitive in retaining students. MCAS Presentation A district and school MCAS report was presented to the Committee by Superintendent Stone, Director of Student Services Richard Whitehead, Director of Curriculum and Assessment David Hill and Principals Nicholas Botelho, Dawn Smith, Andrew Allen, Christopher Snyder, Maria McGuiness and Richard Manley. Some comments and highlights of the presentation were: MCAS performance measures Criterion Referenced Testing matching one group and one test against another. Focusing on student growth is a more valid way to discuss student performance. Student growth improvements validate that while we explicitly instruct students on good test-taking skills. 3
The district is focused on improving student performance but not teaching to the test. There is continued increases in Student Growth. Steady student growth improvements with Students with Disabilities and Economically Disadvantaged subgroups. The DESE review identified that our decision making related to curriculum and instructional strategies is designed to improve student achievement. Leadership team is consistently focused on performance. We are extending our analysis capacity through the rollout of Baseline Analytics which allows all teachers to see and work with performance data. The Committee's support of altering bell schedules allows for teachers from the elementary schools to participate in professional development. This also helps the four elementary schools to graduate students with more common skill sets as they enter the middle school. There is an alignment of curriculum efforts with the middle and high school. The MCAS presentation is made available on the district website and kept on file. Administrators and principals were thanked for their reports, presentations and continued work. Old Business Report Requests No report requests Community Calendar of Events November 29 Greenmont PTO meeting November 30 Fall Sports Awards December 1 Dracut High School Open House December 4 Community Chorus Holiday Concert December 5 Chris Herren Presentation December 6 Parent Athlete Information Night December 7 Professional Development, Early Release for students December 9-10 Dracut High Performance of Sleepy Hollow December 12 School Committee Meeting Adjournment: 4. Motion by Mr. Wilkie, seconded by Mr. Sheehan to adjourn the regular session meeting of the Dracut School Committee. The regular session meeting of the Dracut School Committee meeting was adjourned at 9:05 p.m. 4
Respectfully Submitted, Cynthia Curtis Recording Secretary 5