WARE SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING REGULAR BUSINESS MEETING TIME: 6:30 P.M. WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 07, 2011 PLACE: Ware Junior-Senior High School Library PRESENT: Chris Desjardins; Aaron Sawabi; Brian Winslow; Danielle Souza ABSENT: Michael Meehan ALSO PRESENT: Superintendent of Schools-Dr. Beach; Committee Recording Secretary-T. Janey Loehr; Student Council Member-Abby Desjardins; Charlene Desjardins; Nancy Slator; Bob Warren Chris Desjardins called the regular business meeting to order at 6:30 P.M. A Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag was conducted at this point of the meeting. NOTE: NOTE: This meeting has been videotaped and is on file in the Superintendent s Office. This is a written summary of the action taken at this meeting. Documents referenced with (SEE ATTACHED) are on file in the Superintendent s Office in a file folder marked with the date of this meeting. A Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag was conducted at this point of the meeting. I. Approval of Warrants and Payroll. A. Warrants and Payroll for December 07, 2011 MOTION by Danielle Souza and seconded by Aaron Sawabi to approve the warrants and payroll for December 07, 2011 as submitted. 4 members approved. 1 member (M. Meehan) absent. Motion Carries. II. Approval of Meeting Minutes: A. Minutes from Wednesday, November 09, 2011 Regular Meeting. MOTION by Danielle Souza and seconded by Aaron Sawabi to approve the meeting minutes as submitted from the Wednesday, November 09, 2011 regular business meeting. 4 members approved. 1 member (M. Meehan) absent. Motion Carries. III. Comments and Concerns of Citizens
There were no comments and concerns of citizens tonight. IV. Sub-Committee Discussion Danielle Souza reported that the Policy Sub-Committee met at 5:15 PM this evening and that we have completed the Physical Education Form and Log for the WHS student who along with her parents came before the School Committee to request a waiver. Aaron Sawabi clarified that this is not a new policy, this is just for tracking this individual student s physical activity. MOTION by Danielle Souza and seconded by Chris Desjardins to put in place the Physical Education Form and Log to be signed by the Instructor, Student, Parent and Administration as amended. 4 members approved. 1 member (M. Meehan) absent. Motion carries. Mrs. Souza then discussed adopting the School Committee Norms document. We will omit line 11 and 12, and add in number 8 the words will be recorded. Aaron Sawabi then asked the committee for final input and approval of the School Committee Operating Norms document, once approved the document will be added to our section of the website: http://warepublicschools/schoolcommitte.asp. Danielle Souza added that this is not a policy but a guideline to our operating norms. Brian Winslow asked if the norms conflict with any open meeting laws. Danielle Souza answered no. Aaron Sawabi reminded the committee that these operating norms were run by the MASC Representative at the MASC meeting. MOTION by Danielle Souza and seconded by Chris Desjardins to put the Operating Norms document on our website. 4 members approved. 1 member (M. Meehan) absent. Motion carries. Lastly, the sub-committee is looking at a School Alternative Credit application procedure program to possibly implement. Aaron Sawabi explained that this procedure is in response to the physical education dynamics that have occurred during come student s scheduling process and that we have talked to a number of parents in the last couple of weeks and want them to know that we are discussing the issue. There has been some confusion about whether we have in place a waiver policy or a deferment policy. Our current policy is a deferment policy and we will continue to discuss moving forward with a revamp in the policy. He said the subcommittee has met twice on this issue and that the administration has taken it up as an action item. We will look at forming a committee to address these types of issues we want the policy to meet the student s need. The student will have to demonstrate a conflict in his/her scheduling. We do not want the policy to be abused and/or to be used as a mechanism to get out of certain classes. Danielle Souza stressed to parents and students to give us your feedback because it is needed in developing a policy and/or procedure. We can be contact via our email addresses on the website or by emailing sclive@ware.k12.ma.us. The next steps will be to figure out the volume of the demand, collect feedback and then discuss the criteria based on
concerns from parents. Chris Desjardins commented in order to get this issue right we will have to take as much time as needed. Upcoming Meeting: December 21, 2011 at 5:15 PM in the WJSHS library. V. Reports/Updates A. Report from Student Council Member. In summary, Abby Desjardins reported the following: SMK Best Oral Health Program took place at SMK last week offering dental services to roughly 50 students. Math Bingo Night sponsored by Title I was held last night in the cafeteria Holiday Shop is currently being run by the PTO SMK is also running its winter Scholastic Book Fair WMS The Leadership Council is conducting a toy drive during the month of December, for every new unwrapped toy received, each person will receive a raffle ticket for a chance to win a $50.00 Wal-Mart gift card. The toy drive will conclude on December 14 th. Toys collected will be donated to Ware Christmas for Kids. There will also be a holiday gift basket raffle; the winner will be drawn on December 22 nd. WMS PTO held an Open Gym night on December 2 nd. The event was well attended and all had a good time. WMS PTO will be selling Smencilgrams for the holidays, during student lunches December 6 th- 8 th. Cost is $1.00 each. WJSHS Basketball season starts next Monday. The Craft Fair was a great success and well attended. Next SJUCO project will take place on bullying. 1 st Lockdown procedure of the year was this week. B. Report from the Superintendent There was a question raised at the last meeting regarding additional cost of transportation of all make-up days. There is no additional cost because the buses are still only operating 180 days. We have received a grant from the state which will allow us to hire a part time math coach to help us continue our math initiatives. WPS is partnering with Tufts University in pursuing a STEM Education grant which will allow selected math and science teachers K-8 to participate in some graduate level on line professional development. A random Lock Down was held on Tuesday at WJSHS and WMS. The police canine unit conducted the search. The committee has been given an informational sheet on Lock Downs. Change in student membership of the month of November: SMK 1 student withdrawn moved out of town; WMS 2 students have choiced
in the district and 0 have left; WJSHS 4 students have left, 1 decided to obtain GED, 3 moved to another town. Dr. Beach explained the Lock Down/Stay Put Information. A Lock Down requires all doors to be locked and all individuals are restricted to secured rooms. A Stay Put allows activities to continue with the exception of being in hallways and restrooms. Both Lock Downs and Stay Puts are conducted by police and maybe with or without a canine unit. Lock Downs that are not drills would be put in place if a school or campus had a suspected intruder. The areas searched are lockers, locker rooms and parking lots. Parents are always notified including individual calls if contraband is discovered. Dr. Beach also mentioned that the committee has a copy of the Results of Operation from last month and this month Andy Paquette will both this one and the following one address at the next meeting. Brian Winslow asked if we have put in for any reimbursements due to loss from last month s storm. Dr. Beach answered yes what we know of so far, see what the town submits and we will get our share of what entitled to. VI. OLD/UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Snow make-up days. Nancy Slator, Ware Teachers Association Representative is here to speak on behalf of the snow make-up days. She explained that some teachers conducted an informal poll and agreed that making up the instructional days before the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) will help kids in preparing for MCAS. Additionally, teachers felt that a four-day weekend Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday during February Vacation would better than two three days weekends, she asked if we can give up the Good Friday holiday. Dr. Beach answered that 75% of school districts do not have Good Friday off. It was then asked can we make up a day by using the Monday after January 1 st. Dr. Beach said no, that Monday is a Federal Holiday. Dr. Beach reminded everyone that we started before Labor Day so we are right on schedule to get out on June 18 th for students and June 19 th for teachers and paraprofessionals. Dr. Beach suggested that if we use any more snow days between now and January 31 st we will take the days away from Wednesday, Thursday and/or Friday of February Vacation. Chris Desjardins prefers the all or nothing approach, if we have any snow days between now and January 31 st we will take away all three days Wed., Thurs and Fri. He also asked how difficult would it be to move the Professional Development Day to the end of the year, Dr. Beach said not to hard at this point in time. There was also some discussion around the students, 1 teacher, and 1 paraprofessional going on the International Trip, Dr. Beach feels that it is an educational experience and the decision to grant them time is at her discretion, she would grant the extra time. Dr. Beach said that people want a plan, we have lost 5 instructional school days before MCAS testing and if we have more snow days we could lose 6, 7 or 8 instructional days. MOTION made by Danielle Souza and seconded by Aaron Sawabi if we use any snow days between now and January 31 st we will take away Wednesday, Thursday
and Friday of February Vacation. 4 members approved. 1 member (M. Meehan) absent. Motion Carries. VII. NEW BUSINESS There was no new business tonight. VIII. COMMUNICATIONS A. Special Thanks. Chris Desjardins gave a special thank you to both the Sports Boosters and the SMK PTO, who on a joint venture split the cost of replacing the shingles on the press box at the football field. IX. Special Projects There were no special projects tonight. X. Other Business. MOTION by Chris Desjardins and seconded by Aaron Sawabi to adjourn the meeting at 7:35 PM and to not return to open session. 4 members approved. 1 member (M. Meehan) absent. Motion Carries. ROLL CALL VOTE: C. Desjardins.yes A. Sawabi..yes B. Winslow. yes D. Souza yes M. Meehan. absent, Chairman Respectfully submitted, Dr. Mary Elizabeth Beach Superintendent of Schools