Minutes
Quincy, Massachusetts - October 3, 2007
Regular Meeting of the Quincy School Committee
Regular Meeting
A regular meeting of the Quincy School Committee was held on Wednesday,
October 3, at 7:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers, City Hall. Present
were Mrs. Anne Mahoney, Mr. Kevin Mulvey, Ms. Linda Stice, Mr. Jim
Timmins, Mr. Dave McCarthy, and Ms. Elaine Dwyer, Vice Chairman.
Vice Chairman Presiding
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The Superintendent called the roll and Mayor Phelan was absent. Also present
were: Dr. Richard DeCristofaro, Secretary, and Mrs. Tefta Burrelli, Clerk; Dr.
Pattavina. Messrs. O’Brien, Ryan, Walsh, McPhee, Canavan, Kevin and Keith
Segalla, Ms. Powell, Hughes, and Roberts. Mr. Paul Phillips, QEA President,
was also present.
The Committee observed a moment of silence for Ms. Ciara M. Durkin, a Quincy
resident in the National Guard who died in Afghanistan.
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Reg Mins. for 9/19/2007 & ES 9/5/2007 & 9/19/2007
On a motion by Mr. Mulvey, seconded by Ms. Stice, the Committee approved
the regular session minutes for September 19, 2007 and the executive
session minutes for September 5, 2007 and September 19, 2007. The ayes
have it.
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Supt’s Report
The Superintendent thanked those who participated in the Mayor’s Golf
Tournament at Granite Links. Over $350,000 was raised which will be
used for early childhood initiatives.
Keith Segalla arranged for 15 Blue Cross/Blue Shield employees to weed,
plant, sweep, and rake the grounds of Quincy High School, including the
East Wing and Coddington buildings.
Atlantic Middle School will be recognized for improvement in the
Planet Health program run by Blue Cross Blue Shield. Congratulations
go to Laura Bogan, Principal.
The last of the School Improvement Plans will be reviewed tomorrow at
the Point Webster Middle School beginning at 9:00 a.m.
Transportation
The Committee received information regarding student transportation
delays. The Registry of Motor Vehicles has initiated a new School Bus
Inspection. This is causing difficulty in keeping our total fleet on the
road. Our mechanics are working hard to correct problems. While we
work on a solution, Ms. Constantino has been reworking routes in an
effort to get it back on track.
A mini-grant reception will be held on October 16 from 3:00 - 5:00 p.m.
sponsored by our Partnership. There are three categories: Aviva Grants
(Community Service), Uncle Sam (Flag Education), and Honeywell
(Science Technology). We have received 200 requests and expect to
award 150 which will total $40,000.
Student Trip
Mrs. Powell spoke to the request for seven eighth grade at-risk students
to do a week long camping experience on Thompson’s Island. Outward
Bound is a non-profit educational organization whose programs change
lives through its emphasis on character development, respect for differences,
team building, and hands-on learning experiences. The Masons have
committed $4,800 to cover the cost of seven students and one teacher.
The dates would be October 22-26, 2007.
Outward Bound Approved
On a motion by Mr. Timmins
seconded by Mrs. McCarthy, the Committee moved approval of the
request presented by Mrs. Powell for the Outward Bound trip. The ayes
have it.
Ms. Edie Hughes updated the Committee on the status of the Literacy
Program for 2007-2008.
Ms. Colleen Roberts reported on the Honeywell and NASA program
put on at North Quincy High School. Over 1,200 fifth and sixth grade
students watched a science rock concert - FMA Live! on Newton’s
three Laws of Motion. A power point presentation done by Brian
Smith was shown to the Committee.
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Agenda Books
The Committee received a listing of agenda books and items used
by each school. Every elementary school uses agenda books,
but not all grades. All middle schools grades require agenda books
and they are required at North Quincy High grade nine and Quincy
High grades 9-12.
Mrs. Mahoney asked why there is a discrepancy. She made a
motion to make it mandatory that all students use agenda books
beginning in the third grade. Mrs. Roberts answered that it began
four years ago but has never been a requirement in any of the
schools. It is usually what the principals and teachers want. They
use many different ways.
Mrs. Mahoney agreed that there are many ways, but the discrepancy
comes because some are funded by PTOs, some by the school
system and some schools have to fund their own. She was very
impressed with the agenda books and feels it is an incredible tool.
Mayor arrives at 7:40 p.m.
Mr. Timmins thought it would be good to establish uniformity.
Ms. Stice was not in agreement to mandate agenda books. She did
not want to second guess teachers and principal.
Mr. Mulvey thought it was a good idea but would like to hear from
principals. Members were concerned if there was a discrepancy
in acquiring them.
Mrs. Dwyer would like teachers to have some independence.
Agenda Books to Policy Subcommittee
Mrs. Mahoney withdrew her original motion and moved that the
agenda books issue be put into Policy Subcommittee. Seconded
by Ms. Stice. The ayes have it.
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Official Enrollment
Mr. O’Brien reported that the official October enrollment for this year
is 9,083 students.
Class Size
He reviewed class size in more detail. K-3 is in
excellent shape, grades 4-5 is in excellent condition. There were 3
classrooms at 25 in a class. It turns out that those students are in the
same school in the same grade. They provided a skill support in grade 4.
At the Middle School level the concern was that five classes were 25-26
and one at 28. Atlantic has two grade 7 divisions at 25, Central at 25, 26
and 25. In speaking with principals their response was that they have
worked with their staff and these students are very capable to work
at this pace. Sterling has one grade 8 with 28. This is an algebra class. This
is not new. The Principal reports she spoke with parents; and parents are
adamant they want their children to stay in this class.
At the high school level there are two classes over 30. These classes are
in Social Studies. At North Quincy these are honors level courses and
Philosophy, which is a popular subject. Teachers and students are not
concerned. The World History honors course cannot be moved. At
Quincy High School, there is one advanced placement course in US
History. The teacher does not consider this a problem.
Ms. Stice asked if we should hire another social studies teacher. The
Superintendent said he would look at it. Three teachers were hired this
year to address class size.
Mr. McCarthy was concerned that science classes at North Quincy
were high. Mr. O’Brien said no but that he would get him a list of
the advanced science classes at North for him.
Instant Alert
Mr. O’Brien reported that the Instant Alert system will be installed at the
elementary schools. This is a call messenger service provided to us free of
charge by Honeywell. It is instant calling to all students at once. It
also offers multiple means of contact -- home phone numbers, emails, cell
phone, all are options. Parents and staff would have control of what
information is on the system. We will have training from Honeywell.
We will also install it at Quincy High School because of all the construction
issues. Middle schools and North Quincy High will come later.
Mr. Mulvey inquired as to the privacy issues. Mr. O’Brien answered that
Honeywell has installed this all over the country. This is encrypted and
not for sale. Once the initial application is set up, parents can have a
customized log in wherein they can change their data. Honeywell guarantees
that they are aware information needs to be secure, encrypted, and not for sale.
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Coordinated Review
Quincy is undergoing a Coordinated Review this year by the Mass Department
of Ed. which they do every six years. Two reviewers from the Department
of Education and one from OSHA met with the Superintendent and his Team.
All documentation needs to be in order the second week in January.
It is an extensive program. It will involve all Special Ed. regulations, Civil
Rights, ELE Career/Vocational Technical Education. After all the
documentation is collected, in January they will select 100 specific students
records that to review. They will schedule their school visits and their interviews.
They will put together an exit interview with the Superintendent. We will
receive a report within 90 days.
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New QHS
Mike Ryan reported on an incident whereby gas fumes from the outside
of the building entered Quincy High School. The gas company was
scheduled to come in on Friday afternoon, after everyone had left the
building. They came instead on site on Monday morning. Every contractor
who comes in on site needs to sign in. They walked in and began to
purge the gas line before they set the meters. This is standard procedure.
The fire department was on site on another issues and somebody notified
them so they proceeded over. I told them that the gas company was making
the new connection. We went down to the site and stopped the operation.
We went through the building and the fire department said it wasn’t dangerous.
The students went back into the building after we opened the windows.
We met with the Keyspan people and expressed displeasure with them. They
assured Mr. Ryan that would not happen again. A meeting was held with
Paul Phillips, Mr. Santoro, Department Heads and the Superintendent to
discuss the situation.
Last Friday, a meeting with the Superintendent was held to discuss some
of Mr. Phillips’ concerns. Mr. Phillips would like to see more communication
with staff. Mr. Ryan will start attending the Principal’s Council Meetings
on Monday and bring the contractors to answer any concerns.
Another concern was made about the plastic liners in trucks. There are
some old oil tanks buried around the building. Over the years the tanks
deteriorated. The bad soil was taken away in these trucks. Everything
is monitored and documented.
Phones for Codington Hall are on order. They will be installed via
the IT Dept.
Drafts of the final copies of the drawings will be available for the Building
Committee. The Building Committee will review them and make changes
if needed and then sign off. All drawings meet the educational specification
approved by the School Committee.
Mr. Timmins asked how Keyspan could access what was a secure site. He
thought there was somebody doing a job and that the person was on the
site. Mr. Ryan answered that they did not sign in. They walked
through the main gate and proceeded to do their work. The gate is not
locked, but he will speak with Gilbane and report back.
Mr. Timmins said he would like to see how they monitor the gate and if
there had been any change in the protocol.
Mr. Timmins also inquired how the gas actually got into the building.
and if there was any review on how the school staff reacted in
terms of evacuation. Were there any concerns on the part of the Fire
Department on how we handled it that day?
The Superintendent answered that they went by the established protocol.
The principal and he make the decision. There was some misinformation
gathered by a few of the parties involved. Everyone had a different opinion
as to what the principal should do. Principals do what they think is best
for their school. Keyspan, Mr. Ryan and the Fire Department gave us
their information and we made the decision. The Superintendent said he
stands behind Mr. Santoro 300%.
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There will be an MCAS analysis the first week in November.
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Transportation
The Superintendent notified the committee that we may lease two
buses for the remainder of this year. We are experiencing delays
transporting elementary students. Mr. McPhee said that the Registry
has taken over the buses and the standards for putting buses on the road
are more stringent. If any of 68 items that are inspected needs work,
the bus can’t leave the yard. Parents are getting upset. Many of our
buses had problems.
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Open Forum
Linda Perry, President of the Quincy Parent Advisory Council announce
their next meeting will be held on Wednesday, October 24. There will
be a lot of information available. Ms. Lynn Summerill from the Department
of Education will speak.
Mr. Bob Haley spoke to about the 90% reimbursement of the schools. Any
financial problems that Quincy has is beyond their control is due to inflation.
Mr. Paul Phillips, QEA President, spoke to the gas leak at Quincy High School.
He was very encouraged to hear Mr. Ryan’s report. His presence at Council
meetings is very encouraging. Posting what is going to happen at the Quincy
High School site is also a very useful thing. He has been barraged with
questions from people who work at Quincy High School. Keyspan
is the problem. They need to know what they’re doing. When Mr. Phillips
contacted them they were adamant that they were not purging anything. They
were installing meters. Mr. Ryan’s report makes that clearer that there is
purging going on with meter work as well. It's been very disturbing that
Keyspan wasn’t monitoring any adjacent structure to find out if there were
any pools of gas forming.
The fire department was there for another purpose and then they ran into an
incident. He agrees with Mr. Timmins that they have to determine the lines
of communication. Mr. Santoro as the principal determined that evacuation
was not necessary and his information from many acquaintances in the fire
department is that they strongly disagreed with that.
If someone pulled the alarm then the fire department is in charge and they
make those determinations. In that case that didn’t happen because they
just happen to be there for something else. Some kind of discussion on how
to handle a situation like that needs to occur. His personal feeling and the
personal feeling of many of the people at Quincy High School is that
they agreed with the fire department in this case that evacuation was
necessary.
He believes Mr. Santoro worked in good faith. Mr. Phillips spent a
lot of time talking to the state associations health and safety group and
the Mass Teachers Association’s legal group and he said he wanted to
make sure that the parents know that if teachers run into a situation like
that, the teachers are going to use reasonable adult decision-making processes
and if they determine it’s time to evacuate, they’re going to take the kids out
and they’re going to pull the alarm. If there’s a problem with that, if there’s
any disciplinary action the Mass Teachers Association will be defending any
teacher who has decided that was necessary for the safety of anybody. Safety
first for the kids, safety first for the teachers.
Also, he mentioned the plastic wrapped trucks that people saw. He explained
that if they know in advance, the concerns should dissipate. He is glad Mr.
Ryan will be meeting with the Principal’s Council every week.
Mr. Phillips was concerned that the Committee is starting to think on voting
on pedagogical methodology. That could become a problem as one size fits
all is not going to work. As much as he approves of agenda books, the
Committee needs to let people deal with these in an individual manner.
The QEA will have a general membership meeting on October 16. They will be
discussing the participating in the GIC negotiations.
The Superintendent said he wanted to make sure that Mr. Phillips understands
that more than anything else at Quincy High School, we need unity and we need
people to work together and we need collaboration and we need people to
understand there are rules. We need to all follow the rules just like students do
in classrooms. So, he was a little bit dismayed by that end, and Mr. Phillips and ‘
he can talk about that, and come to a reasonable solution. He was very concerned
that teachers would do some things on their own versus what their they’re
ordered to do at a certain time. He understands there are certain situations
that happen, and he’ll talk about those situations, but he would be concerned
that unity is the word and to work together and to protect kids, protect staff,
protect administration and make sure that the learning environment is absolutely
positively the safest and he knows that Mr. Santoro has that in mind. He knows
that the council he met with has that in mind and he knows that collaborative
feeling at Quincy High School will make sure that our students are safe. But that
needs to be done absolutely positively together. Divisiveness is not going to
make it. The Superintendent will spend as much time as he has at the high
school to help maintain the best possible environment for students and
working together in unity and in team work will make it work.
The Committee asked Mr. Ryan to check to see if the power outage had
any effect on the school messenger.
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Supt’s Eval.
The members received a packet of additional information from Mr. Timmins
regarding the Superintendent’s evaluation. He is recommending that a
special subcommittee be established to discuss it. The format of the
evaluation will be discussed. On a motion by Mr. Timmins, seconded
Mrs. Mahoney, the Superintendent Evaluation Subcommittee is established.
The ayes have it. Mrs. Dwyer will be the chair.
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Asst. Superintendent Job Description
The members received a proposed job description for the Assistant
Superintendent’s job. The emphasis of this job is for someone to
handle the many different entities that are looking at the school
system all the time - local and federal. This is an enormous job. This
job moves away from the personnel part. This position should keep
us on track with all the regulatory agencies. Ms. Stice made a motion to
approve the job description or the Assistant Superintendent, seconded by
Mr. Mullaney. The ayes have it. The motion passed unanimously.
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Gift Mason’s to Students In Need Fund
On a motion by Mr. Mulvey, seconded by Ms. Stice, the Committee
accepted a gift of $850 from the Masons Rural Lodge A.F. & A.M. to
benefit Quincy Public Schools Students in Need Fund. The ayes have it.
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MASS/MASC Official Delegate
The Committee nominated Mr. Mulvey as the official delegate to the MASC/MASS
meeting in Hyannis.
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NQ ROTC Trip to NH Approved
On a motion by Mr. Timmins, seconded by Mrs. McCarthy, the Committee
approved the trip to New Hampshire for the North Quincy High School
ROTC October 26 to October 28, 2007. The ayes have it.
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Mr. Timmins commended Kevin Segalla and his staff for the fine
work they did at Central Middle School.
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Resignations
The Committee noted the following resignations:
Teachers: Caitlyn Curley, Jessica DelGizzi, Tammy Duncan, Toni Fitzgerald, Anthony Green, Andrew Hamilton, Sarah Korbut, Amy Kotsonis, Kathleen Richardson, Stephanie Scanlan, Theresa Sprague, Peter Umbrianna
Psychologist: John Benz
Nurse: Jacqueline Brady
Asst. Principal: Darrin Reynolds
Occup. Therapist: Lisa Tracy
Café Helper: Carol McNulty, Jennifer Toldness
Lunch Attendant: Susan Gillespie
Paraprofessional: Janet Shiels
Appointments
The Committee noted the following appointments:
Teachers: Barbara Cross, Ryan Durst
Lunch Attendants: Catharina Enbar, Gail Hankin, Christopher Shionis
Paraprofessional: Marisa Ngo
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Adjournment
On a motion by Mr. McCarthy, seconded by Mrs. Mahoney, the Committee
adjourned for the evening at 9:30 p.m. There was no executive session.
On a roll call vote, the motion passed unanimously 7-0.