Minutes
Quincy, Massachusetts -January 5, 2011
Regular Meeting of the Quincy School Committee
Regular Mtg.
A regular meeting of the Quincy School Committee was held on Wednesday, Regular Mtg.
January 5, 2011 in the Point Webster Middle School. Present were: Mr. Dave
McCarthy, Mrs. Emily Lebo, Ms. Barbara Isola, Mrs. Jo-Ann Bragg, Mrs. Elaine
Dwyer, Mrs. Anne Mahoney and Mayor Thomas P. Koch, Chairman.
Chairman
Presiding
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The Superintendent called the roll and all members were present. Also present
were: Dr. Richard DeCristofaro, Secretary; Mrs. Tefta Burrelli, Clerk; Messrs.
Mullaney, Draicchio, Mulvey, Murphy and Keith Segalla; Ms. Roberts, Tenaglia,
Todd, and Hughes. Ms. Allison Cox, QEA President and Tracey Christello,
Citywide.
The Committee observed a moment of silence for the following members of
the Quincy Public Schools family: Mr. George DiPaulo, the Gostanian
family, the DeLorey family , the Oriola family, the Rougvie family, the Torraco
family, the Rickson family and the Dwyer family. Mrs. Mahoney remembered
her uncle, George DePaylo, as a quiet hero of World War 2, a dedicated family
man and a faithful employee who worked for the Quincy Public Schools at
Sterling Middle School for 60 years.
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Reg. Meeting Mins. Approved
12/8/2010
On a motion by Mrs. Bragg, seconded by Mr. McCarthy, the Committee approved
the regular session minutes for December 8, 2010. The ayes have it.
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Principal, James McGuire, welcomed the School Committee members to the
Point Webster Middle School. He introduced the choir, under the direction of
Amy Rogers, who sang the National Anthem and Cover the World with Love.
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Supts Report
The Superintendent thanked everyone who participated in the school holiday
concerts. They were all a big success. Over 50 teachers will receive Professional
Status at a reception tomorrow afternoon. Also, there are 36 pre-practicum
teachers from Boston University working in the schools. He thanked Mrs.
Roberts for organizing this project. Drug Awareness Week is January 4-7, 2011.
There was a Citywide parent presentation last night. There will be student
performances, presentations, students will create public service announcements, an Essay Contest for all grade 12 students and a presentation on
Steroids for Athletes, a mandatory presentation for all high school winter
athletes. Thanks to the Rotary Club and the Mayor’s Drug Task Force.
To Policy Subcommittee
Mrs. Bragg put into the Policy Subcommittee the CTE Admissions Policy
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Open Forum
As no one wished to be heard in Open Forum, the Committee went on
with the business at hand.
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Bldg. Update Mr. Murphy reports
The Maintenance staff has been very busy. Mr. Murphy thanked the custodians
and Larry Prendeville and the Parks Department for clearing out the snow.
Electricians and automatic feedback on boilers at Central and Bernazzani,
completed heating repairs at Beechwood Knoll and North Quincy, repaired
and wired the security systems at Beechwood Knoll and Central. We are busy
with painting jobs. They have removed $16,000 worth of hardware from the
old high school.
Mr. McCarthy asked if there was any damage from flooding at Atlantic or
Broad Meadows: Mr. Murphy said no monetary damage done. Also Mr.
McCarthy asked if students can get into the old Quincy High School –is it
closed off from the kids? Mr. Murphy said no one is in that school.
Mrs. Dwyer said that the area on Sea St. at the cemetery had not been plowed.
She was concerned about the students getting to the high school. Mr. Murphy
will talk to Mr. Prendeville to keep after that area.
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QHS Bldg. Committee Mrs. Dwyer reports
Mrs. Dwyer said that the lights need to be adjusted at Quincy High School.
The building is lit up very late at night. Mr. McCarthy asked who is responsible
for replacing burnt out lights and the pole at the front entrance of Quincy High
School? Mrs. Dwyer answered that Tishman has vacated the building they
were in. Our custodians or Maintenance staff replaces burnt out lights
Walter Kincaide will give the committee an update on Friday at the Quincy
High School Building Committee meeting. The Mayor added that the leak at
Quincy High was a chemical in the pipe which is added so that pipes don’t
freeze.
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Central Middle Mayor reports
Mayor Koch reported that he expects to have everything wrapped up by
March with regard to the land for the new Central. At the first City Council
meeting in February, the Mayor will bring in an appropriation for a bond
authorization for acquisition costs and related demolition costs.
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Health Services (PIP) Mrs. Kisielius reports
Mrs. Jane Kisielius gave an update and overview of the health services
through the Program Improvement Plan (PIP) so that the Committee will gain
a greater understanding of the challenging world of school health and the
important role the school nurses play.
Nurses communicate and collaborate with students, parents, and school
staff and community health providers to coordinate and implement health
services. Individualized health care plans are established for students with
specific medical needs to provide the nursing care that they require throughout the school day with the least amount of interruption to learning.
BMI Screenings
As required by the Mass. Dept of Public Health, new regulations required that
Body Mass Index (BMI) screenings are to be conducted for students in grades
1,4,7 and 10. Parents receive a written report of their child’s BMI status along
with additional health information and available resources.
MDPH SEAL
Also, this year in collaboration with the Dept. of Public Health’s Oral Health
Unit, dental screenings and sealants have been offered to students in grades 2
and 6. MDPH SEAL is a free dental program that provides students with
screenings, dental sealants, fluoride and dental referrals. The program is coordinated by the school nurse in each elementary and middle school. This program
is free of charge.
We have 21 full time school nurses--a full time nurse at each elementary and
middle school and two full time nurses at each high school. There is an additional
part-time nurse at the Early Childhood Center serving students with multiple
complex medical and educational needs. The Snug Harbor Community School
Pre-school program is staffed with 1.6 nurses. We have two paraprofessionals
working within the high school health offices.
The Health Services Team meets monthly and provides an opportunity for
informational sharing and problem solving. Professional development sessions
cover a variety of topics that are designed to keep nurses current in their practice.
BMI Screenings
Mrs. Lebo thought the BMI was somewhat controversial. Students might want
to be too thin. Mrs. Kasielius explained that they tried to approach it gently.
We received grant money. We formed a committee to create our own letter.
We explained body mass index, a portion of the story, it is an indicator of
possible future problems. It went fine. We entered the data and did a mail
merge with our city IT Department. We were all prepared for parents calling,
but for the most part we got parents who were really concerned.
Ms. Isola asked to see the letter that went out to parents on BMI. It is a
measurement that can be misinterpreted. Can parents opt out from having
their child’s BMI done? How is that communicated? Mrs. Kasielius said
they did it by instant messaging. It might have been done through the
schools newsletters. We did have parents opt out.
Ms. Isola asked if parents know the day their child was having the BMI
measurement? Did they send in a letter? Was there a form with a tear off? Or
did parents have to write their own letter?
Mrs. Kisielius said that parents had to communicate. They were informed by a
letter that they could contact their school if they didn’t want to participate.
It went out to all of the grades that were affected prior to doing the screening.
There was 1-2% that didn’t want to participate.
Mrs. Isola asked if the dental sealing program was needs based and how did
we communicate that?
Letters were sent home to 2 and 6th graders, on our website, channel 20, and
a very comprehensive package. They provided all the materials. They provided
translated copies of the materials. It is housed in each individual school.
She will share that package with Ms. Isola.
Mrs. Isola asked what percentage of students took advantage? Mrs. Kasielius
said we had a good response. At Atherton Hough, it was 100% return. She
will do the number for Mrs. Isola. The program is still in progress. This
program was funded through a grant.
Mrs. Isola ask if a nurse is out sick does she have a good pool of substitute
nurses. Mrs. Kisielius said she is very lucky, we have a good pool.
Mrs. Isola said as a parent of a child who had type 1 Diabetes, the nurses at
North Quincy High were invaluable for peace of mind and for education.
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Wellness Policy
Ms. Maura Tanaglia and her staff presented the school policy, process and
practices of the Wellness Team. The Wellness Policy requires the establishment of a Wellness Team at each elementary, middle and high school and at
the system level. The System Level Wellness Team oversees, coordinates and
communicates with the school teams. The Committee received a guide developed
by the Team for school communities to help explain the requirements of the
policy and to offer suggestions to school teams to assist with policy implementation.
The Wellness support programs include support from Food Services, health
services, physical education, counseling services, healthy school environment,
school site health promotion for staff, family and community involvement,
Health Education. A guide also included a listing of the schools, the wellness
team leaders and its members. There are new Federal and State regulations
that need to be reviewed by the teams.
Mrs. Lebo asked who from the community participates on the Wellness Team.
Mrs. Tenaglia answered that a Social Health Team participates. Wellness
stretches so far across all the different programs. There is a listing of all the
community members. However, Mrs. Lebo said in our policy it says there
are community reps, especially the food industry, but she didn’t see any on
a list.
Mrs. Bragg asked about parents on the teams? Mrs. Tanaglia said that on
the site teams a lot of the PTOs are involved with their school wellness teams.
However, there is no outside representation on the system wide team.
Mrs. Lebo said that our policy states there is going to be community representtation on this team. Mrs. Tenaglia said we do have a social health team
that Mrs. Kisielius and she are on and do have representatives from local
health departments. The community representatives are on the site teams
of the PTOs.
Mrs. Lebo inquired about the health educators. We lost the high school health
educators. Do we still have one in every middle school? Mrs. Tenaglia said
there are five health teachers at each middle school. At the high schools a lot of
those programs – SADD, health intervention, high school people are involved.
Guidance has dome some classrooms and organized programs with nurses,
brought in speakers such as social health programs and Drug Awareness Week.
The Superintendent added that the physical education staff is involved to
a certain extent. They took more of it on. Their schedule allows them to
be in the gym and then outside of the gym in the classroom area. At both high
schools there is a bit of that--not what we had, but the phys ed teachers are
picking up part of it.
Ms. Isola said she asked for an overview of the Wellness Policy as it relates
across the Quincy Public Schools for a number of reasons. In our policy that
was approved in 2006, #3 talks about a Wellness Team and a component of that
Wellness Team parents aren’t included in that. Ms. Isola said we’re missing the
boat in not having parents as a parental component as part of the Wellness Team
because so many of the policies and interventions that happen affect their children,
and she thinks parents should have input into that. Maybe it’s something the
Committee would want to put into Policy to amend that and look at it and make
a statement that we want parents at each of the sites to be involved. Atherton
Hough has two of their members as parents. She would like to know. Also in
looking at our Policy, #7 talks about all foods on campus will comply with USDA
regulations prohibiting foods of “minimum nutritional value”--no candy gum or
soda. She asked if there is a definition in the USDA that tells us what “minimum
nutritional value” is.
Ms. Tenaglia said there are new state regulations. We’ll have to look at our
policy some way down the road. We’re waiting for those regulations. Joanne
Morrissey has taken a leadership role in this. She’s been giving us information
about what she expects is coming out. Not all is out yet. Once those come out
we will have to take a look at the policy.
Ms. Isola said that it’s not up to someone’s decision as to what is “minimum
nutritional value.” It goes on to say, the individual Wellness Team may set
strict nutritional guidelines for their respective schools. This is one of her concerns.
We have all the schools with their individual teams and it can vary greatly from
BERN to BK to LH. She didn’t know if it does, but it can. Her question is, are
the individual guidelines for each of the schools written down anywhere?
Ms. Tenaglia said that is what the system team is for. They are supposed to provide
guidance for the sites. There is some autonomy. There is some freedom on the
activities that they implement. When you want to restrict something you need to
run it by the system level team. That is the safety net there so we don’t have those
huge disparities throughout the system.
Ms. Isola said that because childhood obesity is rampant, we want our children
to be healthy and have the best nutrition opportunities in education that we can
provide. However, she thinks that sometimes that the pendulum has swung
a little bit the other way. She has heard from parents, particularly at the elementary
level that there’s not the opportunity for a classroom teacher to have a Valentine’s
Day party and provide the children with cookies or goodies of any kind. We’re
losing an opportunity to provide students with a fun opportunity. It gives us an
opportunity to teach moderation with foods that might have less nutritional value
that we can show children within a balanced diet, we can still indulge in a
responsible way in these treats. She is concerned that we are just totally restricted.
She asked how many schools restrict those treats at the elementary school level
and if so, what kind of parental input was given to those policies.
Ms. Tanaglia said this is tricky territory. We have so many children with life
threatening allergies. When people bring in foods from home, that’s always
an issue too. There needs to be some kind of balance. The team needs to look
at that and provide some guidance.
Ms. Isola said she is talking about the situation where we determine that today
we’re having a treat and everybody’s excited about it.
She sited page 14, paragraph 1, that said “no building policy can violate the
constitutional rights of choice to students and staff members” e.g. an example:
you can’t prevent a student from bringing in soda in their lunch bag. Having
said that she spoke to a call she received whereby a mom made a decision after
Halloween to include a snack size Kit Kat in her child’s lunch bag. The child
was sitting at the lunch table and that was removed from the child and taken
away and given back to bring home. She didn’t know if that’s a matter of
education and just to let people know that what people put in their children’s
lunch bag is between the parents and the child.
Ms. Tenaglia said that is something they can discuss in the system wide team.
Ms. Isola thought that it is important as the child went home and was devastated.
She thought she did something wrong. It said on page 14, paragraph 2 that if a
school wants to restrict totally that would have to go through the system?
Ms. Tenaglia doesn’t think that is clear to any of the teams. They will be
looking at the new legislations. We need to make sure we’re on the same page.
We want some consistency and some autonomy. That’s a conflicting message
for people. We want to provide guidance and use reason.
Ms. Isola that that is the bottom line, we need to be reasonable. We need to
look at nutrition and health. We need to look at the big picture, those restrictions
is not necessarily the way to go.
Mrs. Bragg said she hadn’t seen this policy in a while and it needs to be rewritten.
She is open to revamping this policy and making it more workable. She would like
to see parents participate more. We will wait for the new regs to come out and
convene with Joanne Morrissey and figure out what we need to put it in.
Mrs. Mahoney also thought it was important that the parents are involved. One
school to another is completely different and it can be hard on the parents. At
one school they are allowed to have cupcakes and at another school you are not.
When a decision is made at the individual sites, there is not real communication
to the parents. This should be put on the individual websites.
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Common Core Standards Mrs. Roberts reports
Mrs. Colleen Roberts gave an overview of the new Common Core State Standards.
In Spring 2009, the National Governor’s Association and the Council of Chief
State School Officers proposed development of a common core of K-12 state
standards in English Language Arts and Mathematics. In July 2010, Common
Core state Standards adopted in Massachusetts to replace the current Massachusetts
Curriculum Frameworks in ELA and Math contingent upon augmenting and
customizing the common core. Forty-three states and the District of Columbia
have adopted these standards.
In December 21, 2010, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary
Education adopted additional standards to the Common Core State Standards.
An additional 10 standards for K-8 and 9 standards for high school additions. For
ELA, DESE recommended 27 addition standards including Pre-K standards.
We expect new Massachusetts State Curriculum Frameworks to be released this
Spring 2011. MCAS for 2012 will be based on the standards in common
between the current and new frameworks. Some tests items will be based on the
new frameworks but will not be included in scoring. Science will remain the
same.
By 2012-2013 the state expects a complete transition to the new Massachusetts
Frameworks based on the Common Core. In school year 2014-2015 the national
tests will be given. The test may be give at three points during the year with a
final summative assessment. Tests may be given online. Mrs. Roberts listed the
improvements for ELA, mathematics, and professional development for teachers.
Mrs. Roberts will forward any updated information to the Committee as she
receives it.
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Out of Country/State BERN to Canobie Lake
On a motion by Mr. McCarthy, seconded by Mrs. Mahoney, the Committee
approved the trip to Canobie Lake Park for Bernazzani on June 15, 2011.
The ayes have it.
On a motion by Mr. McCarthy, seconded by Mrs. Mahoney to, the Committee
approved a trip to New York City for Atlantic Middle School on June 9
to June 10, 2011. The ayes have it.
On a motion by Ms. Isola, seconded by Mrs. Lebo, the Committee approved
a trip to New York City for Point Webster Middle School on June 10, 2011.
The ayes have it.
On a motion by Mr. McCarthy, seconded by Ms. Isola, the Committee approved
a trip to New York City for Sterling Middle School on June 1-June 2, 2011.
The ayes have it.
On a motion by Mrs. Bragg, seconded by Mrs. Dwyer, the Committee
approved a trip for QHS to Mount Sunapee, NH on March 11, 2011. The ayes
have it. (Inclement weather date: 3/18/2011).
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QHS to London & Paris
On a motion by Ms. Isola, seconded by Mrs. Lebo, the Committee approved
a trip for QHS to London and Paris on April 15, 2011 to April 22, 2011 pending
a resolution of the Superintendent’s investigation.
Ms. Isola is seeking clarification on the policy regarding trips to foreign
countries and the expectations of students and parents with regard to the
following of local laws and customs. She wants students and parents to
be made aware of what the Quincy Public Schools policy is on this so that
there is no misunderstanding. The ayes have it.
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QEA Deferment Approved by SC
On a motion by Mrs. Mahoney, seconded by Mr. McCarthy, the Committee
voted to approve what was discussed in Executive Session with regard to the
teachers’ deferment. On a roll call vote, the motion passed 5-0. MRS. BRAGG
AND MRS. DWYER ABSTAINED.
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Gift to CTE Auto Dept.
On a motion by Mrs. Bragg, seconded by Mr. McCarthy, the Committee accepted
the 2000 Ford Explorer Eddie Bauer Sport Utility 4D to be approximately $3,400
from Mr. Scott Parrish, to the CTE Automotive Technology Program. The ayes
have it.
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Calendars to Policy Subcommittee
On a motion by Mrs. Bragg, seconded by Mr. McCarthy, the Committee moved
into Policy Subcommittee the School Calendar for 2011-2012 and the School
Committee Calendar for 2011-2012. The ayes have it.
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Mr. McCarthy asked if the Signet Alarm issue at Quincy High School has been
rectified. Mrs. Dwyer said that as far as she knew, it had.
The Policy Subcommittee scheduled for January 26, 2011 will be on the
following issues:
- CPR/ADE and first aid training. Mrs. Kisielius will update
the committee on what is being done.
- The two high school principals will discuss the attendance and
tardy policy.
- Student use of electronics
- Jewish holidays in conjunction with the calendars.
In February, we will discuss the Middle school interim letters. The Policy
Subcommittee asked for a presentation on the Easy Pro Grade
In March, the Superintendent will report back after working with the City
Clerk and Police Department on polling places.
In April, we will discuss the Harassment Policy which needs to be revamped
by April by Ms. Tenaglia.
Mrs. Lebo reported that the Special Education Subcommittee Meeting will
be on January 12 at 7:00 p.m.
Mrs. Dwyer took off the School Facilities Subcommittee the disposition of
the old Quincy High School Building.
Anne Mahoney make a request to the Mayor regards to having access
to the PUD with regard to Lowes and BJs because there is some identified
in both of those projects for schools. I would like to share that with the
school committee. The Mayor will get a copy of the permit that would
reference any mention to any school funding.
Mrs. Mahoney congratulated Atlantic Middle School student, Amy Teeney,
who will be a participant in this weekend’s project 351, a part of the
Governors initiative for a day of service. There are 351 communities
coordinating with 8th grade students for civic minded and organizational
skills. Amy and Mrs. Mahoney will be participating at the Greater Boston
Food Bank.
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On a motion by Mrs. Dwyer, seconded by Mr. McCarthy, the meeting
adjourned for the evening at 10:01 p.m. There was no executive session.
On a roll call vote, the motion passed unanimously 7-0.