HWRSD School Committee

HAMPDEN-WILBRAHAM REGIONAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
School Committee Meeting
Tuesday, February 27, 2007 @ 7:00 p.m.
Minnechaug Regional High School

Present:
School Committee Members: Scott Chapman, William Bickley, Marianne Desmond, D. John McCarthy, Lisa Morace, Peter Salerno, and Gilles Turcotte.
Administrators: Paul Gagliarducci, Donna Scanlon and Beth Regulbuto
Guests: Marty O’Shea, MRHS Principal; Deb Sacon, Emeralds advisor; Lindsey Kazin, Kate Pope, Andrew Ross, Emeralds Editorial Staff; John Flynn and Duane Mosier, Hampden Selectmen; Marc Ducey, Wilbraham Finance Committee; Alan Kinney and Bob Page, Concerned Citizens of Wilbraham; Douglas Farmer, Wilbraham Hampden Times; Levon Kinney, The Reminder; Sherrill Caruana, MEM Teacher; Mike Flynn, Wilbraham resident; and Ed Gorski, Hampden resident.
Absent: None

  1. Welcome to Minnechaug Regional High School – M. Martin O’Shea, Principal
    Mr. Chapman called the meeting to order at 7:03 p.m. and turned the meeting over to Principal Marty O’Shea as tonight is the “road show” at the high school. Mr. O’Shea welcomed everyone to Minnechaug and then explained that there are so many high profile activities and groups here at the high school and some of them unfortunately “fly under the radar”. He wanted to welcome members of the Emeralds literary magazine editorial staff, Lindsey Kazin, Kate Pope, and Andrew Ross, as well as their advisor, Deb Sacon. The magazine just won a prestigious “Superior ranking” from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE)! Ms. Sacon and the students distributed copies of the magazine and spoke about the history, new design, and expanded content of the magazine. All were commended for their great work.
  2. General (see attached)
    1. Public Comment
      Mr. Kinney read from a prepared statement regarding the Minnechaug building project and asking that the Concerned Citizens of Wilbraham and the School Committee work together in “constructive ways to have voters support the final plan for our school”.

      Mr. Chapman acknowledged that Mr. Flynn and Mr. Mosier were present from the Hampden Board of Selectmen.
    2. Minutes
      • Regular Meeting – February 13, 2007
        The Minutes of the February 13th meeting were reviewed. Mr. Turcotte made a motion to accept the Minutes as written. Mr. Salerno seconded and it was approved with one abstention.
    3. Student Representatives
      Student Representatives Nicole Sawyer and Liz Medeiros reported on some recent and upcoming events at the high school including progress reports being distributed on Friday, “Battle of the Bands” on March 23rd, Blood Drive on March 16th, School Council and Executive Board elections, and sign ups for next year’s courses.
  3. Financial Issues (see attached)
    1. FY08 Budget Draft Presentation
      Financial information was previously distributed. Dr. Gagliarducci referred to a memo in the green folder, which is a summary of key issues affecting the FY08 proposed budget. He particularly noted the last paragraph which stated that he tried to address the requests from the two towns for not more than a 2.5% assessment increase. He further explained that the starting point of the budget was level funding in all areas and then building from there. However, to stay within the 2.5% cap request, he had to go below a level funded budget. As the summary sheet indicates, we will lose 6.7 certified staff, 2.6 paraprofessionals and 2.0 district support staff, for a total of 11.3 employees. This will be accomplished by not replacing retirees or others who have left. Next year’s budget also includes using $415,000 from the E&D account. He reviewed the other budget documents and noted that the assessments do not include the debt that each town passed on their own elementary schools. He further noted that the District cannot possibly do this three years in a row next year, and Dr. Scanlon agreed since the 2004 starting point reflects already decimated professional development and textbook accounts. Mr. Salerno was concerned about using $415,000 from E&D in order to hold down taxes, especially after working so hard to build it up. There was discussion about what would happen if the District receives more money from Chapter 70 once the Governor’s budget is released, such as not using the E&D or investing in technology, but no decisions were made. The March 13th meeting will include the Public Hearing on the budget.
    2. FY07 Audit – Recommendations
      The Committee was provided with copies of the recommendations from the FY07 audit. Mr. Salerno asked that the Committee receive the entire audit, since it will need to be voted upon at the next meeting.
    3. Approve Warrants
      The warrants were approved.
  4. Other Business (see attached)
    1. Class Rank Recommendation – Marty O’Shea
      Mr. O’Shea previously distributed a report regarding Minnechaug’s research into the feasibility and appropriateness of eliminating class rank, as directed by the School Committee. Mr. Chapman commended Mr. O’Shea on the great work involved in the report and noted that it was not the Committee’s intention to vote on the matter tonight, but just discuss the issue. Mr. O’Shea reviewed the report, which included information from the 40 colleges and universities surveyed regarding class rank, research from the National Association of College Admissions Counselors, report on class rank from The College Board, results of the survey of the MRHS Student Council, a class rank study from Hingham High School, and the 2006-2007 MRHS School Profile distributed to prospective colleges and universities. Based on the research, Mr. O’Shea is recommending the following: eliminating the class rank to colleges and universities effective with the Class of 2011, revising the MRHS school profile to include class rank range information, retaining the Valedictorian and Salutorian at graduation, and reporting a specific class rank directly to military academies and scholarship organizations if required. There was much discussion, including why start with the Class of 2011? Mr. O’Shea explained that students who are currently here have made course selection decisions based upon the fact that MRHS reports class rank on student transcripts. The Class of 2011 would be next year’s freshman. There was much discussion with questions and concerns. It was decided that at the next meeting the Committee will vote on Mr. O’Shea’s recommendation as presented, or modify it per discussions, and then determine the implementation timeframe.
    2. School Choice Recommendation – Vote Req’d
      The recommendation for 19 ninth grade students for School Choice next year was discussed at the previous meeting. Mr. McCarthy made a motion to replace the three graduating School Choice seniors and add 16 new slots, for a total of 19 School Choice students for next year. Mr. Turcotte seconded and it was unanimously approved.
    3. Policy Manual Subcommittee Update
      Mr. Salerno read the list of subcommittee members, including: Mr. Scott Chapman, Dr. Paul Gagliarducci, Mr. John McCarthy, Mr. Marty O’Shea, Mrs. Marguerite Myers-Killeen, Mrs. Rosemary Brosnan, Ms. Heidi Drawec, Mr. Bob Page, Mrs. Nancy Piccin, Mr. Zach Dunn, Ms. Kate Belsky and Mr. Peter Salerno. The meeting schedule was set as Tuesdays – March 13, 20 and 27, from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Dinner will be provided. A letter will be sent to the volunteers, along with a copy of the current policy manual.
  5. Correspondence/Written Reports Received (see attached)
    1. Superintendent’s Report
      In addition to his report, the Air Quality Assessment Report from the State for MRHS was discussed. According to the assessment, the school does have elevated CO2 levels resulting from ventilation system issues, but there are no major problems. The State’s report provided a comprehensive list of recommendations which are already being addressed. The bottom line is that the report gave us some good information, we are acting upon the recommendations and we will invite the State to return.

      Dr. Gagliarducci noted there has been some recent discussion of decreased SAT scores and he asked Dr. Scanlon to make a report to the Committee. She distributed and reviewed her “SAT Data” report, which included a report from Associate Principal Tim Connor. The class of 2006 was the first to take the new lengthier SAT test and the local, state, and national results also decreased slightly, probably due to the new test. This will be monitored closely to determine if a trend of decreasing scores dictates a change in curriculum or instruction.
    2. Reading Recovery and MCAS Update
      Dr. Scanlon previously distributed her Reading Recovery and MCAS Update. There was no further discussion.
    3. Misc. Correspondence (green folder)
      No further discussion.
  6. Personnel
    The School Committee noted the following appointments, resignations, leaves of absence, and retirements:
    1. Appointments (replacements unless noted otherwise*)
      • Patricia Downes, PT MCAS Math Tutor @ TWB, eff 1-23-07
      • Carol McCarthy, Food Service Staff @ SHS, eff 2-5-07
      • Jennifer Nelson, Para @ GM, eff 2-9-07
    2. Resignations
      • Nan O’Connor, Gr 2 Teacher @ SHS, eff 2-12-07
    3. Leaves of Absence
      • None
    4. Retirements
      • Mary King, Food Service Staff, eff 1-23-07
  7. New Agenda Items (for upcoming meetings)
    1. Policy Subcommittee (ongoing)
    2. Capital Projects Review
    3. Begin Superintendent’s Evaluation (March 27)
    4. Review Task List (Mar)

As there was no need for Executive Session, Mr. Chapman asked for a motion to adjourn. Mr. Salerno so moved, Mr. Turcotte seconded, and it was unanimously approved. The meeting adjourned at 9:00 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Karen W. Belsky
Recording Secretary

Next Meeting Scheduled For:
Tuesday, March 13, 2007,
Public Hearing on the Budget at 7:00 p.m.
School Committee Meeting
at Minnechaug Regional High School