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[The following minutes copied from the district site on 2009-12-08.  Minor differences in formatting do occur, please access the district site if you desire an official, formal copy --webmaster]

WESTBOROUGH SCHOOL COMMITTEE

WESTBOROUGH, MASSACHUSETTS

MINUTES

Wednesday November18, 2009

The Westborough School Committee meeting was called to order at 6:00 p.m by Chairman, Karen Henderson. Committee members present included Mr. Bruce Tretter, Mrs. Ilyse Levine-Kanji, and Mr. Craig Harris. Administrators present were Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Anne Towle; Assistant Superintendent, Marianne O’Connor; Director of Finance and Administration, Daniel Hendricks; Principals, John Smith and Pattie Berkey.

The meeting opened with the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag.

MINUTES

Upon a motion by Mr. Tretter seconded by Mrs. Levine-Kanji, the Committee voted 4-0 to approve the minutes of November 4 and November 10, 2009.

SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT AND HIGHLIGHTS

Dr. Towle introduced the Superintendent’s Scholars for 2009, Anthony Liu and Ruisi Shang. Anthony is ranked first in his class at WHS and is a National Merit Semi-Finalist. He is a gifted violinist, a member of the Honors String Quartet and the Chamber Orchestra, achieved a perfect score on the Math SAT Reasoning and Math 2 SAT Subject Tests, as well as earning 5’s on the AP Chemistry and U.S. History tests.

Ruisi is ranked second in the class of 2009, is a member of the National Honor Society and the Tri-M Music Honors Society, and the Central District Orchestra. Ruisi was accepted into the New England Conservatory Chamber Orchestra, is president of the Chemistry Club and Captain of the Ski team. She has participated in mission trips from her church, performed community service, and is a hip hop dancer. The students will be accompanying Dr. Towle to a reception in January.

Business teacher, Darrell Potosnak introduced three of the nine students who recently attended the “Dress for Success” program at Union Station in Worcester. Catherine Hastings, Danielle Flanigan, and Ashley Cerny gave a report on the program that is for disadvantaged women that need the proper clothing for business interviews. The students have planned a clothing drive at the High School. The collection will end December 4 and the students will deliver the clothing to program headquarters in Worcester.

The Corridor Nine Chamber of Commerce will recognize and award mini grants to Lisa Greenwald, Gibbons Middle School, for “Do You See What I See? Using Forensic Science to Think Like a Scientist; from the Mill Pond School, Roxanne Donahue, Deb Magiera, Anne DiBona and Angela Porcello for “Ecosystems In Our Hand”.

One hundred ninety-seven high school students were vaccinated last week with the H1N1 vaccine. Another clinic will be held at the high school November 19, followed by a clinic at the Middle School after Thanksgiving. Three hundred high school students signed up to receive the vaccine. Any high school student that did not sign up and would now like to receive the vaccine will be scheduled into an upcoming clinic.

The Boys Cross Country Team and coach, Rick Hebert, were congratulated for winning the Central Mass Division 1 Cross Country Championship. Byron Jones placed first, and Jeff Bush placed second to lead the Rangers. The team will compete for the MIAA State Championship November 21 at Northfield Mountain at 12 p.m.

The Thanksgiving football game will be held at Algonquin High School this year, November 26 at 10:00 a.m.

The Superintendent will make a recommendation in December for making up a day of school that was missed at the Fales School due to a water main break.

Mrs. O’Connor reported she attended the Band O Rama, November 17, an outstanding program of participants from grades 5-12. Last Monday’s Trivia Bee had three school department teams, Mill Pond, School Committee and High School, making it to the finals. Districtwide curriculum meetings were held last week furthering equity among the schools.

School Committee Meeting 2.

November 18, 2009

Mrs. O’Connor introduced Mr. Fan Shouguo, Hefei No.2 High School, China, who is visiting the district through the China Exchange Initiative. There are two administrators visiting Massachusetts this week. Mrs. O’Connor will spend a week visiting Mr. Shouguo’s school in April. During his visit to the United States, Mr. Shouguo has spent time in New York City, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., and Boston. He is spending the week in a family home, has visited classes in the schools on a daily basis, and conversed with many of the Westborough students. He is accompanied by a translator and Shelley Pinkham, a graduate student working on her PhD in Public Policy.

Mrs. O’Connor stated she hopes the Exchange program will result in a partnership and friendship in education and will be a cultural opportunity to both prepare our students for the 21^th Century and to live in peace and harmony.

Mrs. Henderson extended a welcome on behalf of the School Committee. Mr. Tretter inquired whether his school district has a school committee.

Mr. Shouguo replied there is a committee in China; however, the responsibilities are different. He added that the group has learned a lot from each other, education is similar, but different. He has been deeply moved by the educational system. In China the students work very hard and the knowledge capacity is more than here.

Mrs. O’Connor reported the group has spent a day at the high school, had lunch in the cafeteria, attended a performance in the Fine Arts Department, and attended the Mandarin class. Mr. Shouguo was impressed with “Character Education” at the Mill Pond School and the students who come to school in Westborough without speaking a word of English, and the amount of diversity in the schools. Mr. Shouguo was very appreciative of the gift presented to him from the school district.

Mr. Hendricks reported he attended a statewide purchasing meeting. He will continue to use the system for statewide purchasing.

COMMITTEE REQUESTS AND REPORTS

Afeefa noted a Dinner for Darfur will be held at Uno’s, sponsored by the Darfur Student Alliance. The National Merit Breakfast will be held November 17 and an informational meeting will be held November 20 for the spring musical, “Once On This Island”. The Debating Team will debate in its first tournament, December 5 in Lexington. On November 23 the Muslim students will be hosting a food drive.

Mr. Tretter stated Paul McNulty of the Board of Health had praise for the efficiency of the high school staff and custodians in setting up the H1N1 Clinic. He was also pleased with the fact three school groups in the Trivia Bee reached the finals.

Mrs. Henderson extended thanks and applause to the Westborough Education Foundation for sponsoring the Trivia Bee and its contributions to the schools.

Mrs. Levine-Kanji extended thanks to Mrs. Henderson for going above and beyond in the amount of time and effort she devotes to additional meetings and school business. Mrs. Henderson will be attending the MASC Conference in Hyannis this week. Mrs. Levine-Kanji also thanked the Superintendent for the copy of the MA Taxpayers Association power point presentation regarding the financial status of the state.

Mrs. Henderson requested a discussion of a District Standards Steering Committee be placed on a future agenda.

ACTION ITEMS

MOTION

Mr. Tretter made a motion, seconded by Mr. Harris, to approve the Student Handbooks for Armstrong, Fales, Hastings, Mill Pond, Gibbons and the High School. The Committee voted 4-0 in favor of the motion.

School Committee Meeting 3.

November 18, 2009

MOTION

Mr. Harris made a motion to accept the revision of Policy JRD, Student Photographs. The motion was seconded by Mr. Tretter and the Committee voted 4-0 in favor.

KINDERGARTEN FEES

The administration recommends raising the Full Day Kindergarten fees from $2800 to $3000 for next year. Currently there are 190 full time kindergarten students, who bring in $510,000 in tuition fees, and 66 half day students. There are nine teachers and three paras in the program. The projected increase would result in a total of $873,420 from fees which are in line with the local market. Kindergarten packages will be distributed in January.

Mr. Harris stated he could not support the increase. He has concerns about families being on the financial edge and not being able to afford the program. A few hundred dollars goes a long way in these economic times.

Mrs. Levine-Kanji noted next year she anticipates an increase in class sizes. She does not want to raise fees or people’s taxes. However, if the $200 saves a teacher’s position, it is justified.

Mrs. Henderson felt because of the huge deficit, the increase seems justified. She would prefer that the kindergarten class size be capped on the smaller size.

MOTION

Mr. Tretter made a motion to approve the increase in full day kindergarten tuition. Mrs. Levine-Kanji seconded the motion and the Committee voted 3-1 in favor of the motion with Mr. Harris voting in the negative.

MOTION

Mr. Tretter made a motion to approve an out of state trip by the Robotics Team to compete in Meriden, Connecticut, December 12. Transportation will be provided by parents. The motion was seconded by Mr. Harris and the Committee voted 4-0 in favor.

REPORTS

Sue Bardsley extended an invitation to attend the Family Literacy Night, November 30, from 6:30 to 8:00 p.m. Story Teller, Diane Edgecomb will be present, as well as Susan Kapuscinski Gaylord for “Let’s Make Books”. There will be Make and Take Literacy Games, Multi Lingual Listening Station, Custom Bookmarks, and more. The evening is made possible through a grant of $3000 from Target.

Mrs. O’Connor thanked Ms. Bardsley for all the work she has done to enhance the Literacy program, Reading, meeting with the district’s teachers, and now developing a partnership with the Southborough schools.

SUPERINTENDENT SEARCH

Mrs. Henderson reviewed the results of a survey for the superintendent search and to discuss the best way to proceed. There were 100 responses from parents, 60 from staff and 8 from administrators. Common threads in the responses were communication skills, relationships, integrity and ethics, budget preparation, educational goals, individual needs of all students.

The Committee reviewed the reasons for conducting an internal search first, followed by an external search if the internal candidates were not qualified. The reasons for an internal search included credibility, local experience, continuity, known quality, candidate pool is a puddle, not lose a quality person we already have.

Mrs. Levine-Kanji stated information from MASC shows that 30% of the schools hire from within immediately; 15-20% of the schools go through the entire process and end up with an internal candidate; there is a limited pool of external candidates; because of recession, candidates less likely to leave stable job for something unknown.

School Committee Meeting 4.

November 18, 2009

The desired skills and attributes of a superintendent, not in priority order:

Maintain academic leadership and establish realistic educational goals for the district that:

Take into account current and foreseeable financial limitations

Use creativity and innovation and vision to foster further development of 21^st Century educational skills

Compensate for the need to manage state and federal unfunded mandates

Encourage appropriate programming for the whole student with respect for the variety of individual needs

Set budget priorities and manage school operational standards in the face of revenues that are not keeping pace with

increasing costs

Communicate effectively with members of the school community and town officials and residents regarding the

current and future condition of our schools

Build strong relationships with staff and encourage efficient, positive relationships and morale both within and

between schools

Make management decisions regarding staff hiring and school performance management

Participation in superintendent professional organizations both to learn best practices from other districts in the

State and across the country and share our accomplishments with others.

Have collective bargaining and contract management experience.

Mrs. Henderson reported the Committee has received a letter of intent from Marianne O’Connor, the Assistant Superintendent.

MOTION

Upon a motion by Mr. Tretter, seconded by Mr. Harris, the Committee voted 4-0 in favor of moving forward with the process with an internal candidate.

The School Committee will conduct an interview with the candidate, the faculty and staff will have an opportunity to meet and ask questions and the public will be given an opportunity for feedback. The School Committee will evaluate and assess whether to expand the search.

Upon a motion by Mr. Tretter, seconded by Mrs. Levine-Kanji, the Committee voted 4-0 by roll call vote to enter Executive Session under Chapter 30, Section 21 at 7:50 p.m.

The Committee returned to Open Session at 8:30 p.m., and signed bills.

Upon a motion by Mr. Tretter, seconded by Mr. Harris, the Committee voted 4-0 in favor of adjournment at 8:35 p.m.

.

Respectfully submitted

Ilyse Levine-Kanji

Secretary

These minutes are as recorded by the secretary to the school committee and do not become an official part of the record until so noted in a subsequent record.