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1998-09-08130 BEVERLY PUBLIC SCHOOLS BEVERLY, MASSACHUSETTS September 8, 1998 A regular meeting of the Beverly School Committee was held on Tuesday, September 8, 1998 in the Beverly High School Library, Beverly, MA. Members Present: Mr. Bjork, Mrs. Brusil, Mr. Cahill, Mrs. Frutiger, Mr. McHugh, and Mrs. Goodenough. Members Absent: Mayor ScanIon Also in Attendance: William Lupini, Superintendent of Schools, Judy DeLucia, Assistant Superintendent (Elementary), Keith Manville, Assistant Superintendent (Secondary), and Judy Mulligan, School Business Manager. Mrs. Goodenough called the meeting to order at 7:04 PM. The Pledge of Allegiance was led by Mr. Bjork. Private School Approval · Upon the recommendation of the Superintendent, it was moved by Mr. Cahill and seconded to approve the request from Bright Horizons Family Solutions, 191 Elliott Street, Beverly, MA, to provide a full day private kindergarten program in Beverly, as presented. Unanimously voted. Recognition · Committee members and Administration applauded the success of the induction program, noting positive feedback and eager participation of staff to serve as mentors. · Congratulations to the High School Band and Color Guard. · Congratulations to Ryan Fortin on achievement to the rank of Eagle Scout. · Superintendent Lupini recognized volunteers, parents, administrators, and staff who contributed extra effort and lots of hard work to ensure the timely opening of various schools and the new school this fall. · Superintendent Lupini recognized Beverly High School students and teachers involved in the 1997-1998 advanced placement programs. · A School Committee tour of building facilities will be planned for November. Regular Meeting September 8, 1998 Page 2 Student Representative Report There was no student representative in attendance at the meeting. Approval of Records · It was moved by Mr. Cahill and seconded to approve the records of the special meeting held June 1, 1998, as presented. Unanimously voted. · It was moved by Mr. Cahill and seconded to approve the records of the regular meeting held June 8, 1998, as presented. Unanimously voted. · It was moved by Mr. Cahill and seconded to approve the records of the special meeting held June 22, 1998, as presented. Unanimously voted. Communications Members noted the following communications: · large class sizes at Briscoe Middle School · recycling efforts and progress of the program · a request from the City Council President for information on rules and records of meetings (subcommittee chairs will fill out forms, and subcommittee minutes will be filed as well as regular and special meetings of the school committee.) · Joint Secondary Facilities Committee will hold an initial meeting on October 1, 1998 at 7:00 PM in the School Committee Room, Briscoe Middle School. · Joint MACS/MASS Conference will be held Nov. 4-7 in Hyannis. · It was moved by Mr. Bjork and seconded that Mrs. Goodenough be appointed voting delegate to the MASC Conference in November. Unanimously voted. Mrs. Brusil will be appointed alternate voting delegate to the MASC Conference. Superintendent's Report Dedication of the James L. McKeown Elementary School was held Sunday, September 13, 1998, attended by many city officials, community members, McKeown family members, and school staff. Superintendent Lupini presented a written update on building issues and maintenance projects, including the windows project to be completed in early October at the Edwards and McKay Elementary Schools. A summary of grade three testing results on the IOWA Test of Basic Skills Performance Assessment was included in meeting materials. Performance Assessment testing will be conducted this fall in grades 2 and 6. September 3, 1998 K-12 enrollments totaled 4915 students. 131 - An update of the Superinendent's Goals was provided in meeting materials. 132 Regular Meeting September 8, 1998 Page 3 Mr. Lupini is preparing data on grade 8 students from both middle schools, the percentage that attend Beverly High School in grade 9, how many attend other schools, and the names of the schools. The report will be forwarded to School Committee members and City Council members. An article in the Salem News. containing erroneous data, will be responded to with a correction for publication. · It was moved by Mr. Cahill and seconded to approve the request of the Superintendent to attend the national conference of the American Association of School Administrators in New Orleans, LA, February 18-22, 1999. Unanimously voted. A copy of the hiring procedures for unit A staff was presented in meeting materials. The Memorial Middle School Principal Search timeline has been established, with an anticipated starting date for a new principal of December 1, 1998. NESDEC will conduct a focus group meeting on September 28, and initial interviews will begin the first week in October. Citizen Concern Gitesh Shah, Centerville resident, presented a request for his son, age 4 years and 9 months, to allow him to enter kindergarten in the Beverly schools, based on the fact that the family will return to India in approximately eighteen months. (The child would be in kindergarten this September, had they remained in India.) · It was moved by Mr. Cahill and seconded to approve the request of Mr. Shah to admit Sagar Shah as a kindergarten student in the Beverly Public Schools on the basis of the family's anticipated move from Beverly to India in the Spring of 2000. The motion was amended by Mr. Cahill and seconded to include a review of the approval in December, 1999. So voted. The amended motion was approved by a vote of 4 to 2, with Mrs. Brusil and Mrs. Goodenough voting in opposition to the motion. Policy Readings First readings were presented on: Acceptable Use Policy, Beverly Public Schools Technology Services Home Education Policy Committee Reports Hurd Stadium Advisory Committee Mr. McHugh stated that Mayor ScanIon gave approval to proceed with remodeling using proceeds from fundraising efforts. Groundbreaking was held September 3. Students from North Shore Technical School will begin construction work September 9. Large donations have been made by Callahan Plumbing, Salem Plumbing, and 133 Regular Meeting September 8,1998 Page4 Sabatini Construction. Projected opening for the new facilities will be Thanksgiving Day. Finance and Facilities Mr. Bjork will prepare minutes from the June 22, 1998 meeting. The next meeting will be held Monday, September 28, 1998 at 7:00 PM in the School Committee Room. Curriculum, Instruction and Student Life Mrs. Frutiger announced the next meeting will be held Monday, October 5, 1998 at 7:00 PM in the School Committee Room. Negotiations Subcommittee Mr. Cahill reported meetings are on-going. There is no report at this time. Request to Name McKeown School Library Discussion was held on two requests to name the McKeown Elementary School Library after the late Susan Fiorini, former teacher at Washington and Hardie Elementary Schools, and former librarian at Memorial Middle School and Beverly High School. School Committee policy states the Committee may take action on requests. Consensus of members was not to take action on the requests. Mrs. Goodenough will respond to the requests, in writing, on behalf of the Committee. · It was moved by Mr. Cahill and seconded to go into Executive Session to consider negotiations with union personnel, take whatever action necessary, and not return to Open Session. A roll call vote was requested, which resulted in the following: YES: Mr. Bjork, Mrs. Brusil, Mr. Cahill, Mrs. Frutiger, Mr. McHugh and Mrs. Goodenough. NO: None Unanimously voted. The Committee recessed at 8:35 PM. The Committee went into Executive Session at 8:37 PM. Secretary