NORTH KINGSTOWN SCHOOL COMMITTEE

Wednesday, February 11, 2004

6:00 PM Executive Session for a Level III Grievance

Pursuant to RIGL 42-46-4 and 42-46-5 (1) and (2)

7:00 PM Worksession

Central Administration Building 100 Fairway Drive, North Kingstown

“Challenging Student Excellence”

Minutes

I. Pledge of Allegiance

II. Call To Order The meeting was called to order at 7:05 PM.

III. Roll Call Present: Chairperson Don DeFedele; Vice Chairperson Dr. Denise Coppa;

Carol Hueston; Barry Martasian; Bill Mudge; Kevin Mulvey; Pat Watkins; and

Cathy Kaiser, Jamestown School Committee Representative

Administration Present: James M. Halley, Ed.D, Superintendent of Schools; Barbara A. Fitzsimmons, Ed.D, Curriculum Director; Joseph F. Quinn, Jr., Director of Administrative Services; William J. Daly, Director of Human Resources; and Maureen Buck, Controller

Absent: Daniel J. McGregor, Ph.D., Director of Pupil Personnel Services

IV. Contract Signing NEA/NK and North Kingstown School Administration

· The contract signing again did not take place. Bill Daly stated that editorial changes were being made, and that the contract should be ready for signing at the next meeting.

V. Presentation Closing of Schools for Religious Holidays: Ellen Jordan

· Jewish Holidays to be considered for days off are Rosh Hashanah and 10 days later, Yom Kippur which is the most solemn day of the Jewish calendar. On this day, observing families will refrain from going to work or school and spend the day attending religious services.

· It has been noted that the demographics growing steadily in the South County area; 300 Jewish families in the two North Kingstown zip codes.

· The school department policy stated in the Elementary School Handbook: “The staff of the elementary schools, to the extent practical, will assign no new work or testing; neither will any unique school event be scheduled for the evening prior to and the days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Students absent for such holidays will still be considered for attendance and other special awards”, is not adhered to by the schools. There have been reports due, tests and even school photos scheduled for Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.

· Discussion of this topic will take place at this meeting when “Planning of School Calendar” is discussed.

VI. Presentation Report Card Committee: Barbara Fitzsimmons

· The committee, consisting of administrators, teachers, and parents, was brought together to streamline the elementary report card that is currently in use.

· The reporting schedule has been changed from quarter grading periods to trimesters, with the inclusion of two Interim Reports which will be sent home to show parents how students are doing.

· An improvement in this system is that it is computerized and no longer handwritten by the teacher which will make it easier on both teacher and parent.

· The pilot for this reporting system will begin with an Interim Report between the second and third report cards in 2004. A letter to that effect has been sent home to parents with copies of the new Report Card and Interim Report.

· This item is moved to the March 10, 2004 Worksession for discussion by the School Committee.

VII. Open Forum

· Jim Moniz mentioned that his wife emailed the School Committee regarding his daughter who is turning 5 after September 1^st of this year. Mr. Moniz is concerned that the School Committee is not going forward with accepting children for kindergarten with birthdates after that date. He heard that there are going to be 40 openings available for children. His daughter’s preschool has told them that it would be a waste of time for her to repeat preschool. He hopes that the school department will keep children like his daughter in mind when the time comes to fill those 40 openings.

· Linda Malin spoke in support of closing schools for religious holidays. Her children have run into difficulties because of being out on those days and having extra work to make up. According to the handbooks, this work should not be assigned.

· Ellen Mroz stated that every year on these holidays her children have projects and/or tests due. They also hear antisemitic slurs. She would like the School Committee to keep in mind that Jewish families look to see if these days are taken into consideration in the planning of the school calendar when they are moving into an area, and all schools are compared.

· Bill Daly asked the audience to report any antisemitic or racial remarks to the school principals so that they can be taken care of.

VIII. Routine Items

A. Correspondence and Good News

· Barry Martasian stated that the School Committee received an invitation to the RIASC Legislative meeting on February 28 at 9:00 regarding pending legislation; also an invitation to breakfast at Davisville Middle School on March 5 at 7:30; he also received an email about the Stony Lane Elementary School roof.

· Pat received the same, plus an invitation for School Committee members to participate in Educators Day on May 19.

· Bill Mudge wanted to submit a document to be included as an appendix into the minutes. This received several objections from committee members. Mr. DeFedele did not accept Mr. Mudge’s document.

· Don DeFedele stated that he received another copy of a complaint to the Attorney General’s office against the School Committee filed by Mr. Mudge.

B. Calendars – Dr. Halley went over the calendar for the next two weeks with the School Committee

C. Personnel Items

1. Approval of List of Potential Non-Renewal Notices – Certificated Staff

· Pat Watkins moved to approve the layoff list with the sincere hope that all will be recalled and the list of teachers without recall rights would also be reconsidered. Denise Coppa seconded the motion which passed with a unanimous vote.

D. Financial Reports – none

E. Bids and Awards

1. Replacement of Fishing Cove Elementary Roof (Original Building)

· Joe Quinn held that the claims that roofers were working on the roof while school was in session is not so. He said that they were merely putting up the safety fence. This evening he needs a vote to move forward with this issue, and may possibly be coming back to the committee.

· Pat Watkins motioned, given the emergency nature of the item, to approve the replacement costs and recommended work schedule. Carol Hueston seconded the motion which passed with a 6 to 1 vote. Bill Mudge opposed the motion stating that he felt that the school department did not follow the town policy in awarding the bid.

2. Donation of Stieff Upright Piano to North Kingstown High School (Value $1,100).

· Bill Mudge/Pat Watkins motioned to accept the donation with thanks. This motion passed with a unanimous vote.

X. New Business

A. NKHS Math Proposal – Barbara Fitzsimmons, Curriculum Director; and Barbara Morse, Director, NKHS Math Department presented the pros and cons of the CORE Plus program which is currently being utilized at the high school. They would like to replace this program with the CORD program for those struggling with CORE Plus alone. The CORE Plus program will continue to be used as a supplement to CORD.

· Mr. Martasian questioned if the reorganization of the math program would have any affect on the middle schools.

· Ms. Morse stated that it would have no affect on recommendations for the high school.

· Bill Mudge questioned how this change would reflect on special education students. He stated that it was his impression that with CORE Plus, all students would be taking Algebra I regardless of their capabilities.

· Ms. Morse replied that the general math portion of the program needed help, and the CORD program would offer that.

· Bill Mudge stated that special education students were doing Algebra regardless of their capabilities, as well as the fact that the school department has already bought the CORE Plus books, are both rightly concerns of SELAC.

· Don DeFedele read from an email that he had received from the co-chairs of SELAC in approval of the CORE Plus program stating that they were in agreement with the high school math department’s desire to go ahead with the program.

· Pat Watkins/Kevin Mulvey motioned to move this item to the February 25, 2004 Business Meeting. The motion was unanimously approved.

· High school vice principal, John Lalli, commended Barbara Morse for her work and leadership efforts on behalf of the students. Stating he was proud of her work; “We have a gem here.”

B. Planning of School Calendar

· Dr. Halley brought to the School Committee’s attention that because Yom Kippur falls on a Saturday, the first day of Rosh Hashanah has been designated as a day off, and all Professional Development days are the same for all schools.

· Parent, Kathy Brown questioned the necessity of having Good Friday as a day off.

· Dr. Halley stated that many Roman Catholic families would take issue with having the day off removed from the school calendar as they too attend religious services on that day.

· Moved to February 25, 2004 Business Meeting

At this point in the meeting, 8:50 pm, a break was taken. The meeting resumed at 9:00 pm.

C. Minutes of Meeting Discussion

· Don DeFedele stated that the reason he initially requested that this item be placed on the agenda was because of the practice of having the unapproved minutes disseminated to the public. The fact that the approved minutes are not later sent out is also troubling.

· Bill Mudge agreed. Draft minutes should state that they are such, and when the minutes are approved the date that this occurred should be indicated on the minutes.

· Mr. DeFedele queried if the School Committee wanted the minutes disseminated in draft form.

· Pat Watkins stated that “what is fundamental is that they are not ‘minutes’ until they are approved.” However, there could be a problem if in the original draft form there was a “critical mistake” which was disseminated to all.

· Don DeFedele stated that by Open Meetings Law, the minutes must be “made available” by the next School Committee meeting or within 35 days, which they are. The law does not state that the minutes must be circulated. If someone should want to read them, they merely need to contact the School Committee secretary and request to see them. Mr. DeFedele stated that he had spoken at great length with the School Committee attorney who has stated that he agrees with this assertion.

· Kevin Mulvey asked if a consensus of the committee was enough to move this item to the Business Meeting of February 25, 2004. Mr. DeFedele agreed a consensus was sufficient, which he then received.

· Mr. Mulvey then stated that “the minutes of the meetings reflect what happened”, not what members would like them to reflect. He continued by stating that Mr. Mudge has every right to offer the School Committee documents for the school committee’s review. If the documents are unrelated to items on the agenda, or if the committee does not discuss them, however, Mr. Mulvey strongly feels that it is inappropriate to attach the documents to the minutes of the meeting. It would be more appropriate to list the documents that Mr. Mudge would like to submit. He also feels that there is a necessity to vote on each minutes’ amended changes.

· Pat Watkins agreed with Mr. Mulvey’s second point, and stated that when the committee is approving minutes, they should exempt and remove attachments if they do not contribute to the agenda.

· Carol Hueston also agreed with Kevin Mulvey and stated that without first individually approving the documents that Mr. Mudge would like to attach to the minutes, “We are writing or rewriting history.”

· Denise Coppa stated that Mr. Mulvey’s comments were rational, however the Open Meetings Laws clearly allow for Mr. Mudge to submit any documents he desires. She also did not approve of having the documents attached to the minutes of the meeting without having the School Committee examine them first.

· Don DeFedele reminded Mr. Mudge that he has repeatedly requested that copies of each document submitted for attachment to minutes be provided to committee members, which Mr. Mudge neglects to do.

· School Committee Policy Consultant, Ray Spear, stated that he too had consulted with legal counsel about this topic and was told that the Open Meetings Law regarding submission of documents says, “Any other information relevant to the business of the public body that any member of the public body requests be included or reflected in the minutes”. The “business of the public body” refers to the meeting agenda.

· Don DeFedele then announced that there is a possibility that the committee could be in violation of the Open Meetings Laws by allowing documents into the minutes of the meetings which do not pertain to the agendas.

· Bill Mudge suggested that the School Committee should obtain a legal opinion in writing on the subject of this impasse.

· Dr. Coppa complained about the increase in legal fees as established in the 2004-05 Budget.

· Mr. Mudge stated that this was an extremely significant subject as found in the state hearings regarding the reconfiguration issue in the summer of 2002. There, according to Mr. Mudge, the minutes of School Committee meetings were of critical importance.

· Mr. DeFedele replied that amending minutes to ones requirements is significant if one “is trying to build a court case”.

· Ray Spear cautioned the School Committee regarding the position they had taken, and suggested that they not distribute the minutes of the meetings, but simply have them available as recommended by the Open Meetings Laws.

· Kevin Mulvey asked that this item be moved to the February 25, 2004 Business Meeting for motion and action.

D. Policies

1. NSBA # JFA Initial Admission to North Kingstown School District (Replaces JEB and JEB-R) – Dr. Coppa reviewed the amended policy with the School Committee (appendix A)

· Pat Watkins was curious as to what would happen if a child whose birth date was after September 1^st, and was allowed to attend kindergarten in another state, moved into town.

· Barbara Fitzsimmons responded that as there were very few states that had a later cut off date, most were September 1^st or earlier, this probably would not occur.

· Bill Mudge requested that the committee look at Mr. Moniz’ letter. He was concerned with why the state’s department of education would suggest grandfathering in children whose birthdates are after September 1st, and why the Policy Subcommittee did not even consider the recommendation in their amendment of this policy. Mr. Mudge also stated that the previous policy allowed for admitting students after testing, this is not even a consideration in this latest amended version.

· Kevin Mulvey responded that as much as the committee is sensitive to the community the state changed the admission age for kindergarten for a good reason. Teachers were finding the majority of 5 year olds were not ready to enter school. From what they have been told, testing is discriminatory and the results do not hold up.

· Don DeFedele stated that if the School Committee and school department had not instituted full day kindergarten this would not be an issue. The district would be grandfathering students into classes.

· Pat Watkins mentioned that one of the reasons that RIDE changed the birth date for entrance into school was to raise the bar for preschool so that they could elevate their expectations of their students and better prepare them to enter kindergarten.

· Pat Watkins motioned to move the item to the Business Meeting of February 25, 2004 for discussion and action. Carol Hueston seconded the motion which passed unanimously.

· Jim Moniz, whose child was born in October, stated that when full day kindergarten was proposed parents were told that grandfathering would be recognized. He questioned the possibility of his child being allowed into a class since there may be approximately 40 slots available.

· Dr. Halley stated that in a letter dated January 15, 2004, RIDE gave direction that all students born after September 1^st would be grandfathered in, but then changed that directive in the letter quoted by Mr. Moniz where they make the suggestion that districts grandfather students. In order to do that, the only criterion the district could identify was age. To administer that, would probably be impossible as each school has a different number of openings, and at some there aren’t any.

· Mr. Moniz asked Dr. Halley if he knew where the enrollments were will there be the opportunity for his child to enter kindergarten in the fall.

· Dr. Halley responded that even if the district were to grandfather children in by birth date, because Mr. Moniz’ child was born in October he assumed that they would not make it to that date.

2. NSBA # BE School Committee Meetings – Dr. Coppa reviewed the amended policy with the School Committee (Appendix B)

· According to Dr. Coppa the purpose of the amended policy is to streamline the agenda and meetings and to help get work accomplished.

· Mr. Mudge objected to the item which states: “Any school committee member who wishes an item placed on the agenda must submit that item to the superintendent, or in his absence, the chairperson of the committee, at least 14 days in advance of the scheduled meeting.”

· Don DeFedele identified that there is no Open Forum in the Worksession because there are items that are being brought to the committee that are not on the agenda which is against the Open Meetings Laws. Mr. DeFedele also noted that Open Forum will be on the Business Meeting agenda and therefore had suggestions for how this item would be handled:

1. State on agenda that Open Forum is for agenda items only

2. State on sign up sheet for speakers that Open Forum is for agenda items only

3. Post agenda near sign up sheet for speakers’ perusal

· Pat Watkins motioned to move this item to the Business Meeting for a first reading and action. Don DeFedele seconded that motion which passed with a vote of 6 to 1, Bill Mudge opposed.

XI. Unfinished Business

A. School Modernization Implementation – No discussion

B. 2002-03 School Budget – No discussion

C. 2003-04 School Budget – No discussion

D. 2003-04 School Department Goals and Objectives – The next KeyWorks meeting will be held March 17

XII. Comments

· Barry Martasian stated that months ago a decision was made to request that the School Committee’s liaison to the Asset Management Commission, Eric Seabury, make a report to the committee. He was curious why that has not been done as of yet, and he would like Mr. Seabury to make a report to the School Committee at an upcoming meeting.

· Don DeFedele agreed that Mr. Martasian had a valid point; “What do we need to do to get consideration from them?” Mr. DeFedele stated that he would see that Mr. Seabury’s presentation to the committee is placed on a future agenda.

· Pat Watkins wanted to convey her congratulations to the High School for their success in recent art and jazz competitions.

· Bill Mudge stated that at a recent Town Council meeting the audit of the 2003-04 budget was discussed, and he was not allowed to comment nor ask questions. He requested that the auditors present the audit to the School Committee so that the committee would have the opportunity to ask questions about the assessment if they so desired.

· Mr. DeFedele asked if there was a consensus of the rest of the committee to honor this request; the other members School Committee did not see merit in going over an audit which showed no problems.

· Carol Hueston remarked that she and Mr. Martasian attended the mentors’ luncheon on January 30, and it was a great success. She would like to publicly thank the district’s mentors for the wonderful work that they do with the students.

· Don DeFedele offered praise to the high school for their recent forum on alcohol safety awareness. Apparently, the presentation received a great deal of press, and Mr. DeFedele is pleased that Mr. Foley and the high school administration are taking this course of action with the students in light of recent events.

· Dr. Halley asked Bill Mudge to provide the School Committee with a copy of the letter he sent to someone in the legislature which caused them to contact RIDE to question whether North Kingstown has spent its money properly on bond referendums.

· Bill Mudge replied “I can’t do that. I can’t do that; I’d have to kill you, Dr. Halley. I can’t do that. That’s private right now.”

· Dr. Halley then asked, “So you did send a letter?”

· Mr. Mudge responded, “I didn’t say that. I have no comment. It has nothing to do with this committee.”

· Don DeFedele asked Mr. Mudge if he had received responses to letters that he had written to RIDE’s Commissioner McWalters; James DiPrete, Chairman, Board of Regents; and a Mr. Gofton of the Office of Municipal Affairs; as Mr. Mudge had previously stated that he would provide the School Committee with the replies when he obtained them.

· Bill Mudge refused to supply the School Committee with those responses because of the cost per page the school department requires that he pay for information.

· Kathy Brown asked if the advisory committees for Emergency and School Modernization had been formed yet.

· Dr. Halley responded that there were approximately 17 on each committee, but they would be full shortly.

· Mrs. Brown then asked if there were to be any further budget meetings.

· Mr. DeFedele responded that the two meetings that were held were the only two that had been decided upon.

XIII. Motion to Adjourn was made by Kevin Mulvey/Carol Hueston at 11:12 pm. Clock counter 3:40:51:10.

Respectfully submitted,

_______________________________________

Konnie M. Mazur

School Committee Secretary

Approved: February 25, 2004