NORTH KINGSTOWN SCHOOL COMMITTEE

Wednesday, June 11, 2003

6:00 PM Executive Session to Discuss the Superintendent’s Contract

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

 

7:00 PM Worksession

 

           I.          Pledge of Allegiance

         II.          Call To Order:                     Roll Call: The meeting was called to order at 7:15 PM.

 

                                                Present: Chairperson Don DeFedele; Vice Chairperson Dr. Denise Coppa; Carol Hueston; Barry Martasian; Bill Mudge; Kevin Mulvey; Patricia E. Watkins; and Cathy Kaiser, Jamestown School Committee Representative

                                                                               

Administration Present:  James M. Halley, Ed.D, Superintendent of Schools; Daniel J. McGregor, Ph.D., Director of Pupil Personnel Services; Barbara A. Fitzsimmons, Ed.D, Curriculum Director; and Maureen Buck, Controller

Absent:  Joseph Quinn, Director of Administrative Services and William J. Daly, Director of Human Resources

 

                                                               

       III.          Presentation                         North Kingstown School Department Literacy Program ~ Dr. Barbara Fitzsimmons

                                                      and Dr. Daniel McGregor

·         Dr. Fitzsimmons outlined the literacy program available throughout the district for the School Committee (Appendix A).

·         Dr. McGregor gave an overview of how the North Kingstown School Dept. plans to address the No Child Left Behind legislation in regards to literacy (Appendix B).

 

       IV.          Presentation:                       Musical Instrument Advisory Committee ~ Michael Thibodeau

·         Mr. Thibodeau outlined, via a PowerPoint presentation, the current instrumental program provided to students from 5th through 12th grades, with a main focus on the strings program (Appendix C).

·         Pat Watkins/Denise Coppa motioned to bring forward the Musical Instrument Advisory Committee’s proposals to the June 25, 2003 Business Meeting for Discussion and Action.  The vote on this motion was 7/0.

 

 

At 8:30 pm, a 15-minute break was taken.  The meeting resumed at 8:45 pm.

 

         V.          Open Forum:

 

·         Anne Maack, formerly of the K-5 Advisory Committee, stated that she was “disturbed by the behavior of audience members and the words directed at the Administration and School Committee” at the last two School Committee meetings.  She found the meetings “deeply troubling.”  She proposed that the School Committee develop a “list of expectations of behavior” for audience members.  She also suggested that the School Committee go back and reread the K-5 Advisory Committee reports.

·         Kristin Stanley spoke in favor of the Middle School Strings program and stated, “Every child should have the opportunity to follow their interest.”

·         Maria Lees presented the fact to the School Committee that her child’s bus stop is less than ½ mile away from Hamilton Elementary School.  She does not understand why he has been transferred out of the school.  Earle Drive should remain in the Hamilton Elementary School district in her opinion, and she is asking that the School Committee reconsider this change.

·         Madeline Crocker is concerned about the late bell time at Hamilton Elementary School.  She would like to see this changed as Hamilton also covers a large geographical area.

·         Patricia Rogers voiced her interests in what was being done to initiate a PTO at Fishing Cove School

·         Lanae Vigue was able to respond positively with information regarding Fishing Cove Elementary School updates, PTO and SAC organization, and Dr. Doug Pierson’s input as to how he would like to proceed.

·         Diane Woodbine had two questions for the School Committee

1.        Would it be possible to publicize updates of progress being done at Fishing Cove?

2.        Why not keep all of Lafayette Road together instead of splitting it up and sending ½ to Stony Lane and ½ to Fishing Cove?

·         Roseanne Fuller, the parent of a music student, stated that a successful program would attract students.  “If you make it available, they will come.  I teach strings in South Kingstown, where it is offered as a curricular class, and it is successful there.”

·         Patricia Peterson: “I teach strings in North Kingstown, and I think that the advisory committee covered the statistics very clearly.  Attrition is extremely critical in the 6th grade level.”

·         April Brunelle mentioned the 2 Wickford Middle School DI (Destination Imagination) teams who went on to the Global Finals in Tennessee.  The one team placed 13th out of 56 competing national and international teams, and the other placed 36th out of 78.  In the state tournament, 40 teams were entered, 12 of which were from North Kingstown.

 

       VI.      Routine Items:

 

A.                  Correspondence and Good News

·         Barry Martasian received many emails regarding the reconfiguration plans

·         Pat Watkins mentioned the Quidnessett End of the Year Celebrations

·         Carol Hueston wanted to make sure that the School Committee was a ware that the Town Council awarded Davisville Middle School with a citation for a project at the Environmental Fair.  The award went to teachers Ms. Barton and Mr. Gilmartin.

·         Don DeFedele mentioned being in attendance at the Davisville Middle School Honors program the previous evening.  He was amazed by the fact that the students prepare and present the entire program.  He also mentioned attending the Gift to the Arts program at URI in Providence with Dr. Halley and Barry Martasian.  Mr. DeFedele wanted to add that the Wickford Middle School Jazz Band was “awesome.”

·         Dr. Halley added that he attended the High School Honors night, and he enjoyed seeing the “great feats accomplished by the students.  It is a wonderful time of year to do that.”

·         Barry Martasian added that he too enjoyed the High School and Middle School Honors nights.  “It is a thrill to go out and see the positive things that happen.  Being a School Committee member we get bogged down in the negative, and I’d like to thank the parents and students for allowing me to participate in something positive.”

 

B.                   Calendar – Dr. Halley reviewed the calendar for the next two weeks with the school committee.

It was determined that the KeyWorks meeting scheduled for Wednesday, June 18, 2003, would need to be cancelled so that NEA/NK negotiations could continue that evening.

 

C.                   Bids and Awards

1.        Award New School Bus Contract:  Paul Mumford and Toni Mumford are requesting a new 7-year School bus Contract with a 5-year extension.

 

·         Kevin Mulvey/Denise Coppa motioned to move this item to the June 25, 2003 Business Meeting for adoption.  The vote on this motion was 7/0.

 

 

D.                  Textbook Adoption – Music Curriculum:

1. The text for grades K-6 is Share the Music

2. The text for grades 7-8 is Music? Its Role and Importance in Our Lives

 

·         Kevin Mulvey/Carol Hueston motioned to move this item to the June 25, 2003 Business Meeting for adoption.  The vote on this motion was 7/0.

 

 

 

     VII.      New Business

 

A.                  Music Curriculum

Discussion

·         Denise Coppa suggested that instruction in musical instruments should be introduced earlier for all students.  “I’d like to see us work towards that goal.”  Secondly, she was interested in knowing how the curriculum was going to be evaluated and wanted to see something specific in the document.

·         Pat Watkins suggested that at the end of the year a report from the curriculum committee, after reviewing the curriculum, the result of the self-evaluation would be helpful.

                Motion

               

Kevin Mulvey/Pat Watkins motioned to move the agenda item to the June 25, 2003 Business Meeting for adoption.  The vote on this motion was 7/0.

 

 

 

B.                   Reconfiguration Implementation

Discussion

·         Dr. Halley spoke to the opening of Fishing Cove:  “Dr. Pierson has accepted the principalship; work will begin on the facilities and playground as soon as school is out; classrooms have been laid out; the YMCA and PTRC will continue; furniture is in the process of being ordered; the new library is ordered; and curriculum materials have been ordered.  Bussing routes for the reconfiguration have gone out to each school, and the Transportation Department is working on getting the map published in the paper.  We are in very good shape for getting the school opened and I do not foresee any problems.”

·         Kevin Mulvey asked if there was a projected timeline for the project.

·         Barry Martasian asked if it were possible to put an outline of what Dr. Halley had just explained on the Website, and update daily as items were completed.

·         Don DeFedele questioned who the appropriate person was for parents to contact with questions about Fishing Cove.  Dr. Halley stated that the appropriate person was Dr. Pierson, and for the time being he could still be reached at Hamilton Elementary School, or via staff email through the NKSD Webmail.

·         Bill Mudge was curious as to when the bus schedule would be available for parents.  Dr. Halley replied that there would be no post cards sent this year, and the bus schedule would be in the newspaper.

·         Kevin Mulvey said that he agreed with the parent who spoke about Hamilton’s late bell time and he for one would like to see some discussion about it.  “Hamilton has a long commute already.  We should be looking at the lines.  If there are 5 or 6 kids in a neighborhood, then it is worthy of a review.”

·         Bill Mudge queried “What are the issues, how many do we have, and how do we prioritize?”

·         Don DeFedele: We have voted to adopt a plan.  I am of a mind to leave that up to the professionals and not delay the information that the public is waiting for.  I know I am probably misquoting, but Bill Cosby once said: ‘I don’t know the key to success, but the path to failure is trying to please everyone.’”

 

Due to the lateness of the hour, Pat Watkins/Kevin Mulvey motioned to move the rest of this agenda to the June 25, 2003 Business Meeting (7/0).

 

 

C.                   School Security

D.                  School Modernization Implementation

E.                   Policies

   VIII.      Unfinished Business

 

A.                  North Kingstown School Department Position Paper on Reimbursement of Medicaid Expenses

 

B.                   2002-03 School Budget

C.                   2003-04 School Budget

D.                  2002-03 School Department Goals and Objectives

E.                   2003-04 School Department Goals and Objectives

       IX.      Comments

 

·         Kathy Brown stated that many neighborhoods need to be looked at again in regards to the redistricting lines.  She felt that it would be wise to get the K-5 Advisory Committee involved as they were interested in following up.  Mrs. Brown questioned the date of May 28, 2003 of the Budget adoption and if the money for Links and the hockey program were included in the final budget.  She also stated that Fishing Cove School “looks as though it may be full on this budget, and may not be up to snuff.”

·         Anne Maack:  “I’m not wondering if we shouldn’t ask the K-5 Committee to re-meet.”

·         Rhonda Skinkel: “As a K-5 Committee member, we were not only to come up with proposals, but we were to be advocates for them to the community.”

·          Diane Woodbine stated she was “a little disappointed that only Mr. Mulvey mentioned the late bell times.  I don’t know why it would be a big deal to change Hamilton’s time.  I would ask that you give this some consideration.”

·         Korrine Erickson commented that the K-5 Committee gave the community plenty of opportunity to review their proposals in the October.  She also wanted to know why the public was not allowed to use the track at the High School.

·         Kathy Brown corrected Ms. Erickson by stating that the K-5 Committee’s report in October was a preliminary report.

 

         X.      A motion to adjourn to Executive Session pursuant to RIGL 42-46-4 and 42-46-5 (1) and (2) for Personnel issues*, negotiations, and Home Schooling Requests was made by Denise Coppa/Bill Mudge at 11:10 PM.  A vote yielded unanimous approval.   The school committee will return to open session following the executive session; however, no business will be conducted.  *At the election of the employee, the personnel matter may be heard in public.

 

                                                Respectfully submitted,

                                               

 

                                                _______________________________

                                                Konnie M. Mazur

                                                School Committee Secretary