NORTH KINGSTOWN SCHOOL COMMITTEE

Wednesday, November 14, 2001

Worksession followed by a Discussion of Goals and Objectives

North Kingstown High School Decision Center                                                          150 Fairway Drive, North Kingstown

“Challenging Student Excellence”

Minutes

 

           I.          Pledge of Allegiance

 

         II.          Call To Order                The meeting was called to order at 6:30 PM.

 

Roll Call                Present:  Chairperson Lynne Haft, Vice Chairperson Karin L. Forbes, Denise Coppa, Dr. Janice DeFrances, Carol H. Hueston, Michael R. Northup, Patricia E. Watkins, and Cathy Kaiser, Jamestown School Committee

 

                                Administration Present:  James M. Halley, Ed.D., Superintendent of Schools, Barbara A. Fitzsimmons, Ed.D., Curriculum Director, and William J. Daly, Director of Human Resources

                                Absent:  Daniel J. McGregor, Ph.D., Director of Pupil Personnel Services, and Joseph F. Quinn, Jr., Director of Administrative Services

 

       III.          Open Forum- None

 

       IV.          Routine Items

 

A.                 Correspondence

¨       Dr. DeFrances received a letter from the Labor Board.

¨       Karin Forbes received a letter from Commissioner McWalters regarding School Emergency Plans and Crisis Response Teams.  North Kingstown has the plans and the teams in place.

 

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

         V.          Unfinished Business

 

A.                 2001-02 School Budget- None

B.                  2001-02 Enrollments- The superintendent and the school committee reviewed the Enrollment Report as of November1, 2000.

 

       VI.          Discussion of Goals and Objectives

 

Ms. Haft commented that the district has done well upon review of the New England School Development Council’s listing of priorities.  Of special note is the progress made in evaluation of curriculum needs, development of a strategic plan for the district, expansion of a Technology Plan, implementation of a staff evaluation and development system and encouragement of the role of the arts in the development of the whole child.

 

Dr. Fitzsimmons presented the results of the RI State Assessment Program in English/Language Arts and Mathematics in a rolling average format and a comparison of results format.  The Director of Curriculum said that of the twenty-one categories of scores, all are above average with only the tenth grade writing assessments being average.

 

Dr. Halley mentioned that revising the report card after the curriculum cycle is complete is something to start thinking about. 

 

 

 

 

The Decision Center computers at the high school were used during this portion of the task of goal setting.  The following categories were generated during the process and are listed here in priority order.

 

School Committee Goals- 2002-03- Listed in Priority Order by Category

 

1.                    Program Evaluation

2.                    Student Expectations

3.                    SPECTRA

4.                    High School

5.                    Budget

6.                    Public Relations

7.                    Teacher Development

8.                    Grade Configurations

9.                    Kindergarten

10.                 Curriculum

11.                 Physical Plant

12.                 Administration

13.                 Specialists

14.                 Substitute Teachers

 

The ideas generated for each category, which can be viewed in the Superintendent’s Office, will be further discussed at upcoming meetings.  The school committee intends to tie each goal to the district’s belief statements. 

 

     VII.          Comments- None

 

   VIII.          A motion to adjourn to executive session pursuant to RIGL 42-46-4 and 42-46-5 (1) and (2) for personnel issues* and home schooling requests was made by Pat Watkins/Mike Northup (7/0) at 9:13 PM.  *At the election of the employee, the personnel matter may be heard in public.  After the executive session, the school committee will return to open session; however, no further business will be conducted.  This meeting was not tape-recorded.

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                _______________________________________

                                                                                                                                                                Donna F. Keough

                                                                                                                                                                School Committee Secretary