NORTH KINGSTOWN SCHOOL COMMITTEE

Tuesday, February 25, 2003

Reconfiguration Worksession

 

North Kingstown High School                                                                               150 Fairway Drive, North Kingstown

“Challenging Student Excellence”

 

MINUTES

 

           I.          Pledge of Allegiance

 

                                                      Roll Call: The meeting was called to order at 7:08 PM.

 

                                                Present:  Chairperson Don DeFedele, Vice Chairperson Denise Coppa, Lynne Haft, Barry Martasian, Bill Mudge, Kevin Mulvey, and Patricia Watkins

                                                               

                                                      Administration Present: James M. Halley, Ed.D, Superintendent of Schools, Barbara A. Fitzsimmons, Ed.D., Curriculum Director, Dr., Joseph Quinn, 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

 

         II.          Configuration of Elementary Schools for 2003/2004

       III.          2003/2004 Budget

 

Don DeFedele began the meeting with condolences and a moment of silence for those lost in the fire at the “Station” night club in West Warwick on February 20, 2003.  A former North Kingstown student, Andrew Hoban, died in the fire, and Mr. DeFedele would like us to remember him; as well as Steven P. Johnson, the husband of a teacher at Quidnesset Elementary School who had also recently passed away.

 

Mr. DeFedele then went on to explain how he would limit audience microphone time to 2 minutes, and began with comments from the School Committee

 

       IV.          Comments from School Committee Members

 

·         Bill Mudge is concerned with where the special education preschool classes currently located at Fishing Cove School will be if that school becomes a K-5 elementary school.

·         Pat Watkins is interested in hearing how Kindergarten students have benefited from having their classes in their community school as opposed to a Kindergarten center.

·         Denise Coppa informed the community that the School Committee has the Wickford Elementary and Davisville Elementary School SAC surveys and summaries and will use them along with the K-5 Elementary School Advisory Committee’s report, which suggested physical changes to some elementary schools, to make their decisions.

·         Lynne Haft mentioned receiving the Kindergarten Survey which will also benefit the School Committee in their decision making.

·         Dr. Halley shared his 3 copies of the Forest Park SAC survey with School Committee.

·         Kevin Mulvey outlined the K-5 Elementary School Advisory Committee’s report for the community and reiterated the need to come to a decision to adopt the plan.

·         Lynne Haft concerned about the impact reconfiguration of schools will have on Title I funding.  Mentioned receiving emailed information from Dr. Frank Gamble through Donna Thompson which is appended for review.  (Appendix A)

·         Dr. Halley would like to assure everyone that no matter what happens to Title I funding, all programs at Davisville Elementary School will still be provided.

 

         V.          Community Open Forum

 

Discussion from the community revealed the following points:

·         There is currently a consensus of opinion that the community desires seven K-5 elementary schools, as there are overcrowding issues at several elementary schools that need to be addressed.

·         The majority of parents would like to keep Kindergarten in their community schools.  The full day pilot Kindergarten program is progressing well in Davisville Elementary School, and full day Kindergarten would be a welcome program throughout the district in the future.

·         The 9:30 start time poses a gross inconvenience to a number of Hamilton and Forest Park Elementary School parents, and they would like to see this start time changed for their schools.

·         Davisville Elementary School has a modernization problem that the SAC would like to see corrected prior to receiving their 4th and 5th graders back into their school community.

·         Wickford Elementary School SAC survey revealed their school community not opposed to the possibility of reopening Fishing Cove as a Kindergarten center.

·         Davisville Elementary School SAC survey attached (Appendix B), Forest Park Elementary School SAC survey attached (Appendix C), Wickford Elementary School SAC (Appendix D) and faculty (Appendix E) surveys attached.

·         Because the recent decision from the Commissioner of Education regarding last year’s reconfigurations of schools was repeatedly mentioned, Dr. Halley requested that it also be appended to these minutes. (Appendix F)

 

       VI.          Comments from School Committee Members

·         Lynne Haft’s main concern is with the Title I funding, and Davisville Elementary School development.  She stated she is prepared to vote for seven schools, but not necessarily seven K-5 schools.  She does not believe in a Kindergarten Center for educational reasons.  Thinks the committee should look at a well thought out reconfiguration plan and then consider convenience issues such as start times.  She fully endorses the Davisville SAC survey results.

·         Barry Martasian stated he is undecided on a lot of issues.  He is also against a Kindergarten center; he believes the best education for Kindergarteners is in their community schools.

·         Bill Mudge understands the statement that the community wants seven schools, but does not believe that the Kindergarten center is not educationally sound.  He then read from page 13 of the recent hearing decision where it states “There was no scholarly research which validated their decision…”  Mr. Mudge is concerned with the cost involved with opening seven K-5 elementary schools, as he states the Kindergarten center is the most cost effective plan.

·         Kevin Mulvey, as a full advocate of the K-5 Advisory Committee, heard the community say that Kindergarten in their community schools is overwhelmingly approved; there is difficulty with the 9:30 am start time; and that the community feels that this meeting should have been held sooner, he agreed with the community’s points except he did state that the K-5 Advisory Committee held two meetings that were not overly attended by the public and they could have gotten this information at those meetings.

·         Denise Coppa stated that the educational needs of the students will drive her decision.

·         Don DeFedele mentioned that this meeting was scheduled to learn which way the community was leaning so that the School Committee could vote in responsible manner.

·         Dr. Halley thanked the community for coming to the meeting; he thanked the K-5 Elementary School Advisory Committee for the work that they did in developing a plan which will help the School Committee make their decisions.  He stated what he enjoys about being superintendent in North Kingstown is the support the community gives to advocate for the students and what is right for their educational needs.

 

     VII.          Adjourn  

 

      A motion to adjourn was made by Pat Watkins/Kevin Mulvey at 10:15 pm, clock counter 3:06:59.  A vote yielded unanimous approval.  

                                                                                                               

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

                                                                                                                                                                                               

                                                                                                                                Konnie M. Mazur

                                                                                                                    School Committee Secretary