School Committee Agenda #15 – June 5, 2014

ORDER OF BUSINESS

ACTION

aor #4-11 – Clerk
(May 28, 2014)

To consider approval of the Minutes of the School Committee Meeting of Thursday, May 15, 2014.

gb #4-107.1 -Administration/Mr. O’Connell/Ms. Novick/Mr. Foley/Mr. Monfredo/Miss Biancheria/Mayor Petty
(May 5, 2014)

To recognize Kyle Geller, Esmely Munoz, Nicolas Perez, Tavia Rosario, Sha-Asia Taylor, and Marta Wasiewicz for having been invited to participate in the DECA International Career Development Conference in Atlanta, Georgia.

To recognize Kimberly Stowe, a teacher at Worcester Technical High School and Christine Foley, a teacher at South High Community School as semi-finalists in the Teacher of the Year selection process and Mary-Margaret Mara, a teacher at Chandler Magnet School, as the 2014 Teacher of the Year for the Worcester Public Schools.

ros #4-7 – Administration
(May 28, 2014)

TO CONSIDER THE SUPERINTENDENT’S MID-CYCLE REPORT RELATIVE TO THE GOALS.

4-17

The Superintendent has APPOINTED the person(s) named below to the position of Aide to the Physically Handicapped, permanent/fulltime, at a salary of $15.13 (minimum) to $18.64 (maximum) per hour, from Civil Service List #314-001, effective as follows:

Rodriguez, Margarita 4/28/14

Gjinarali, Krisanthi 4/28/14
Mansfield, Tina 5/7/14

To consider the proposed FY15 Budget.

To congratulate Cameron Nordstrom and Ellie Forster from West Tatnuck Elementary School for their awards in the Worcester Regional Middle School Science Fair.

Set a date to congratulate Ms. Donna Lombardi, RD, Director of School Nutrition, on receiving the 2014 Healthy Start Leadership Award for the Eos Foundation “for her tireless efforts to feed hungry children breakfast.”

Set a date to congratulate the South High Woodwind Trio on their invitation to perform at the Massachusetts Instrument and Choral Conductors Association Honors concert: Brielle Stovall, flute; Tara Shea, oboe; Patrick Shea, clarinet.

To accept donations in the amount of $19,000 from the Eos Foundation in recognition of the district’s support for universal free, breakfast in the classroom in the Worcester Public Schools.

To recognize, with gratitude and appreciation, the generosity of the Alden Trust, the Greater Worcester Community Foundation and the Worcester Educational Development Foundation in funding enhanced STEM and science-based literacy initiatives in and for the Worcester Public Schools.

To forward a letter of appreciation to Worcester’s Police Chief Gary Gemme for sponsoring a very successful Worcester Police Summit at North High School.

To set a date to recognize South High Community School’s students Manasseh Konadu, William Lam and David Judkins and their English faculty for their success at the Massmouth Statewide Storytelling Contest at the Boston Public Library.

To accept a grant in the amount of $75,000 from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to support the Innovation School Fellowship at Claremont Academy.

To accept a grant in the amount of $51,753 from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for the Title IIB Massachusetts Mathematics and Science Partnership Program.

To accept a grant in the amount of $94,292 from the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education for the Academic Support Work and Learning Grant.

Request that the Superintendent be granted the annual authorization to make the final year end transfers necessary to balance surplus and deficit accounts for the fiscal year closing on June 30, 2014.

Request that the Administration forward a letter of congratulations to Joan Sheary, a dance instructor at Burncoat High School for being the 2014 recipient of the Dance Teacher Award by the Dance Teacher Magazine in recognition of her years of commitment to dance in public education.

Request that the Administration forward a letter of congratulations to the Burncoat Dance Department for its production of “A Dance Version of Cats” at the Hanover Theatre on May 21, 2014.

To congratulate Belmont Street Community School, Canterbury Street Magnet Computer-Based School, Chandler Elementary School, Chandler Magnet School, City View School, Clark Street Developmental Learning School, Elm Park Community School, Francis McGrath Elementary School, Gates Lane School of International Studies, Goddard School of Science and Technology, Grafton Street School, Lincoln Street School, Quinsigamond School, Rice Square School, Union Hill School, Vernon Hill School, Wawecus Road School and Woodland Academy, for receiving Healthy Start Awards from the Eos Foundation for achieving 80% school breakfast participation rates.

To congratulate the EcoTarium on receiving the 2014 Promising Practice Award Reimagined from the MetLife Foundation and Association of Children’s Museums for its innovative strategies “in adapting Countdown to Kindergarten (CTK), a one-day celebration for incoming kindergarten students in Worcester Public Schools, to better accommodate families who experience physical or mental disabilities, and learning or social difficulties.”

To congratulate Margie Bondar, Principal of Lake View School, on her selection by the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women as one of the Commonwealth’s Unsung Heroines of 2014: “women who don’t always make the news, but truly make the difference in their communities, businesses, or volunteer endeavors.”

Request that the Administration forward letters of congratulations to the top graduating student achievers:

Garrett F. Levesque, Burncoat High School
Mai N. Ly, Claremont Academy
Anthony J. Rentsch, Doherty Memorial High School
Derek Tran, North High School
Tara E. Shea, South High Community School
Matthew J. Barrett, University Park Campus School
Naomi Leigh Desilet, Worcester Technical High School

To review the “Safe Routes to School” second grade pedestrian safety program, with a view to expanding its use within the Worcester Public Schools.

To elect to administer the MCAS examination in English/Language Arts and mathematics to the students in all pertinent grades of the Worcester Public Schools, rather than the PARCC test, in the Spring of 2015.

To recognize, with gratitude and appreciation, the donation of $5,000 by the SHINE Initiative to the Worcester Public Schools for mental health awareness and education for WPS students served by schools and providers of community-based mental health services.

To recognize, with gratitude and appreciation, the work of Mass Aububon, Broad Meadow Brook and the EcoTarium in implementing the “Real Math, Real Science” project-based program in the Worcester Public Schools.

To recognize, with gratitude and appreciation, the work of the Worcester Tree Initiative in planting trees on the grounds of North High, South High Community and Burncoat High schools, and in offering presentations on the value of the urban forest at the schools.

To consider the research regarding later secondary school start times and their impact on student achievement.

To consider the possible benefits and drawbacks of later secondary school start times on teaching and learning.

To consider the possible financial and operational impacts of later secondary school start times.

Request Administration calculate the effect on the Worcester Public Schools foundation budget were the state to use actual special education enrollment figures in the calculation.

To discuss strategy with respect to litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the public body and the chair so declares.

Cristie Lariviere

Helen A. Friel, Ed.D.
Clerk of the School Committee