MINUTES OF THE PATERSON BOARD OF EDUCATION REGULAR MEETING October 17, 2007 – 7:00 p.m. John F. Kennedy High School Presiding: Comm. Andre Sayegh, President Present: Dr. Michael Glascoe, State District Superintendent Ms. Frances Finkelstein, Business Administrator Sydney Sayovitz, Esq., General Counsel Mr. Mark Kramer, State Monitor Comm. Joseph Atallo Comm. Alonzo Moody *Comm. Chauncey Brown Comm. Waheedah Muhammad Comm. Jonathan Hodges Comm. Lawrence Spagnola *Comm. Errol Kerr Comm. Willa Mae Taylor, Vice President The Salute to the Flag was led by Comm. Andre Sayegh. Comm. Moody read the Open Public Meetings Act: The New Jersey Open Public Meetings Act was enacted to insure the right of the public to have advance notice of, and to attend the meetings of the Paterson Public School District, as well as other public bodies at which any business affecting the interest of the public is discussed or acted upon. In accordance with the provisions of this law, the Paterson Public School District has caused notice of this meeting: Regular Meeting October 17, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. John F. Kennedy High School 61-127 Preakness Avenue Paterson, New Jersey to be published by having the date, time and place posted in the office of the City Clerk of the City of Paterson, at the entrance of the Paterson Public School offices, and by sending notice of the meeting to the Arab Voice, El Diario, the Italian Voice, the New Jersey Herald & News, and The Record. 1 10/17/07 PRESENTATIONS AND COMMUNICATIONS Rosa Parks School of Fine & Performing Arts Dance Repertory Dr. Michael Glascoe: As you may know, October is Arts and Humanities Month. Tonight we are pleased to celebrate properly with the performance by the Dance Repertoire Group from Rosa Parks High School of Fine & Performing Arts. Under the direction of their instructor, Erin Pride, who happens to be a graduate of Rosa Parks herself, this troupe has received many distinguished awards, including the Stars of Tomorrow Dance Competition, the Star Bound National Talent Competition, and the New York Dance Experience Competition. Most recently, they were finalists in the New Jersey Network Hispanic Youth Showcase Competition and also performed with the Vissi Dance Troupe of New York City, which is a professional group. Tonight the troupe will perform two works. The first piece, entitled “The Slant,” was choreographed by Jaime Perkins, who is a student at Rosa Parks. The second is entitled “Robots,” and was choreographed by their teacher, Ms. Pride. Students, take it away. (Performance by the Rosa Parks High School of Fine & Performing Arts Dance Repertoire Group) Dr. Glascoe: Absolutely fabulous. The young ladies are going to make a quick change of costumes. While they are doing that I do want to acknowledge that we have our Rosa Parks Principal here tonight, Ms. Smith, and our Assistant Principal, Ms. Castro. I would like to invite them up to the microphone to make a few remarks. Ms. Sharon Smith: Good evening Dr. Glascoe, members of the Board, and everyone who is present this evening. It is with great pride on behalf of the entire Rosa Parks High School family that we are here this evening. Ms. Castro is our Assistant Principal and what she would like to do is put in the hands of Dr. Atallo, and if you can follow her instructions, our revised brochure for this school year. There should be enough for each person who is on the stage if you can take one and pass them down. In October we celebrate and commemorate many activities, such as Latino Heritage, Violence Prevention Week, Substance Awareness Week, and also Arts and Humanities Month. So I am just going to turn the microphone over to our Assistant Principal Ms. Castro as she shares with you while the young ladies are changing a little bit about Arts and Humanities Month. Thank you. Ms. Robina Castro: Good evening everyone. It is a pleasure for us to be here tonight representing Rosa Parks High School of Fine & Performing Arts. Tomorrow evening we will mark our annual Arts and Humanities Month celebration. We will begin at 6:00 o’clock with a community forum. Of course, the public is welcome to attend. We will have a presentation by all eight of our fine and performing arts majors. We will have exhibits by our fine and commercial arts students. Our piano students as well as our communication arts students will perform in the cafeteria as we serve hors d’oeuvres. Then we will adjourn to the Lou Costello Theater where our drama department will 2 10/17/07 present a scene from their November production, which is an original piece created by the students and the drama instructor, Mr. George Dereani. It reflects on the events of 9/11, Hurricane Katrina, as well as the devastation of the AIDS epidemic in our country. We will also have a presentation by our vocal department. Our jazz ensemble will perform. And we will conclude the evening with a performance by our dance majors. So we would like to invite everyone to come out and share the event with us. As I said, it is an annual event and each year we just keep growing and growing. So again, we will begin at approximately 6:00 o’clock at Rosa Parks High School, 413 12th Avenue. Please join us for the evening. Thank you. (Performance by the Rosa Parks High School of Fine & Performing Arts Dance Repertoire Group) Dr. Glascoe: Outstanding. I am exhausted. Wonderful! I want to thank the Dance Repertory from Rosa Parks, their dance teacher Ms. Pride, our Vice-Principal Ms. Castro, and our Principal Ms. Smith. I want to thank you again for treating us to such outstanding talent, as we know we have at Rosa Parks, and keep up the good work. Thank you again. *Comm. Brown enters the meeting at 7:20 p.m. Comm. Sayegh: Just as a reminder, any member of the general public that wishes to address the Board please sign in at the sheet provided at the podium and each speaker will be allotted three minutes. Thank you Dr. Glascoe. Dr. Glascoe: Thank you Comm. Sayegh. I assume it is time for me to give my report. Comm. Sayegh: Yes. REPORT OF STATE DISTRICT SUPERINTENDENT Resolution to Appoint a New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum (NJQSAC) Planning Committee Dr. Glascoe: Thank you. I want to share with you an action that we must take as part of the New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum, better known as QSAC. One of the things we must do is to convene a planning committee of school district stakeholders. The planning committee would consist of School Board members and community members. It is my duty and responsibility as the State District Superintendent to bring forth some recommendations to this School Board from the community. For some obvious reasons, I am requesting that we have the following members serve on the planning committee: Miguel Diaz, William McDowell, Casey Melvin, Linda Smith, and Irene Sterling. This covers our three advisory groups as well as the Paterson Education Fund, which you know is a mainstay in education in our city, as well as the NAACP. With that I now turn to Comm. Sayegh to provide at least three members of the School Board to serve on this planning committee. 3 10/17/07 *Comm. Kerr enters the meeting at 7:22 p.m. Comm. Sayegh: Thank you Dr. Glascoe. I believe it was fitting to approach the following individuals, simply because they have been working on policies and part of NJQSAC does deal with governance and development of policies. So at this time I submit the names of Comm. Waheedah Muhammad, Comm. Willa Mae Taylor, and Comm. Jonathan Hodges. Dr. Glascoe: Since it is a resolution there should be a vote taken. Resolution No. 1 WHEREAS, as part of the comprehensive review under New Jersey Quality Single Accountability Continuum (NJQSAC), unless N.J.A.C.6A:30-3.1(d), 3.4 or 8.3 applies, each public school district shall complete a District Performance Review, which consists of a self-assessment tool developed by the Department of Education that measures the public school district’s compliance with the weighted quality performance indicators in all five areas of school district effectiveness; and WHEREAS, the State District Superintendent shall convene a committee to assist in completing the District Performance Review; and WHEREAS, the State District Superintendent shall determine the number of people to serve on the committee in compliance with 6A:30-3.2; and WHEREAS, the State District Superintendent may include other persons on the committee with the approval of the district Board of Education; and now therefore BE IT RESOLVED, that the Paterson Board of Education approves the following appointments to the NJQSAC Planning Committee: Board Members Community Members Jonathan Hodges Miguel Diaz Waheedah Muhammad William McDowell Willa Mae Taylor Casey Melvin Linda Smith Irene Sterling It was moved by Comm. Moody and seconded by Comm. Spagnola that the above-mentioned individuals be named as part of the planning committee. Comm. Atallo: I have some discussion. Can you clarify again what the role of this committee will be? 4 10/17/07 Dr. Glascoe: This planning committee will be working with school staff as we put together the corrective action plan from the QSAC assessments. As you well know, that plan is being constructed as we speak and it is just a matter of having a broad stroke from the community to review that and to advise us as to the direction that we are going.