March 28, 2019
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School Committee Meeting March 28, 2019 6:30 P.M. Office Half Hour Open Session 7:00 P.M. RMHS Schettini Library Town of Reading Meeting Posting with Agenda 2018-07-16 LAG Board - Committee - Commission - Council: School Committee Date: 2019-03-28 Time: 7:00 PM Building: School - Memorial High Location: School Library Address: 62 Oakland Road Agenda: Purpose: Open Session Meeting Called By: Linda Engelson on behalf of the Chair Notices and agendas are to be posted 48 hours in advance of the meetings excluding Saturdays, Sundays and Legal Holidays. Please keep in mind the Town Clerk’s hours of operation and make necessary arrangements to be sure your posting is made in an adequate amount of time. A listing of topics that the chair reasonably anticipates will be discussed at the meeting must be on the agenda. All Meeting Postings must be submitted in typed format; handwritten notices will not be accepted. Topics of Discussion: 6:30 p.m. Office Half Hour • Robinson & Coram 7:00 p.m. A. Call to Order 7:10 – 7:20 p.m. B. Public Comment 7:20 – 7:25 p.m. C. Consent Agenda - Accept a Donation to the RISE Preschool - Accept Donations from the Reading Cultural Council - Accept a Donation to Joshua Eaton - Approval of RMHS Boys Lacrosse Field Trip - Approval of Minutes (February 7 & March 11, 2019) 7:25 – 7:40 p.m. D. Reports 1. Students 2. Director of Student Services 3. Assistant Superintendent 4. Chief Financial Officer 5. Superintendent 6. Liaison/Sub-Committee E. New Business 7:40 – 7:55 p.m. 1. Capital Update 7:55 – 8:10 p.m. 2. Late Start Update F. Old Business 8:10 – 8:20 p.m. 1. FY19 Quarterly Personnel Report 8:20 – 8:30 p.m. 2. FY19 Quarterly Budget Update This Agenda has been prepared in advance and represents a listing of topics that the chair reasonably anticipates will be discussed at the meeting. However the agenda does not necessarily include all matters which may be taken up at this meeting. Page | 1 Town of Reading Meeting Posting with Agenda 3. G. Information/Correspondence 1. Letters to Legislators – Circuit Breaker Funding 2. Response from Representative Haggarty 3. Response from Senator Lewis’ Office 4. Aspen Institute Commission Report 5. Email from Lauren Bennett – LLD request 6. Email from Rebecca Liberman – Town website doesn’t have correct meeting day and location for School Committee meetings 7. Email from Lauren Bennett – Special ed Director 8. Email from Rebecca Liberman – Math Update and District Report Card update to the School Committee 9. H. Routine Matters 1. Bills & Payroll Warrants 2. Calendar - I. Future Business 8:30 p.m. J. Adjourn **Times are approximate This Agenda has been prepared in advance and represents a listing of topics that the chair reasonably anticipates will be discussed at the meeting. However the agenda does not necessarily include all matters which may be taken up at this meeting. Page | 2 John F. Doherty, Ed. D. Christine M. Kelley Superintendent of Schools Assistant Superintendent 82 Oakland Road Sharon Stewart Reading, MA 01867 Interim Director of Student Services Phone: 781-944-5800 Fax: 781-942-9149 Gail Dowd, CPA Chief Financial Officer Reading Public Schools Instilling a joy of learning and inspiring the innovative leaders of tomorrow TO: Reading School Committee FROM: John F. Doherty, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools DATE: March 22, 2019 TOPIC: Accept a Donation to the RISE Preschool At our meeting on Thursday evening, I will ask the School Committee to accept a donation from the RISE PTN in the amount of $180 to be used to support the music enrichment provided by Wiggles and Giggles. If you have any questions, please contact me. The Reading Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age or disability. John F. Doherty, Ed. D. Christine M. Kelley Superintendent of Schools Assistant Superintendent 82 Oakland Road Sharon Stewart Reading, MA 01867 Interim Director of Student Services Phone: 781-944-5800 Fax: 781-942-9149 Gail Dowd, CPA Chief Financial Officer Reading Public Schools Instilling a joy of learning and inspiring the innovative leaders of tomorrow TO: Reading School Committee FROM: John F. Doherty, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools DATE: March 22, 2019 TOPIC: Accept Donations from the Reading Cultural Council At our meeting on Thursday evening, I will ask the School Committee to accept donations in the amount of $1,500 from the Reading Cultural Council as part of their 2018 – 19 grant program to: Birch Meadow PTO for its Creative Arts Core Values Project Coolidge Middle School for an in-school author visit by Tara Sullivan for grade 7 Coolidge Middle School for an in-school author visit by Karen McManus for grade 8 Coolidge Science Olympiad in support of the Science Olympiad Team If you have any questions, please contact me. The Reading Public Schools does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, gender identity, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, age or disability. READING CULTURAL COUNCIL The Reading Cultural Council (RCC) awarded $7,500 to support the arts and humanities programming of twenty-two (22) Reading organizations which will take place during 2018 and 2019. Awards from the Reading Cultural Council are competitive based on the number of requests and the funds available. This year Reading Cultural Council received 25 requests totaling $23,333 for this funding cycle. The Reading Cultural Council strived to give funds to as many viable projects as we could. The range of projects highlights the growing richness of cultural, artistic and experiential opportunities in our community. Funds were awarded to the following Reading Public Schools: Birch Meadow PTO $400 for its Creative Arts Core Values Project Birch Meadow Elementary School's PTO has hired Creative Arts, the Reading- based arts education organization, to lead performing arts workshops for all grade levels in a year-long school residency program. Kimberly Robertson, Musical Theater instructor for Creative Arts, is leading our students in theater, music and dance activities to develop confidence through performance. Students will further explore the "Birch Meadow Way Core Values" as they simultaneously learn theatre skills. Each grade will participate in three 50-minute workshops and then perform for the other grades at an All-School Meeting. The work will be connected to our school Core Values: Grade 5 - Responsible, Grade 4 - Present, Grade 3 - Respectful, Grade 2 - Kind, Grade 1 - Safe, and Kindergarten - Responsible. Each grade will also perform for families in a special encore presentation, with the first on October 23. Coolidge Middle School $400 for an in-school author visit by Tara Sullivan for grade 7 Real World Issues: Child Slavery is a project that has been developed to help middle school students (7th grade) understand the impact that child slavery around the world has on each of us. Students will read The Bitter Side of Sweet, a book about the chocolate industry in Africa. Students will examine various industries that use child slavery. Students will learn various ways they can improve the lives of the children being used by these companies. Students will also learn how to write about global issues. The funds provided will be used to bring author Tara Sullivan (The Bitter Side of Sweet and Golden Boy) into the classroom to work with the students. Coolidge Middle School $400 for an in-school author visit by Karen McManus for grade 8 Coolidge Middle School promotes reading in many ways. One way is by inviting local authors to visit our school to promote reading, writing, and engage students. This year Karen McManus (https://www.karenmcmanus.com/) is visiting on Tuesday, December 11, 2018. She will be doing a whole school assembly about the writing process, her books and being an author. She will also be doing 2 writing workshops with students. The title of Ms. McManus's books is One of Us is Lying. It has been on the New York Times Bestseller list for 60 weeks. Coolidge Science Olympiad $300 in support of the Science Olympiad Team The Coolidge School Science Olympiad is a nonprofit organization that supports the Coolidge middle-school science team students, who train rigorously for 15 hours per week to compete in events spanning all fields of science. The organization’s mission is to foster Reading students’ love of science. The team achieves this goal by participating in competitive events and non-competitive demonstrations and incorporating Science Olympiad into the classroom curriculum. Examples of the 23 competition events include content events such as “Water Quality,” where students learn to understand and evaluate aquatic environments; engineering events, where students build devices such as battery buggies; and general science and inquiry events such as “Game On,” where students build an original computer game using a coding program (Scratch). John F. Doherty, Ed. D. Christine M. Kelley Superintendent of Schools Assistant Superintendent 82 Oakland Road Sharon Stewart Reading, MA 01867 Interim Director of Student Services Phone: 781-944-5800 Fax: 781-942-9149 Gail S. Dowd, CPA Chief Financial Officer Reading Public Schools Instilling a joy of learning and inspiring the innovative leaders of tomorrow TO: Reading School Committee FROM: John F. Doherty, Ed.D. Superintendent of Schools DATE: March 22, 2019 TOPIC: Accept a Donation to the Joshua Eaton School At our meeting on Thursday evening, I will ask the School Committee to accept the donation to the Joshua Eaton School in the amount of $300 from the Arbella Insurance Foundation to be used to support the transportation costs associated with the Grade 5 field trip to the BSO Youth Concert.