2024-01-24-ESTABROOK-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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(a)a self assessment; (b)a document review of,eg.,strategic plans; (c)unannounced instruction observations; (d)stakeholder interviews and (e)focus groups including teachers,students (in middle and high school),parents, administration,unions,etc. This will culminate in a report that will be issued in 3-4 months.The report will identify what is being done well and what needs improvement;with respect to this latter,it will also provide guidance on how to make suggested improvements. Budget:the school budget has been finalized,with printed copies soon-to-be distributed and digital copies already available.The budget was based in part on Estabrook’s current enrollment of 537 students.Dr.Martinez walked us through the allocations,focusing especially on where they have changed.For the most part,these changes have been minimal and appear unlikely to negatively impact the school.Dr.Martinez did express a desire to add $5000 for the greenhouse program as a line-item to the school’s official budget rather than as something independently funded through a grant.While the Superintendent appears sympathetic to this request,it remains to be accomplished. Council members were surprised to learn the school earns ~$9000 from Bay State Textiles through its clothes donation program. -Staffing:the total number of students in the middle school has been decreasing.This might result in a work-force reduction at the middle school level which would potentially impact teachers at Estabrook and the other elementary schools.Briefly,any tenured middle school teachers whose positions might be eliminated would still be entitled to jobs in the district and would consequently take precedence over non-tenured teachers in the elementary schools who hold comparable licenses.Mr.Joniec explained that,since a teacher is not considered tenured or “professional”until day 1 of their fourth year,a middle school teacher would thus “bump”an elementary school teacher with a similar license vying for the same position even if the latter had held that position for the preceding 2 years. Dr.Martinez explained that there are on-going conversations with the union and other interested parties concerning the decreasing middle school enrollment and its implications for all teachers in the district.At this point,it is unclear how,or whether,this will directly impact Estabrook. -Miscellaneous:Ms.Klotz asked whether there was talk about shifting some of the staffing for specialized programs to better share,district-wide,limited resources for,eg.,the Intensive Learning Program (ILP).Dr.Martinez explained that due to its high attrition rate,the ILP requires both thoughtfulness and creativity to maintain adequate staffing.The district partners with two agencies that provide SSIs (that is,teaching assistants working in the ILP);however, they tend to burn out quickly,often because the complexity of the need and the tasks that they are asked to do -involving,for example,toileting,dealing with aggressive behavior,and so forth