HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-03-27-MMHS-minit? MINUTEMAN
Tuesday, March 27, 2012 1 5 PM
Minuteman High School
Meeting Minutes for School Council Meeting
1. Ernie Houle, Principal, Present
2. DeAnne Dupont, Parent, Present
3. Monica Foley, Parent, Present
4. Dottie Vacca, Parent, Present
5. Eileen Roddy, Teacher, Present
6. Anthony Wilbur, Teacher, Present
7. Richard Parsons, Alumni, Present
8. Jim Nole, Business Liaison, Present
9. Nick Lee, Student, Present
10. Anthony Senesi, Student, Absent
11. Jill Asser, Recorder, Present
12.
Agenda:
Subject:
Meeting called to order
Approval of January 10, 2012
Action /Who /When:
By Ernie Houle at 5:05 PM.
Dottie Vacca made a motion to approve the minutes from the last meeting, Anthony Wilbur
seconded the motion. Motion passed with an abstention from Eileen Roddy.
Subject: New Business
Action /Who /When:
Ernie reviewed changes that were made to the handbook.
Review of Student Parent
■ Overall, the dates were updated for the 2012 -2013 school year.
Handbook
► P.4 Update the Student Operated Services — updating times, dates, phone numbers
► P.7 Message from the principal — changed wording slightly
■ P.8 School Directory — updated to reflect staff changes
■ P.9 -10 School Calendar has been updated to current draft copy
► P.15 2.7 Safety and Health Policy — added information regarding general dress code and
eye protection from Michelle Roche. (Each shop also has their own set of safety rules
and dress codes.
► P.33 Electronic devices — amended cell phone policy so that it can be used with the
express permission of the teacher in the classroom (i.e. for a calculator, in class voting
on polls)
a. Question on how situations will be handled if the phone is being used for non-
educational use. Ernie said this will fall under the appropriate use policies. Eileen
shared how she has seen others use it in Technology site visits — once the poll is
over, have students turn off phone and put on edge of desk, where it can be seen
by the teacher.
b. Deanne pointed out that "The following exceptions..." should be a new bullet.
► P.33 Unauthorized hall passes — hall passes in the handbook were questioned, for
instance when they are being brought into the bathroom. When a student needs to use
the bathroom, a traditional pass will be written. For classroom to classroom, the
handbook should be used, which will help track a student's movements through the
day.
■ P.59 Concussion and Head Policy — Policy is being looked at by school committee and
should be finalized at the next School Committee Meeting. MHS received a grant to be
able to baseline where athletes are prior to the start of the season, to be able to
determine changes if injuries are occur. One of the hospitals in Southern
Massachusetts has worked out a color coded timeline that is easy for parents and
students to understand of where you are in the various stages of a concussion and
recovery.
► P.60 School threat response system — trying to help support schools in having video
surveillance in the schools. Currently, MHS has cameras that record the outside of the
school. This policy would cover the internal use of cameras. There would not be video
cameras facing classrooms, locker rooms, bathrooms. The new policies would cover the
high traffic areas — front entrance, cafeteria, hallways. Should a threat happen at MHS,
the current program in use is web based so, in the event of an emergency, the cameras
could be accessed through an iPad. Jim asked the status of the policy. Ernie explained
that it is in draft form and there were some questions that had to be cleared up,
including who is able to access the recordings. DeAnne asked whether there is a
concern in the building, that there is a need to tape internally. Ernie explained that MHS
is concerned from a safety aspect, that most towns around MHS have already
implemented similar policies. There have been incidents where it would be helpful, for
instance, when a sports team is out on the field and their belongings are left in the
building. Monica asked whether the other high schools are seeing more issues resolved
because of the tapes. Ernie said he will see if he can find that out and that Brian Tildsley
is also interested in pursuing this to be able to collect data. The thought process is that
with signage about recordings happening in the building, there will be heightened
awareness and students less likely to do anything. Nick said a Lexington High School
morning student was commenting in his shop today that LHS has so many cameras and
was surprised that MHS does not have them. Nick asked whether it would be used as
well to track absences and shared that he knows of students who leave campus at
various points throughout the day. Eileen asked whether there is a thought of getting
more security people for the morning and /or lunch times when students are wandering
the building. Ernie said he met with the Minuteman Faculty Association and is
reinstituting walkabout duties in the coming weeks for the Academic teachers who
teach less than 5/5.
► This will go to the School Committee in the next packet and the handbook should be
approved by May to go to the printer by June 1. (The policy regarding cameras in the
building should be approved before May.) The deadline for feedback on the handbook
is April 5 noon. DeAnne asked whether the MPA can include their website and Ernie
said they can add that and provide updates to p.47.
► Ernie passed out the communication matrix; the matrix identifies how Minuteman
shares information. Ernie explained that we have now used AlertNow emails for the
first time, so that phone calls can be used for standard messages. DeAnne questioned
that Ernie has said we have email addresses for all but 29 families, which is a very high
percentage. DeAnne said one thing that would be helpful if the listservs could "talk" to
each other so that people are not getting duplicate emails.
Subject: New Business Action /Who /When:
Review of the 2012 / 2013 Ernie pointed out that times for events like Back to School Night have now been listed out.
School Calendar There have also been questions about additional Parent /Teacher conferences, which may not
make it onto the calendar as it will have to be negotiated with the Faculty Association. There are
three additional delayed openings as the school will be putting out an RFP for an owner's project
manager to begin the feasibility process for a new building. Three years ago, integrated learning
groups met to discuss what a new Minuteman would look like and now the Superintendent
would like to do this again to help determine what the new building really will look like. There
are 50 extra hours built into the calendar beyond the number of required hours of instruction.
The calendar is generally approved at the April School Committee meeting.
Monica asked how the calendar is created and how events like Graduation and Homecoming are
determined. Ernie explained that a number of people, including Leadership Team, meet to form
the calendar. Student activities are not on here (except for SkillsUSA because it affects the half
day). Ernie will give the Athletics Director a list of dates to stay away from, such as holidays, and
will ask for dates for events to have final approval. The School Committee will be looking at
graduation. Historically, graduation was always the first Sunday in June at 2:00 pm. DeAnne
asked whether there are plans to survey parents on when they would prefer to have the
graduation. Ernie noted that in the past there were no issue with holding the graduation on a
Sunday and the staffing would be fine. DeAnne said Mr. Laverty had said there was a conflict
with Sunday at the current location. Ernie would like to have a date on the calendar for
graduation before the calendar is approved.
Some of the dates on the calendars are placeholders, like MCAS dates, but will be finalized.
Other:
Grant -a -Wish program — Fund -a -Need — this is online now so people can donate online directly
MPA Report I
for a specific teacher's request — for example, a database for the library so even if a specific
project is not chosen for the Grant -a -Wish program, others can still contribute. This is a work in
progress and still being worked out. There was a question about whether it should be kept up all
of the time so that people can donate at any time.
Comedy Night — Dottie acknowledged what a great night it was and all of the work that was put
into it. DeAnne said they are still working on the final number, but it should be around $18K.
They started MPA Bucks, a certificate program that can be used at the school; bakery, store, etc,
which will be reimbursed by MPA to help create awareness of the services here and to promote
the services.
The MPA sponsored three students, three faculty, a facilities staff person, and someone from
food services to go to the Recycling training. According to Mass Recycle, schools save about
$7,000 annually if they have recycling programs because they have less waste.
3:30 pm buses — A faculty member did not think there would be an issue with the contract if
there were 3:30 pm buses on Tuesday /Thursday. DeAnne said many teachers stop her to say
students are not participating in activities and clubs as they used to because of the lack of buses.
Ernie also brought up the issue of discipline issues students who are not able to serve detention
because of the lack of buses, unless it escalates to the Dean's Office. Ernie would like to see a
supervised area for students who are here until 6:00 pm. There is the possibility of money from
an extended learning time grant to help cover this.
DeAnne brought up the question of not having a 2:30 bus on Tuesday /Thursday so that they had
to stay until 3:30, unless they had their own car or took public transportation. The question with
the union is that if a teacher is taking a class or part of a professional organization, etc, they are
allowed to leave at 2:30 pm with permission.
Monica said if the whole day was examined and the full day was examined, there may be other
opportunities through the day for communal time, planning time.
DeAnne suggested there needs to be a task force to look at this to figure out how to make the
3:30 pm buses work without too much extra cost. Eileen also mentioned the question of
supervision again and how the students would be supervised during that time.
Ernie shared that the state was supposed to reimburse 100% of transportation rates for
vocational schools, but it was down to 40% last year.
DeAnne said they received a draft copy of the budget at School Council to review when she was
first on the council four years ago. When the School Committee received the budget after the
meeting began and did not have the opportunity to review it beforehand, and the School Council
only received a summary, it feels as though everything is less transparent despite the claim that
it is more transparent.
Ernie said he would check, but that the School Committee should have received the budget in
the mail prior to meeting, although it may not have included the summary sheet. Camie has
streamlined much of the information. DeAnne voiced that the School Council is getting less
information in general. Ernie did indicate that the budget book is on the website.
Ernie met with four seniors who were upset and had expected a response back from School
Committee. Ernie explained how the public comments portion of the meeting works, as well as
how the School Committee is formed and works. Some people also have concerns that are not
being heard by their class officers so a discussion was had about how the students can be made
aware at the beginning of the year of who they can go to with various questions or issues. Ernie
will be meeting with the seniors next week to discuss graduation, rehearsal, the sign out process,
prom. On the form for prom, parents are required to have a contact number in case a student
leaves prior to the end.
Adjournment:
Motion to adjourn by Nick Lee at 6:22 pm. Motion seconded by Monica Foley.
Meeting adjourned at 6:22 pm.
NEXT SCHOOL COUNCIL
Ernie will send date out to the group.
MEETING:
Name of Recorder: Jill Asser, March 27, 2012