School Committee Tackles Hefty Agenda

This is the launch of a Medfield Patch “Open Government” initiative by Chris McCue, an award-winning freelance writer, journalist and communications consultant with more than 25 years of experience.

The Medfield School Committee adjourned past 10 p.m. at its Oct. 24 meeting that included more than a dozen agenda items. (Update since Sept. 19 meeting: It was announced at a recent Superintendent Parent Advisory Meeting that a vote on the five-year strategic plan is scheduled for Dec. 5; the plan is scheduled for review at the Nov. 14 meeting. Superintendent Dr. Jeffrey Marsden said in an e-mail that a draft of the full plan will be made available to the community for feedback prior to the December vote.)

Oct. 24 meeting highlights:

· Videotaping began at 7:30 p.m. with School Committee Chair Maryanne Sullivan stating that the committee had been in executive session for the purposes of collective bargaining. It was unclear which bargaining unit was the focus of the session.

· Special Education Parent Advisory Council board member Marcia Robitaille spoke during the Public Input period to express concerns on behalf of SEPAC about data in the recent special education audit report stating, “We are concerned that the IEP parent survey was misrepresented in the consultants’ report” noting that high levels of parent satisfaction as reported reflected “procedural compliance and not parent satisfaction.” The reports, released last month, can be found here: http://www.medfield.net/district-offices/superintendent/special-education-program-review.html

· Medfield High School students elected as class advisors shared reports for their respective grades, and the principals from Memorial, Wheelock, Dale Street, Blake and MHS shared enthusiastic “Opening of School” reports that included information on total enrollment, average class size and an overall summary of how the first two months of school has been for students and staff.

· The committee conducted a “first reading” of a new “Teaching about Alcohol, Tobacco and Drugs” district policy as required by the new Opioid Law. According to legislative bulletins released in the spring by the Massachusetts Association of School Committees, each district was required to adopt and publish a new substance abuse prevention policy prior to the start of the 2016-17 school year. As part of the agenda item, the committee heard from Dale Street nurse Kathy Thompson, and Susan Cowell, head of the Wellness Department, about substance abuse prevention initiatives for the district. The MASC bulletin can be found here: http://www.masc.org/images/publications/legislativebulletins/MASC_Legal-Bulletin_2016-06-15.pdf. (This presentation is at the beginning of second meeting tape; link below.)

· Medfield Teachers Association president Bonnie Wren-Burgess, Superintendent Marsden and the school committee presented their respective views on Ballot Question #2 that calls for removing the cap on the number of charter schools that can be created. Wren-Burgess noted that nearly 200 school committees across the Commonwealth have passed resolutions for keeping the charter school cap, and that the expansion of charter schools would negatively impact the Medfield Public School budget and Medfield taxpayers -- points that Marsden reiterated in his remarks. Prior to gaining the input of the four other members regarding an official Medfield School Committee position on the appropriateness of the Committee taking a stand on the ballot question, Sullivan stated “I think I can speak on behalf of the Committee…I know we are not going to vote on question number two tonight” and that “We feel that endorsing a political position is not an appropriate avenue for the Medfield School Committee.” A discussion about the role of the school committee followed and more than 30 minutes was spent on the ballot question agenda item. As part of closing comments at the overall meeting, members Chris Morrison and Eileen DeSisto stated they were planning on voting “No” on Question #2. The remaining three school committee members said during the meeting they were undecided or did not publicly state a personal position. (The ballot discussion can be found in second meeting tape starting at time stamp 25:45.)

· Sullivan summarized the evaluation process for Superintendent Marsden, which was based on input from five school committee members who each “filled out an individual rubric.” She noted that the evaluation summary indicated Marsden has been “an asset to the district” and has “met and exceeded expectations” and the committee voted unanimously to accept the evaluation. Marsden thanked the committee, and near the close of the meeting, he distributed to members copies of a Commonwealth Magazine article entitled “Musical Chairs” about high superintendent turnover. (Evaluation presentation and comments took place in second meeting tape at time stamp 1:00.)

Two tapes covering the Oct. 24 School Committee meeting were published to YouTube on Saturday, Oct. 29:

First half (public input, student advisory, principal reports): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvEQ2tUG8CU

Second half (substance abuse prevention policy/presentation; ballot questions; evaluation): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6tTgejMo-P8

The meeting agenda can be found here: http://www.medfield.net/images/docctr/sc_agenda_2016-10-24.pdf