Foxborough School Committee Reorganizes, Reviews Internet and Wellness Policy

The Foxborough School Committee met May 21 at Foxborough High School.

Here are some of the highlights.

During reorganization, Beverly Lord was named the new chairwoman, succeeding previous chairman Bruce Gardner by a 3-2 vote.

Martha Slattery nominated Kate Kominsky for committee chair, but was defeated by a vote of 3-2. Gardner later nominated Kominsky for committee vice-chairwoman, but Kominsky withdrew her name from consideration. Katie Adair was named vice-chairwoman by a 4-1 vote.

The school committee praised students from the Burrell and Taylor Elementary Schools during the Teaching and Learning Highlight for their commitment to stopping bullying. The students were recently recognized at the Massachusetts Aggression Reduction Center (MARC) Bully Awareness Awards Ceremony at Bridgewater State University.

“When you stand up you make a very big difference, because every time you stand up you are changing your world and the rest of the world,” Kominsky told the students.

Meghan Christie and Samantha Torres from the Burrell School received a honorable mention at the ceremony for their third grade poster.

A pair of second place awards went to Rachel Weber and Ryanne McGowan from the Burrell School for their fourth grade anti-bullying poem and to Sara Scardocci from the Taylor School for their fourth grade poster.

A first place award for the fourth grade poster went to Grace Morrison and Livia Della Valle from the Taylor School.

The Ahern Student Leaders Club was also commended for a PowerPoint and video project that received an Honorable Mention award for the MARC Public Service Announcement Contest.

Two Amendments to Bi-County Collaborative Agreement were passed 5-0 by the committee. As required by the agreement, any time an amendment is brought up, it must be put to a vote by the 18 members school districts of the organization.

The first amendment states that when a voting member of a member school district has not attended five meetings of the board of directors within one school year, then the school district becomes an inactive member without further actions from the board or the school district. School districts that violated the amendment would lose members’ benefits.

The second amendment states that meetings shall be held from October to June and at least once between July and September for a total of seven meeting a year.

The Wellness and Internet Acceptable Use Policies were read for the first time. Kominsky noted that in order for the school district to be able to apply for grants, the language in the policies need to be compliant with both the federal and state government.

Changes in the Wellness Policy include stronger language concerning withholding recess or using physical activity as a punishment. While the initial policy stated that those actions were discouraged, the new policy is in line with state and federal standards by stating that schools will not take those actions unless behavior rewards or discipline are part of a student’s Individual Educational Program.

In the first reading of the Internet Acceptable Use Policy, changes include the school district educating all students about appropriate online behavior including social network interactions and cyberbullying. The changes are being made to maintain a $35,000 rebate the school district receives through an E-Rate discount from the state.

Bill Yukna was schedule to give the monthly budget statement but due to excess funds from payroll changes and the favorable winter weather, Yukna instead asked for the funds to be used for a list of expenditures. The statement will be given on June 4. 

Expenditures included a data warehouse-mining program for the district, the paving of an area of the Burrell School missed during the repaving of the parking lot, and more interactive white board in district schools. The total cost is estimated to be around $130,000.

The school committee voted 5-0 to approve a down payment for the high school Foxborough High boys’ basketball team’s trip to the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex at the Walt Disney World Resort for a basketball tournament from Dec. 27, 2012 to Jan. 1, 2013. A down payment was needed this week and the team wanted the approval of the school committee before going ahead with fundraising activities.

The meeting also represented the final one for departing student representative Eddie Shine. The soon to be FHS graduate will be attending American University in the fall and will major in political science.

Superintendent Debra Spinelli gave an update on the search for the new principal of the Igo School. 

The search is currently down to two candidates who will both be visiting the school in the near future. The finalists for the job are Mike Stanton, who is an elementary school principal from the Walpole School District and Yeue Kue from the Randolph School District.

Negotiating strategies for union personnel was on the agenda but was discussed in an executive session as it was felt that an open meeting might have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the School Committee. The committee did not return to an open session afterwards.