5 Things You Missed at the School Committee Meeting

If you missed the meeting earlier this week, here are some of the highlights:

1. Dr. Joseph Sawyer said the district is in the midst of selecting a new assistant superintendent. The current assistant superintendent, James Cummings, will be assuming the superintendent position in Grafton, Mass. Three finalists have been announced: Todd Curtis, current principal of Floral Street School in town, Mary Beth Banios, current assistant superintendent in Maynard, MA, and John Harrington, current principal of Littleton High School in Littleton, MA. Sawyer said a public interview with the School Committee is scheduled for June 6 at 6 p.m. in the presentation room at Shrewsbury High School. The public is welcome to attend. Sawyer expects to recommend a candidate to the School Committee at the next meeting, on June 8.

2. Liam Hurley, director of business services and Beth Nichols, director of food services reported about the food services program. Nichols reported that participation in the program has increased slightly this past year, to 49 percent. The department does not anticipate any price increases for this coming year and has not increased prices since 2009, Nichols said.

The food services program was audited by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, which occurs every five years, as well as by a contracted group, the Rochelle group. The Rochelle group recommended keeping food services in-house. The food services department expects to end the year with a positive balance of about $68,800, Nichols said.

Dale Magee, School Committee member, said that the food services department has done well; the next step is to align with initiatives to combat obesity.

3. Cummings gave the third of four presentations regarding progress on the district goals, continuous improvement in professional practice. Cummings said that while the loss of professional development days has been a challenge for the district, “challenge has driven innovation,” including electronic collaboration. The “train the trainer” model used in the anti-bullying training and a professional development partnership with the Worcester Art Museum were examples of innovative, cost-effective ways of professional development, cited by Cummings.

4. The School Committee heard the second reading of the proposed Policy on Equity.  The policy was approved unanimously, without debate.

5. The School Committee heard two presentations by middle school students.  Sherwood Middle School Advanced Math Coach Melissa McCann and several fifth and sixth grade students described their work this past year in the advanced math classes. More then 300 students participated in the advanced math classes during the 2010-2011 school year at Sherwood. Chris Starczweski, principal at Oak Middle School, and several seventh and eighth graders gave presentations about four co-curricular programs offered at Oak: national history day, speech team, math counts, and the science olympiad.

The next School Committee meeting is scheduled for June 8.