School Committee Holds Fall Public Forum

The School Committee held its Fall Public Forum Tuesday night, where Superintendent Paul Stein went over the district’s goals for the school year, reviewed the fiscal 2013 budget timeline, and heard updates on the high school building project and a one-to-one computer pilot. 

“The bottom line about all of (the goals) is they really are about making sure we’re meeting the needs of all kids and challenging all kids,” Stein said.

Stein outlined the goals and priorities for the 2011-2012 school year:

• To implement a system-wide integrated RTI program in a teaching and learning environment that includes teacher collaboration, sharing of best practices, differentiated instruction, and the use of data to inform instruction. 
• To increasingly employ instructional technology for the purpose of improving student understanding of core content knowledge and skills, including in the areas of formative assessment and differentiation.
• To enhance health and wellness education, employing a systemic approach to curriculum, instruction, extra-curricular activities and school culture.
• To continue to define and narrow the achievement gap.
• To restructure the fiscal operations within the school system with an eye toward efficiency, transparency and accountability.
• To review the full-day kindergarten pilot – including its educational impact, financing and parental assessment – and recommend future directions.

An update on the high school building project was provided, and it is on schedule and under budget. The school will be moved into over the winter break, and a formal ribbon-cutting ceremony will be held next summer, Barb Fletcher, School Committee chair, said.

A one-to-one computer pilot, where students in math and science classes had access to a laptop computer, was also discussed. 

Mary Barber, technology specialist at the high school, said the pilot showed that students were more engaged with what they were learning when using computers. They were spending less time setting up things like spreadsheets and could instead jump right into the data. They could also get instant results and explanations on tests and quizzes, and use the computers to get and house assignments, she said.

“They’re learning through exploration instead of memorization,” she said. “I basically saw kids who were much more engaged,”

Fletcher noted that the district ended fiscal 2011 below budget, and returned $650,000, or 2 percent of the school budget, back to the town.

She also outlined the fiscal 2013 budget process: 

• Superintendent recommends budget to the School Committee: Dec. 19
• School Committee holds budget public forum: Jan 3
• School Committee conducts public works sessions: Jan 3, 9, 12, 17