* * * * ** SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING Revised

The GLOUCESTER PUBLIC SCHOOLS

2 Blackburn Drive Tel: 978-281-9800

Gloucester, Massachusetts 01930 Fax: 978-281-9899

www.gloucesterschools.com

Our Mission is for all Students to be Successful, Engaged, Lifelong Learners

Revised

SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING

Wednesday, August 28, 2019 7:00 pm

District Office – Conference Room 2 Blackburn Drive, Gloucester, MA 01930

AGENDA

Meetings are recorded

I. CALL TO ORDER/Statement of Mission II. SALUTE TO THE FLAG

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IV. COMMENTS FROM THE CHAIRPERSON V. RECOGNITIONS

VI. GHS STUDENT ADVISORY COUNCIL VII. CONSENT AGENDA

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1. Donation/Gift from Ohiopyle Prints, Inc. in the amount of $66.94

2. The amount of $350.00 and bookplates from Susanna Natti for the Robert Natti Story Corner.

School Committee Meeting Agenda, August 28, 2019 Page 2 VIII. DELIBERATIONS ON EDUCATIONAL ISSUES/SUPERINTENDENT’S REPORT

A. Middle School Field Hockey — Bryan Lafata, Athletic Director B. East Gloucester Project Update — Dore & Whittier

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IX. SUB-COMMITTEE REPORTS (Items listed under X. ACTION may be brought forward with reports)

A. Building & Finance Sub-Committee Meetings of August 21, 2019 — Chairperson Tony Gross

Agenda Items: District Expenditures, Open & Closed DPW Tickets, Food Service Profit and Loss, Student Obligations, Revolving Funds, Student Activity Funds, Budget Transfers, Legal Fees Analysis, and Compensation for Robotics Lab Space

X. ACTION

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1. Gloucester Education Grant in the amount of $50,000 (First installment payment of a three-year pledge of $150,000) from Mr. Waugh of the Lyon- Waugh Auto Group for the GHS Automotive Technology Program.

2. Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Grans:

• DESE FY20 Title I grant in the amount of $571,713

• DESE FY20 Title IIa grant in the amount of $104,113

• DESE FY20 Title III grant in the amount of $27,071

• DESE FY20 Title IV grant in the amount of $39,117

B. Request to authorize the CFO to request approval from the City Council to pay $4,860.00 to a teacher for work done in FY19 with FY20 funds, as recommended by the Building & Finance Sub-Committee at its meeting of August 21

C. Approval to Acknowledge CODA Film Productions (GHS)

XI. DISCUSSION/OTHER COMMUNICATION/OLD AND NEW BUSINESS A. Massachusetts School Building Authority Project Update

B. Preschool Location

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School Committee Meeting Agenda, August 28, 2019 Page 3

XII. ADJOURNMENT

The listing of matters is those reasonably anticipated by the Chair which may be discussed at the meeting.

Not all items may in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by law. Action items may include motions that come out of sub-committees.

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For items that are on the agenda, members of the public may address the Committee with the permission of the Chair. Persons speaking under Oral Communications shall be limited to three (3) minutes each and shall submit a copy of their prepared communication to the Recording Secretary. The School Committee Chair shall not allow complaints as to individual performance or character.

08/14/2019 08:09 |City of Gloucester, MA |P 1

codymarshall |JOURNAL INQUIRY |glcjeinq

YEAR PER JOURNAL SRC EFF DATE ENT DATE JNL DESC CLERK ENTITY AUTO-REV STATUS BUD YEAR JNL TYPE 2020 01 924 BUA 07/15/2019 07/15/2019 SCHTRANSF mlovett2 1 N Hist 2020

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

LN ORG OBJECT PROJ REF1 REF2 REF3 LINE DESCRIPTION DEBIT CREDIT OB

ACCOUNT ACCOUNT DESCRIPTION

1 S0104995 530100 6,840.00 0003-3-0S01-001410-099-000-0005-00-530100- CENTOFF-BUS FIN P&T SERVICES

2 S0041995 524100 6,840.00 0003-3-0S00-004130-099-000-0005-00-524100- FAC-TELEPHONE MAINTENANCE R&M

** JOURNAL TOTAL 0.00 0.00 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

YEAR PER JOURNAL SRC EFF DATE ENT DATE JNL DESC CLERK ENTITY AUTO-REV STATUS BUD YEAR JNL TYPE 2020 01 1007 BUA 07/17/2019 07/17/2019 SCHTRANSF mlovett2 1 N Hist 2020

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

LN ORG OBJECT PROJ REF1 REF2 REF3 LINE DESCRIPTION DEBIT CREDIT OB

ACCOUNT ACCOUNT DESCRIPTION

1 S4193992 530100 4,500.00 0003-3-0S41-009300-099-000-0002-00-530100- SPED-TUITON NON PUB SCH DW P&T

2 S4112992 530100 4,500.00 0003-3-0S41-003300-099-000-0002-00-530100- SPED-TRANS SVCS DW PROF&TECH

** JOURNAL TOTAL 0.00 0.00 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

** GRAND TOTAL 0.00 0.00 ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

2 Journals printed

** END OF REPORT - Generated by Cody Marshall **

1

August 16, 2019

Dear Parent or Guardian,

On behalf of the faculty and staff of the Gloucester Public School District (GPSD), I would like to welcome back all of the school children and their families. And, I would like to add a special welcome to those students and families who are joining the GPSD for the first time. As you know, the beginning of school is right around the corner, and there is much to do as both you and the district get ready for the opening of school.

Labor Day will be celebrated this year on September 2, and as a result, we will begin school for students on Wednesday, September 4. School will be in session on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, September 4, 5, and 6. Preschool and Kindergarten begin on Monday, September 9. Attached is the 2019-2020 School Calendar.

Once school is underway, there are some important dates for you to be aware of. Schools will be holding their respective Back-to-School/Open Houses in September/October. The dates and times for these meetings are as follows:

O’Maley Gr. 8 Distribution of Chromebooks Thursday, September 5 6:00 pm Gloucester High School Thursday, September 12 6:00 pm O’Maley Innovation Middle School Thursday, September 19 6:00 pm Beeman Memorial Elementary School Thursday, September 26 6:00 pm Plum Cove Elementary School Thursday, September 26 6:00 pm East Gloucester Elementary School Thursday, September 26 5:00 pm Veterans’ Memorial Elementary School Thursday, September 26 6:00 pm West Parish Elementary School, K-2 Thursday, September 26 5:00 pm West Parish Elementary School, 3-5 Thursday, September 27 6:00 pm Gloucester Preschool Thursday, October 3 6:30 pm

Also attached is the Bus Pass Application Information. If your son/daughter is going to be taking the bus, please complete and submit as soon as possible. We require bus pass applications for every student who will be taking the bus. Submitted applications allow us to figure out bus routes, and the numbers of students who will take each bus. The bus pass application is available on the Gloucester Public Schools website at www.gloucesterschools.com (it must be printed and filled out). Or, you can stop by Central Office at 2 Blackburn Drive and pick up a hard copy of the application.

Applications for Free and Reduced Lunch are also available on the Gloucester Public Schools website as well (Click on the “For Parents” tab). These are important benefits for families who qualify, and they assist the district with state funding as well. Translations of the application in Portuguese and Spanish are attached to this email and are also available on the website. Please note that these applications are completely confidential. Attached are the instructions, questions, and answers regarding how to apply for school meal benefits.

2 New Hires

This coming year, we have one addition to our administrative team, Assistant Principal, Dennis Hurley, at the O’Maley Innovation Middle School. For the past 19 years, Mr. Hurley has taught in the Ipswich Public Schools mainly as an English Language Arts teacher, and he has been team chair as well as the middle school’s on-call administrator.

As of the writing of this letter, we will have 30 new hires across the district. These include:

● GHS--Special Education, Foreign Language, Social Studies, Carpentry, Computer Assisted Design (CAD), ROTC Instructor;

● O'Maley-- Guidance Counselor, Math Teacher, Speech Pathologist, ELL Teacher;

● Beeman-- Psychologist, Kindergarten, Grade1, and Grade 3 Teachers;

● East Gloucester-- Kindergarten (2) Teacher, Grade 1, Grade 2 and Grade 4 Teachers, Special Education Teacher, Music Teacher (with Plum Cove), and an Art Teacher (with Vets);

● Plum Cove-- Grade 1 (2) Teachers, Grade 2 Teacher;

● Vets-- English Language Learner Teacher (ELL), Grade 3 (2) Teachers; and,

● West Parish-- Grade 3, Music Teacher Grant-funded Activities

There are a number of interesting activities across the district that enhance the work that is being done and which are grant funded. These include:

● An after-school computer coding program at the Beeman Memorial Elementary School;

● The summer STEAM program (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics) at Beeman

● Continued support for six summer Advanced Placement “prep classes” at GHS;

● Funding for solar paneling on the O’Maley roof;

● Continued support for the O’Maley Aquaponics Lab;

● Continued support for the after school, model 21^st Century Community Learning Centers Grant (O’Maley Academy); and,

● Funding for expanding Science inquiry at GHS.

Most of the above programs are graciously funded through the Gloucester Education Foundation. Funding for Science inquiry is provided by Cell Signalling.

East Gloucester Building Project

On August 1, I sent an update on the East Gloucester Building Project. To recap, the East Gloucester School Building Committee, the Owner’s Project Manager, and the Design Team have been working with the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) to document our educational program, generate an initial space summary based upon educational needs, document existing conditions, establish design parameters, and develop and evaluate alternatives including the possibility of different site locations.

Ultimately, the building committee will recommend the most cost effective and educationally appropriate solution to the community and to MSBA Board of Directors for their consideration.

On August 1, 2019, what is called the “Preliminary Design Program” (PDP) was sent to the MSBA for their review. The PDP refers to nine (9) potential projects selected for further extensive review out of fourteen (14) original proposals. To get to the 9 options, each of the possibilities were rated by the School Building Committee using criteria involving issues regarding the educational program and space needs, site location, existing site and building conditions, site development requirements, circulation (buses and cars), and amenities (ample space for playgrounds), and building design (zoning, environmental design, etc.). For a listing of the nine options which include capital improvements, renovations, renovations with an addition, and a new school for either 230 students or for a consolidated school of 430 students, please see the update sent by email. Information is also provided on the Gloucester Public School website, http://www.gloucesterschools.com, and the East Gloucester Building Project website, (https://eastgloucesterbuildingproject.weebly.com/) Cost ranges for each of the possible options have been calculated by licensed, professional construction estimators.

3 Ultimately, a decision will be made by the School Building Committee, after further extensive analysis, as to which proposed option is the preferred one. We anticipate a decision being made by the School Building Committee by February 2020. This will continue to be a public process. Needless to say, an improved learning environment for our students is a very exciting prospect.

Cultural Proficiency

One of the most interesting topics that the district is currently engaged in is the issue of Cultural Proficiency.

Cultural Proficiency refers to the understanding that culture plays a very significant role in learning and in access to higher order thinking.

When the brain encounters information, especially during the act of reading and learning, it is searching for and making connections to what is personally relevant and meaningful. What is relevant and meaningful to an individual is based on his or her cultural frame of reference. Finding cultural relevance and personal connections give us perspective, engage our attention, and assists us in interpreting and inferring meaning, enabling depth of understanding and interest needed for what are considered acts of high intellectual processing such as conceptualizing, reasoning, or theorizing.

Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain--Zaretta Hammond (2015)

As the district becomes more culturally diverse, and as we seek to understand each individual child’s thinking, it becomes increasingly vital that we build learning cultures of safety and belonging with that diversity in mind. It calls upon us to deepen our understanding of cultural differences and to demonstrate what we can refer to as culturally responsive knowledge and skills. Sensitivity and understanding in such matters calls for professional development toward culturally responsive, equity-minded teaching. In addition, we need to use data periodically to determine our progress toward culturally-sensitive measures.

And, last, we must learn to understand the influence of personal biases in educating students. In these ways, we can demonstrate best practices in cultural sensitivity. The district will use the 2019-20 school year as a time for exploring/researching various aspects of cultural proficiency through existing data, staff training and the identification of best practices.

I am confident that the coming school year is going to be an exciting and challenging one. The district continues to align curriculum, instruction, and assessment with the State Standards and with the Common Core, develop curriculum maps, create common assessments, and seek to apply the use of the teacher and administrator evaluation systems as a tool for promoting professional growth for all of us. All of our efforts, however, are student centered, first and foremost. The work that we do is a means to an end, an end that continually causes us to strive to work smarter on behalf of our students. The work reaffirms our commitment to strong Literacy and Math programs. This commitment carries over to Science and History, Art and Music, Career and Vocational Technology, and Health and Wellness, etc. We consider it essential for our students to engage in daily critical thinking, problem solving, and inquiry-oriented experiences, which develop each child’s capacity for understanding and expression.

And, with that said, I wish you a pleasant rest of the summer, and look forward to the start of school.

Very truly yours,

Richard Safier

Superintendent of Schools

4

X.C.

The GLOUCESTER PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Gloucester School Committee

Jonathan Pope, Chairperson Kathleen A. Clancy, Vice- Chairperson

Sefatia Romeo Theken, Mayor of Gloucester Anthony Gross, Secretary

Joel Favazza Michelle Sweet Melissa Teixeira

2 Blackburn Drive Tel: 978-281-9800

Gloucester, Massachusetts 01930 Fax: 978-281-9899

www.gloucesterschools.com

August, 2019

Ms. Kristie Lutz, Producer Production of the Movie CODA

Dear Ms. Lutz,

The Gloucester School Committee, having consulted legal counsel, both understands and acknowledges that the producers of the movie CODA do not require the approval of the committee to use the name Gloucester High School. The name, fictional plot and the partial setting of Gloucester High School for a film is in the public domain. The committee’s understanding applies to any associative materials such as a mascot, the school’s logo, or its colors. The producers of the movie, CODA, therefore, are free to use Gloucester High School and related materials in their production.

Sincerely,

Jonathan Pope

School Committee Chair