Minutes - May 2, 2022

Brockton Massachusetts             Regular School Committee Meeting              May 2, 2022

Live Stream

 

The Regular Meeting of the Brockton School Committee was held this evening in the George M. Romm Little Theatre at Brockton High School, at seven o’clock. These minutes contain a summary of the meeting and list items that were under discussion.

Present:  Mayor Sullivan, Chair; Ms. Sullivan, Ms. Rivas Mendes, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Homer, Mr. Rodrigues, Ms. Ehlers, Ms. Asack, Vice-Chair

Also Present: Superintendent Thomas, Interim Deputy Superintendent Szachowicz,

Executive Team Members, BEA President, Ms. Kim Gibson

Mayor Sullivan, Chair called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m., followed by a salute to the flag.

Mayor Sullivan, Chair took a roll call to establish a quorum.

Ms. Sullivan - Here                  Mr. Homer – Here                   Ms. Asack, Vice-Chair - Here

Ms. Rivas Mendes - Here         Mr. Rodrigues - Here               Mayor Sullivan, Chair - Here

Mr. Sullivan - Here                  Ms. Ehlers – Here

Hearing of Visitors   There were no hearing of visitors.

 

Consent Agenda    Mayor Sullivan explained the purpose of the Consent Agenda, read the items aloud and asked members for any requests to remove items for further discussion.  No items were removed for discussion.                                                                                                                                                                 

Mr. Sullivan made a motion to approve the Consent Agenda, seconded by Ms. Sullivan.

Voted:  to approve the motion, unanimously.

Superintendent’s

Report  Student Representative Report (Elen Arustamyan)

Student Representative Elen Arustamyan gave a brief power point presentation on happenings at Brockton High School:

  • Bonnie Time
  • Our Future
  • Spring Sports
  • Hello Dolly!
  • Math Problem of the Day
  • Our 2nd Promposal
  • Senior Voices
  • Cultural Open Mic Night
  • Our new Metal Detectors
  • Photography

Superintendent Thomas thanked Elen and seniors for their positivity and work with staff at Brockton High School. Mayor Sullivan and Ms. Asack also thanked Elen for her leadership.

Keith School Student Representatives, Debora Duviella and Jesus Perez gave an update on the happenings at the Keith School. Superintendent Thomas thanked them for their presentation and all the hard work they have done this past school year.

Introduction of Interns

Superintendent Thomas introduced the interns and gave their assignments:

  • Yolanda Fonseca  - A Language Acquisition Coach with the Bilingual Dept. will be working with the Brookfield School and in Human Resources for her internship.
  • Jennifer Hunter - A Language Acquisition Coach with the Bilingual Dept. will be working with the Promise School and with Jess Hodges in the Communication Office for her internship.
  • Charlene Montrond - A Bilingual Social Studies teacher at East Middle School will be working with the Ashfield School and Dr. Soraya DeBarros at the Community School Office for her internship.
  • Ngozi Onubogu - An English teacher at Brockton High School will be working at BHS and at Central with Dr. Conners
  • Jane Werb - An Instructional Leadership Coach at the Baker School will be working at the

George School and with Kelly Jones in the Bilingual Dept.


Community Schools Summer Programs

Superintendent Thomas introduced Dr. Soraya deBarros to the committee.  Dr. deBarros will present a power point on the Summer Programs that will be taking place during the time frame of July-August.

  • 2022 Summer Camp
  • Vision/Mission Statement
  • Free programs/Paid programs
  • Catalog hard copy/electronic version
  • Summer Camp Kickoff -Saturday, May 7th from 11am-3pm

Comments/Questions:

  • Ms. Rivas Mendes thanked Dr. deBarros and asked about programs for preschool and kindergarten.
  • Superintendent Thomas spoke how SPED runs three programs in addition to the Community School program. He will also have Ms. Laurie Mason speak on this.
  • Ms. Rivas Mendes thanked Dr. deBarros for listing programs through the year, including swimming.
  • Ms. Sullivan thanked Dr. deBarros for her presentation and parents should take advantage of the many programs.
  • Ms. Asack echoed Ms. Rivas Mendes and Ms. Sullivan’s sentiments. She mentioned about sponsoring programs and is there a maximum number of students.
  • Dr. deBarros replied that donations are always accepted and there are six scholarships available.

There is a cap for enrollment, but the goal is to try not to turn any student away. The program is advertised on the BPS website, Facebook, BCA and the Enterprise. Flyers are circulated as well having the Catalog.

  • Mr. Homer asked if there were evening programs.

Dr. deBarros replied, there are no evening programs. Mayor Sullivan stated that there is Brockton

After Dark at BHS in the evening during the summer.

  • Mr. Sullivan thanked Dr. deBarros for the presentation and the staff for their hard work.

STAR Testing Results

Superintendent Thomas introduced Dr. Ethan Cancel to discuss the STAR Testing Results.

Dr. Cancell presented a brief power point to the committee to talk about the STAR Testing Results.

 

Organization-Star Winter Results

  • Historical
  • Fall to Winter Comparison
  • Student Specific Groups
  • Averages Tell Only Part of Story
  • How Does Inform Instruction

5 Things to Remember

  • Star is a good MCAS predictor, but the spring results are better
  • Star reading does not measure writing, a major BPS focus and important component for MCAS
  • Averages do not capture the whole story
  • The pandemic is not over – Staff, Student absences hindered the acceleration and relaunching of full in-person instruction.
  • STAR is a lagging indicator

Winter STAR reading

  • Not meeting expectations
  • Partially meeting expectations
  • Meeting expectations
  • Exceeding expectations

Reading-Fall to Winter Comparisons

  • Not meeting expectations
  • Partially meeting expectations
  • Meeting expectations
  • Exceeding expectations

Winter STAR Math

  • Not meeting expectations
  • Partially meeting expectations
  • Meeting expectations
  • Exceeding expectations

Math-Fall to Winter Comparisons

  • Not meeting expectations
  • Partially meeting expectations
  • Meeting expectations
  • Exceeding expectations

Student Specific Groups largely follow District Trends

  • African American students reduced the achievement gap in the not meeting expectations category for Reading and the meeting expectations category for Math.
  • English Learners had the greatest rate of improvement for students not meeting expectations in Reading and Math.
  • Students with disabilities improved at all four performance levels for Reading and Math
  • The achievement gap for students meeting expectations in reading increased.

What Averages Hide

  • Some students improving nicely, some struggling

What We Did

  • Lessons from successful large scale district improvement (and BPS)
  • Literacy Focus and Instructional Improvement
  • Lesson plan templates
  • Walk-through tools
  • Reading & Writing Wednesdays (all subjects)
  • Detailed data analysis tools-drill down Focus on Equity
  • Data visits with schools

Conclusions

  • There are small improvements from the fall in Reading & Math scores
  • We are scoring lower than pre-pandemic
  • The student specific groups are following similar trends as the district averages
  • Many students are accelerating their learning, but some are struggling
  • We have implemented research and experiences-based strategies
  • Refining our data tools and protocols and helping schools use them effectively will be an increasing focus of our work

Questions/Answers:

  • Ms. Ehlers is a big proponent of measuring data. She specifically like the 2nd conclusion. All data is good data as it shares a story. Does any of this information correlate with specific sites?

Dr. Cancell stated that the information is shared with the schools across the district. It is very important work, and the challenge is real. If we continue to do the right thing, then we will continue to go in the right direction.

  • Ms. Rivas Mendes asked what was the number of students who took the STAR test?

Dr. Cancell said virtually everyone takes it.  Roughly 7,000-8,000 students in grades 3-8.

You must take in consideration those who are out.

  • Mr. Homer asked what is the format of the test? Is it all done in one day or over multiple days?

Dr. Cancell said it is a quick test, but it is usually taken over two days.

Approval of Summer Schedule of School Committee Meetings:

Mr. Thomas discussed the Summer School Committee Meeting dates.  The proposed dates are Tuesday, July 19, 2022 and Tuesday, August 23, 2022.

Ms. Rivas Mendes made a motion to accept as submitted, Tuesday, July 19, 2022 and Tuesday, August 23, 2022, seconded by Ms. Sullivan.

The motion passed unanimously.

 

Items to Refer to Subcommittee

None

Unfinished

Business  Discussion and Potential Vote: BPS District Calendars 2022-2023 (1st Reading 2/8/22)

Ms. Sullivan made a motion to approve the BPS District Calendars for the 2022-2023 school year, seconded by Mr. Homer.

The motion passed unanimously.

 Discussion and Potential Vote: BPS Special Education Policies and Procedures April 26, 2022

Mr. Homer presented information regarding the BPS Special Education Policies and Procedures held during the Policy Subcommittee meeting on April 26, 2022.  After review of the materials,

Mr. Homer made a motion to bring this forth to the full school committee for approval.

Mr. Homer motioned to approve the BPS Special Education Policies and Procedures, seconded by  seconded by Ms. Sullivan.

The motion passed unanimously.

Discussion and Potential Vote: Building Naming Public Meeting of May 3, 2022

Ms. Asack spoke briefly from the Building Naming Public Meeting held earlier this evening.  The committee voted unanimously in favor of the stage at Brockton High School Nelson Auditorium as the Mrs. Carol Thomas & Mr. Vincent Macrina and favorably moved to the full school committee.

Ms. Asack motioned to approve the naming of the stage in the auditorium the Mr. Vincent Macrina & Carol Thomas.  The motion was seconded by Ms. Ehlers.

The motion passed unanimously.

New Business

  • Ms. Asack thanked Ms. Malinda Campbell and Ms. Lisa Cunningham for all their help and hard work as it is Administrative Assistant week. She also wished Mayor Sullivan and Ms. Lisa Cunningham a Happy belated Birthday and an early Happy Birthday to Mr. Rodrigues.
  • Mayor Sullivan visited South Middle School and spoke to Mr. Jim Stapleton’s class and presented a piece of the Liberty Tree to the school.
  • Mayor Sullivan went to visit the ARC last month as it was Autism Awareness week.
  • Mayor Sullivan mentioned this Saturday, May 10, 2022 Heights Crossing will host “Keep Brockton Beautiful” all are welcome to attend.
  • Community Schools Summer Camp Kickoff  begins this Saturday May 10, 2022
  • Ms. Asack mentioned the following:
  • Harbor One Bank Fine Art Show in the Fine Arts Lobby of BHS 5/3-5/5
  • Hello Dolly at BHS – 5/13, 5/14, 5/15
  • Congratulation to the Junior Class, their prom was held last week.

Seeing no further business,

 

Ms. Sullivan motioned to adjourned. Seconded by Mr. Sullivan.

The motion carried.

 

The meeting adjourned at 8:34 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Michael P. Thomas

Secretary/Superintendent

mdc

PowerPoint (s): BHS Student Report

        Community Schools Summer Programs

        STAR Testing Results

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