The School Committee
wrapped up 2012 and began 2013 with an aggressive agenda for the year and lots
to accomplish! At our December 11th meeting we set the winter break
for next year’s school calendar. (The last day of school will be Friday,
December 20, 2013 and we’ll return on Thursday, January 2, 2014.) Supt. Taymore
announced the appointment of Melrose Patrolman James Applegate as the School
Resource and Attendance Officer and also presented her revised organizational chart,
clarifying the reporting structure.
At our January 8th
meeting, we agreed to post documents that will be discussed at meetings on the
same day that the Committee receives them (usually the Friday before a Tuesday
meeting), and Ms. Thorp announced the subcommittee chair and vice-chair
assignments for this year. We heard a presentation from Supt. Taymore’s Library
Media Specialist (LMS) Committee, who recommended different staffing-level scenarios based on
educational needs combined with available funding. (In that presentation, you
will find an interesting comparison between the traditional librarian’s duties
and those performed by a 21st century LMS.) We also heard a
presentation by Interim MHS Principal Marianne Farrell and newly appointed
permanent Assistant Principal Steve Fogarty on the New England Association of
Schools and Colleges' (NEASC) two-year follow-up report. (It addresses the specific concerns that
NEASC noted when they performed their full review in 2010.) And we gratefully
accepted a donation of funds on behalf of their Melrose customers from Leuder’s
Environmental, Inc., a lawn care and plant care company based in Needham.
On January 15th we held a retreat to discuss our roles and responsibilities, the subcommittee
structure and process, our relationship with the superintendent and the public,
and how the Committee functions as a team. We agreed to hold another retreat to
take next steps, including working to develop a clearer vision for the
public schools and to develop norms and protocols for working together as a
Committee.
So those are the highlights from where I sit. The full
agenda and all documents can be found by clicking here: http://melrosecityma.iqm2.com/citizens/default.aspx and selecting the meeting for which you would like documents.
Hope you are staying warm and enjoying some comfort food with your gang, and as always, thank you so much for all you do to help and nurture our fabulous students!
