Tuesday morning’s City
Wide PTO meeting began with the Superintendent’s report, and she spoke to
issues as requested by members and placed on the day’s agenda. She provided a
copy of the 12/8 letter to elementary parents that spoke to Ethics Commission
regulations around gift giving to teachers. (Please see the principal if you
have questions.) Gifting can be done in different ways, individually to a
teacher, as a class gift to a teacher, or as a gift to the school. She is
working with the Melrose City Solicitor to develop language around gifting,
since school gifts must be accepted by the School Committee. Class or school
gifts (not individual gifts) are the property of the school, not the teacher.
Next, Supt. Taymore
addressed policy and practice regarding holidays and observances. She provided
a copy of the Committee’s new policy (Policy IMD, posted in the District Policy
Manual in the Committee portion of the school web site). She then addressed a
question around middle school dances, indicating they are not school functions.
Flyers distributed regarding the dances are no different from other flyers
representing non-profit organizations and events – she approves most of those
while declining to approve for-profit flyers for distribution to students.
Supt. Taymore then
provided an Aspen update. Teachers are 90% trained in the “Pages” portion of
the software, where there is a place for homework, etc. (If teachers already
have web sites set up for students, they just need to link to them from Aspen
rather than create an entirely new page.) It is intended that Pages will take
the place of elementary newsletters since the newsletters are so time-consuming
to create. All schools except for Horace Mann have an Aspen mentor to support
teacher training and coaching in buildings. The ECC doesn’t use Aspen because
student names aren’t in the system, but teachers there are doing an excellent
job communicating individually. It is expected that technical issues around
grading (e.g. a grade like 85% might be entered by a teacher, but Aspen could
convert it to 100% so it is misrepresented for parents/students) will be
addressed by Aspen technicians in January (who are likely finding this problem
in other districts too).
Finally, Supt. Taymore
addressed questions about communication in the district. She explained that it
is a theme for the staff this year. Parents want consistent information about
topics coming from all schools, e.g. if a teacher will be out for an extended
period, please indicate what will happen, when, etc. The district works to
balance confidentiality vs. helping parents understand how to support their
child during a transition time and the Supt. will talk about this with the
Leadership Team. The other theme for the year is cultural proficiency as we
have a population that is growing in diversity. Administrators are working with teachers
to support the embedding of thoughtfulness and proficiency in daily teaching,
including lessons, materials, and current events (e.g. how do teachers respond
to student/class questions about Ferguson?). There are strict laws (and moral
responsibility) around non-discrimination including race, but also religion,
economics, sexual orientation, gender identity, etc. (Note: to see Committee Non-Discrimination Policy, please look in the
Policy Manual for policies AC and ACA.)
After Supt. Taymore’s
departure, members offered communication suggestions for the School Committee,
including making more use of Facebook (for things like results of the school
funding survey, notice of upcoming meetings and agendas, what kinds of things
can parents impact like the Fine Arts Director, etc.). They said that the
changes to last year’s budget process were helpful, and they would like even
more information and understanding this year.
Calendar notes: The ECC is working to fund a new playground, jump-started
by a $10K grant from the city. (Their goal is to raise $30K by 4/15/15.)
Community Reading Day is scheduled for 3/4/15. Trivia Bee is 3/28/15.
