Last Tuesday’s Citywide
PTO meeting was the first of the year, and Supt. Taymore spent an hour with the
group commenting on the following:
·
Off to a great
start but it’s hot! Principals were getting the word out to parents regarding
mitigation for students, like rotating them through air conditioned rooms at
the middle school and bringing in fans for some elementary schools. Staff
members were prepared to assist students as needed.
·
There are
still a few unfilled teaching spots in the schools. Most difficult to fill:
special ed., math, and science. There is also substantial poaching by other
districts so that teachers may accept a position and then be immediately
recruited away. Melrose employs a rigorous hiring process that begins with an
interview and demonstration lesson (including students and staff). Only then
are candidates considered for a position.
·
The district
calendar is out. (Find it here: http://melroseschools.com/calendar/.)
·
Kindergarten:
15 rooms containing 318 students with 165 transitioning from the ECC, and we
are out of space. 8-9 families are waiting to get their preferred school. Most
impacted are Horace Mann and Winthrop. All regular ed. classrooms have one
paraprofessional.
· SAT/ACT: The SAT is losing ground with more
students taking the ACT, which used to be the preferred test in the southern vs. northern US. About 60% of students take the SAT and ACT. The revised SAT will be
introduced in spring, 2016 and is expected to look more like the PARCC exam,
i.e. more authentic assessment. SAT scores across the country are declining and
Supt. Taymore indicated that there are three reasons: more students are taking
the test, not just the high performers; the writing piece was a requirement, and will now be an option; and the test doesn’t measure what’s taught. (For
another read on this: http://tinyurl.com/pp2ahp9.)
· There is movement at the State House for a one-year moratorium on
state standardized testing
· The Start School Later Working Group will reconvene
this fall for another year of work.
· A bond for technology is expected to go before the
Board of Aldermen on 9/21. It
would be used to lease hardware (mostly ChromeBooks for students and a more
robust device for teachers) with an expected life of five years. The longer
term goal is a 3:1 ratio for ChromeBooks.
· Teachers using Aspen:
teachers can create and use their own web sites and don’t need to post info in
both places, but they’ve been directed to be explicit on syllabi to re: where
things are so that students/parents can find them.
· Students will soon be
issued a Google ID and parents will be notified.
After
Supt. Taymore departed, the group discussed the following:
· PTO, Inc. President Tim
Donnelly reviewed the mission of the organization: as a holding company for all
PTO’s except the ECC. They consolidate individual PTO reports, submit
statements to the accounting firm, file taxes/relevant state forms, and carry
liability and directors’ insurance. Each PTO Treasurer should expect a request
for their annual budget. The Healthy Melrose Run raised $4000 for PTO, Inc.
which was greatly appreciated. Individual PTO assessments will be issued soon
and are less this year thanks to this fundraising. This year both Tim and
Treasurer Anne Berte plan to retire and will need to be replaced.
· The summer PTO Summit
was a successful forum for PTO reps to get ideas and share challenges and
wishes regarding the year ahead.
· Melrose Cultural
Council grants are in the submission process so if PTO’s want to submit, now is
the time. There is $9200 available to be issued and schools often apply for
things like field trips, for which admin. fees are paid but not buses.
· A detailed grant chart
was prepared by Christina Gagliano, indicating local granting agencies and how
to access the grants.
Next
meeting is October 13th at 8:45 a.m. in the Supt’s Conference Room.
