Draft: June 13, 2007

Approved: June 20, 2007

School Committee meeting June 13, 2007

Under Report of the Secretary

Executive Session

Consideration and action to move into Executive Session to authorize the superintendent to enter into negotiations with the Portland Education Association , Portland Administrators’ Association, B.A.S.E. and Educational Technicians/Language Facilitators pursuant to 1 MRSA §405(6)(B).

Members present: John Coyne, Sarah Thompson, Susan Hopkins, Benjamin Meiklejohn, Robert O’Brien, Rebecca Minnick, Ellen Alcorn, Lori Gramlich

At 6:50 p.m. Ms. Thompson moved, seconded Mr. Coyne and voted unanimously to move into Executive Session to authorize the superintendent to enter into negotiations with the Portland Education Association , Portland Administrators’ Association, B.A.S.E. and Educational Technicians/Language Facilitators pursuant to 1 MRSA §405(6)(B).

At 6:58 p.m. Ms. Hopkins moved, seconded Mr. Meiklejohn and voted unanimously to come out of Executive Session

7:00 p.m. Business Meeting

At 7:00 pm Mr. Coyne called the meeting to order.

• Mr. Coyne introduced Linda Cohen, City Clerk who recited the oath of office for the swearing in of Peter Eglinton, District 3 Rep., whose term will run June 2007 through November 2007.

Members present: John Coyne-Chairperson, Lori Gramlich, Bennett Gross, Anthony Toppi, Maureen Quinn, Benjamin Meiklejohn, Ellen Alcorn, Susan Hopkins, Sarah Thompson, Rebecca Minnick, Robert O’Brien, Peter Eglinton

Report of the Chair

Mr. Coyne:

• Last week he attended Portland High and Deering High graduations
• Thanked Mr. Meiklejohn for serving as Chair pro tem at last week’s meeting.
• Recognized recent graduates Hamid Karamian and Devin Storey who have been producers for TV3 over the past two years.

· Introduced David Hilton, teacher, who spoke briefly regarding the Project Citizen presentations. 12 Lyman Moore Middle School 7^th grade students discussed their Project Citizen topics (Carbon Monoxide, Childhood Obesity, and Dangerous Games), which they presented recently at the State House in Augusta.

· Read a letter from Rep. Herb Adams recognizing Lori Gramlich’s efforts last week regarding her work on the consolidation bill.

Report of the Superintendent

Superintendent O’Connor:

· Announced the retirement effective June 30, 2007 of Donna Hazard, Assistant Director Human Resources, who has been with the Portland Public Schools for 20 yrs

• Acknowledged Barbara Judge and Marilyn Philbrook, Lyseth teachers, who have been named Maine History Teacher(s) of the Year.
• Announced that thanks to Sylvie Montello, Partnership Developer, Lyseth received first place in the Fiddlehead Center for the Arts citywide art competition with artwork on display at Portland High School on Sunday, June 24^th as part of “Picture This”.

Report of the Secretary

1. Consideration and action to approve the meeting minutes of the May 30, 2007 and June 6, 2007 meetings.

Ms. Thompson moved, seconded Mr. Eglinton and voted unanimously to approve the meeting minutes of the May 30, 2007 and June 6, 2007 meetings. (Students voted with majority)

Report of Committees

1. Policy Committee – Mr. O’Brien – committee met with Doug Sherwood prior to the evening’s meeting to discuss the Energy Policy, which will come to the School Committee for a first read.

2. Finance Committee – Mr. Meiklejohn – committee met last Wednesday to discuss funding loses as a result of the Essential Programs and Services model. Legal counsel will provide a report in August regarding options that the school committee might have.
3. Legislative Affairs Committee – Ms. Gramlich – was in Augusta last Wednesday and Thursday for the budget vote in which was embedded the governor’s consolidation plan. 5% cuts to transportation, special ed, and building maintenance were removed. Some items protected for Portland include established budget approval process, timeline and local authority; savings by eliminating the mandate for special budget elections in Portland at $50,000 per election; various home rule, charter and municipal rights to be clarified in the Education Commissioner’s report due in January 2008. The 50% reduction in EPS funding would require PPS to come up with a 50% savings in administrative costs to be in place by 2009. Indicated that EPS bill 1041 has been tabled.
4. Riverton Building Committee – Mr. Coyne – the building should be completed and open by Sept.
5. Elementary Facilities Committee – Ms. Alcorn – next meeting June 21st, 6:30 pm at City Hall
6. Casco Bay Relocation Task Force – Ms. Alcorn – task force has come to consensus on either PHS or PATHS and the task force voted for CBHS to stay at PATHS. There will be a workshop in August to discuss this information.
7. Other Committees and/or member concerns – Mr. Meiklejohn indicated that the transportation policy was voted on by the Finance Committee to be passed on to the Policy Committee.

Ms. Hopkins – Taxpayers Association hosting a meeting on June 14^th, 7pm at the Portland Club.

Mr. Eglinton – Building Bridges has arranged for the cfo of Boston Public Schools to speak on budget processes on June 26^th, 7pm at Longfellow School

Ms. Gramlich – asked if the 6/14 and 6/26 meetings could be taped. Superintendent O’Connor indicated that there were no producers available to record on those dates.

Mr. Coyne – mentioned the 5^th grade ceremony at Riverton School

Consent Items - None

New Business

1. Consideration and action to approve a trip to Guatemala City, Guatemala April 11-20, 2008 for Deering High Schools’ Spanish Club service learning trip to Safe Passages.

Ms. Minnick moved, seconded Ms. Thompson to approve a trip to Guatemala City, Guatemala April 11-20, 2008 for Deering High Schools’ Spanish Club service learning trip to Safe Passages.

Markos Miller spoke briefly regarding this trip. Alberton Morales indicated that it would cost approximately $1,200 per student.

Ms. Alcorn – asked if students would do presentations, etc. after their return.

Mr. Miller - indicated that yes they will as well as connecting with other groups who have previously gone to Safe Passages.

Vote: It was voted unanimously to approve a trip to Guatemala City, Guatemala April 11-20, 2008 for Deering High Schools’ Spanish Club service learning trip to Safe Passages. (Students voted with majority)

Old Business

1. Consideration and action to approve policy IKC Graduation Reporting System

Ms. Thompson moved, seconded Ms. Minnick to approve policy IKC Graduation Reporting System

Mr. O’Brien spoke to the motion and read the policy.

Clarifying Questions:

Ms. Gramlich – current policy will be in effect for grades 8-12. The new policy will be in effect for students currently in grade 7.

Ms. Thompson – asked when work on guidelines would begin.

Mr. O’Brien – work has begun and will continue to December.

Superintendent O’Connor – this is work will be done with secondary principals.

Ms. Quinn – will there be a uniform grading system?

Mr. O’Brien - uniformity will be a part of this process.

Mr. Eglinton –ask if the Policy Committee discussed minimum criteria regarding grading policies?

Mr. O’Brien – achievement, rigor, context, and consistency are recognized as part of the process.

Superintendent O’Connor – indicated that the School Committee has responsibility to adopt a policy. Guidelines/procedures are left up to staff. Guidelines will be reviewed with the committee as a whole. Profile of student achievement and also recognition of the school where the student comes from are important pieces of the policy.

Ms. Quinn – asked if policy was necessary for 6 months?

Mr. O’Brien – yes. Most work will be done in the fall and the information needs to filter through the policy comm..

Ms. Alcorn – energy at state level to look at standards based grading and tracking issue. How much bearing of work at the state level will there be on this policy?

Mr. O’Brien- indicated that Mr. Lafavore has been very instrumental in providing information on the work at the state level.

Vote: It was voted unanimously to approve policy IKC Graduation Reporting System

(Students voted with majority)

Mr. Coyne – recognized and thanked Mr. O’Brien for his work.

New Business

2. Consideration and action to approve a revised 2007-2008 school calendar.

Ms. Alcorn moved, seconded Mr. Meiklejohn to approve a revised 2007-2008 school calendar.

Mr.Coyne – indicated that 2008 is Leap year and this caused an extra day in the calendar.

Vote: It was voted unanimously to approve a revised 2007-2008 school calendar.

(Students voted with the majority)

Personnel - None

Committee Focus on Educational Issues

1. Discussion of enrollments at Deering High School and Portland High School

Mr. Coyne indicated that last year a cap was instituted at DHS and this caused many students going to Portland High who required many different services.

Superintendent O’Connor – indicated that she has been monitoring inequities between the high schools. When enrollment was capped at DHS for the 2006-07 year any students wanting to enter DHS had a choice of either attending Portland High or Casco Bay High School. She indicated that 63% of those new enrollees at PHS required special services. Superintendent O’Connor would like to propose that for one year (June 2007 to June 2008) an imaginary line be drawn to provide an equal amount of students in each high school district. Any new students registering for either high school would have to enroll in his/her neighborhood for a year. This would be an action item to have this in place for one year. Data would be tracked to look at impacts on staffing levels, etc. This will impact students who enroll during the summer and fall.

Mr. Mallory spoke briefly about the socioeconomic groups in each area. It appears to be a similar mix in each neighborhood.

Ms. Gramlich – asked for clarification that is for 2007-08 school year for new students who will be entering over the summer and fall. Superintendent O’Connor – indicated yes.

Ms. Thompson – asked what flexibility there would be for students to change from one high school to another?

Superintendent O’Connor– change from one high school to another does happen throughout the year.

Mr. Johnson, principal at Portland High School, indicated that there are approximately 1,050 to 1,075 students enrolled for 2007-08.

Mr. Kunin, principal at Deering High School, indicated that there are approximately just under 1,300 students enrolled for 2007-08.

Ms Alcorn – if 300 more students arrive at the high school will this impact staff?

Mr. Johnson - currently feels comfortable with staffing, but it’s what happens over the summer and fall at the high schools with enrollments.

Ms. Quinn – will lines impact CBHS? Superintendent O’Connor – no.

Mr. Kunin – indicated that on August 5, 2006 a cap was enacted for students, but was lifted for special needs students and ELL due to the impact to PHS.

Superintendent O’Connor will bring an action item to the Committee on the June 20^th agenda.

Public Comment Prior to 11:00 PM

Bill Wilson –addressed the committee on several different issues - enrollment at the high schools; feels PHS has a serious problem with the numbers of students not receiving resources; CIP grant was provided to replace windows at Reiche; spoke about an NCLB grant between PHS and CBHS which was not received; spoke about CBHS task force.

Adjournment

Mr. Meiklejohn moved, seconded Ms. Gramlich and voted unanimously to adjourn the business meeting at 8:39 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Mary Jo O’Connor, Superintendent of Schools