Portland School Committee – Policy Subcommittee

Annual Report, 2008-2009

Role of the Policy Subcommittee:

From December 2008 to November 2009, the Policy Subcommittee was responsible for managing and reviewing all policy revisions and/or new policy considerations that came to the Portland School Committee from Maine School Management Association (MSMA), Maine Administrators of Services for Children with Disabilities (MADSEC), Drummond Woodsum (DWM), the community and other sources. All policies were compared with current and/or relevant existing Portland Public Schools policy. The Subcommittee was comprised of a School Committee member as chair (Marnie Morrione), School Committee member representatives (Justin Costa and Rebecca Minnick), a student representative (John Gjika) and a member of the Central Office (Jill Blackwood). As appropriate, the Subcommittee sought staff or community input, or guidance from legal representation. Recommendation of a new policy or policy revisions from the Subcommittee happened at School Committee Business Meetings with first read and second read, then vote.

Policies revised and passed by the full School Committee:

o School Volunteers, IJOC Policy, passed January 1, 2009

o Board Member Freedom of Access Training, BIC Policy, passed January 1, 2009

o Policy on Time Out Rooms and Therapeutic Restraint, JKAA Policy, passed January 7, 2009

o Public’s Right to Know, KDB Policy, passed January 7, 2009

o Crisis Response Plan, EBCA Policy, passed February 25, 2009

o Superintendent Job Description, CBA Policy, passed February 25, 2009

o School Superintendent, CB Policy, passed June 24, 2009

o Evaluation of the Superintendent, CBI Policy, passed June 24, 2009

o Agenda Preparation and Dissemination, BEDB Policy, passed August 5, 2009

o New Board Member Orientation, BIA Policy, passed on August 26, 2009

o Naming of Facilities, FF Policy, passed on October 21, 2009

o Subcommittees, Task Forces, Advisory Groups, BDE Policy, pending, first read on November 18, 2009

Policies Reviewed and Not Changed:

o Advertising in Schools, KHB Policy

o Family and Medical Leave, GBN Policy and GBN-R Procedure

o Alternative Education, IHBH Policy

o Educational Options, JFB Policy

o Student Education Records and Information, JRA Policy

Policies in Need of Further Review in 2010:

*Chair, BDB Policy *School Member Code of Ethics, BCA Policy *Board Advisory Committees, BDF Policy *School Budget, DBC Policy *Fiscal Accounting and Recording, DI Policy *Budget Oversight and Administration, DIC Policy *District goals and Objectives, ADA Policy *Commitment to Learning Results, ADF Policy *Instructional Goals, IA Policy *Learning Objectives/ SC Commitment to Learning Results, IAA Policy

*Curriculum, IGA Policy * Participation in Regular Education Programs, IHBAG Policy * Independent Educational Evaluations, IHBAI Policy * Gifted students, IHBB Policy * Instructional and Library Media Materials, IJJ/IJJ-R1, IJJ-R2, IJFF-E *Final Exams, IKAA Policy * Promotion and Retention of Students, IKE/IKE-1,IKE-2 * Graduation Requirements/Guidelines, IKF Policy and IKF-R * Student Assessment/ Local Assessment System, ILA and ILAA Policies * Exemption from Required Instruction, IMBB Policy

Other Activities and Accomplishments 2008-2009:

· Maintained Policy Tracker to organize and update policy status.

· Developed new format for Subcommittee meeting agendas to list old business and new business to be discussed.

· Added time on each agenda for legislative updates. Justin Costa provided updates on legislative issues when needed.

· Worked with Interim Superintendent (Jeanne Whynot-Vickers) and high school principals (Mike Johnson, Ken Kunin and Derek Pierce) to update status of the Graduation Reporting System (IKC Policy). Agreed to maintain current system in an effort to wait for the Maine State graduation requirement to be passed. The procedure IKC-R (Class Ranking Procedure) was revised and passed by full School Committee on June 24, 2009.