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WWP School Board Notes
(Note: These are my own personal notes and not official minutes of the board meeting. Comments are paraphrased. -- Dee Dee Dodson)

May 13, 2003 (Click here for agenda)

All members were present. Meeting began about 7:50 PM.
Superintendent's Report: Dr. John Fitzsimons thanked Kevin Walling (HSN) and Ali Levine (HSS) for their service this past year as student representatives to the Board. He also announced that Jeff Wray (GMS) is Mercer County's spelling champion and Jeffrey Sun (HSN) received a $25,000 scholarship through the Discover Card.

President's Report: Steve Smith also thanked the student representatives and presented each with a gift from the Board.

High School South Representative: Ali Levine announced that "Say What Karaoke" made about $1000 for scholarships. Coming up are the HSS/HSN baseball game, Iron Chef, Unity Day, and Senior Prom (June 6).

High School North Representative: Kevin Walling announced that Student Council elections have occurred. Coming up are "A Little Night Music," "Mock Emergency Response," and Senior Prom (May 30).

Both students thanked the Board for the opportunity to serve as student representatives. They will graduate in June.

Public Comment I:

Jill (Last Name?) (WW) spoke on behalf of her daughter whose graduation status is in question. Mr. Smith referred her to Jon Cosse who said he would speak with her in the morning.

Ellen Walsh (Pl) (HSS PTSA President) spoke about facility needs at HSS saying that HSS is not on par with HSN. Since the PTSA's Facility Needs Presentation at HSS, she said two budget seasons have come and gone. Mr. Smith informed her that the Board is working on a committee to look into facility needs and funding.

Kevin Chapman (WW) said his daughter is in a French class in middle school that had planned a trip to Montreal. The trip was cancelled. He has no criticism of that decision but has concerns that no arrangements were made for trip insurance during the planning process. He would like the Board to look into providing trip insurance in the future.

Dee Dee Dodson (PL) commented on the half-day traditionally scheduled for prom day that does not appear as a half-day on the school calendar. She is aware of a special education student whose whereabouts were unknown for a period of time last year because his parents did not know he would be coming home from school early that day. She urged the Board to either enforce the scheduled full day or officially declare the day a half day for high school students. She also hopes that the "Bullying" policy will specifically address bus problems where many bullying incidents occur.

(Name?) (Twp?) would like closed classrooms at HSS and suggested that soundproof partitions be installed. She commented that gym facilities are not adequate at HSS. Mr. Smith again noted that the Board is kicking off two committees--one to look at capacity and the other to look at facilities planning.

Peggy Daruwala (WW) said the G&T consultant on tonight's agenda has an excellent reputation in the field and she hopes the Board will approve the appointment.

Committee Reports:

Administration Committee-The first reading of the revised policy manual will be coming up soon. There will be a month between the first and second readings. The Strategic Planning kickoff is scheduled for June 9.

Curriculum Committee-At the last meeting the World Language supervisors explained proficiency testing to assess the effectiveness of the program. There is the possibility of a grant to continue the project. They reviewed progress on the Chinese curriculum and reviewed textbooks coming up for adoption. Some of the textbooks are replacements (Math and Science) and some are for new courses (LA).

Linda Geevers asked about the status of a grammar book for middle school.

Dr. Judith Koru (Interim Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction) said supervisors are looking at books, but will not be ready to bring one forward until June.

Finance Committee-Stan Katz asked other board members to submit input regarding the template for the new Facilities Committee.

Survey Committee-Michele Epstein announced that the Committee is wrapping up this project and plans to present the final report in a presentation at the May 27 meeting.

MS/HS Enrollment Committee-Henry Wieck announced that the Committee is working on crafting a recommendation for a well-developed capacity study. That recommendation will probably be made next month.

Administration:

Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying, and Hazing (Policy #5512)-Dr. Jon Cosse (Assistant Superintendent for Pupil Personnel Services) stated that this is a state-mandated policy.

Mr. Wieck would like to know what levels of discipline might be used.

Russ Schumacher (Special Assistant for Labor Relations) answered that the district would follow the current discipline policy to determine penalties. This will have to evolve to some extent.

Dr. Cosse said this policy sets the parameters. We first had to define bullying. The State will monitor districts to make sure they have bullying prevention programs.

Ms. Epstein asked if the policy could contain a statement describing the support the district will provide to the victim.

Dr. Cosse requested that she submit specific language.

Dr. Fitzsimons suggested adding "provide appropriate support to victims" on the last page by making it item #3 in the last section.

Mr. Katz voiced his concerns about oral and anonymous reports. "This sends shivers down my spine." You are saying you have full investigative powers on an anonymous call? On the basis of an anonymous call, can you search someone's locker? It's possible that the person making the anonymous complaint is now harassing someone and you don't know who that person is. In the real world, you can't get a subpoena on an anonymous complaint. But under this wording, a person who wants to harass someone by making a false accusation has a legal policy to back him up.

Dr. Cosse agreed it was a slippery slope and that maybe there is better language, but the State says there is an obligation to investigate.

Mr. Schumacher agreed that the district has to investigate, even if they don't find anything.

Pat Bocarsly asked if there was any due process for locker searches.

Mr. Schumacher said the school can act on an anonymous tip and search a locker. but the police can not.

Hemant Marathe asked about contracted bus drivers and the district's rights.

Dr. Cosse said the district is responsible for students from the time they get on a bus. The district can fire or fine a driver.

Mr. Katz asked a hypothetical question. "If someone accuses Diane of intimidating me, can that trigger an investigation, even if I don't think I am being intimidated?"

Dr. Cosse said, "Yes." He added that the district would need to develop a regulation to go with the policy.

Mr. Wieck asked which areas of the policy go beyond the mandate.

Mr. Schumacher identified the following as not required:
" Prohibiting passive as well as active support
" A definition that goes beyond bias-based acts
" Hazing

He also said the State cannot mandate training without providing funding, but the district recognizes that the policy won't be meaningful without training, so training will be offered.

Ms. Geevers asked about cyber-bullying.

Mr. Schumacher said the district's "Acceptable Use of Computers" policy addresses this whenever the cyber-bullying is being done on school computers.

Quality Assurance Annual Report (QAAR):

Unanimously approved.

Finance (Action on 5-27-03, see agenda):

Ms. Geevers asked if The Academy is still closed to students from other districts and was told that it is.

Mr. Marathe confirmed that listing tuition does not mean we accept a student? Decisions are made on an individual basis?

Dr. Cosse said that was correct.

Ms. Geevers asked about the increase in rates.

Larry Shanok (Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Support Services) said the increase is nominal.

Mr. Smith asked that a list be provided to the Board comparing the new rates to those from last year.

Mr. Geevers asked about the cost of the audit.

Mr. Shanok acknowledged an increase for this service.

Liyou Yang asked roughly how many students are taken from out of district.

Mr. Shanok was not sure but said it was not a large number. He will provide a memo to board members.

Personnel:

Ms. Epstein noted the retirement of Donna Hainey and Joan Adler after 24 and 29 years in the district, respectively.

Dr. Fitzsimons asked Chuck Rudnick (Principal of HSS) to pass along the Board's appreciation.

All items plus addendum (Reappointments--tenured and non-tenured) were unanimously approved.

Education:

Textbooks (see agenda)--

Mr. Yang asked how the Board follows up on the merits of a book once it has been adopted and used.

Dr. Fitzsimons explained that board members are not expected to be textbook experts. Books go through a process of evaluation and sometimes piloting before being brought to the Board for approval.

Ms. Epstein suggested that Mr. Yang might be asking about the process for evaluation down the line. I think the answer is this gets folded into the program evaluation cycle.

Dr. Fitzsimons noted that textbooks are very expensive. It is up to the teacher to decide how much of a resource the text will be.

Ms. Geevers mentioned how heavy some textbooks are and wondered if companies are beginning to put books on CDs.

Dr. Koru said that some companies are looking at this. Weight was a factor in the Biology book decision. Some books are paperbacks and sometimes publishers include class sets. That's not the case with any of these.

The vote on textbooks was postponed until May 27. Dr. Koru said the Geometry book would be added to the list.

Consultants (see agenda)--

All items were unanimously approved.

Minutes:

No discussion.

Liaison Reports:

Positions not yet assigned.

New Business:

Ms. Epstein reiterated a past request that the Board begin to think about moving toward a more formalized communication effort. There are a lot of opportunities for better communication. We might want to consider a committee or some other way to improve effectiveness.

Mr. Smith said board members have said the same thing on several occasions but nothing has happened.

Ms. Geevers reminded the Board that she had previously asked about having a link on the district Web site to submit a question. Is that being considered?

Dr. Koru said the Technology Steering Committee had its first meeting this month. They will be looking at the Web site and she will raise this question with them.

Ms. Geevers asked who was on the Committee.

Dr. Koru answered that it consisted of teachers and administrators.

Public Comment II:

Dee Dee Dodson (Pl) commented on the communication committee that is sorely needed and urged board members to make a formal motion that would finally get this idea off the ground. She also reminded the Board that during the Technology program evaluation process, people at the community focus group offered to volunteer their time and computer expertise to help the district in any way they could. Facilitators collected names and phone numbers on a sign-up sheet. The Technology Steering Committee might find a way to use these folks. This is a good opportunity.

Name? (HSS student) stressed the need to improve HSS and bring it up to par.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:50 PM.

Click here for official Highlights, official Minutes, and Princeton Packet article on the Harassment, Intimidation, Bullying, and Hazing Policy (#5512).

Click here for upcoming meeting dates.