3A. Mr. Stevens thanked Ms. Andersen for inviting the School Committee to come to Monterey. Ms. Andersen shared display folders of the Monterey students' work and pictures of the 2004-05 class members. She also informed the School Committee that a new resident in the town who was a retired kindergarten teacher from Cambridge, had made a gift to the school of several boxes of materials which she had used during her career. Ms. Andersen described the materials as a treasure.

Mr. Nadolny and Ms. Spriggs complimented Ms. Andersen on the work she accomplishes each year with the class in Monterey. Mr. Nadolny invited School Committee members to stop by the building for a visit any time they had an opportunity.

3B. There was no Student Representative report.

3C. Ms. Spriggs notified the School Committee that an English as a Second Language teacher has been hired. She noted that the teacher had worked with some of the same students as a tutor last year. She also informed the School Committee that each one of the students has personally expressed appreciation, and she said that she wanted the Committee to know how much their vote to hire the teacher meant to the students.

4. MCAS Test Results: Ms. Spriggs introduced Ms. Mary Edwards, Elementary Coordinator, who presented the District's MCAS test results for the spring of 2004. Ms. Edwards also presented a charts of several years' results for each class, for a comparison. It was noted that in almost every case, the District's students performed better than state average.

Ms. Tomich arrived at 7:37 p.m.

A lengthy question and answer session followed. Comments included the following:

• Mr. Pollitt noted an apparent problem with the 8^th grade math results and asked how such was being addressed. Ms. Spriggs explained that teachers are breaking down and analyzing the data, child by child, teacher by teacher, etc. The results of the study will be used to work toward improvement. Ms. Edwards also noted that the middle school students are not as vested in the testing as are the 10^th graders. However, she acknowledged that that was only one piece of the answer.
• Ms. Edwards reported that based on 4^th grade results, staff believe that the 4^th graders may need practice in sitting for the long testing periods. Therefore, 4^th grade teachers have been given old MCAS tests and are encouraged to have students practice taking the tests.
• In response to a suggestion that the results of individual classes be graphed throughout the grade levels, Ms. Edwards noted that the difficulty is that each level is tested in different subjects.
• Regarding science test scores, Ms. Edwards stated that she had been among those who advocated for the hiring of a 6^th grade science teacher in order to work toward improvement in that area.

At the request of Mr. Stevens, Ms. Edwards agreed to attend a future meeting to answer additional questions the Committee members may have after taking time to consider the material presented.

Noting that a quorum was now in attendance, Mr. Stevens officially called the meeting to order at 8:10 p.m.

2. Mr. Mielke moved, seconded by Mr. Pollitt, to approve the minutes of School Committee meeting #1,036, regular and executive sessions. It was so voted.

4. MCAS Scores (Cont.): Mr. Stevens introduced Mr. Devoti, who presented the Committee with an in-depth explanation of the District's Annual Yearly Progress report. He began by explaining the acronyms AYP (Annual Yearly Progress) and CPI (Composite Performance Index). Mr. Devoti explained that the federal No Child Left Behind Law seeks to have all schools have 100% of their students in the proficient/advanced ranges by the year 2016. The Annual Yearly Progress is a measurement of how well an individual school or district is moving toward that goal. Mr. Devoti also explained why the District had been put on a federal "watch list" because of the failure of the Special Education sub-group to meet the AYP for two years in a row, even though the District is generally well ahead of the expected AYP overall.

A lengthy discussion then took place regarding how best to help the special needs students pass the MCAS tests and how to remedy the failure of the subgroup to meet the AYP. Ms. Spriggs explained that although alternative assessment methods can be sought for special needs students, the District has been reluctant to do so, as the alternate assessments do not lead to a diploma. Committee members and administrators shared their frustrations that encouraging the special needs segment to take and pass the MCAS could lead to a kind of "punishment", even though the students who did not pass were, in almost every case, within one or two questions of passing. Ms. Summerill also shared that the staff has looked very carefully at why the students did not pass and have found trends which may be able to be remedied, such as not answering open-ended questions and skipping questions they did not understand. She said that the students could work on practicing answering open-ended questions and should also be encouraged to answer every question, even if they were unsure of their answers.

In his concluding remarks, Mr. Devoti stated that it is important for the community to know that the District is "proactive in meeting the standards of the No Child Left Behind law", but they will also remain active in working with the Department of Education to see that the children are not discriminated against or hurt in any way in the process.

The Committee thanked Mr. Devoti and Ms. Edwards for their work and their presentations.

5A. Ms. Brown reported that the auditors had completed the annual audit and will make an exit report in December. She stated that they had indicated that they had found no significant problem areas.

Mr. Pollitt requested that the Committee members receive the audit report prior to the meeting during which the results would be presented. Ms. Brown stated that the auditors had indicated that they would send them ahead of time to the School Committee.

5B. Buildings & Grounds Subcommittee: Ms. Tomich reported on the recent Buildings & Grounds Subcommittee meeting.

Mr. Pollitt asked about the possibility of replacing the Mt. Everett/Undermountain carpeting with tile flooring. Ms. Brown stated that no new carpeting had been installed, and no money was available to put down tile. Mr. Ronan suggested replacing the carpeting in sections, but Ms. Brown noted that even that much is expensive. Ms. Spriggs complimented the cleaning and care given to the existing carpeting by the custodial staff.

South Berkshire Educational Collaborative Update: As a joint meeting of the Collaborative's Board of Directors and Steering Committee will be held on November 1, Mr. Abelow moved to postpone the update regarding the Collaborative until the next meeting. Mr. Ronan seconded the motion, and it was so voted.

Policy Subcommittee: Mr. Pollitt moved, seconded by Mr. Ronan, to approve revised Policy EBCD, as submitted. It was so voted, unanimously.

Negotiations Subcommittee: Superintendent Spriggs informed the Committee that the Association members have voted to approve the proposed Unit D contract.

As members wished to discuss the contract prior to taking a vote, Mr. Mielke moved to enter into executive session for the purpose of discussing collective bargaining. Mr. Pollitt seconded the motion. The vote:

Mr. Ronan yes Mr. Abelow yes

Mr. Mielke yes Ms. Tomich yes

Mr. Pollitt yes Mr. Stevens yes

Mr. Stevens noted that further business would be conducted in open session.

The Committee entered into executive session at 9:03 p.m.

The Committee came out of executive session at 9:32 p.m.

5B. Mr. Mielke moved to approve the Unit D contract, as per the Mediator's Recommendation (on file with these minutes). Mr. Abelow seconded the motion, and it was so voted, 7-0 (all School Committee members, plus Municipal Representative Barbara Marchione). Ms. Spriggs expressed the appreciation of the District to Ms. Marchione for her work as the Municipal Representative for Collective Bargaining.

6. Superintendent Spriggs reviewed the "Blue Notes" (copy on file with these minutes).

On a motion by Mr. Mielke, seconded by Mr. Abelow, the meeting adjourned at 9:40 p.m.