REGION 9 BOARD OF EDUCATION
Regular Meeting
Joel Barlow High School
Tuesday, October 16, 2018 – 7:30 p.m.
Minutes
ATTENDANCE
Region 9 Board of Education members: D’Agostino, Hocker, Denny, Graziano, Williams
Absent: Johnston, Hancock, Coppinger
Administration: McMorran, Pierson Ugol, Reiss, Pin, DeAngelo, Desmarais, McTague, Panos, Roszko, Schemm, Staron
Others: Videographer and 5 members of the public
CALL TO ORDER
Mr. D’Agostino called the meeting to order at 7:33 p.m.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Motion: move to approve minutes of the September 25, 2018, Region 9 Board of Education regular meeting (Graziano, Williams). Approved. Unanimous.
STUDENT COMMENT
Maha Ulhaq thanked the Board for welcoming her to the Meeting. She noted the students’ excitement for the student council planned activities during Spirit week, November 5th – 9th and the school dance, football game and bonfire on November 9th and 10th.
PUBLIC COMMENT
None.
BOARD MEMBER COMMENT
None.
STUDENT PERFORMANCE AND ACHIEVEMENT
Dr. Pin presented a detailed report, with PowerPoint slides, covering various aspects of student performance and achievement over the past several years. She noted that the Leadership Team was present in person to respond to any clarifying questions during the meeting and would report back to the Board if there were any questions that required additional follow-up.
Dr. Pin noted rubrics for community, communication and complexity and their role in shaping social interactions, academic performance and emotional wellness from year to year. She discussed the three areas of focus for the 2017-2018 school year, voice, partnership and rigorous academic environment. She reviewed the indicators of social emotional growth including attendance, chronic absenteeism, a partnership with the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence and other tools and resources. She included a discussion on the Youth Mental Health First Aid program, the Best Buddies program, the PTA and an increase in parent interaction.
Dr. Pin compared Student Discipline Data for 2016-2017 to 2017-2018. She reviewed the number of incidents in detail related to vaping, substances, aggression and social media. She noted that aggression at Barlow was rare, so she would report back to the Board after some further investigations. She responded to a question from the Board on the short term impacts of the SRO and the scope of his role.
Dr. Pin then reviewed college application statistics for the Class of 2018. She reported on the number of students who submitted applications and the number of acceptances, waitlisted, denials and other statistics. She reported on the historical data for schools that were most competitive, highly competitive, very competitive and competitive but not ranked. She discussed the small number of students who were accepted into an Ivy League School since 2014.
Dr. Pin reviewed the Athletic Participation Data and trend of unique athletes by gender since 2010-2011. She responded to questions from the Board regarding chronic absenteeism and the number of colleges and universities attended by the graduating class. Dr. Pin agreed to include this data in a future report along with the overall percentage increase in the number of female athletes for each of the school years listed in her report.
Next, Dr. Pin reviewed the SAT Suite of Assessments including the PSAT 8/9, PSAT/NMSQT and SAT. She reviewed the change in how PSAT/SAT data used to be measured compared to how it is currently measured. She noted how certain features dovetail nicely into actual school work, and facilitate a focus on cohorts. She reviewed standardized assessments as the theory of action which guides interventions and enrichments when analyzing student performance. She reviewed the assessment schedule for the Class of 2019 through Class of 2023. She discussed the benefits of having test scores for the Class of 2022 and Class of 2023. She reported that certain tests were recently discontinued. She then reviewed the growth as a cohort for the Class of 2019 in DRG A and discussed questions from the Board with respect to performance and other schools in the district.
She and Dr. McMorran also reviewed in detail the history of the CT SAT, benchmarks, and then responded to questions from the Board. Dr. Pin continued her discussion and reviewed Advanced Placement Data and provided a historical review of AP scores at Barlow. Dr. Pin reported on the JBHS Theories of Action and the Systemic Benefits of standardized tests. Dr. Pin and members of the Leadership Team responded to various questions throughout the presentation.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORTS
Dr. Pierson Ugol referred to her monthly report and discussed the how some assessments present more challenges than others. She explained how paper and pencil tests differ from computerized test in terms of speed, availability and familiarity.
Mr. Reiss reviewed his report to the Board and stated that new health insurance claims were lower than previous months; and that he did not propose any transfers at this time. Mr. Reiss agreed to report on the number of teachers enrolled in the state’s health insurance plan, and provide the Board with an email update on Phase I of the facilities plan. He asked the Board’s cooperation in scheduling a special meeting to vote on matters raised in the report.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Mrs. Denny advised that the Policy Committee will propose new policies at an upcoming meeting.
Mr. Hocker advised that the quarterly Pension Committee Meeting would be held on October 29th.
Mrs. Graziano reported that the Curriculum Committee met prior to the Board meeting to discuss possible changes in the graduation requirements, and weighted grades.
PUBLIC COMMENT
None.
BOARD MEMBER COMMENT
Members of the Board thanked Dr. Pin and the Leadership Team for their presentation.
ADJOURNMENT
Motion: move to adjourn the regular meeting of the Region 9 Board of Education (Hocker, Graziano). Approved. Unanimous.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:36 p.m.
Recorded by Stephanie Benton
Submitted by Chris Hocker
Region 9 Board of Education Secretary