School Committee Meeting Summary
April 29, 2021
Public/Citizen Participation of School Committee Meeting
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic and State of Emergency, on March 12, 2020, Governor Baker issued an Executive Order Temporarily Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law, G.L. c. 30A sec. 20. Pursuant to the Order, public bodies are temporarily relieved from the Open Meeting Law’s requirement that meetings be held in public places, open and physically accessible to the public, so long as measures are taken to ensure public access to the bodies' deliberations "through adequate, alternative means."
Citizens with a question or comment can join the meeting through the Zoom. The “chat” feature will be enabled at the “Citizens Comments” portion of the Agenda. Participants are asked to comment in the chat that they would like to speak, indicate your name and address in the chat and you will then be let into the Meeting. Please unmute your microphones at that time. If you have any questions regarding this process, or would like to send a comment in advance, please email mmortali@walpole.k12.ma.us.
All votes taken by the School Committee in a remote participation meeting are done via roll call.
The recorded School Committee Meeting can be viewed on the Walpole Media Youtube page.
School Choice Vote
Walpole High School Student Report
Scotty C., Walpole High School student representative to the School Committee, gave a report as follows:
- Spring sports have just started up again, with lacrosse, track, tennis, girl’s golf, baseball, and softball all starting smoothly this past Monday. Sports directors are determining whether wrestling will be able to run this Spring as originally planned.
- AP Exams are about to begin. Although learning the equivalent of a college-level course in the span of half a school year seems daunting to many, the overall consensus is that students are prepared thanks to the diligence of many teachers.
- Students who take foreign language classes are encouraged to take the APPL Exam or the Assessment of Performance toward Proficiency in Languages exam. Students who take this exam have the opportunity to receive a stamp of biliteracy on their diplomas.
- The music department has been very busy organizing events for the school community. They scheduled a virtual coffeehouse for Friday night, which features many student musicians.
- The music department has also scheduled their first in-person music concert, which will be played outside following COVID guidelines. Music students are very excited to perform for the first time in over a year. The concert date is May 19th at 5:00 p.m.
- After many months of hard work, The Commission on Renaming is proud to announce that their work to find a new mascot name has finally concluded! This work involved an exhaustive process where over 600 individual suggestions from the community, soliciting over 160 individual names for consideration, were finally, after many meetings, reduced to four names submitted for voting. The four names were: The Walpole Wolfpack, The Walpole Wild, The Walpole Timberwolves, and Walpole. We are proud and happy to announce that our new mascot is The Walpole Timberwolves. A Timberwolf inhabits vast areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Timberwolves are known for their teamwork, strength, speed, and agility. Additionally, the timber industry in Walpole has a long, rich tradition. It wasn't until the 1660's that the first permanent settlers appeared in what is now Walpole Center. They were lured to this area by the stories of the rich timberland. They came in hopes of building a sawmill. The Saw Mill was the first industry in the Walpole area. Thomas Clapp, who married Mary Fisher, became the owner of the mill. There were four families living “at the sawmill”, Thomas Clapp, James Fales, Quentin Stockwell, and Samuel Parker. Our Town Forest is a living tribute to the very important timber industry in Walpole. We are very excited to adopt ‘The Timberwolves’ as our new mascot!
- As we close up on the year, it is important to look back on how much we as a school community were able to accomplish within the crazy parameters of the pandemic.
RECOGNITIONS
New Business
Annual Appointments - The School Committee voted to appoint Dr. Gough to the Bi-County Collaborative (BICO) Board of Directors and to appoint Mrs. Gallivan to The Education Cooperative (TEC) Board of Directors for the 2021-2022 School Year.
Superintendent Evaluation - The School Committee is entering into the formative and summative evaluation process of the Superintendent. Guidelines and a timeline were provided to the School Committee. Dr. Gough will provide them with an update of her 2020-2021 goals to date.
Superintendent Report
Dr. Gough reported that:
Covid 19 cases are beginning to trend down both in town and in our schools. For the time being, however, all safety protocols will remain in place. Since we’re just coming off the April break, it is important that we evaluate our data over the next several weeks to ensure that classrooms stay open and after-school activities and events remain scheduled. She commended the nursing staff for their continued work. MIAA stated that at this time, there are no changes or updates to sport modifications.
Commissioner Riley mandated all middle schools return on April 29th and all high schools return on May 17th. However, since Walpole returned on April 5th, we are ahead of schedule.
Commissioner Riley also announced that the recommendation to the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education to modify the state graduation requirements for the Class of 2022 was approved. Therefore, this year’s 11th graders are not required to take the MCAS test. The requirement for grades 3 through 8 and 10 will remain in place.
- A reminder to all families that the last day of school for students PreK-11 is Thursday, June 17th. This will be an early release day. Principals will send out the exact dismissal times for each school. The last day for staff is Friday, June 18th.
We are in the initial stages of designing and planning our summer enrichment program. This year, our in-person summer program for K-8 students will have the option to attend one to three weeks of summer programming. This program will be free to all interested students and families. An interest survey will be sent to parents and families early next week to help us determine preliminary staffing needs and enrichment resources. The high school will provide online programs for students in the core academic areas to supplement any learning loss or growth. Details will be forthcoming.
- Bus applications for the 2021-2022 School Year will go out via email in mid-May.
- It was announced that school breakfast and lunches will be free for the 2021-2022 school year.
- Dr. Gough gave a shout-out to Mrs. Rizzo’s third-grade class at Elm Street School. They wrote her a well-thought-out persuasive letter (as part of their literacy curriculum) about a needed science lab for their school. Dr. Gough visited their class Thursday morning with Elm Principal Mrs. Ruggiero to hear more about it and ask them some clarifying questions. The class will now participate in research and budgeting tasks related to their project. Dr. Gough thanked them for their advocacy and engagement in our science curriculum.
Middle School Building Project
Dr. Gough was pleased to report that the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) approved the Town of Walpole to proceed into Schematic Design replacing the existing Bird Middle School and the Eleanor Johnson Middle School with a new facility serving grades 6-8 (district-wide) on the existing Bird Middle School site. Walpole was one of four districts invited into Schematic Design.
Mr. Breen indicated a meeting has been held to discuss safety and security measures and other details of the new building. Information will also be provided this Saturday, May 1st at the Spring Town Meeting. Mr. Breen urged the community to pay attention to this project. It is imperative that the community become involved and learn more about the project. Citizens can check out the middle school building project website here. Anyone with questions or comments can email the middle school project at middleschoolproject@walpole.k12.ma.us.
Walpole Public Schools
Website: www.walpole.k12.ma.us
Location: 135 School Street, Walpole, MA 02081
Phone: 508-660-7200
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/walpolepublicschools/
Twitter: @PublicWalpole