School board to appoint new member to fill vacancy

The School Committee and Board of Selectmen will make a joint selection to fill the unexpired term of School Committee member Liz Salisbury, who informed the committee on June 12 that she will resign from her position.

Salisbury’s family is relocating to the Pittsburgh area because her husband, Dean, has found a new position there. School Committee Chairman John Bonnanzio presented Salisbury with a bouquet of roses at her last meeting on Monday, June 18.

Residents who are interested in serving on the committee should send an application to either the school superintendent’s office or the selectmen’s office by July 2. Bonnanzio said the goal is to fill the seat by the committee’s next meeting on July 26. The person selected will serve in the role until the next town election in April 2013. With the inclusion of this seat, there will now be a total of three School Committee seats open during the next election.

Bonnanzio said Salisbury’s departure was “bittersweet,” as her colleagues found her work and insight to be very valuable but also wished her family well on their new venture.

Salisbury said it was her pleasure to serve on the committee. She said she learned a lot and loves Canton as a  community, especially its school system. “No doubt there is a lot of time commitment in serving on the board, but the payoff is even bigger,” she said.

In other news, the committee formally accepted the glowing evaluation of Superintendent Jeff Granatino but are divided on whether the evaluation should be posted on the school department website.

Bonnanzio said the committee should post every public document on the website, and Salisbury agreed, noting that new families inquiring about a community’s school system would find the report very informative.

However, committee member Reuki Schutt was concerned that someone could use the report improperly and argued that the committee should be selective about what it posts on the website.

Bonnanzio said the matter would be discussed at another meeting. The committee will also discuss with Granatino his goals for the coming year and possibly extend his contract. Granatino said he was grateful for the evaluation and will take the constructive criticism and move forward. “We have done some good things here, and we look forward in going further,” he said.

In other news:

* School Business Manager Ken Leon reported that there is currently $20,000 left in the high school renovation fund and that the Building Renovations Committee is interested in turning over jurisdiction of the building to the School Committee.

Leon also informed the committee that the school system has cleared the preliminary stage in its application for state funds for window repairs at the Galvin and Hansen schools. The recent town meeting approval of the two projects was contingent upon the schools receiving a partial reimbursement from the state.

* Granatino gave an update on his start-time subcommittee, which is evaluating possible changes to the start times at each of the Canton Public Schools. Granatino said surveys were sent out to parents and 1,250 people have responded; however, he would also like to get some additional input from students. He hopes to present his recommendations to the committee sometime next winter and feels any changes would come in the fall of 2013.

* Granatino reported that five staff members are leaving the school system, including Canton native Richard “Doc” Staiti, who is retiring as the high school science department coordinator and athletic trainer after 39 years with the Canton Public Schools. Other retirees include CHS math teacher Donna Guidici, 36 years; GMS guidance counselor Paul Ducott, 24 years; GMS nurse Julie Ducott, 27 years; and Luce Elementary School teacher Marie Lawrie, 35 years.

* Granatino reported that the Canton Community Problem Solvers had three teams place in the top three at the recent national competition. Among 2,400 competitors, two Canton teams placed third and one placed second.

* The committee gave approval to CHS Spanish teacher Pam D’Agostino to plan an exchange trip to Almeria, Spain, in February 2013. D’Agostino reported great success with the Spanish students who visited Canton this year. Already 25 students have expressed interest in the trip, and D’Agostino expects to send 20 students and two chaperones. Unrelated to this request, the committee will discuss a formal policies and procedures for all outside exchange trips at a future meeting.

* GMS math department supervisor Nancy Dobbins presented an update on the new math curriculum at the middle school and also reported that preliminary MCAS scores are showing improvement. Last year saw the implementation of the new math program, including new textbooks, enrichment programs, and a unified approach for teaching algebra. Last spring’s MCAS scores showed no dip among grade 6 students and some improvement in all grade levels. Dobbins said she is working with the high school department chair, Dr. Michael Curry, on a coordinated transitional program for algebra as students enter the high school.

* Curriculum Director Jen Henderson and Danette McGovern presented an update on the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) program and how the program is working with outside businesses such as Organogenesis to boost student interest and abilities in these areas. There is a national push to boost performance in all of these disciplines, and in the future arts will be added to the program to create the acronym (STEAM). At the June 12 meeting, members of the middle school robotics club demonstrated to the committee some robotics exercises, and a slide show was presented showing 30 students from grades 6-8 participating in a STEM expo at Bridgewater State University.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Jun 21 2012. Filed under News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.