School Committee approves late fee for bus signups

The School Committee voted last week to charge a late fee of $50 to parents who register their children for bus transportation after mid June. The purpose of the fee, according to school business manager Ken Leon, is to speed up parents’ decision making and allow the school department more time to plan bus routes for the next school year.

In recent years, Leon said there have been several hundred parents who wait until the summer or just before school reopens to inform school officials of their children’s bus plans, which places added pressure on the school department and the bus company to schedule bus stops at the last minute.

Bus fees are due by June 1 and the late fee will take effect after June 15. In addition to the late fee, Leon said there is no guarantee that a bus pass will be issued in time for the opening of school. He added that no new bus routes or stops will be created by late signups.

“The $50 late fee will certainly get people’s attention,” said committee member Robert Golledge.

In related news, parents will soon be able to pay all school fees by check or by debit or credit card through an online payment system similar to the one currently being used for school lunch accounts.

The committee authorized Leon to begin an arrangement with Heartland Payment Systems Inc. to extend the online system to athletic fees, bus fees, and extracurricular activity fees.

The charge for parents would be 25 cents per transaction and 4.25 percent for a credit card payment. The committee chose Heartland because of its past experience with the lunch program and because it would not charge any setup fees. Leon said another company, MCC Inc., wanted to charge the school department a first year setup fee of $4,000 to $5,000.

In addition to the discussion on fees, the School Committee also heard from Galvin Middle School Principal Dr. William Conard on new developments at the school, including the use of data teams to analyze student performance and growth.

Conard said the staff has used professional development opportunities to create writing exercises and then evaluate whether training on a particular exercise has been effective through data reporting and analysis.

Other programs highlighted by Conard include “Keys to Literacy” and its emphasis on proper note-taking; a new integrated guidance curriculum for grades 6-8, including plans for incoming sixth graders and graduating eighth graders; and an intervention room focusing on academics for students serving detentions and suspensions.

Conard also pointed out some of the curriculum topics that teachers have implemented this year, including probability and the “March Madness” college basketball tournament, environmental essays entitled “This I Believe,” and “DNA Superheroes.”

He also discussed many of the school’s music activities — including chorus, wind ensemble, and jazz band — as well as an inclusion program that enables all special needs students to be an active member of the Galvin school community.

In other news Thursday night:

* Early Childhood Director Kelty Kelley gave the committee a positive snapshot of the Rodman preschool program, which she said has grown considerably over the past few years. Kelley said the program now has 115 students and six classrooms, with several full-day and part-day options.

She noted that many of her staff members are serving on curriculum alignment teams, and the program is also getting ready for its upcoming “Trike-A-Thon” fundraiser for St. Jude’s Hospital.

* The Canton Little League informed the committee that it plans to replace the dugouts at the Hansen School field, beginning with the first base side. They will then replace the third base dugout following the repair of a retaining wall, which is part of the school capital plan up for consideration at the May 13 town meeting.

* The committee, acting on the advice of town counsel, agreed to restructure the School Building Study Committee, pending town meeting approval. The committee would consist of a representative from the School Committee and Board of Selectmen, the school superintendent or his designee, and four at-large members.

* Superintendent Jeff Granatino said he was impressed with the dialogue that took place in the classrooms following the events in Boston on Marathon Monday, particularly the impact of the bombings on victims and their families. Granatino said “Boston Strong” t-shirts will be sold sometime in May, with proceeds going to the victims.

* The committee will next meet on Thursday, May 9, at 7 p.m. in the CHS distance learning lab.

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Posted by Mike Berger on May 2 2013. Filed under News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.