School business manager to retire

School Business Manager Ken Leon is planning to resign from his position at the end of the school year, setting up an immediate search for his successor.

The announcement of Leon’s departure toward the end of the November 14 School Committee meeting stunned board members, who have long been impressed with his business acumen and up-to-date and accurate budget reports. Leon has served as Canton’s school business manager for the past 17 years.

“He will be sorely missed,” said School Superintendent Jeff Granatino. “He is so involved in so many things — budgets, construction projects. If a pipe breaks, he knows just what to do.”

“It is going to be quite a challenge for us to find someone as good as you,” said School Committee Chair Cindy Thomas.

Granatino told committee members of Leon’s plans just after he updated them on a search for a permanent Kennedy School principal.

Granatino said a panel consisting of Curriculum Director Jen Henderson, another Kennedy School administrator, a member of the School Committee, a parent and a teacher will soon start reviewing resumes and will make a recommendation of several finalists for interviews. The goal is to make a new appointment by the end of January.

Most of the remainder of Thursday’s meeting focused on the school administration’s plans to improve math MCAS scores across the district.

Henderson led a discussion on steps to improve the scores, focusing on the addition of tutors to provide more support for students in need.

Henderson reviewed the latest math MCAS data for all students and also discussed the results of the “high needs” subgroup, which includes students with disabilities, students who are eligible for free or reduced price lunch, and students who speak English as a second language.

Although Canton scored well as a district — with 72 percent of students scoring proficient or higher in math — the emphasis is on individual student improvement. Henderson said there were some successes in math at the Luce and Hansen, and the fifth grade as a whole did well.

Henderson also touched on some of the origins of the problem, including the pressure felt by high school teachers to move on to the next unit, thus limiting the amount of time students have to master each concept.

In addition to hiring more tutors, Henderson said the middle school will use a computerized program called Scholastic Math Inventory, which evaluates a student’s performance, indicates specific math concepts in which he or she struggles, and helps customize a plan to get the student back on track. Henderson said it has already helped students in grade 6 and will be expanded to other grades at the middle school.

At the elementary level, there will be more assessments done to identify at-risk learners.

Henderson said the system must significantly support newer teachers and those who have transferred to another level.

“There are thousands of ways to analyze all of our data from MCAS and common assessments,” Henderson said. “We need to spend time working with teachers, providing professional development time and discussion time so that data teams are truly data driven.”

In other news Thursday night:

* The committee endorsed and applauded the work of Athletic Director Danny Erickson, who recently completed a best practices manual for all CHS coaches. Erickson said the practices and procedures are currently in use but the manual now puts all the procedures in writing and will be a good tool for incoming coaches. The manual covers 53 different categories, from concussions and injuries to the role of the Booster Club and the use of volunteer coaches.

* Leon reported a deficit of $929,000 in the budget for special needs tuition and transportation. He said the deficit was paid for using state “circuit breaker” funds; however, the funding is almost depleted. Leon and the committee agreed to inform the Finance Committee and selectmen of the situation. “The special needs costs are highly volatile and keep changing,” said Leon.

On the bright side, Leon said there is progress being made on a legislative bill originally authored by Canton School Committee member Dave Emhardt and supported by state Representative Bill Galvin. Under current state law, if a special needs student moves into the Canton school district before April 1, then Canton would be required to absorb the costs for that student for the balance of the fiscal year. Under the Emhardt-Galvin bill, if the student moves into the district January 1 or later, then the prior community in which the student resided would be required to absorb the costs. Both Leon and Emhardt agreed that this could save the School Department a substantial amount of money in tuition and transportation costs.

* Student Services Director Debra Bromfield told the committee that she is discussing staffing needs to service as many as 40 students in the English Language Learner program. The students are spread among all the Canton schools, with six students rated as most in need of services.

* Granatino congratulated the CHS volleyball team for reaching the Division 2 central sectional finals and all the CHS fall sports teams for having excellent seasons.

* Emhardt, a former Finance Committee chairman, congratulated the town for achieving an AAA bond rating for the fifth consecutive year. Emhardt said Canton is one of only 20 communities to achieve this rating, which lowers borrowing rates for long-term capital projects.

* The committee will next meet tonight, Thursday, November 21, at 7 p.m.

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Posted by Mike Berger on Nov 21 2013. Filed under News, Schools. Both comments and pings are currently closed.