The Halifax Elementary School Committee met on Monday, Aug. 30. They began by assigning liaisons to various subcommittees. James Keegan was named to Youth and Recreation, Karyn Townsend was named to PTO, and School Committee Chair Summer Schmaling remained on Bylaw though she noted that they had not met in her eight years on the School Committee.
Schmaling then brought up her wish to create a Curriculum Development subcommittee. She described the intent behind the subcommittee saying, “just keeping eyes on what’s happening in our classroom… just personally, I would like to keep closer eyes on what’s coming down from the State.” Committee member Lauren Laws asked Schmaling what kind of authority she saw the subcommittee having. Laws further said that she trusted Curriculum Director Melissa Farrell and felt that she should be involved in the subcommittee. “I don’t personally have education credentials, so I don’t suppose to have the expertise,” Laws said.
The topic turned into a heated debate with Keegan and Schmaling on one side and Laws and Townsend on the other. Laws said that she felt that the idea of the subcommittee seemed a bit redundant while Townsend said that an email had already been sent out on Parent Square with links to curriculum resources.
Schmaling said, “Curriculum is changing rapidly and a lot of times what’s presented to us is very surface as opposed to what is actually happening.” Townsend asked Schmaling for an example. “Perfect example is I had several concerned parents reach out to me last year and tell me that their child was told to write an essay about Christopher Columbus and why we should be canceling Columbus Day – that was a concern for me.” She also cited changes to the social and emotional learning curriculum. Laws said she didn’t hear any of those concerns last year and Schmaling noted that certain people would be more comfortable coming to her about those types of concerns as herself and Laws fall “on opposite sides of the spectrum.”
Superintendent Jill Proulx said, “We do have policies related to curriculum so we would want to make sure that whatever the objectives of the Committee, they do not violate the policies that are already in place and the authority of the educators and the State of Massachusetts.” “I’m not trying to change any curriculum,” Schmaling said. Laws pointed out that the curriculum framework comes down from the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) saying, “our schools are some of the best in the nation.”
Townsend continued to press Schmaling for what exactly she saw the purpose of the subcommittee to be to which she responded, “The purpose is to examine and digest the curriculum and the changes that are ever flowing through it.” Townsend said she wasn’t clear on how something like that would be addressed within the subcommittee and pointed out that there is a process in place at the Middle School if parents were to express concern over the appropriateness of a book. Proulx rsponded, “we do have a reconsideration of materials policy.” “I have a lot of concern with what’s happening in our schools right now and I’ll tell you something right now, in neighboring communities they are much further down this hole than we are and I would like to prevent Halifax from going down that hole. I had a mom in Pembroke call me in tears because her sixth grader…” she then said to other committee members, “don’t smile at me like that,” before proceeding saying, “her sixth grader had to write an essay about abortion. That is disgusting in my opinion, and I want to make sure that that doesn’t happen in Halifax Elementary School.”
Laws said, “But what is stopping parents from talking to the teachers about their concerns? This is a problem in our society – we jump to conclusions, we go to the person we know is going to help us and then instead of having a conversation at the level where it should happen – with the teacher…” She was then cut off by Schmaling who said, “Right, so our job would be to guide that person.”
Schmaling argued for a limited committee of two while Townsend argued for a larger subcommittee of five. Keegan asked, in what appeared to be sarcasm, why don’t they just change all subcommittees to include all five members of the larger School Committee.
Jessica Page, Schmaling, and Keegan voted in favor of the formation of the subcommittee. Schmaling then named herself and Page to the subcommittee. When questioned by Townsend as to whether she could participate Schmaling said, “Nope. I as the Chair will appoint two people to the subcommittee.” Townsend was named as the alternate.
Asst. Superintendent Ryan Lynch read from some updates to school policies including a wellness policy update that stipulated that taking away physical activity should not be utilized as a punishment. He explained, “There’s a lot of research coming out of educational circles that says children need to move and exert physical energy that are having a hard time in the classroom; it is not recommended that making the student sort of like miss recess would be a good technique to use to help that student improve their behavior.”
Halifax Elementary School Principal Kayne Beaudry told the Committee that enrollment currently stands at 574 students. He also said that new faculty included a few new special education teachers and a long-term substitute for the adjustment counselor who is on maternity leave until December. Beaudry said that while the summer felt short, he was excited for the upcoming year.
Proulx began her update by introducing David Turcotte, the new Director of Human Resources. “He’s been doing a wonderful job; we really appreciate having him and some of the things he’s been doing to really streamline our processes,” Proulx said. She noted that the start of the school year tends to have a lot of “HR pieces to it.”
Proulx also told the Committee that universal free meals were extended through the 2022-2023 school year. She said that the Department of Education and Department of Public Health issued a joint statement regarding COVID guidelines for the new school year. She said, “the Commonwealth is not recommending universal masking requirements, surveillance and testing of asymptomatic individuals, contact tracing, or testing to stay/testing in schools.” She said that only the school health office would have a masking requirement. Proulx further said that those that continue to choose to mask will be supported in that choice.
Regarding District goals, Proulx said that the goal for all the schools is to have at least 70 percent of students meeting or exceeding MCAS standards. She called it a “challenging but realistic goal.” Currently the percentages for 2021 for all schools are 59 percent for ELA, 45 percent for math, and 52 percent for science. She acknowledged that testing is not the only measure of student success.
Proulx also said they are currently working on website updates to ensure that outdated information is discarded, and new information is added.
Before adjourning, Schmaling provided some dates to remember including that September 29 will be an early release. She noted that students will be provided lunches on half days this year.