The Halifax School Committee met on Monday, Feb. 6. It began with a public budget hearing. The Grade 7-12 Arts Coordinator Kelly DePasqua asked the Committee for their support of the 0.4 instrumental music position that is being proposed in the budget. She said, “reason number one is music has been recognized as a core subject since 2015… it develops reasoning and creativity, improves memorization, increases coordination, builds listening skills… if you look to number two, at this point in the District, Halifax is the only school that doesn’t have curricular instrumental lessons as part of the day provided by the School District.”
She noted that students who start beginning band in Grade 7 are at a disadvantage. “As you can see from the District, the interest is there, it’s the opportunity that we need to provide,” DePasqua said. She told the Committee that she is also a graduate of Halifax Elementary School saying, “the opportunities that were afforded to me at Halifax Elementary set me on my career path… I don’t know what would have happened to me if I hadn’t played Annie in the fourth grade.” She said that the 0.6 beginning instrumental and general music teacher at Dennett is “willing and able” to come to Halifax for 0.4. DePasqua was met with applause following her remarks.
Later in the meeting, Committee Chair Summer Schmaling said, “frankly, I think it would be wonderful if we could find a way, now that it’s a smaller impact to our budget, to try and fit that in if it’s at all possible… having the ability to share a partial position across the District is a little easier pill to swallow.” Schmaling asked who would pay the benefits for the employee. Director of Business Services Christine Healy said that they would be eligible for benefits in Plympton as a 0.6 position. Committee member Lauren Laws asked about access to instruments. DePasqua said that they were able to do an instrument drive this year and get instruments to all students who wished to participate.
Schmaling also suggested that they get guidance from the Finance Department regarding where they would like to see the school budget. Proulx said that they were invited to a meeting later in the week with the new Town Administrator and the Town Accountant. She also noted that they did want to see the math interventionist position included in the budget. She told Proulx and the Committee that she would like to see the budget increase stay around two percent.
Halifax Elementary School Principal Kayne Beaudry provided the Committee with an update on the goings-on at the school. “I’m happy to say that we only had one little blip in terms of the cold weather this week – we had a pipe that broke in the main lobby there… Scott Materna and the guys were able to assess the situation and address it,” he told the Committee. He also said that enrollment is currently at 560 students. Kindergarten registration opened on February 1. “It’s important for us to try and get the numbers as exact as possible,” he explained. Beaudry said that MCAS would begin in April for ELA and in May for math and then science. Term II progress reports went out recently. School will resume February 27 following the winter break.
Assistant Superintendent Ryan Lynch said he had a brief update regarding Collaborative Literacy, the new K-5 literacy program. He said a representative from Collaborative Literacy came to the school on January 23 to go over the implementation of the program. “We know we still have more training and support to provide; there will be additional professional development sessions for staff that focus particularly on writing,” Lynch said.
Superintendent Jill Proulx also provided an update on students attending private, parochial, and charter schools. She said that Halifax has had an increase from three students to five additional students attending those types of schools in the last year.
Proulx told the Committee that she had been in contact with Police Chief Joao Chaves regarding updates to the MLU with respect to the expectations of the State and the Department of Education as well as some staffing changes. The police chief explained that last year they had a school safety officer who was not able to be at the school on a normal basis. He said that staffing changes resulted in her now being available during the day. Chaves asked that her title be changed from School Liaison Officer to School Resource Officer. “She’s been at lunch, she’s been at recess, she’s been at dismissal,” Beaudry said. The Committee voted to approve the changes.
An update on policies was given during the report of standing committees. One of the policies discussed was regarding parents opting out of student surveys. The other policy was regarding approved uses of school security footage. Proulx said that the policies would be discussed in greater detail during their next meeting.
Proulx also addressed the contract with the custodians. “At this point, the Halifax custodians have agreed and voted to accept the proposals; I am asking the Halifax School Committee at this time to vote to approve the Halifax custodians’ contract,” she said. The Committee voted unanimously to approve it.