[0:04] Follow

[1:41] the school committee meeting of June 11th to order at 6 p.m. we all stand for the pledge.

[1:48] Relations to

[1:54] one nation.

[2:01] Mr. Rogers, if you take roll.

[2:06] Sayana coin. Here.

[2:08] Kira Thompson. Here.

[2:10] Colleen Marcus. Here. Kathy Lebris. Here. Robert Mancini.

[2:16] Here. Julie N. Wise. Here. Mary Kelt. Here.

[2:21] The budget subcommittee met this evening and all of the items on the agenda are on tonight's agenda.

[2:30] Curriculum.

[2:31] Curriculum has not met since our last meeting.

[2:33] Facilities.

[2:35] Facilities hasn't met since our last school committee meeting either.

[2:39] Policy met on Friday, 6.7.

[2:42] And we have a number of policies that we will walk through on the items fraction later on in the agenda.

[2:48] questions for any community members, or anything else to bring up, not Miss Marcus?

[2:53] So I just have a few events that I wanted to highlight that happened over these couple

[3:00] of weeks.

[3:01] First of all, congratulations to all of the seniors, many of whom received awards and

[3:06] scholarships and all of whom are off to great places, so congratulations.

[3:12] Memorial School held a, we are Memorial Event on May 29th.

[3:17] This was a fun field outdoor family event that included music games activities along with a planting

[3:22] station book giveaway.

[3:24] It was perfect evening that night and students family and staff came out to celebrate what

[3:30] is Memorial School.

[3:32] On May 21st, Tatum School PTO once again sponsored their family fun night.

[3:37] Again, another very well attended evening that featured games, many bounce houses, popcorn

[3:42] food, and tons of family fun.

[3:44] On June 4th, the West Springfield Middle School,

[3:47] seventh grade science class, is put together a design,

[3:51] design, a green showcase.

[3:53] This event highlighted the hard work

[3:55] and collaborative effort throughout the seventh grade.

[3:58] Students came together as a class to focus

[4:00] on the five parts of sustainability.

[4:03] Food, energy, waste, transportation, and water

[4:05] and create their very own West Springfield,

[4:09] West Side to make it as sustainable as possible.

[4:12] This year they were able to add a step and they brought the students to see firsthand various locations in western match, which promotes sustainability.

[4:22] And the cooler communities grant was able to was used to fund part of this.

[4:28] And June 6th, Coburn School held its art, show and multicultural night, really of truly amazing

[4:36] event that celebrated the creativity and diversity of Coburn School, and the students

[4:41] talents were on display, showcasing and wide range of art styles and presentation.

[4:46] Families, friends, and staff came together, many in their cultural dress to view the artwork,

[4:51] enjoy a variety of food from around the world and take part in an interactive drum circle.

[4:58] It's truly a met...

[5:00] And June 7th, Fuzzy School held its 31st Fuzzy Circus. Some of you graduated from Fuzzy School. I see some Fuzzy. Alumni staff here. This is a truly unforgettable, much anticipated event, which features all of the grade five students in a variety of circus acts, including clowns, acrobat, jugglers, Diablo, devil stick, spinning plates. Students practice throughout the week and then, and at the Friday event,

[5:30] They all had a chance to perform and shine opening the event where the grade one student singing a song to introduce the circus

[5:37] If you've never been to a fuzzy circus plan to attend next year, it is definitely a must see event

[5:43] And I'm sure a mayor Raica participated in one of the fuzzy circuses. I spun a point

[5:49] So most of it let me do

[5:53] Thank you anyone else

[5:55] I will just wish a happy Pride Month to everyone in West Springfield and having also been able to attend a few of the events.

[6:06] I'm always amazed and impressed at the artistic talents of all of our students in West Springfield.

[6:13] really is amazing. And it just goes again to show how multicultural we are. And it is joyful

[6:24] and it brings everyone together. And I think it makes us all better in the long run. So thank you.

[6:33] Thank you. Anyone else? Seeing none, we'll move on to approval up in session minutes of May 28,

[6:40] 24, do I have a motion?

[6:42] Motion to approve open session minutes from May 28th, 2024.

[6:48] Motion in a second.

[6:49] The additions, the leashins are corrections.

[6:52] See, none by showing hands on the favor.

[6:54] Pose, unanimous.

[6:56] Presentations, we have four.

[6:57] We'll start with the New England League of Middle

[6:59] Schools Distinguished Student Award.

[7:01] Dr. Gillen.

[7:06] Good evening folks.

[7:06] It's nice to be here.

[7:07] Thank you for having me.

[7:09] I apologize for the cough drop.

[7:11] I'm a cough.

[7:11] I can't shake.

[7:12] In doing the League of Middle schools is entering its 50th year.

[7:16] It represents over 400 member schools across all six New England states, and its highest honor that it presents to students is the distinguished student award.

[7:27] We're very pleased to have a recipient here at West Springfield.

[7:30] Each state has an allotment of award winners.

[7:33] Massachusetts has 25, we had over 150 nominees and only 25 selected.

[7:40] And the criteria are effective academics,

[7:46] character and citizenship.

[7:48] Students must be nominated by a teacher and submitted

[7:51] to a committee of folks from a different state

[7:53] that selects those 25 students to be honored.

[7:58] For the second year in a row, and only the second time ever,

[8:01] even though Nelms has been around for 50 years,

[8:04] Emma Chapman and eighth grader at West Springfield Middle School

[8:07] will represent West Springfield Middle School.

[8:09] Not only does Emma have outstanding academics, not only is she an outstanding citizen of our community,

[8:14] she was nominated by multiple, excuse me, multiple teachers, and many of them noted,

[8:21] and I quote this, that she's among the kindest students we have ever seen.

[8:26] That was not just one, but one teacher that said that, but many.

[8:29] This is just the beginning of the amount of times that you will hear the name Emma Chapman,

[8:33] over the course of her career and she exits West Springfield Little School and heads to West

[8:38] Springfield High School. I have a plaque to recognize Emma that I'd like to present her with now

[8:43] and she's asked to say a few words as well. So folks please welcome Emma Chapman.

[9:01] Hi everyone.

[9:04] Before I sit down

[9:05] I would just like to thank the teachers who nominated me for this award. I would have never imagined

[9:10] I would win something like this. I'm so grateful and I feel honored to have been chosen. Thank you.

[11:08] Good evening, and thank you for having me here tonight and all of our families. We really wanted to find a special way to recognize our single by literacy recipients. We honored our freshmen through juniors at the school.

[11:24] And wanted to find, again, a special way to honor our seniors this year, and I know not all of them could attend tonight,

[11:31] but for those who could make it, I wanted to present to them a certificate and a plaque.

[11:36] Some of our students tested in previous years, and therefore they received their plaque last year, and so they may just have a certificate this evening.

[11:44] But they were also mentioned in the recent record, and so I have a copy of that to give them as well.

[11:49] So, earning the Sula by literacy is really an incredible honor because what it does is a

[11:55] demonstrates a student's proficiency, not only, well, in a native language and it may be a language

[12:03] that they learned growing up in a native country or it could be a language that they learned

[12:09] here in West Springfield High School, Spanish or French and one of the classrooms.

[12:14] And so, our students here in order to demonstrate

[12:17] proficiency in another language.

[12:20] And this is not just listening and speaking,

[12:21] this is reading and writing as well.

[12:23] They have to take a very rigorous exam.

[12:26] Some of our students take anywhere

[12:28] from four to five hours.

[12:29] Some have to take an even longer to

[12:32] proceed with this examination.

[12:34] And others have

[12:36] they've tested,

[12:38] and then in one part of the test,

[12:39] they may have scored one point

[12:41] lower and then they were so determined to earn the state seal or maybe even the seal with distinction

[12:47] that they requested to test again. So to go through that testing multiple times to demonstrate the

[12:53] proficiency that they know that they have. So tonight I'm here to congratulate the seniors,

[12:59] but just to let you know West Springfield had 28 sealabile literacy recipients this year,

[13:05] which is outstanding. When I noticed the neighboring towns, I don't see the numbers as high,

[13:10] So we are really diverse, and it reflects who our students are and the skills that they have.

[13:16] And the students will really broaden their opportunities and open doors all on their pathway.

[13:22] Whatever they wish to pursue.

[13:24] Last year, we had 27 students earn it in 2022 students.

[13:29] And in 2021, we only had four students who were ambitious enough to take this really difficult exam.

[13:35] And so I'm really, again, excited to be here

[13:38] and to honor the students that are here with us.

[13:41] And so I will read off your notes.

[13:42] And if you're here, please come up.

[14:35] Are you sure, Ramera?

[14:45] I'm Ramera.

[14:47] This rubber, how do you create these?

[14:58] Are you Ramera?

[18:16] Could you all just come up and join us for a quick photo?

[20:00] Could I just mention my congratulations again? I have mentioned this a few times in a few different meetings with regard to the importance of biliteracy, and especially these skills that you students have and what you have attained here are so important. We're a global workplace.

[20:26] This skills you don't probably even realize that you have by having these multi-lingual skills will serve you so well as you and ultimately enter the workforce

[20:38] These are kind of super power skills that you may not actually realize that you have yet, but you do and I congratulate you again

[20:55] We have two more presentations, an Irish club trip to Ireland in 2025 and then an Italian club trip to Italy in 2025.

[21:05] We'll start with Ireland.

[21:06] This way.

[21:12] Thank you.

[21:14] So we are proposing to travel in April.

[21:17] Either earlier late, we're not sure when yet.

[21:20] We haven't finalized the actual date.

[21:23] The itinerary will look similar to previous trips, which I submitted ahead of time.

[21:28] We typically bring between 15 and 25 students for to seven adults as part of the Irish club in the sister city.

[21:38] Agreement and we attend school while we're there.

[21:43] Our trip this year because of the Easter holiday falling during April break will absorb a few school days because the shaperones don't want to miss the time with their family.

[21:55] And I don't think taking the kids away from their families for Easter, also in Europe everything closes down for the Easter holiday so we thought that that made a little bit more sense.

[22:07] Questions?

[22:09] Actually I'll entertain a motion first.

[22:13] So the motion will be to preliminarily approve the West Springfield High School Irish Club trip to Ireland pending final dates.

[22:22] Second discussion.

[22:28] I know you guys do fundraise, but if kids are having trouble, what's the

[22:33] waiver process? So if there's a problem, we've actually only had one instance and Mr. Cassidy

[22:40] from the Biggie funded that students' entire trip for them. So I saw him this weekend and he said

[22:47] whatever we need, they're there. But again, we've never run into an issue where a student hasn't

[22:52] able to afford the trip because we do such a extensive fundraising process to really keep the

[22:59] cost pretty low.

[23:01] Perfect.

[23:02] Other questions?

[23:05] Seeing none by a show of hands, all of us in favor?

[23:07] Pose, unanimous.

[23:09] Thank you.

[23:10] Thank you.

[23:11] Thank you.

[23:12] Next up, the Italian Club, Ms. Switzerland.

[23:18] Thank you for seeing me tonight.

[23:21] I had achieved one of these achieving, so I achieved a preliminary approval of my trip

[23:28] Like 18 months ago, but then a bunch of things happened and we didn't end up going last April.

[23:33] So I'm asking for approval to take that same trip.

[23:37] This coming March of 2025, between our sister city of San Giovanni Valdar no in the Tuscany region of Italy.

[23:46] My trip, it works a lot like Sheamus's trip.

[23:49] We were originally going to go over the April vacation, but Italy is 90% Roman Catholic.

[23:55] So nothing is open and they have a national holiday that week too. So really nothing's open.

[24:02] So because of that conflict we decided we looked at weather, we looked at pricing, we looked at testing schedules, and we decided on March 5th through the 15th of 2025.

[24:16] there we will be missing some school, but we will be attending school. I think a

[24:20] nightinerary was shared with you. We'll have several days at the sister

[24:25] school of Isis Valdarno, which is a Institute of Technical, including Saturday,

[24:31] which our students are going to be so excited to make up and go to school on Saturday.

[24:35] What's more culturally relevant than that? And yeah, we picked we picked those days

[24:42] based on our testing schedule as I said and also airline prices, so that's why we're leaving

[24:47] out of Wednesday, it's like $300 cheaper to fly out on Wednesday instead of Thursday.

[24:55] So, Ms. Vargas. Motion to approve the West Springfield High School Italian Club.

[25:00] The bill is written to Italy from March 5, 2025 to March 15, 2025.

[25:07] In discussion questions,

[25:11] similar as the Italian club doing fundraising, like the Irish club does to help offset costs.

[25:16] Yes, so we've managed to get the cost down to about $800 per student, because they're going to be staying with host families, which is going to obviously significantly cut the cost.

[25:26] So they have to pay for their airline, their airline, their flight.

[25:31] And incidentals, we've already done three fundraisers, we had a tag sale, we had a dinner

[25:37] at the Dante Club, and we also sold point set us, and we'll continue coming up with fundraising

[25:44] ideas as the summer goes on.

[25:46] The kids are super motivated, so I think that will vote well for some fundraising.

[25:52] Anyone else?

[25:55] See, nobody shall hands out as a favor.

[25:57] Pose.

[25:58] The animus.

[25:59] Thank you.

[25:59] Thank you so much.

[26:01] Super tennis report.

[26:03] Super tennis show.

[26:04] Okay.

[26:04] In your file, there is a personnel report that runs from March 7th through June 6th of 2024.

[26:14] The next item on the agenda is the 2324 school year retirements.

[26:22] And so I'm going to call the names as I call the name.

[26:29] May a right count will hand you your awards, and we'll do it by grouping.

[26:34] So we'll start off with our teachers first.

[26:37] So the first teacher is Joan Murphy, who is a middle school art teacher.

[26:43] The second teacher is Albert Giuliano, who is a district-wide psychologist.

[26:50] We then have Bernadette Lizinski, who is in middle school reading interventionist.

[26:56] Lisa Macaron, who is a physical education teacher at Coburn Elementary.

[27:02] Margaret St. Peters, who is a fuzzy elementary special education teacher and

[27:07] Maureen Moynihan, who is a West Springfield High School Science teacher.

[27:11] If you're in the audience, can you please come up?

[27:23] Okay, we will move on to our paraprofessionals.

[27:26] We have Donna Smart and Deborah Bushi.

[27:35] As part of our cafeteria, we have Rose Patrick.

[27:43] And then we have three administrators that are retiring.

[27:46] So we have Donna Calabries from Memorial Elementary School,

[27:55] Miriam Yolawa Skolnick from Fazie,

[28:03] and Judy Ferrie, who is from the alternative high school

[28:06] as the director.

[28:22] I guess we can go down there, isn't it?

[30:15] And since we have our two principles that are here that retired, I would like to introduce we have two of our new principles that will be one is taking over John Ashley and one is taking over Memorial School.

[30:30] as we heard the Fuzzy Principles retiring,

[30:33] but our principal Susanne Tetro,

[30:36] that was at John Ashley,

[30:37] will be moving over to Fuzzy.

[30:40] And so with us, and you don't have to come up,

[30:43] but you can just stand up from where you are.

[30:46] We have Serenity Greenwood,

[30:47] who will be taking over John Ashley.

[30:54] And then we have Karen Albano,

[30:57] who will be the new principal at Memorial Elementary School.

[31:04] And we are still in the process

[31:06] of hiring a principal for Met and A.

[31:11] The next thing on the next item on the agenda is the elementary school time.

[31:15] So months ago, the school committee voted on revised school times for the school year.

[31:22] We have one final adjustment that we were able to fix.

[31:27] So there are some half day pre-K programs at Coburn that do the busing issues in prior years.

[31:33] They were not able to start and end at the same time as the other students that were in K-5 at Coburn.

[31:42] And so we have been able to adjust it, so they are half day pre-K programs.

[31:48] We'll start at the same time as the K-5 students there, so they will start at 820 and end at 1050.

[31:55] And then the PM program for the pre-K will start at 1220 and end at 250.

[32:01] So, the school day at Colburn will run just like the other elementary schools 820 to 250.

[32:08] And then the final item, we just want to, I'd like to congratulate Dr. Vito Parone,

[32:15] who's been in West Springfield now for quite a while, first as a principal,

[32:20] and then as the assistant superintendent, as the interim for a while, he was selected

[32:25] as the new superintendent of Hampshire Regional, and I'm sure he's going to do a great job there

[32:30] I just wanted to offer my congratulations and thank you for everything that you've done for West Springfield

[32:36] for the Central Office team for the students and for the educators.

[32:49] So I'm just going to go back to the revised school time and make a motion

[32:54] to approve the revised elementary school times.

[33:03] Motion a second.

[33:04] Any discussion?

[33:07] Seeing none by I show a hands-level.

[33:08] in favor, pose, you know, miss.

[33:15] But our items for action, we have a number of items

[33:17] and we'll start with policies, misscoin.

[33:20] All right, as I mentioned at the start of the meeting,

[33:24] we met on six, seven on Friday.

[33:27] We reviewed a number of policies.

[33:29] We also approved our minutes from our last meeting

[33:32] on 3, 22, 24.

[33:36] I want to just sort of highlight at a very high level.

[33:41] We have a number of policies that range within Section A for students, Section G for personnel, Section I for instruction and Section J for students.

[33:55] And just to try for the ease of simplifying the whole process here, just want to let you know that all reviewed by the policy subcommittee.

[34:07] And it was approval of 20, we had one member absent,

[34:16] so all affirmative in terms of these in terms of these.

[34:21] So the first one that we have up was the under section A students,

[34:28] and it's file AA, and it is a new policy actually for school district legal status.

[34:35] And it is literally just that, it is basically at a high level, it is the basis within

[34:44] under the general laws of Massachusetts to maintain schools, et cetera.

[34:50] So this is just brand new, and we're adding in.

[34:55] So I will make a motion to approve section A, file A, A,

[34:59] Thanks for watching, and don't forget to like, share, and subscribe to our channel.

[35:00] Local district legal status.

[35:05] The motion in a second, a discussion?

[35:07] See, nobody shall hands all in favour?

[35:10] Post, unanimous.

[35:13] All right, thank you.

[35:15] The second, I will make a motion to approve section A, file A, C, E.

[35:25] I have, sorry, I have it in the wrong order.

[35:27] Non-discrimination, non-discrimination on the basis of disability.

[35:41] The next one that we have is Sir Phil ADC tobacco products on school premises prohibited.

[35:57] And the last one in section A is by OADDA regarding background checks, which is query and finger printing.

[36:12] And the second.

[36:15] And the second in the discussion.

[36:16] And see, none of my show hands-all is in favor.

[36:20] Opposed, none of us.

[36:21] All right.

[36:23] We're going to move on here to Section G, personnel.

[36:31] The first one we have is File, G, B, E, C.

[36:37] Drug Free Workplace Policy.

[36:39] One second.

[36:41] One second.

[36:42] Motion to second, may discussion.

[36:44] See, none of my show hands-all is in favor.

[36:47] Opposed, none of us.

[36:51] The next one that we have is file GBED to back-o-use on-school property by staff members prohibited.

[37:01] Second.

[37:02] Motion.

[37:02] Second.

[37:03] Any discussion?

[37:04] See, none by a show of hands.

[37:05] I was in favor.

[37:07] Post.

[37:07] The next

[37:10] one we have is under section I.

[37:14] Instruction.

[37:16] And it is I'm making a motion to approve section I.

[37:20] I-O-I-H-A-M-B teaching about alcohol, tobacco, and drugs.

[37:28] Motion and a second.

[37:30] Discussion?

[37:31] So you know, my show hands are all in favor.

[37:33] Opposed.

[37:34] The

[37:37] next one is within Section J students.

[37:43] This one I will just give a quick highlight on.

[37:46] This one has to do with having representation from students

[37:52] and just highlighting that, you know, you are welcome to come to committee meetings and speak,

[38:00] just like any member of the public, and it also highlights the high school student advisory committee.

[38:08] And so I'll make a motion to approve section J file,

[38:13] J-I-B student involvement in decision making. Second, thank you.

[38:19] Any discussion?

[38:21] Seeing note by a shell hands-all of the favor.

[38:24] Pose unanimous.

[38:26] All right.

[38:27] And our last one of the evening is under Section J.

[38:31] I make a motion to approve Section J.

[38:34] File, J. I. C. H.

[38:37] Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drug use by students.

[38:40] Prohibited.

[38:42] Motion of the second.

[38:43] Any discussion?

[38:44] Seeing note by a shell hands-all of the favor.

[38:47] Pose unanimous.

[38:48] Thank you.

[38:49] Thank you.

[38:51] Have a little budget items high school camera project.

[38:55] So we'd like to install some new cameras and replace some old outdated cameras as well as updates and wiring in the high school.

[39:05] Motion to approve the use of S.R. funds in the amount of 125,000 to install new and replace existing security cameras at Westbrinkville High School.

[39:15] Second.

[39:16] We'll start in a second.

[39:18] Any discussion?

[39:20] See, nobody shall handle us in favor?

[39:22] Post, unanimous.

[39:25] District Strategic Marketing.

[39:26] Yep, so we'd like to partner with a company called Matter Labs to help us market the strategic plan that we've been working on and will continue work on.

[39:36] And this company will partner with them for the next few months to help us market the strategic plan.

[39:44] Motion to approve the use of school choice fund.

[39:47] in the amount of $30,000 to fund the district's partnership with matter labs for their work

[39:53] marketing the district's new strategic plan.

[40:00] Seeing them, I show our hands, I was in favor, post, and the MS. School status, communications system.

[40:07] So this is a platform that will help us enhance the current multiple platforms that we use now, mainly around translating documents, forms, even conversations between parents, teachers, school, and district administration.

[40:24] And this will kind of hopefully bring it all together and offer translations in over 130 different

[40:31] languages.

[40:33] We have multiple systems right now that hopefully, of course, the next year or two,

[40:39] we'll be able to get rid of those and then have a school status BR1 platform for those types

[40:45] of communications.

[40:47] Motion to approve the use of emergency assistance shelter funds in the amount of $30,000

[40:53] to integrate a district-wide communication platform.

[40:58] Motion.

[40:59] Second.

[41:00] Discussion.

[41:01] See no motion.

[41:02] An adult's a favor.

[41:04] Pose.

[41:05] The animus.

[41:08] Retired recallbacks.

[41:10] Lastly, in being cognizant in hiring new full-time positions,

[41:14] we'd like to hire retiree callbacks and structural retiree callbacks

[41:20] that would help us with assessing newcomer students,

[41:25] providing screenings for them and also interventions at 50 dollars an hour for these positions.

[41:33] Motion to approve a rate of 50 dollars per hour for retiree callbacks who complete screenings and provide student interventions.

[41:43] Motion to approve.

[41:51] Second, any discussion?

[41:53] So there's a packet in your folder and last year about this time we had an educator from

[42:02] the high school, speak on behalf of the Global Glimp Strip and it was preliminary, preliminarily

[42:10] approved by the school committee and so after further discussion, students will still be

[42:18] attending the trip. Parents were notified, but this is not a school sponsored trip. So,

[42:28] as a school committee, we should not vote in favor of this because it is not a school sponsored trip, but all parents have been notified and students will be attending.

[42:41] Questions? Motion? Motion? Motion? You asked about a down or just take a

[42:47] election.

[42:51] We did it. We just not approve it. That's fine. We just want to

[42:54] approve it.

[42:58] They did. So we just vote it down. Yeah. So make a motion to approve it.

[43:03] And we'll vote against it. If that's how the committee feels. Motion to approve the

[43:09] West Springfield High School International Service Trips.

[43:13] Do I still have a second?

[43:14] Second.

[43:16] I'm pushing in a second.

[43:18] Any discussion?

[43:19] Questions?

[43:21] Seeing not all those in favor?

[43:24] Posts?

[43:25] Can I ask me a post?

[43:26] Look at that.

[43:26] I was easy.

[43:29] Superintendent's evaluation.

[43:31] Miss Marcus.

[43:32] Okay.

[43:33] So first just for information.

[43:37] Each individual school committee member completes their own evaluation.

[43:40] those evaluations, for the overall, for the ratings, the average of those evaluations gives us the overall rating,

[43:50] and the comments are based on comments that were common threads throughout the evaluations.

[43:59] So it's a little bit long.

[44:03] So the first is progress towards goals, the professional practice goal, met that target,

[44:11] student learning goal, met district improvement goal, met.

[44:16] These are the various standards, standards one, instructional leadership,

[44:20] of proficient, standard two management and operations, proficient, standard three family and

[44:28] community engagement, proficient, and professional, standard four professional culture,

[44:33] proficient.

[44:36] This is the overall rating is proficient.

[44:40] Comments.

[44:41] Superintendent Rochilla is both a visionary and an extremely strong and knowledgeable

[44:47] educational leader, definitely a winning combination of qualities that make a strong

[44:52] superintendent. This past year has been a tumultuous one with an unprecedented

[44:57] and president in number of personnel issues.

[45:00] A long with a contentious redistricting challenge, none of which originated during her superintendency. However, she met these situations and challenges with commitment, confidence, and grace and always kept the best interests of the students, families, and staff at the forefront.

[45:15] In addition, despite all the obstacles, she has kept the district on a continuous path of improvement.

[45:20] Superintendent Roshella has demonstrated a commitment to meeting several key benchmarks outlined

[45:26] for this evaluation period.

[45:28] Notably, she has successfully implemented the Pre-K pilot program, improved student performance

[45:34] metrics and absenteeism, and has begun to outline the specific initiatives for the district

[45:39] strategic plan.

[45:41] These achievements are commendable and reflect her dedication to the role.

[45:45] Superintendent Roshella has proven that not only can she take criticism, but she will work

[45:50] improve upon those areas. We see that as a strength in having someone able to accept and improve

[45:56] as a huge asset. We have moved the needle and have a lot of success have had a lot of success

[46:01] and that momentum needs to continue with both strategic and day-to-day efforts. We greatly

[46:06] appreciate superintendant Rishil's depth of knowledge, passion, creativity, organizational and

[46:12] financial skills and thoughtful approach to ensure ensuring we continue to make West Springfield

[46:18] public schools the best it can be.

[46:23] These are the performance

[46:24] goal ratings, the student learning goal, superintendent

[46:29] met that goal, professional practice goal, she met the

[46:32] goal, district improvement goal, one, she met district

[46:36] improvement goal, two, she exceeded.

[46:44] Overall standard one

[46:46] instructional leadership, the areas of focus for

[46:48] superintendent Rishilla are instruction, which she was

[46:51] that are proficient, evaluation, proficient.

[46:56] Superintendent Marchilla is a talented and insightful instructional leader and after reviewing

[47:01] school and district data, including evaluations and meeting with administrators.

[47:06] She identified areas of need and crafted a specific plan for support to bolster the instructional

[47:11] leadership at both the school and district levels.

[47:14] We believe that given an adequate support system superintendent Marchilla could better communicate

[47:20] her expectations when it comes to staff and learning in our, in our district.

[47:25] Superintendent Roschilla recognizes the importance of preparing our students for school readiness

[47:30] and the importance of offering a universal pre-K program.

[47:35] She took the initiative and sent out a survey to families who might find this a good program

[47:39] to offer in West Springfield.

[47:41] She also surveyed families that participated in the program this year with overwhelmingly

[47:46] positive reviews about their children's progress in the program.

[47:49] We applaud her for efforts to bring this to our community.

[47:52] Superintendent Michellea has made excellent strides to push the West Springfield School District forward and continues to focus on connecting with administration educators, students regarding strategy goals and fostering collaboration to lead success now and in the future.

[48:12] It's standard two management and operations.

[48:16] Focus here is law ethics and policies for that she was rated exemplary and the overall rating

[48:25] for standard two management and operations is proficient.

[48:30] Superintendent is exemplary in knowing the laws and policies for not only this district

[48:35] but broader educational laws.

[48:37] Her wealth of knowledge is one of the reasons we chose for this position.

[48:40] Not only does she experience, not only does her experience provide her the knowledge needed,

[48:46] she has a vast network and the ability to find the information needed.

[48:51] This has been monumentally important and navigating various issues that have come up over

[48:56] the past year.

[48:57] The budget cycle this year has been complicated one with a wide range of needs across all schools

[49:03] and levels at the onset of the budget process and in order to ensure an equitable distribution

[49:08] of funding across the schools, Superintendent Rishila implemented a per pupil school allotment based

[49:15] on individual student designations.

[49:19] Superintendent Rishila has been very proactive in identifying past ongoing and potential issues

[49:24] with our school.

[49:27] Standard 3 family and community engagement, these two standards under this are that we are

[49:35] evaluating Superintendent Rishila on, our communication, which she was

[49:40] proficient, family concerns, which she was proficient in the overall

[49:44] rating in family and communication is proficient.

[49:48] Superintendent Rishila understands and values the importance of family school,

[49:54] district, and community stakeholder input and partnership in educating the

[49:58] students in West Springfield.

[50:00] This was particularly evident in the in-depth work done on the strategic plan development, including

[50:06] extensively surveying of parents, students, families, and staff, and creating a work in group,

[50:14] working group of staff, students, and family members. In addition, when considering expanding the

[50:19] pre-K program, she surveyed potential pre-K families in order to gauge the impact of the existing

[50:25] program she surveyed the parents of children currently in the program. Although the

[50:30] superintendent does address family and communication concerns there is room for improvement.

[50:36] The strategic plan prioritizes family engagement and inclusive community and a strong team

[50:42] in order to do that communication is key. Regular communication with families would go a long

[50:48] way for those families that do not get to engage with the superintendent as much as others and

[50:53] approved communication channels to ensure that staff feel heard and valued would be

[50:58] well received.

[50:59] Superintendent Michelle does work extremely hard and regular communication with

[51:03] staff and families would be helpful in letting them see that.

[51:07] Communication is always a challenge and additional methods should be explored

[51:11] to ensure multiple avenues are utilized to get

[51:15] her messages out to all constituents.

[51:18] There is tremendous work done and it will all go and it will all

[51:21] well, it will help Garner support for current and future efforts.

[51:26] And the last one is standard for professional culture.

[51:32] Continuous learning is the standard in which she is proficient.

[51:37] And overall professional culture, she is also proficient.

[51:41] As has been mentioned, the superintendent brought

[51:45] for many ideas supported by data as well as student and family input, which have led to action

[51:52] and adoption, including full day pre-K, as well as the strategic plan development.

[51:58] In addition, she insured staff professional development to support high quality curriculum

[52:03] implementation, as well as administrator professional development in evaluation leadership

[52:09] in equity.

[52:10] She conducted visits to all schools where she, along with the building principle, visited classrooms to view instruction and assess curriculum and implementation.

[52:20] These visits included written feedback to principles as well as individual feedback to classroom teachers.

[52:29] Thank you.

[52:30] Thank you.

[52:33] Questions from the committee?

[52:38] I guess, right?

[52:40] I want to take a motion.

[52:44] Motion to approve the end of cycle,

[52:45] summative evaluation for Superintendent Rochilla.

[52:51] Motion and a second, the discussion?

[52:54] So you know what I shall hands always in favor?

[52:57] Opposed, unanimous.

[52:59] Identification and we have none public comment.

[53:05] Seeing none activities and events,

[53:08] Superintendent Rochilla.

[53:09] Do we have any activities and events coming up?

[53:12] So, we've had most of all of our activities in events in Colleen ran through many of them,

[53:17] the only other things that I would add is that the high school did a wonderful job last week,

[53:23] awarding students, not just seniors who had received scholarships, but they had a day where

[53:29] the parents could go in and they had a separate assembly for freshmen and then the sophomores

[53:34] and then the juniors and it was very well attended by the families of these students.

[53:38] And then the other opportunity was at John Ashley to see the kindergarteners part ways with

[53:45] John Ashley and there was an opportunity where all the kindergartners that were separated

[53:50] into first class and a second class where parents came and they were able to hear their

[53:55] children sing and get their award. And it's always wonderful because within a few days you

[54:02] saw the high school kids graduate, the seniors and then you saw the five and six year olds

[54:07] finish pre-kay.

[54:10] I just want to give out, it's a complaint I've had for a while when I give a shout out to

[54:13] Erin and Ronnie for putting the calendar together, all the schools have a ton of great

[54:17] events.

[54:18] Pretty much every school, not all the schools every school has great events, and it's been

[54:23] hard to follow them.

[54:24] Our principals do a great job in trying to keep us informed, but I've complained to Erin

[54:29] and her and Ronnie put it together and now it's on the calendar, so all the school can

[54:32] even have that on the calendar so you can see when events are less of an excuse than this

[54:36] But with that, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn.

[54:39] So moved.

[54:41] Yeah, sure.

[54:48] Vidal.

[54:49] I'm taking it on possibly a new position.

[54:54] I had a great relationship for the last year and a half,

[54:56] which I think you're an incredible person.

[54:58] I think you're going to make a great super.

[55:02] With that being said, I'm sure you're not going to miss the 530 in the morning, phone call for myself. I think everybody is received a 530 in the morning, phone call for myself.

[55:14] But I want to wish the best to you, your family, your wife, your wife's incredible person choosing incredible teacher that have touched so many children's lives in a positive way.

[55:27] I've talked to 100 different people in town, at least 100, and everything was positive for

[55:35] about your wife, and it says something when my son grabs his graduation diploma and sees

[55:41] your wife and goes right up to her first. He skipped me. I don't know why, but he went up

[55:46] to your wife. It's probably a long list. There's a long list. You're correct, Mayor. But you deserve

[55:55] And go up there and do, you know, the hard work that you've done here, and I appreciate

[56:01] the hard work.

[56:03] I appreciate everything you have done for this town.

[56:06] The blood sweat and tears, you know.

[56:10] So, best of luck to you.

[56:12] Thank you very much.

[56:13] I appreciate it.

[56:14] It's been my pleasure to serve here in West Side, and I'm going to certainly miss everybody,

[56:21] especially the kids and the people that I've made relationships with.

[56:24] and I thank everybody for your support,

[56:26] and I'm really excited to have the possibility of moving back

[56:31] and West Hampton and turn in some things over,

[56:37] and making some things happen with the community,

[56:42] and with the teachers and the principals,

[56:44] so I appreciate it, Bob, thank you.

[56:47] And I certainly appreciate everything from the community.

[56:51] Thank you.

[57:05] video, you're changing your number. You have a town phone or a personal phone.

[57:12] I'm gonna have to do that too if you start calling me at 5.30.

[57:17] All right, with that, I'll

[57:18] entertain most of you to adjourn. Without objection, we are adjourned. Thank you.

School Committee

Agenda

Transcript