Skip to main content

June Meetings

ALMOST :)

The Natick School Committee meets tonight, Tuesday June 7th and again next Monday, June 13th in preparation for the Evaluation Retreat meetings that we hold in person on June 22nd, 27th and 29th.  

As always, you can join us in person on the 3rd floor of Town Hall and to most of our meetings, virtually. (Retreat style meetings are not on zoom or pegasus.) 

The Zoom Link, Agenda and materials are here. We have the aim of starting the public session at 7:00 p.m. tonight (Executive session first.)  

School Committee Items On Tap:

  • Discussion of the Vaccination Policy for Staff, Vendors, Contractors and Volunteers
  • Anti-Discrimination Policy recommendation from the Policy Sub Committee to the full Committee. 
  • Strategic Plan Update & End of Year Superintendent Evaluation
  • Dyslexia Update 
  • 3rd Quarter and End of Year Financials Update
  • Enrollment Update

 


On the Anti Discrimination Policy, we worked for nearly a year researching anti bias and hate policies. With the help of the legal team for the district, we are coming to the committee with a recommendation for the full committee tonight.  

Just a reminder about something a few people have asked me about over the last month...

Public speak:  

  • Virtually, you need to email the chair an hour before the meeting (cacollins@natickps.org) and request to speak tonight at public speak.
  • In person, you sign up on a sheet in the room.
  • The Natick School Committee allows for public speak by an individual for up to 3 minutes about items that are not on the agenda for that evening. 
  • Public speak is a total of 15 minutes unless the chair allows for more time.

Join us for one more Virtual Coffee Hour as well!  Wednesday, June 15th from 6-6:45 p.m.  Topic: Social Emotional Learning in the District. The conversation is also informal and a wonderful way for the committee to connect with some of the people we seek to serve!  Zoom link here.




Popular posts from this blog

Statement on Recusal

Here are the remarks I gave last night when letting my committee know my decision to recuse:  After the School Committee meeting on October 15th, several individuals wrote into the SpeakUp Natick portal requesting that I recuse myself from voting on the possible closure of Johnson.  The substance of these messages, sent to the full committee, carried a familiar refrain. The messages - often using the same language – said some version of the following:  Catherine Brunell should recuse herself from deliberating and voting on the closure of Johnson because she lacks objectivity, as her children go to school there and she is from that neighborhood. I asked myself the question if there was any merit to the request for me to recuse myself and started to do some research about why people recuse  From what I can tell from the minutes, in Natick, It’s never happened before - not with the Kennedy, Wilson or the High School - not even for members whose children were to attend t...

Let’s Have a Vision for Elementary Schools.

Faced with some monumental school facility and space decisions, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the quote that Dr. Nolin has below the signature line in her email:       The secret of change is to focus all of your energy, not on fighting the old, but on                building the new.     The emphasis in the quote is on what can come next. It is not about holding on tightly to what was, nor looking at an issue through only a technical, logistical lens but on moving forward with vision .  The administration, under advisement of the School Committee, is charged with setting that vision. The School Committee is charged with protecting that vision using the three roles within our domain - budget, policy and supervision of the Superintendent. All of us are working for the kids that are here today and those who will be here in the future.   Thankfully this time, as our School Committee grapp...

Vaccines

  The School Committee agenda for Monday, September 20th can be seen here .  (separate blog coming about the rest of the agenda...)  Mandates for student vaccinations for students participating in extracurricular activities, school and club sponsored events and athletics will be discussed and possibly voted on.   I have asked that the documents be linked asap so you can read it yourself but until then... The Quick Summary:  The draft policy is a mandate for students who are age-eligible through FDA approved vaccinations. In the case of a student who age eligible and is not vaccinated, a weekly PCR test is required. How many of our students are vaccinated? Department of Health (DPH) -   Vaccine tracker    - click on weekly municipal report to see chart below and compare. columns are: county, town, age range, # of people in that group, % that is that age, # of age group partially vaxed, proportion of full town partially vaxed, fully ...