The Rochester School Committee has voted unanimously to move the Open Comment section of its regular meetings to the beginning of the agenda.
Chairperson Sharon Hartley introduced a discussion on Open Comment during the committee’s August 29 meeting. She referred to a meeting of school-committee chairpersons to discuss the matter.
Her takeaway from that gathering was that school committee is by nature a business meeting, unlike the many municipal boards, commissions and committees that necessarily involve the participation of residents.
The chairpersons determined that in the interests of completing business, Open Comment should remain at the end of the school-committee agenda but recognizing that the decision falls to each school committee. The chair would retain the authority to move Open Comment to a different place on the agenda.
Member Kate Duggan motioned to put Open Comment at the beginning of the agenda, and member Josh Trombly seconded the motion. Member Robin Rounseville said she has feelings on both sides of the issue but feels like emotion has too often outweighed a respectful approach, reminding the members that they are volunteers.
“Sometimes the misconception is that the people here (commenting) are prevalent,” said Rounseville, who said committee members are often receiving feedback outside of meetings that differs from what is expressed during Open Comment.
Trombly acknowledged Rounseville’s concern but reiterated his advocacy for moving Open Comment to the start.
“I can tell you from sitting in the audience for a long time that it’s difficult,” he said. “That’s when you come from that place of frustration, when the item that you wanted to discuss gets voted on first and then you have to just sit there and then pop off about it at the end.
“I hope that things would be a little more respectful if people had the opportunity to say their piece at the beginning.”
A subsequent vote was taken to decide whether to add a response section for the committee. The current policy defines Open Comment as an opportunity for citizens to speak in public session but does not obligate the school committee to engage those comments or respond.
During Open Comment at the conclusion of the meeting, both Jeff Costa and Karen Thomas thanked the committee for its new seating arrangement (in which the members are all facing the attending public) and for voting to move Open Comment to the top of future agendas. They also expressed their belief that the committee failed to apply reason in a vote to reject a book donation.
The 3-2 vote to reject a book about a dog in the Iditarod was preceded by a lengthy discussion about process.
On recommendation of the school librarian, the committee voted to accept the donation of a collection of books from Plumb Library and a single donation from the Rochester Memorial School Parent Teacher Organization, “Survived the Battle of D-Day” (1944). Also on the librarian’s recommendation, the committee voted against accepting resident Sarah Bourque’s donation of “Granite” by late Iditarod champion Susan Butcher.
“I read the book, I think it’s fantastic. I think it encompasses a lot of the values that we’re trying to (encourage) in the schools,” said Trombly before the vote. “It’s inspiring. It’s about the first woman to finish in the top 10 in the Iditarod. (Butcher) was dyslexic, she was born in Massachusetts, the first Saturday of March is Susan Butcher Day in Alaska.”
Trombly asked for clarification on the process of the library media specialist’s recommendation against its acceptance because he found it hard to believe anyone who reads the book would not find it to be “excellent.”
The Iditarod, the annual cross-continent, sled-dog race, has been heavily criticized as inhumane by animal-rights activists, including PETA, but a 2013 article in “Psychology Today” identified Butcher as an advocate for change in how racing dogs are trained and treated.
Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Dr. Shari Fedorowicz explained the process as being consistent and said that the specialists look for professional reviews.
Trombly said he has read the policy and realizes that the book in question lacks reviews from one of the identified preferred sources, but at the same time he asserted that books being carried in the school library refer readers to Good Reads and Amazon.
“I guess it’s the inconsistency that bothers me a little bit, and I think we’re missing an opportunity on a great book,” he said. “I don’t know Ms. Bourque at all, but that’s just my opinion.”
Member Anne Fernandes “seconded” Trombly’s comments.
Fedorowicz confirmed that the recommendation against accepting the donation was based on a lack of reviews necessary to justify a recommendation. Fedorowicz also stated that the school librarians do their own review and do not rely on sources alone.
Rounseville said to change the process and go against librarian’s recommendations would be a departure from how the committee has handled donations all along.
Chairperson Sharon Hartley said she finds the librarian’s process to be “very thorough and very serious.”
Fernandes said it’s not about the librarian but the process.
Duggan said part of the process has been to recognize policy and consistently follow it.
“If we don’t have some standard, then we have no standard. I don’t know that we want no standard for book inclusion,” she said.
Fernandes reiterated that the policy dictates, as confirmed earlier by Nelson, that the committee has the final say.
Nelson confirmed that a committee approval would put a book in the school library.
Trombly reiterated his request that the voted be tabled to the next meeting to allow members time to look at the book for themselves.
The motion to reject it was on the table, and Hartley sought to see through the vote. Hartley, Rounseville and Duggan voted to reject the donation of “Granite,” while Fernandes and Trombly voted against the book’s rejection.
Rochester Memorial School Principal Heidi Letendre laid out a two-year, School Improvement Plan for the committee, using a PowerPoint presentation. The committee heard the presentation and voted to approve the plan.
The committee reelected Hartley as chairperson (Fernandes voted against) and voted unanimously to elect Duggan as the new vice chair.
By a 3-2 vote, Rounseville was elected Rochester representative to the ORR School Committee, and Trombly, who received the opposing votes, was unanimously elected to join Hartley and Fernandes as Rochester’s representative on the Union #55 side of the Joint School Committee.
At the start of the meeting, Hartley celebrated the beginning of the new school year, noting the excitement that comes with the new beginning.
Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson welcomed Jaime Curley, the ORR District’s new assistant superintendent of Student Services. Nelson also publicly acknowledged that the interim tag has been removed from Letendre’s role as RMS principal.
The following RMS staff members were recognized for reaching milestones in years of community service: for 25 years of service, Grade 6 teacher Tracey Forns, Paraprofessional Debra Moniz, and Physical Education teacher Kevin Woodward; for 20 years, Kindergarten teachers Cindy Baronas and Melissa Weigel, Paraprofessional Janice Bateman, Grade 4 teacher Shaunda Griffin, Grade 1 teacher Ana Lenahan, and Assistant Principal Charles West; for 15 years, Special Education Secretary Kim Amato, Grade 2 teachers Michelle Bradley and Tess Hedblom, Grade 4 teacher Julia Cabral, and Media Specialist Sandra Sollauer; and for 10 years, Nurse Ellen Murphy, and School Adjustment Counselor Jamie Pacheco.
Margaret DeMello has reached 50 years of service in the ORR District. Reaching 25 years of service at the district level are John Ashley and Susan Wheeler (Technology), and reaching the 10-year mark this year are Nelson and ORR Website Coordinator Erin Bednarczyk.
New additions include Carla Correia, who joins RMS as a lunch/recess aide, while Geralyn Gherard joins RMS as a paraprofessional, and Alex Sylvaria is a new Grade 4 teacher.
Nelson and Letendre discussed opening-day faculty activities, and Nelson thanked Project 351 students for their early-morning assistance and for the Tri-Town police departments for their presence in all communities on opening day.
The committee took a tour of Rochester Memorial School with Facilities Director Gene Jones. The next meeting of the Rochester School Committee is scheduled for Thursday, October 3, at 6:30 pm at Rochester Memorial School, and the next meeting of the Joint School Committee is scheduled for Thursday, September 26, at 6:30 pm at the ORR Junior High media room on Route 6 in Mattapoisett
Rochester School Committee
By Mick Colageo