School Committee hears analysis of test results
By Michaela Kennedy

The School Committee listened to feedback about student performance and school accountability from the administrators at its March 20 meeting. The superintendent and principal gave a summary of data results from the New England Common Assessment Program (NECAP) and the School Accountability of Learning and Teaching (SALT).

Superintendent Marcia Lukon said she reviewed the NECAP data with the faculty last fall. The committee accepted an offer from Lukon to discuss the NECAP analysis at its May workshop meeting. An operational testing of the science assessment from the New England Common Assessment Program would be given in grades 4, 8 and 11 this spring, Lukon added.

Principal Kathleen Almanzor said that across the curriculum, learning tasks were needed that would back up answers on tests given by NECAP for grade level expectations. "This is our third year of NECAP. Looking at the current eighth grade, we've seen a huge improvement. We are really helping students," she said. Almanzor also said improvements in results from special education students.

In the principal's report, Almanzor gave highlights from the SALT visit. She expressed frustration that the school's strong points, such as the music program and the library media center, were not mentioned in the SALT report. "Not everything is seen in a week," she added.

Almanzor responded to criticism in the SALT report that called for continuity with the discipline policy. She threw support towards Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports, a discipline approach that rewards positive behavior, and also called for staff and community support. "It comes from all of us," she said. "I take seriously what teachers and parents say about discipline, but I can't do it alone."

The report also revealed a focus on mathematics, "but now we need to do the same thing for reading and writing," Almanzor said.

In correspondence, the school committee accepted two letters of retirement. Beth Weibust, sixth grade teacher, and Linda Rezendes, second grade teacher, have both taught in Jamestown for 28 years. "They're two fantastic teachers, years of dedicated service. I can't say enough of what they gave to the Jamestown Schools," the principal said.

Also in correspondence, the committee received an e-mail from a parent concerned about an art show downtown that might be selling student work in addition to charging an entrance fee. Almanzor said that a $5 entry fee would be charged for fourth and fifth grade students going to the student show at the Jamestown Arts Center. "We sent a letter home saying that we are supporting the $5 entrance fee, but not the selling of the masks," she said.

In a food service update, the committee briefly discussed including a budget line item for technology that would track food sold. Committee member Bruce "B.J." Whitehouse noted that people in Little Compton where he worked highly endorsed the technology. A similar system is being considered in Jamestown. "People say it saves hours," he said.

The committee read and suggested revisions to two proposed guidelines, the Unreserved Fund Balance Policy and the Summer School Policy. Both drafts are slated to be reviewed again next month before approval.

The committee unanimously approved a summer school tuition rate of $360. Students eligible for reduced lunch will be charged $180. Students eligible for free lunch will be charged no tuition. Supt. Lukon noted that the summer session would run four weeks, four days a week, for a total of 16 four-hour sessions.