School district makes some progress, but more is needed
Date: 10/27/2010
Oct. 27, 2010By Katelyn Gendron
Assistant Editor
CHICOPEE -- The School Committee gathered Oct. 20 to review the annual State of the District report courtesy of Assistant Superintendent for Instruction and Accountability Deborah Drugan.
Drugan, accompanied by a lengthy PowerPoint presentation, provided the committee with a comprehensive overview of the state's mandates and the district's responsibility to meet various quotas. New this year, she noted, is a one to five level designation issued by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education's (DESE) Framework for District Accountability and Assistance in which Chicopee Public Schools received a three.
"As an urban district we're making progress in ... proficiency," Drugan said. "It's a constant search for best practices. We have some challenges, no doubt about that ... we want to look at our data and status and see where we can improve."
Anna E. Barry, Belcher, Bowie Memorial, Stefanik Memorial and Streiber Memorial elementary schools received level one designation, the DESE's best. Fairview Veterans Memorial Middle School was given a level two, requiring corrective action or restructuring of aggregate and/or subgroups, targeted state assistance and the revision of School Improvement Plans.
Patrick Bowe, Lambert-Lavoie Memorial, Robert R. Litwin and Selser Memorial elementary schools, Edward Bellamy Middle School, along with Chicopee Comprehensive High School and Chicopee High received level three. The status denotes a district with one or more schools among the lowest-performing 20 percent based on quantitative indicators; requires the completion of district self-assessment; schools are obligated to mirror district work, while the institutions are now high priority for state assistance.
No school in the district received a level four or five ranking; however, each district is only as strong as its weakest link, making Chicopee Public Schools as Level 3. Drugan noted certain subgroups in ELA and math in the district's two high schools are in corrective action.
Drugan said schools have developed various strategies for improvement including bell-to-bell instruction, templates for lesson plans, teaming and additional emphasis on MCAS prep.
"Other districts manipulate the data or demographics. We don't do that here in Chicopee. These are real figures in the real world," Mayor Michael Bissonnette, chair of the School Committee, said.
Ward 4 School Committee member Michael Pise said he was "pleased" with the district overall but questioned why increasing parental involvement wasn't included as an initiative for all schools.
Ward 8 School Committee member Sharon Nawrocki voiced her concern over the homework levels. "How can kids come home with more homework when they say they're brain dead?" she questioned, noting the sensory overload some students feel after a long day at school.
Bissonnette noted the next phase of data collection and MCAS testing for science curriculums. When asked how comfortable teachers and administrators are with this next phase, Drugan replied, "We're poised to do that anyway."
*** School Committee members were also provided with an update on the district's anti-bullying policy. Each school district in the Commonwealth is required to file a policy based on the state's template by December.
"We've always had a goal to maintain and ensure schools are safe places for students and staff ... We're trying to use our existing policy and [revise it] to meet state mandates," School Superintendent Richard Rege Jr. explained.
The draft of the district's new anti-bullying policy will be presented to the School Committee at its next meeting, he added.
Also discussed briefly at the meeting was Bissonnette's proposal to consolidate city and school departments.
"There's no need to duplicate services," Bissonnette told the committee, adding that technology and maintenance departments, among others could be consolidated.
"I don't want to make change and consolidation just to do it ... shame on us if we continue on the same old way out of pure stubbornness," he said.
Ward 2 School Committee member David Barsalou voiced his agreement, adding that the decreasing state aid and local revenue make cost-saving measures necessary.
"The mayor is being proactive and he's trying to save us ... I don't see any other way around it," he said. "It's just an unfortunate fact of life right now."
MaryBeth Pniak-Costello echoed Barsalou's sentiments, adding, "We're in the 21st century. We can't keep operating like we're in the 19th century."
