School Committee announces Anti-Bullying Week, interdistrict development

WEST SPRINGFIELD – The first school committee meeting of the New Year on Jan. 13 came with plenty of updates from Interim Superintendent Michael Richard, including Anti-Bullying week and a statement of interest for the Massachusetts School Building Authority.

The high school will host a series of programs designed to educate students and parents both in and out of the classroom about bullying and drug abuse. The last week of January is Anti-Bullying Week, No Name-Calling Week and Drug Facts Week. 

“There will be special consideration at the high school as all of those are things are quite important to the development to the youth of West Springfield,” Richard said.

He also said that there would be a multimedia contest “to demonstrate their understanding of what it means to fight the bullying that may take place in school or in the community.”

While much of the focus will be on how to take care of bullying, drug and alcohol abuse will also be addressed. The CARE Coalition has planned its quarterly drug forum for Jan. 29 to address concerns about substance abuse. 

While the high school will be welcoming these programs, it is stepping away from another. Richard said the decision has been made to withdraw from the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers (PARCC) Pilot Testing program. The PARCC testing is designed to test students and drive results that tell educators and parents if a student is on track for postsecondary success. It allows students who may need extra help to be identified in order to receive extra help.

Richard said that the program was not as beneficial to the school or the students small number of students that would be taking the tests. 

“The benefit to the testing would only be to the state directly and not to the school itself or the students,” Richard said. “We felt as though our staff had been adequately prepared last year when we piloted for one year, so the decision was made to withdraw from that to allow for us to dedicate more time to meaningful discussion on a daily basis.” 

With calendar planning for the 2015-16 school year beginning, Richard said that there are plans for such “meaningful discussions” and professional development to happen with other school districts. 

The Lower Pioneer Valley Educational Collaborative member districts have agreed to pick one day in the upcoming year to have interdistrict professional development. 

“That’s something that many member districts have been yearning for years, so I’m pleased to let you know that steps have been taken to ensure that does happen next year,” Richard said.

The school department also received word that their application for a new Coburn School through the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) was not accepted for the latest cycle. Richard spoke with Diane Sullivan, the director of program management and encouraged the Coburn School to submit an application for the following cycle.  

“We presented a very solid application; we had a solid case,” Richard said. 

“While we didn’t necessarily represent one of the most needy schools that the MSBA visited in this last effort, but she did encourage us to submit another application.”

The School Committee voted to approve a resubmission of an application, and Richard said that though they have done this a few times in the past, it is crucial to keep doing so until a new school is built.

“We have submitted such applications numerous times over the last few years and we feel as though it’s important to continue our efforts to try to bring a new Coburn school to West Springfield,” Richard said. 

The School Committee meets again on Jan. 27.