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Date: 3/11/2020
CHICOPEE – The Chicopee School Committee meeting on March 4 addressed a number of items including vaping education for school nurses, pandemic planning and resources needed for English language learner (ELL) students.
The meeting began with Bellamy Middle School teacher Teri Dunn speaking during open public input. The ELL teacher began by explaining her job and described her position as serving “as specialists for students who are learning English as a second language.”
Dunn then went on to explain that Chicopee ELL teachers felt as though they needed additional resources to help their students succeed and achieve. “With the most recent state benchmarks for attaining English language proficiency for English learners, the ELL teachers of Chicopee strongly believe our ELL students will require additional funding to achieve language proficiency, which will ultimately set them up for success in the future,” she explained to the committee.
She then outlined ways in which funding from the Student Opportunity Act (SOA) could be used to allocate resources for ELL students. Areas Dunn said the funding would benefit include “providing additional professional development and common planning time, technology, translation services and additional personnel.”
Dunn explained to the committee that the number of ELL students within the Chicopee Public School District was continually increasing and it was important that the children’s learning needs were met. “As our population of ELL students in the district continues to rise steadily, it is imperative that we provide as much quality support as possible,” she said. “With the new benchmarks in place and additional interventions being added to meet the needs of our students, additional staffing is absolutely essential.”
In closing, Dunn expressed her hope that the committee would consider using funds from the SOA to “provide our ELL students with the resources and staffing necessary to help them flourish.”
After minutes of previous meetings and warrants for bills were approved, an increase in preschool tuition was also approved. Superintendent Lynn Clark was then asked by committee member David Schryver to elaborate on what the increases would look like.
Clark explained that the increase would take the full-day program at the Chicopee High School from $550 a month to $600, the half-day program at Szetela Early Childhood Center from $175 to $200 and the full-day program at Szetela from $350 a month to $450 a month.
She said the reason for the increase for full-day programs is they “tend to be what’s causing extra classrooms and they’re more in demand.” Clark added that “this year there was a waitlist for every slot” unlike years past where not every slot had been filled.
Next Health and Nurse’s Office Nursing Supervisor Amena Assaf gave the committee a brief update on a program currently being developed by the UMass Medical Training School. She said the program, once developed and implemented in schools, will “teach school nurses a guideline on how to speak with students.” This, she said, will help nurses develop relationships with students, which will allow the students to be “open and they can discuss why they vape.” From there, Assaf said the nurses will be able to provide students with resources and support.
Member Donald Lamonth clarified that once the program is developed the nurses would then receive professional development regarding the program, Assaf said this would be the case.
Committee member MaryBeth Costello then broached the topic of pandemic planning, which she stressed was “not to alarm people.”
“We’re not looking to create a panic,” she emphasized, and said the plan was “just in case something happens” so the public is aware there is a plan in place.
Assaf explained she’d developed a contagious disease protocol, which is extremely similar to the steps they take “for all contagious illnesses and diseases in the district whether it’s influenza, chicken pox, strep throat, a rash.”
She elaborated, “It basically tells you what we share this with staff and students and families, when students should stay home, when staff should stay home, what the nurse does with each visit that the staff or a student comes to see the nurse.” Assaf also emphasized “disease prevention” in the form of “hand washing, disinfecting surfaces, teaching students to cover their cough,” but said “handwashing is number one.”
Schryver then expressed his frustration with how he felt the panic surrounding the topic had “been overblown in the media.”
“It’s not as bad as everybody says it is, and again I think the media is really overblowing this, and I think it should be toned down quite a bit, but I’m not working for the media and it’s a lot of scare tactics quite frankly,” he said. Like Costello, Schryver emphasized the need not to panic and that the conversation was just to “take some precautions.”
Mayor John Vieu then summarized a letter that had been sent home with students and emphasized that the town relies on “only trusted sources when it comes to this, like the CDC and their partners.” He said the schools were taking precautions such as wiping down hard surfaces and doorknobs in schools every day, much like they would do during flu season.
He added the city was working closely with the department of health to keep an eye, not only on the Coronavirus, but also forms of the flu. Vieu encouraged anyone feeling ill to stay home, “including students and faculty, teachers, staff and everyone else” and to seek medical attention if they were sick.
The Chicopee School Committee will meet next on March 17.