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Date: 6/8/2021
CHICOPEE – The School Committee met to discuss a variety of agenda items such as FY21 grants, student breaks in schools and the English Language Learners (ELL) program on June 2.
Superintendent Lynn Clark gave an update on the grants that Chicopee Public Schools have received so far for FY21. She said that they currently have $11.5 million in federal and entitlement grants, a little over $1 million in state grants and about $100,000 in private grants.
They are currently waiting for between four to five decisions regarding other grants and Chicopee Public Schools are in the process of applying to five other grants as well. The application for these will be completed by the beginning of July.
The meeting then touched upon student breaks in schools. School Committee Member Susan Lopes wanted to get Clark’s opinion on incorporating breaks into school schedules to help students manage tension and stress.
“Our students have a lack of energy and concentration, which they are pretty positive is going to lead to bad grades, so I wanted to get a little bit of feedback from our superintendent about how she thought the individual schools could be handling this situation,” said Lopes.
Clark said that many schools already take mindfulness and movement breaks, especially at the elementary level.
“At the elementary level, they do some outside breaks and it’s been increasingly, over the last couple of years, moving up the ranks a little,” said Clark.
While middle and high school students don’t take formal breaks, Clark said that many individual principals or teachers often encourage them at 10 to 15 minute intervals throughout the day.
She recognized the importance of taking breaks to help students stay focused and learn.
“It is something that has been increasingly popular in education. We know students need movement, they cannot sit for a 45 minute lesson, an hour lesson, it’s extremely difficult,” said Clark.
The meeting also touched on the pledge of allegiance in schools and ELL programs. Lopes said that she had a citizen reach out to her to see if Chicopee schools still say the Pledge of Allegiance daily.
Clark said that all schools do, except for Szetela Early Childhood School. The committee emphasized that no student is forced or can be forced to participate in the Pledge.
In Chicopee, ELL programs are taught at a tiered-approach. Clark said that students enroll into schools and are then screened into their program. They will receive ELL services depending on their score and the years that they’ve been in public schools. This will determine the amount of services they participate in, which can be up to three hours daily.
To end the meeting, the committee spoke on remote participation in meetings. Gov. Charlie Baker recently announced that remote meeting participation and broadcasting due to COVID-19 can continue through September and will then be re-evaluated.
Student Council Advisory President Tim Wagner spoke on how having remote meetings over the past year has increased resident participation.
“I do think that we should continue to encourage and allow remote participation and meetings. I think that it allows people to watch these meetings and to participate in them in a more comfortable environment. I think that encourages them to be more involved in their local government when they don’t have to leave their homes or go somewhere that they’re not comfortable with just to participate in a meeting that may only last a few minutes,” said Wagner.
Those interested in viewing the School Committee meeting in its entirety are encouraged to visit the ChicopeeTV Facebook page.