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Date: 10/3/2023
PALMER — School Superintendent Matthew Francis, in his first year in the position, introduced the School Committee to the goals of a new entry level report that will result in a plan to be presented in late winter or early spring that will be implemented, upon approval of the committee, in 2024-25.
Francis presented the reasons behind the report to the committee at its Sept. 27 meeting. He said the report is motivated by the following: to better understand the Palmer Public Schools and the people as fully as possible in a brief period of time outside the daily context of crisis and problem solving; to examine key issues in the past in order to make sense of how they were/are handled and to identify norms which affect the organization; to identify the tasks which need to be accomplished and prioritize them; and to establish how these tasks should be accomplished.
The goals of the plan are: to develop with the School Committee a set of norms and procedures that will govern how we operate in the future; to determine the issues the School Committee believes we should focus our efforts in the upcoming school years; to determine the issues which Central Office Administration and school leadership will face in their work; To determine what the key issues are for additional stakeholders; and to work with the School Committee to prioritize these potential initiatives.
The plan would cover the next three to five years, he added.
To prepare for the plan, Francis noted that he started work in April with interviews and conducted surveys for students and caregivers and as well as conducted daily visits at the town’s two schools.
He is also reviewing current and past improvement plans, budget documents and policy manuals.
Francis also presented a look at the district’s students based on information gathered on Sept. 1. He said he would be updating the information in October.
He reported the district has 1,105 students, of which 523 are female and 582 are male. Francis said the total enrollment have declined slightly from 1,130 last school year.
Breaking down the student body into demographic groups he noted there are 23 African American students (2%); Asian, 25 students (2%); Hispanic, 194 students (18%); Native American, 1 student (less than 1%); White, 803 student (72%); Multi-race, 59 students (5%); First language not English, 71 students (6.4%); English Language Learners, 47 students (4.2%); Low income, 560 students (59.7%); and students with disabilities, 224 (20.2%).
He later added in the meeting there are currently 14 partial applicants for home school students with a total of 41 total students. He said there is no data available for how many home school students there are from the last school year.
In other action, the School Committee approved a revised absentee plan and said information about the changes will be going out to parents. The committee also approved a request from Palmer High School to dispose of material with a value of less than $5,000, which include a number of textbooks. Francis explained a new math curriculum for grades 6-12 will be purchased. The material will be offered to the town’s residents though the Town Manager’s Office. If no there is no interest the material will be disposed of.