hard deadlines

TAC members confer.

At the final meeting of the Transition Advisory Committee (TAC), Portsmouth Supt. Sue Lusi announced that next year, as part of the move to co-location at the middle school, all 4th grades will be using a team teaching model.

"We're going to go with all two-person teams," said Lusi. "The reasoning was that a number of teachers wanted to do that anyway. We just concluded that teaming is the right way to go."

In the team teaching model, currently used in the 4th grade at Hathaway, teachers can "specialize" in areas of the curriculum, and students or teachers move from one room to another, rather than one teacher delivering the entire curriculum.

Middle School principal Joe Amaral said that the teams are still being developed, but would most likely be divided with one teacher doing either math and science or math and social studies. "We're in the process of polling people's strengths," said Amaral. "We're using Google Docs [an online form] to let teachers enter their preferences and training." Amaral later told me that he felt that the experience of using the team model in middle school would help in supplying professional development to support the teachers, and noted that the group would have the advantage of common planning time.

The rest of the meeting was dedicated to reviewing two key documents -- the list of Frequentely Asked Questions being developed around the transition, and the timeline with key dates -- both of which are to be posted soon on the district web site

Dr. Lusi also confirmed that they were still on track for a communication to parents on Friday confirming which school their children will be attending. While Lusi said that as of yesterday the district did have a preliminary map, she stressed that they were still ironing out details.

Said Lusi, "The elementary principals are checking the list against everyone in their buildings, and the special education staff from the Newport County Regional Special Education team are looking at kids with Individualized Education Plans (IEPs)."

With all review work, Lusi could not guarantee what time the communication would happen, although the sense was probably that an e-mail would be sent in the late afternoon. Schools have been using the AlertNow system to remind parents to check that they have provided a current e-mail. As soon as the e-mail goes out, the transportation "district" map will be posted on the school district web site, and a dedicated voicemail box will be set up and monitored to help with any questions.

The meeting wrapped up about 8:15 with Dr. Lusi thanking the 20+ members of the advisory committee for their effort over the past couple of weeks.

"I want to thank you all enormously," said Lusi. "I know it was a lot of time, but it was really important. We got a lot of good feedback. I hope you feel we were listening."

TAC members discuss issues.

The members of Portsmouth's school Transition Advisory Committee (TAC) spent the majority of last night's meeting in breakout groups, discussing the key issues around reassigning K-3 students and planning for the grade 4-5 experience at the middle school.

The group's guiding principle for the middle school is "keep 4th grade elementary," and the report backs included several strategies to achieve that aim. Recess was identified as "an important part of the experience," and the group suggested that in addition to the planned foursquare and basketball, the existing Elmhurst outdoor equipment lockers be moved to the middle school to provide some storage for teachers. In terms of scheduling, middle school principal Joe Amaral promised to do whatever he could. "I'm willing to work with teachers on anything that makes sense for students," he said.

In terms of whole-school activities, the group recommended "being as inclusive as possible for school identity, but using common sense." So while the 4th grade will have their own separate space (including 4th-grade only boys and girls bathrooms) they may be included in appropriate all-school assemblies, and the student council may have a 4th grade rep. Yet to be determined is which after-school activities would be available for the younger students. "It's probably going to be parent-led," was one observation, and that will become clearer as the PTO begins to come together after June 10th (when all elementary parents whose children are moving to PMS will meet.)

There was some apprehension about the increased drop-off and dismissal that may occur, given the current pattern at the elementaries (Hathaway, it was noted, can see 50-80 parents picking up children on some days.) The middle school typically has less than 10, and one recommendation was to explore staging kids out through the Little Theater, which is closer to the main parking lot.

The group discussing communications reiterated the importance of multiple ways to reach parents, beginning with the key date of June 4, the target date for determining the "district" boundaries and school assignments. In addition to posting on the schools' and district web sites, the group talked about getting something into local newspapers with maps. Also discussed: using the district's "AlertNow" phone system to tell parents when the plan is available, as well as setting up a voice mail box for questions about the transition.

While there was substantial continuing discussion about the district boundaries, the initial results from the bus company were not yet available (finance director Mark Dunham thought they might have them later today) so the plan remains incomplete. There was a lot of back-and-forth about whether you "take both sides of a street" when running a bus, keeping culs-de-sac together, and the notion that Portsmouth thinks in terms of "farms" rather than streets. One staff member noted that when Elmhurst redistricted to exclude Middle Road, it took nine years because people were grandfathered in. "Literally, if you were pregnant when we made the decision, you got to stay," they said. Based on the discussion that followed, this transition, while it might have room for one-off flexibility, would not have that level of accomodation.

There were some questions from the group in the final minutes of the meeting, and one parent raised concerns around the ongoing appeal which would prevent Elmhurst's closing. "What if, for some reason, the Commissioner decides for the parents?" Supt. Lusi admitted that this was a possibility, however, she characterized it as "extremely small."

Resources
TAC Minutes and documents on PSD web site

PMS teacher Erin Escher congratulated by chair Dick Carpender.

The Portsmouth School Committee outnumbered the residents in attendance for most of Tuesday night's meeting — and one member was absent. It really was kind of a shame, because there several pieces of very good news.

First, middle school science teacher Erin Escher was congratulated by the committee for winning the Amgen Award for science teaching excellence. Escher told the committee about his winning lesson, a highly hands-on field trip to a salt marsh. "The kids love it. They make connections to what we learn in the classroom," said Escher. "It's amazing how many sudents have nevrer been to a salt marsh. I don't think they blink the whole trip, they're so excited."

Then Supt. Susan Lusi and Asst. Supt. Colleen Jermain reported back on progress during this first year of the five-year strategic plan, and of the 86 objectives developed from last year's Future Search conference, significant progress had been made on 79, which Chair Dick Carpender noted was a solid 92%.

"This is a plan on which we've made enormous progress," said Lusi, as she and Jermain stepped through examples of the work done to date by the members of administration and staff who had signed up to lead one of the topic areas at the beginning of the year. Jermain addeed that it wasn't just about sitting in meetings and talking. "We have online communication and online tools," said Jermain, enabling teams to collaborate virtually.

In the area of individual learning plans, for example, the district had already presented their preliminary thinking to the RI Dept. of Ed (RIDE) who were reportedly "very pleased." The first year of the new technology plan — with the exception of hiring a new support person — was also solidly in the green column, as was the development of a five-year curriculum review process, and building partnerships with the business community.

Some of the items on the dashboard, of course, were not complete. Developing a completely new review process for teachers, for example, had been scaled back pending the results of the state-level evaluation update RIDE announced last year. "Given that, we talked about fact that we don't want to invest a whole lot of staff time in developing a tool," said Lusi. "What we did was tweak [the evaluation rubric] to be more clear about what we will look at next year." Updating the school library collections, another "orange" item, is underway, but will require more work, since the team determined that matching the Massachusetts standards for up-to-date collections would cost the district over $150K. Said Jermain, "That's something we still have to work out [to do] within our budget."

The other good news was around the projected gap in next year's budget. Thanks in part to some good news in the transportation contract, finally unsealed by the state, the original shortfall, projected to be $877,669 had now shrunk to just $141,901.

Part of that is greater savings associated with the closing of Elmhurst. "This will have more impact than we originally thought," said Finance Director Mark Dunham, who estimated that the first year would save the district $150K after accounting for one-time moving costs, and that the run-rate savings would be closer to $200K/year.

While the gap still exists on paper, for those of us who've been watching these budgets for the past few years, a number in the $150K range is not scary. As Dunham said, "We still have work to do, but we're working toward it."

In other news, the committee renewed the food service contract with Chartwells for the second year of their five-year term. There was some discussion of the lower profit-sharing (the contract now guarantees a minimum of $8K to the district, down from $26K, reflecting perhaps more pessimism about the revenue, with less kids buying the "healthier" lunches with whole-wheat pizza and bread. "The [health] guidelines certainly made the food less appealing," Dunham noted.

The committee also ratified a $23K one-year support contract for the school information system, SchoolMax, which is no longer being supported by the state technology group, RINET. "We investigated other systems," said Lusi, but were concerned because RIDE may require a standard system for all districts. "It would have been a sizable investment, and we're not comfortable recommending it at this time."

There was also discussion of an innovative approach to make money and make kids safer by installing cameras on school buses to catch offenders who pass while the red lights are flashing. "It's a $300 fine," said Dunham, "And 25% is split between the municipality and the school district." The vendor would assume all the capital costs, making it a zero-outlay option for the district.

But PCC President Larry Fitzmorris didn't like the idea. "I hate to rain on people's parade, but this is not a matter for the school committee; you do not have a portfolio for traffic surveillance," said Fitzmorris. He also objected to the notion on privacy grounds. "Maybe it's just me, but I don't like to be surveilled."

Okay, I'm no fan of random surveillance either, but really. Do we feel the need to protect people passing stopped school busses? It couldn't be that we don't want any extra revenue coming in for the schools, could it?

click image to open PDF

In a letter delivered to the Portsmouth School committee yesterday and released to the media today, an attorney representing a group of Elmhurst parents fighting the school closing has threatened action in Superior Court.

Those identified in the letter — Jonathan Harris, Edward Lopes, Detcha Malone, Michael Daly and additional parents — claim there was a procedural error in the decision to close the school. "Pursuant to RI Admin Code 21-2-41:1.14, entitled 'Closing Schools,' 'A district must notify RIDE in writing six months prior to the sale, lease, demolition, or other removal from service of any school facility in the district's jurisdiction," says the letter to School Committee chair Dick Carpender from attorney Christopher Hultquist of Darrow Everett LLP. "[M]y clients are planning on seeking relief in Newport County Superior Court to obtain a declaration that the procedure by which the School Committee intends to execute its plan violates carefully prescribed regulations enacted by the Rhode Island Department of Education (RIDE) concerning the process that a school department must follow before closing a school."

Contacted by e-mail, Jon Harris made this statement to hard deadlines: "It is apparent at this time that the Portsmouth School Administration and Portsmouth School Committee did not follow proper procedure in filing the statutory six month notice prior to closing Elmhurst School. As such, the appropriate direction of the school committee would be to immediately vote to rescind the plan to close Elmhurst School."

The regulation cited by the parents' attorney, which is on the last page of a 26-page RIDE document called "RIDE SCHOOL CONSTRUCTION REGULATIONS," is followed immediately by a mechanism for seeking variances, RIDE 1.15 WAIVER: "Any request for a waiver of any provision of these regulations shall be governed by the 'Protocol for Granting Variances to Regulations of the Board of Regents or Regulations of the Commissioner' (May 1993)."

I contacted Elliot Krieger and David Abbott in the Commissioner's office at RIDE to seek clarification on whether such variances were possible in these circumstances.

Elliot Krieger, Office of the Commissioner, said, "I will leave it to David to weigh in on whether a variance is required; however, the regulation you cite is the part of the school-construction regulations, and it has more to do with whether the state is paying "housing aid" for the school building. The intent is to ensure that the state is not continuing to pay for construction costs, renovations, interest, etc. on any school building no longer in use. Decisions on school closing remain local decisions and do not need approval from the state."

At this evening's meeting, the school committee announced that they have retained the law firm of Brennan, Recupero, Cascione, Scungio & McAllister, LLP to represent the district in the Elmhurst appeal.

TAC members consider district options.

On the screen at the Portsmouth Middle School Library was a map covered with dots, every one representing a K-3 student, and for two hours last night, the 20 members of the Transition Advisory Committee (TAC) wrestled with the best place to draw lines that would divide those children into the two remaining elementaries, Hathaway and Melville.

The group began with four hypothetical approaches, with boundaries ranging from Glen Road to McCorrie lane, with varying slices across the island, each accompanied by backup material showing how many of the 366 displaced Elmhurst kids would be added to each school.

School finance director Mark Dunham reviewed each option with the group, and Supt. Lusi stressed that while the TAC was providing guidance, the administration accepted responsibility. "We're going to take all the input, and we'll come up with the bus routes," said Lusi. "Part of my role is that if anybody should get shot, it should be me. If someone in a given neighborhood is unhappy it's not your personal fault."

The TAC conducted two breakouts where members rotated, discussing the pros and cons of each of the proposed districting schemes and the general consensus that emerged was a preference for a modified map with boundaries (subject to fine tuning) in which students south of Glen Road, up Middle Road, across Hedley and down Cory's Lane would all go to Melville. (Ed. note: I want to stress that these are NOT final, nor even very precise. There was substantial discussion, with a lot of back-and-forth on streets and neighborhoods and I'm including this as an indication of the rough thinking of the committee, not to scare anyone.)

The pros for this approach were a better number of students at Melville, which has a smaller physical plant, and a more even division which would leave space at both schools to handle any new enrollments. The downsides were that the change predominately affected Elmhurst children since the majority of the existing boundaries remained intact, and there were still concerns about the Kindergarten capacity at both schools.

The next step, said Lusi, would be for Dunham to work with the bus company to test out routing, but she did not know how long that process would take.

The committee also discussed team-teaching vs. self-contained approaches to the fourth grade at the Middle School. Hathaway, said Lusi, uses the team-teaching model, where three teachers specialize in a particular topic (science, math, ELA) and students rotate, much as they would in higher grades. Fourth grades at Melville and Elmhurst currently use a self-contained model, where the same teacher delivers all content. After talking with the teachers, Lusi, said, there did not appear to be consensus for either approach. "When [Asst. Supt.] Ms. Jermain and [PMS Principal] Mr. Amaral met with teachers, there was a mix of opinions," said Lusi. "This is what we came up with: Fourth grade would be largely self contained with teacher option of partnering with a colleague and regrouping around a topic." Lusi suggested that the district would track data and could revisit the decision at the end of the first year.

Several parents — mostly, but not exclusively, from Hathaway — pushed on the team-teaching option. Lusi stressed that while Hathaway had proved the model successful, there were challenges. "We do have data, and we do like what we've seen in teaming," said Lusi, "But those teachers have had professional development. The data has shown good growth in both [team-teaching and self-contained], and the question is whether we have the conditions in place for everyone to successfully team next year."

Some parents noted that one of the committee's themes was to be "least disruptive," and that "keeping teachers happy" was important, so minimizing change would be a good thing. "Happy teachers, happy kids," one parent said.

Incoming Hathaway principal Bob Ettinger stressed that either approach works. "What I've discovered is that whatever gets the collective juices going with teachers is what works. If you get the right mix and we let people be a little more creative, that's where you get the best results."

The TAC will be meeting again Thursday evening.

TAC hears from Middletown panel

Portsmouth's school Transition Advisory Committee (TAC) met for the second time on Tuesday, May 18, and they heard advice from Middletown and pushed forward with planning on a variety of fronts. In addition to Supt. Susan Lusi, who facilitated, finance director Mark Dunham and school committee members Marge Levesque and Sylvia Wedge were on hand to listen.

The twenty-member TAC, comprising parents, teachers, and staff from across the district, listened intently and asked probing questions as a panel of five folks from Middletown described their experiences and learnings from the closure of JFK Elementary last year. They described a scenario similar to the Elmhurst closing, where students were split between Aquidneck and Forest Ave. Elementary.

One major theme that emerged was the need to overcommunicate. Middletown planned numerous events for parents and students to get information, tour the schools, and meet informally. "The biggest bang for the buck is to repeat it a bunch of times," said a Middletown panelist. "It's better to have a parent coming seven times than to miss their one opportunity." Middletown used student tours, breakfasts, ice cream socials, fact sheets, and even held open spots on the PTO for incoming parents.

And even with all the communication they planned, they stressed that some people still needed more information. "Rumors caused a lot of angst," said one panelist. "The more you can do before the end of the school year, the better."

Despite all the planning, they advised the TAC to expect glitches at the beginning. Traffic at the Aquidneck school was not anticipated, there were first-time issuse with some bus routes, and the weather didn't cooperate. But, they said, things did settle in, and that students, staff, and parents would adjust to the new configuration. Said one, "It really is the teachers, the people that are in front of you that make a difference."

After the 45-minute panel and discussion, the TAC reviewed their brainstorming from the first session, and moved into three breakout groups to dive into communication, process, and orientation plans.

In the report backs, the communications group suggested multiple touch points with parents, including e-mail, web information, and FAQ handouts tied to the key points in the transition timeline. "People want to know everything," said one participant.

The transition group reported their early thinking on school visits, including fact sheets for each school, and exploring the traditions from each of the schools and how they could be introduced to provide some familiarity for students.

The orientation breakout talked about some key dates, including the visits of students in 3rd, 4th, and 5th to the middle school, a grade 4-5 orientation, and a June 10 PTO night where incoming parents would meet at the middle school. The group reported that they needed more time, and Supt. Lusi noted that for a future agenda.

"Don't panic," said Lusi. "It's not realistic to assume that every issue will be addressed by June 1 [the last planned meeting of the TAC] but we'll at least have a plan for addressing them going forward."

Committee members report back from breakout

The Portsmouth transition advisory committee met for the first time tonight to plan for school reconfiguration following the closing of Elmhurst Elementary. The two-hour meeting at the Middle School was largely devoted to surfacing issues, as the 23 participants spent time in two rounds of breakout groups to brainstorm key success factors and transportation and re-districting plans. The session was facilitated by Supt. Susan Lusi, and finance director Mark Dunham was on hand to answer questions. Two members of the school committee, Marge Levesque and Sylvia Wedge, were there to listen.

The evening began with an exercise to set group norms, and one parent put the goal succinctly: "We may be from different places, but we're all on one team right now." (Ed. note: Since this is an ad-hoc committee, while it is open to the public, a lot of the discussions are meant to be exploratory and brainstorm-y, so I will report on these sessions without attribution, under the Chatham House Rule.)

The group split into four tables for the first breakout on key factors, and all the tables came back with many of the same elements: the importance of getting busing right, integrating the parent-teacher organizations, after-school activities for 4th and 5th graders and the late bus implications, a comprehensive communications plan for all stakeholders, ensuring smooth asset relocation (books, IT). A huge issue, most agreed, was "easing anxiety," both for the students, and also for the parents — and staff. And as one parent beautifully phrased it: "Keeping the 4th grade experience as close to the same as possible — keeping it 'elementary.'"

A key recurring question was "who goes where," and Lusi admitted that not all the answers are known either for students or staff. "There are union contracts, and that discussion has started, but it hasn't finished," she said. But, she noted, the administration had met with the Elmhurst staff, and they aimed to develop a teacher preference sheet similar to what was used for the move of the 5th grade two years ago. Teachers would be able to express their preference and, said Lusi, "We were able to meet most of them."

The answer to where students go was the subject of the second breakout where the groups brainstormed the criteria that should be used to develop a busing plan and method for reassigning students. And again, there was a lot of commonality across the tables, with two large buckets of answers: aiming to minimize bus time, regardless of impact, or developing a plan that would be least disruptive. There was a general sense that keeping siblings together, and respecting natural neighborhood boundaries made sense, but there was a strong theme that began to emerge in the discussion following the report back of taking a clean-slate approach to redrawing the 'district' boundaries.

"By mixing everyone up, that will go a long way toward making Elmhurst parents feel that it's not just them, that it's the whole town," said one parent. Added another, "That would help with the culture of the schools — there wouldn't be any of that 'we're Hathaway letting you Elmhurst kids come in.'" One parent with military experience noted that Navy families are familiar with this kind of change. "Put everyone in a pool and redistrict the whole town. We do it all the time — and we change towns, and churches, too, and the kids do fine." "I would rather switch it all up now," said another, "I'd rather see that long-term goal right up front." And, added another, "It could cause excitement in a good way."

The general sense that emerged was to request the administration to get the bus company to generate two or three possible plans and bring them back to a subsequent meeting so the committee could think through their impacts on the town. Dunham agreed to take that on, with the caveat that the RI Dept. of Education had not yet approved the combined East Bay bus contract, so it might take another couple of weeks to get that information.

One key idea that surfaced was the need to get transportation right in order to reduce parent drop-off and pick-up. There were concerns that any increased anxiety around buses could make parents decide to drive their kids, with impacts on the morning and afternoon traffic flow at the schools as well as office staff time.

Before adjourning, the group took a few minutes to reflect on takeaways. They noted the number of common themes that had emerged. They agreed that it was important that all the meetings were open to the public and that information was accessible (the writeups of flipcharts and meeting notes will be posted on the district web site). And, significantly, that the group had rapidly aligned this evening around a shared purpose. "I think there were visions of catfights and screaming," said one parent, "But everyone seems to have common goals."

Next meeting will be Tuesday, May 18, 6:30-8:30 pm. Also, there is a planned meeting of the Portsmouth Middle School PTO for new 4th and 5th grade parents planned (more info to follow.)

Correction: Earlier version of this post had a date for the PTO meeting, which is now being rescheduled.