The School Committee has added another public comment time before the budget is voted on:  before the March 21st meeting, there will be the traditional 30 minutes available for 3-minute statements by the public.  I’m not sure if there will be time at the end of the meeting as well, if there are still speakers.  The School Committee is expecting not only public statements, but also emails to their address, schoolcommittee@newton.k12.ma.us.

Tonight’s meeting focused on proposed changes at the elementary, middle and high schools, as well as technology.

Elementary Schools:

What is preserved:

• average class size
• opportunities for small group instruction for literacy
• support for math differentiation and intervention
• 4th and 5th grade instrumental music
• library classes for all students

What is improved:

• support for math differentiation and intervention
• increased literacy support at the 2 largest elementary schools (Countryside and Memorial-Spaulding)

What is not preserved:

• 4th grade chorus
• 3rd grade recorder [The curriculum coordinator is working with music teachers to find a way to work the recorder into the music curriculum.  This is currently the only opportunity to use an instrument and to learn to read music available for free for all students.]
• 60 minutes of art time (now reduced to 45 minutes)
• current level of library coverage [Classes will still be held for K – 5, but other support functions provided by the librarians will be reduced.  Countryside will have a full-time librarian, but other schools will have librarians three or four days.]
• coverage for meetings, professional development and lunchtime  [This cut provides the largest savings.]

The SC discussed these changes, and asked for clarification on a variety of points, including the current class time for art and music, how class size will be affected, how the reduced coverage will affect the school day and the staff, and what the changes mean for planning time and collaboration between the teachers.

Middle Schools:  [A 121-student increase in enrollment is predicted, with about 70 of that number predicted for Day alone]

What is preserved:

• middle school model and schedule
• 4-person teams [This means that every teacher will teach in their area of expertise.]
• music/art/technology/wellness/6th grade drama
• guidance ratios

What is improved:

• support for literacy instruction

What is not preserved:

• Latin  [This subject does not affect all students and the change will not impact class sizes.  It will have a negative effect on the high school Latin program, however.]
• 7th and 8th grade drama [Further cuts into the middle school arts program would greatly affect class sizes and require study halls to deal with this problem.  This cut is not predicted to affect afterschool drama productions.]
• FY11 team size [Some team sizes will be slightly greater than 100.]
• class size in special area subjects
• office support at Bigelow and Oak Hill [This will primarily effect part-time employees in the morning who work on attendance and other support.  It will require a shuffling of responsibilities, and the schools will not be able to meet needs as well as in the past.]

SC comments and discussion included the proposal to phase out Latin more gradually, so that the current Latin students continue their studies in this area, but there would be no new students next year; the number of additional teachers needed to bring class size to an acceptable level; and what a 3-teacher team would look like in the middle schools.

High Schools:

What is preserved:

• student choice on course selection
• ability to take 2 classes in a subject
• electives:  art/media art/theatre/music [These areas will most likely see some cuts, but both high schools will still have a rich program.]
• guidance ratio
• libraries [This area was cut recently and so was kept as it is.]
• career and tech ed

What is not preserved:

• current class size [An increase in the number of courses with more than 25 students is expected to increase.]
• reduced breadth and depth of course offerings

The SC discussion focused on how the high schools are trying to equalize the student-to-teacher ratios in both schools and how they determine the class schedule, balancing the different curricula.  The principals will try to process the student course selections as soon as possible so that the SC will have an idea where the staff cuts will be.  The effect of staff cuts were also discussed in a general way, including the idea that part of the cuts will mean larger class sizes and the other part will affect the variety of courses offered and the possibility of limits in certain classes.  Finally, the use of online courses as a less expensive way to provide breadth of programming was discussed and challenged.

Technology:

Technology is level funded this year.  The discussion underscored the reduced technology support from the cuts in librarian FTEs, but also addressed the improvements in the networks at the middle and high schools to support the possibility of one-to-one computing.

If I’ve missed anything or gotten anything wrong, please let me know.  Otherwise, the next meeting is Thursday night at 7 p.m. at the Ed Center, and will focus on Special Education, ELL, Curriculum & Instruction, Professional Development, and Career & Tech Ed.