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11:45:45 pm Mattapoisett School Committee - November 9, 2009

Categories: Mattapoisett

A regular meeting of the Mattapoisett School Committee was called to order at 7:06 pm by Chairman Grace Knox on Monday, November 9, 2009 at the Center School Cafeteria. Also in attendance were committee members Ginny Beams, Joyce LaVoie, Charles Motta, Vice Chairman Jerry Johnson, Old Hammondtown Principal Matt DiAndrea, Center School Principal Rose Bowman and Superintendent Dr. William Cooper.

The meeting began with a presentation by Mike Walsh from Ad Tech Technologies. Mr. Walsh presented multi-purpose white boards called Eno Boards that serve not only as the writing tool they are commonly used for in classrooms, but as a new form of technology that allows a computer screen to be displayed on it as well. The boards, which contain no wires and are made out of porcelain, allow the teacher or student to use an interactive pen to serve as the mouse. The teacher would also have the ability to access the board from anywhere in the room by using the pen on a mini-slate version of the board.

How the board works deals with its relationship with the interactive pen. The board basically has baked-in Braille that the pen reads. A magnetic toolbar which allows the user to erase, change fonts and colors and hundreds of other applications can be placed anywhere on the board or even off of it, as long as it is being touched by the pen. If the toolbar is missing, the user can pull up one on the screen.

Mr. Walsh lit a lighter and held it to the board to show that no harm could come to it. The boards have a lifetime warranty, including the guarantee that markers will not stain the board, a common problem with white boards. The interactive pen has a two-year warranty, which covers everything including physical damage. The Eno Boards come in two sizes; a six-foot diagonal board is $1,400 and an eight-foot diagonal board is $1,735.

Chairman Knox thanked Mattapoisett Police Officer Mitch Suzan for personally escorting the two lead candidates for the Superintendent's position to the school and giving them a personal tour of Mattapoisett. Mr. White, who will be the next Superintendent, is still negotiating a contract with the school and waiting on a start date. The latest he will begin the position will be mid-January.

Three financial matters came before the Board. $2,300 that was issued to OHS in an insurance settlement will be able to go to technology after it was originally supposed to be going towards replacing desks, and $50,000 will be going to Center School as a result of the rain leak. From the $750,000 that OHS received from insurance because of sprinklers going off last school year, $62,744.43 went to the legal fees from the settlement; Further, subtract $490,676.46 for the funds that the Town provided from the General Fund to get the School open and operational, which includes both work and legal costs, a total of $196,579.11 is left.

Superintendent Cooper brought up the issue of H1N1 and the massive amount of absent students, especially in the high school. He stated that the seasonal flu has not affected this area much at all and that "anyone with flu-like symptoms probably has some form of H1N1." He said the highest one day amount of absent students at the high school was 120 out of the roughly 700 students, although only 83 were absent on the Monday the meeting took place. He stated that the only real threat of schools being closed was if large numbers of the faculty were absent due to illness. Dr. Cooper said he is still hopeful that an early December H1N1 Flu Shot Clinic will take place.

OHS Principal Matthew DiAndrea announced that three teachers from Thailand had visited students in all three grades and it was a great learning experience. He also stated that the Rachel's Challenge Kickoff Program began, which tries to implement kindness and compassion in how students interact with each other. Center School Principal Rose Bowman also commented on the teachers from Thailand, as they taught the third graders to dance in their native style. Most impressively, she noted, was the fact that the boys had to partner up with the girls.

Principal DiAndrea asked the Board when he would be able to disperse the 19 computers that had been bought with the insurance money from the sprinkler incident. He was informed that he would be able to do so soon, and that most likely Special Ed teachers would be the first to receive them.

The meeting was adjourned at 9:08 pm. No Executive Session was held.

By Adam T. Silva

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