In a brief Budget Subcommittee report to the Rochester School Committee on January 18, Superintendent of Schools Mike Nelson said the process has shown momentum. The next steps, he said, will be to invite key town stakeholders such as town administrators and Finance Committee representatives.
“At this point, one of our top priorities includes securing professional-development funds to support teachers’ adult learning regarding literacy,” said Nelson. “It is our hope that in the upcoming school committee meetings we will be able to hold our annual budget public hearing so that our stakeholders can hear the work that we’ve done and ultimately the school committee can consider taking official action to approve the FY23 budget for consideration at the spring Town Meeting.”
Committee Chairperson Sharon Hartley reiterated Nelson’s outlook, saying it helps to meet with town officials in order to clarify the school committee’s goals and needs as the process moves forward.
ORR’s six schools have been going through a tiered-focus monitoring process that Nelson said has also been known as the CPR audit. The district’s schools were recently examined by the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) for their special education programs and civil-rights regulations.
The process included self-assessment and interviews of faculty, staff and special-needs parents, data inspection and visits from DESE representatives. Director of Student Services Craig Davidson was happy to note that Rochester was found to be in full compliance and that there is no corrective action required at this time.
Committee member Anne Fernandes cited “the whole nine yards” in describing the comprehensive effort that it always takes to complete the required audit. Nelson credited Davidson for his work on a cumbersome process and working his way through received feedback.
The Rochester School Committee viewed the proposed 2022-23 school calendar for the first time. The committee gives the ORR District Central Office its feedback, but the Joint School Committee is the body which votes on the calendar.
The opening day of the 2022-23 school calendar is Tuesday, August 30, with faculty reporting the day prior. Labor Day weekend will see off days on Friday, September 2 and 5. Monday, October 10, there will be no school for Columbus/Indigenous People’s Day. The Thanksgiving break is planned for November 23-27, and Christmas vacation begins with an early-release day on Thursday, December 22 and would run through Monday, January 2. Monday, January 16 is Martin Luther King Day, and the next day ORR will hold a full professional-development day. Monday, May 29 is Memorial Day. With no cancellations, Friday, June 16, 2023 would be the last day of school.
Fernandes questioned the merits of a three-day school week in January and posited the idea of moving the professional-development day scheduled for the same week as Martin Luther King Day. Nelson explained that the goal was to create as many five-day school weeks as possible but that he understands Fernandes’ concern and told the committee that all the feedback from the individual towns will go back to the JSC.
In his report to the committee, Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations Howie Barber said that RMS has approximately $626,000 of available funds remaining from its annual operating budget. Barber also offered a summary comparison in school lunches served; based on December numbers, RMS has quadrupled its food service from a year ago.
Hartley asked Barber about the funding for meals in the 2022-23 school year. Barber said the USDA has yet to provide guidance. “We’re still trying to be as confident as we can be with the respective offerings that we want to continue to provide, but I think we’re at a little bit of a standstill until we hear further information from the USDA,” said Barber.
At Hartley’s request, administrators’ and subcommittee reports including the regular report from Rochester Memorial School Principal Derek Medeiros was postponed until the committee’s next regular meeting on February 3.
The Rochester School Committee entered executive session and only returned to adjourn the public meeting. The next meeting of the committee is scheduled for Thursday, February 3, at 6:30 pm.
Rochester School Committee
By Mick Colageo