A random drug search is underway Friday morning at Old Rochester Regional High School.  More than a half dozen cruisers and K9 units from Mattapoisett, Stoughton, Weymouth, Yarmouth and Plymouth County Sheriff aided in the search.

The search is one of a few scheduled each year in order to ensure the school and students are in compliance with drug laws.  As of 9:00 am, nothing had been found.  We will update this story as more information becomes available.

               The Rochester School Committee met at the Town Hall on Thursday night for their monthly meeting.  Superintendent Doug White began the meeting with his report.  He highlighted newly released information from the state regarding MCAS. According to the new numbers, the entire Old Rochester district has consistently scored above the state averages in reading, math, and science.  A special presentation detailing the MCAS was scheduled but due to the lack of a digital projector, was postponed until November’s meeting.

                  Then Director of Curriculum and Instruction, Elise Frangos, briefed the committee on her report, which focused on the success of the September 26 professional development afternoon.  Each school in the district hosted a different workshop to improve the performance and abilities of teachers.

                  Frangos also said that over 800 fourth through eighth grade students from the Tri-Town will be participating in a bread-baking outreach program as part of the King Arthur Flour Grand Project.

                  “As part of the program, children will be learning about the history of bread and how to bake their own bread,” Frangos said.  King Arthur Flour would donate the materials to the students and they would bake bread at home as part of the program.

                  The Committee voted in favor of proceeding with the King Arthur Flour project.

                  Frangos also mentioned the up-coming parent-teacher education forum, to be held on Wednesday, October 24 at Old Rochester Junior High Library. It will be led by Katie Collins, RN, and will include topics like eating disorders, self-injury, social and physical impacts of puberty and how to support children with difficult peer relationships.

                  “It’s a great way to understand adolescents and how they’re growing up, as well as how to deal with the concerns they have or their friends have,” she said.

                  Then, Dr. Moira Rodgers, RMS principal, gave her report.

                  “One of the most dramatic things that happened in the past month was the lock-down the building had on September 11.  It just reinforced for me the virtues of being prepared,” Rodgers said.

                  She spoke with Police Chief Magee about the procedures for safely responding to dangerous situations.  They had discussed holding a lock-down drill in October.

                  “There were no safety threats to the children or the community, but I have to say I was very impressed with the staff and student response.  It was truly impressive that the people followed the protocol and managed the situation perfectly.”

                  She added that better walkie-talkies would help the staff stay in better contact with one another during emergency situations.

                  “As principal, it was apparent to me that that’s a real need, as well as contact out on the recess field,” Rodgers said.

                  The larger school building makes for some challenges with the present radio system and Rodgers is looking to purchase new walkie-talkies in the near future.

                  In addition, Rodgers said that her “Coffee with the Principal” program has been successful so far and will be holding two more dates, on Tuesday, October 9 from 6:30 pm to 7:00 pm and Friday, October 19, from 9:00 am to 10:00 am.

                  “I look forward to meeting with more parents,” she said.

                  Ryan McGee, the Rochester technology director, then offered his quarterly report which highlighted the diverse use of technology in RMS classrooms, such as using iPod audio books to help reading fluency and posting video math tutorials to classroom websites.  Creating new ways to use technology to educate is something that the staff has largely supported and embraced.

                  “We’re definitely looking to share all of our resources, talents and skills,” he said.  “We’re having a parent night in November, but we’re working on dates.  We’re trying to get the community involved, get the schools involved.”

                  After the Committee approved the minutes from past meetings, White offered his financial update.

                  “As of the end of the month, we have $477,626 remaining, which is 8.57% of the budget remaining,” he said.

                  White bullet-pointed a few line items on the budget report.

                  “As you know one of the areas that jumps out is the principal’s line. That is actually a result of us having an out-going principal an in-coming principal,” he said, which required RMS to pay out a larger amount of salary due to the overlap.

                  He noted savings resulting from the shuffling of personnel around the district and from a new transportation contract for students who attend Bristol Agricultural High School.

                  “We have also have some students who may have some needs that aren’t being met by this budget,” he said.  “Building the budget on what you know compared to what you have, there may be the need for some transfers from other places.”

                  Committee vice chair Sharon Hartley was concerned about the costs of school utilities versus what is reflected in the budget, citing a potential shortfall of funds later in time.

                  “If that continues, that would leave us in a difficult position,” she said.

                   White continued the meeting with a discussion regarding the creation of a new superintendent evaluation tool that would allow fair judgment of the position across the different district school committees.

                  “I’m looking for some guidance from each of the committees and what your thought process is and how we can guide this,” he said, noting that different schools may prioritize performance standards differently.

                  White is responsible for creating an annual self-assessment in addition to being subject to the evaluation of his performance by district teachers and administrators.

                  “If I came in and I said I wanted to focus in on family and community, and the committee wanted me to focus on curriculum and instruction, where are we on that? What’s the work that needs to be done to address that?” White said.  “My suggestion would be the committee give their information to the chairs, and I meet regularly with them, then they can guide me.”

In other business:

•The Committee voted to accept a donation of $2,691.25 from Target, via the retailer’s Take Charge of Education initiative.

•Mark Ponte was hired to replace Teah Mazzoni as third grade teacher.  Mazzoni was recently appointed the ORR district ELL Specialist.

•The School Committee voted to adopt the new emergency response plan for RMS.  The complete plan is available in the school’s main office.

•Terri Hamm spoke to the Committee about the need for the addition of a new paraprofessional position to reinforce the special education needs of RMS students.  The school has hired a temporary sub to assist special needs students in transition, but she said there may be a need to create a permanent position this year.  The matter will be discussed further at the Committee’s November meeting.

                  The next meeting of the Rochester School Committee will be held on Thursday, November 1, 2012, at 6:30 pm at the Town Hall.

                  By Eric Tripoli

The Marion School Committee met on Wednesday, October 3 for a regular meeting followed by an executive session. Elise Frangos, Director of Curriculum and Instruction, presented an MCAS update in which she explained Massachusetts’ switch from using Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) to the Progress and Performance Index (PPI) for school assessment.

Her presentation demonstrated the process for calculating PPI, which involves measuring the proficiency gap, dividing it by two, and adding it to the school’s baseline. The figure resulting from this calculation is the goal for each school to complete by the 2016-2017 school year.

PPI is a departure from AYP in that each school will have its own goal (reducing the proficiency gap by half by the target date). Under the previous system of AYP, schools were expected to meet 100 percent proficiency by the 2013-2014 school year.

PPI is calculated over the course of four years, with each successive year carrying more weight. Because of the poor 2011 MCAS scores, Sippican Elementary School’s PPI score falls short of its target of 75 by two points. This classifies Sippican Elementary as a Level Two school.

“You’re carrying the weight of the past years into the future,” Frangos said.

She will continue her presentation on PPI at the next meeting of the Committee, when she will discuss the PPI data for each grade level and content area.

Rania Lavranos, Co-Chairman of VASE, sought approval from the Committee for a gift card fundraiser. The fundraiser would allow for community members to purchase gift cards from over 500 popular retailers through Sippican Elementary, which would receive a portion of the sales.

The fundraiser was approved unanimously.

VASE is also seeking new members, particularly parents who would be interested in serving as the Co-Chairmen next year. Those interested in joining VASE may contact the current Co-Chairmen by emailing vase@orr.mec.edu.

“It’s a lot of fun, it’s very rewarding,” Lavranos said. “Someone will step up. Someone will do it.”

The Committee also approved the travel destination for the Safety Patrol trip. Parents and students overwhelmingly selected Williamsburg over Philadelphia and New York City. The proposed itinerary includes two days of academic tours and one day of non-academic, which would be conducted at Busch Gardens.

Brad Gordon, Committee Chairman and past Safety Patrol chaperone, spoke highly of the travel company but questioned the itinerary’s inclusion of an amusement park.

Ultimately, the Committee voted to approve the itinerary and defer to the administrators regarding the day trip to Busch Gardens.

Finally, the Committee heard from fourth grade teachers about the grading pilot. This year, the fourth grade teachers are foregoing letter grades in favor of a number system with extensive feedback for students. The hope is that the pilot will foster students’ growth by building one-on-one conversation between teacher and student, as well as ease the transition into the letter grade system.

Overall, the teachers thought well of the grading pilot; however, its true merits will not be measured until the school receives this year’s MCAS growth projectiles and feedback from parents.

In other business:

• The Committee approved an updated Emergency Plan.

• The Committee granted the kindergarten teachers permission to use the Massachusetts Kindergarten Entry Assessment (an intensive pilot program in which they are participating) in place of the traditional report card assessment.

• Elise Frangos announced a parent-teacher education forum entitled “Understanding Your Pre-Adolescent and Adolescent” to be led by Kathryn Collins on Wednesday, October 24. The free event, open to the public, will begin at 6:00 pm at the ORRJHS library. Collins will discuss eating disorders, self-harm, the physical and social impact of puberty, as well as how parents can support their children with difficult peer relationships.

• Principal Evelyn Rivet asked parents to visit the school’s website and take a survey about the open house procedures. Only 33 parents have taken the survey thus far.

• The Committee voted to accept two donations, one $500 donation in gift cards from the Visiting Nurses Association and one $25,000 cash donation to the Principal’s Account by an anonymous donor.

The next regular meeting of the Marion School Committee will be on Wednesday, November 7 at 6:30 pm at the Town House.

By Anne Smith