At the last meeting of the School Committee, members of the NEASC steering committee, Brian Borde and Michelle Kreuzer gave an update on the status of NEASC preparations.

Committee member Keohane asked for an explanation of NEASC and if participation was required. NEASC is the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. Here is a definition of purpose from their website:

The New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC) provides accreditation services for more than 2000 public and private institutions in the six state region – Pre-K through university. Emanating from high quality standards, NEASC accreditation uses self-reflection, peer review and best practices as integral components of its assessment process and monitors the follow-up endeavors leading to continuous school/program improvement. NEASC consists of six Commissions, each of which sets the standards for a particular segment of the educational community.

Participation is voluntary but that is not really an option. Dr. Drottar accompanied Mr. Borde and ms. Kreuzer. It appears he will be helping shepard the school through what is considered a very arduous process. Committee member Pavlicek who has been involved in the process as a faculty member at Bridgewater State.

NEASC has agreed to a request from Milton to change the dates of the visit to 11/6 – 11/9. Borde and Kreuzer reported that the materials required are being prepared and tasks are tracking well. They are in process of completing their 2 and 5 year targeted plans for improvement.

If all goes well the school will be accredited for another 10 year term which is the maximum length of time a school can receive.

Other business included but was not limited to:

• The committee accepted a series of donations. The Copeland Foundation donated $12,150 for smartboards. Smartboards are interactive whiteboards used throughout the grades. The Friends and Advocates of the Visual Arts (FAVA) donated $2,000 also for smartboards. Norfolk DA Morrissey donated $250 to support safe graduation activities. And the schools received a total of $5,200 from the “Salute to the Arts” co-generational event sponsored by Fuller Village.
• The committee passed a motion to provide funds to repair roof ducts. In hindsight it is possible that the building committee may have been a little too over aggressive in what they”value engineerd” out of the new school construction. In any event repairs are needed. Committee member Walker was reluctant to pass a motion to allocate funding without a clear funding source in place. The school building fund has enough in its account to cover the repair but the committee has not voted to release the funds. He preferred to allocate the funds from the department’s revolving fund. A compromise of sorts was reached. If the building committee fails to vote to release funds in a timely fashion the funds will come out of the revolving account. The amount is estimated to be ~$120,000.
• A 5th grade teacher needs to be reinstated. The school administration had anticipated the population do decrease. That did not happen and the schools need to bring the position back. Superintendent Gormley, who was unable to attend the evening’s session due to a family committment, had asked Matt Gillis to “scrub” the books for funds. He did and was able to uncover $100K in a federal jobs fund bill that can be applied to rehiring for the position.