CAPE Meeting- Monday, March 23rd at 7 PM

The Canton Alliance for Public Education (CAPE) will be holding a special open meeting on Monday March 23 at 7 p.m. at the Armando Recreation Center, 92 Pleasant Street. We are looking for suggestions as to how CAPE should best support the Canton Public Schools with monies raised from the popular town-wide annual Spelling Bee and Honor Thy Teacher campaign.

CAPE is also looking to fill several board positions, including treasurer. All are welcome. Please contact current president Kristin Mirliani with any questions at kjbmirliani@me.com .

2015-2016 School Year Calendar Approved by SC

This evening the Canton School Committee voted to approve the 2015-2016 School Year Calendar. You can review the calendar by clicking on the following link.

Please note that  the first day for teachers will be on September 1st, with students in Grades 1-12 beginning their school year on September 3rd.  Pre Kindergarten and Kindergarten classes will begin on September 8th.

FY 16 Capital Budget Requests

Here is a link to a breakdown of the CPS FY 16 Capital Budget Requests.  The School Committee voted in December to go forward with $550,000 in Cash Capital requests. These requests are divided among the following areas of need:

-Building Repairs/Improvement  $234,544
-Technology                                 $93,116
-Program Improvements              $174,382
-Furniture & Fixtures                   $37,958
-Extraordinary Maintenance        $10,000

In addition, the Committee voted to move forward with $840,000 in Long Term Debt Capital Requests.  The two areas that these requests focus on are the;

-Classroom Interactive Projector Project                           $300,000

-School Buses (6) related to the district's attempt to create later start times for our high school students.                                                                              $540,000

We will be meeting with the Capital Planning Committee tonight and the Finance Committee in March to discuss these capital budget requests.

MCAS & MA State Frameworks with Common Core Information Session TONIGHT

This is just a reminder that TONIGHT at 7 p.m., the elementary principals, curriculum director and I will be providing an overview of the implementation of the Massachusetts State Frameworks with Common Core standards over the past three years as well as anticipated MCAS preparation for March.  Both of these topic overviews have been requested by our community.  This presentation will occur at the JFK Elementary School cafeteria. 

We hope you can join us.

Thank You To Our Bus Drivers

I would like to thank the Connolly & Sons Bus company and the district's bus drivers for doing a fantastic job in driving our students to and from school in the aftermath of the recent snow storms we have all had to endure.  While the town and schools have done a top-notch job getting our roads and parking lots ready, it is the drivers of these buses who have maneuvered through some challenging situations to deliver our children safely to each school.

Driving a bus under typical weather conditions is a challenge unto itself, but add in records amount of snow and that job is exponentially more challenging.

Thank you and great job!

The Superintendent's Corner-News and Updates From Around the District

Good afternoon.  I want to welcome you to the Superintendent's Blog.  Across the district, you see a variety of blog posts being used to communicate matters of importance and I am happy to join these talented educators and administrators so that I can keep you up to date on matters pertaining to the Canton Public Schools.

By no means am I an expert in this area but I look forward to using this 21st century tool to stay in touch with you and to highlight the great things going on around our district.  At the very least, it will be one more way that I can update you on snow-related events (hopefully not!!).

Status of School Start Times

I wanted to update you on where the District is with regards to making any substantive changes to the start time at the high school.  The School Committee's Start Time subcommittee has been investigating and considering ways to bring about a later start time for our high school students.  Much of that work has been a follow up to work done by previous start time committees.  Last week, the committee presented information to the school committee on what they have come up with regarding this topic.

At last week's meeting, the SC made it clear that making a substantive change to the high school start time was a separate issue from a possible rotation of the elementary tiers. I know that topic has caused concern and raised questions, but it was noted that the rotation of elementary tiers is not contingent upon having the high school students having a later start time.  As of now, the SC is acting only on the proposed change to allow for CHS to start later and they did indeed vote to advance a change in start time to better meet the needs of our high school age children. 

This move would entail having the district move from four start time tiers to three and, while having a major impact on the high school start time, it would also slightly alter the start times at all of our schools.  To make this proposed change happen, the Committee voted to purchase an additional six buses to allow for the high school and middle school to ride on the same tier.  The purchase of these buses would be part of our long term debt capital budget.  The costs associated with having six new employees along with running and maintaining six new buses is figured into our preliminary operating budget for next year.  The SC also voted to have, as part of this plan, a transportation fee increase of $50 per rider to help offset the costs of making this change.

If this proposal is able to be funded in the final budget, the projected tiers would be as follows:

Tier 1- GMS-7:50-2:10

            CHS- 8:00- 2:24

Tier 2*- Elementary A & B 8:35-2:50

Tier 3*- Elementary C & St. John 9:05-3:20

(*until a final decision is made on the possible rotation of the elementary/St. John tiers, we do not know what schools will be on the last two tiers)

Whether tiers 2 & 3 were to rotate at some point is still being assessed by the SC and they plan to decide that matter soon because of the impact it could have on staff and parents. (A recent article on the SC vote made it appear that the rotation of elementary tiers was also voted on but it has not been voted yet).  I will keep you updated on any new information that comes forward.

Proposed School Year Calendar for 2015-16

Below is the proposed school year calendar for 2015-16.  The School. Committee had a first read at last night's meeting.  It will be read again at the February 26 meeting and voted on at that time.

Items of note include a September 1 return date for teachers and staff.  Students in grades 1-12 would begin classes on September 3rd and Pre K and K would begin on September 8th.  The projected last day of school on this version is Monday, June 20th.

http://www.cantonma.org/files/_BGCDL_/c4397af80bc664fe3745a49013852ec4/Updated_Calendar_2015-16_Blog.pdf

Proposed Hansen Roof Project

The School Committee voted to move forward with a Statement of  Interest (SOI) to the Massachusetts School Building Authority (MSBA) regarding a planned roof project at the Hansen Elementary School.  This is the first step to try and secure reimbursement from the MSBA for the cost of the project through their Accelerated Repair Program.  The district was successful last year in getting funding through this program for the replacement of the doors and windows at the GMS and Hansen.

This project, if approved, is scheduled to take place in FY17, The earliest that work would begin would be in the summer of 2016.  The next step is to bring this to the Board of Selectmen to gain their approval of the SOI, before it is sent into the MSBA.

Current Last Day of School

Due to the number of snow days we have had to utilize over the past two weeks, the district's updated "last day of school" is Thursday, June 25th.  Please plan accordingly.

Upcoming CPACSS Workshop on February 11th

The Canton Parent Advisory Council for Student Services (CPACSS) will hold their monthly workshop on Wednesday, February 11th at 7 PM in the CHS Library.

The topic for this month's workshop is "Transition Planning for Middle School and High School Student".  Massachusetts law requires Transition Planning to begin at age 14. Coordinated transition preparation promotes better post school outcomes for students with disabilities. This workshop addresses the development of self-advocacy and self-determination skills to support a student’s vision, how Transition Assessments identify students’ strengths, and how the Transition Planning Form guides planning for meaningful opportunities in education, training, employment and independent living.

CHS Art Students on Display

Congratulations to the following CHS students who have had some of their artwork put on display at the State Transportation Building.  The wonderful artists are:

Tiana Chu

Melody DeMers

Holly Gibbs

Molly Grey

Julia Guerni

Julia Kent

Kristen Pezzone

Caterina Polito

Olivia Stevens

Christine Ward

Shannon Whalen

Revised Tuition Rates for Rodman Preschool

After  a brief presentation by the Director of Student Services, Ms. Debra Bromfield, at last night's School Committee meeting, the School Committee voted to approve the new rate schedule for the 2015-16 school year.

Starting in September, the following are the annual tuition rates for the District's preschool programs:

2 Day Program (10 Hours total)- $2,400

3 Day Program (15 Hours total)- $3,600

4 Day Program (16 Hours total)- $4,500

4 Day Program (20 Hours total)- $4,800

5 Day Program (25 Hours total)- $6,000