At their December meeting, the MSAD 15 board learned of Gray-New Gloucester High School’s ranking by U.S. News and World Report, approved creation of a Bond Committee, considered alternatives to NEASC accreditation and more.
Recognition. Portland Arts and Technology High School (PATHS ) recognized the following Gray-New Gloucester High School students as Student-of-the-Quarter: Thomas Ladd in Carpentry, Will Carter in Automotive Technology II, and Phillip Soule in Music.
High School Band All New England Band Festival, Plymouth State University recognized Annabelle Reynolds, Peter Curcio, Brodyn Fenton, and Quinn Lamoureux.
High School Band District II Regional Honors Music Festival (Band) recognized Quinn Lamoureux, and Zachary Murphy.
High School Chorus District II Regional Honors Music Festival (Chorus) recognized Ireland Muncie, Coura Richardson, Kyleigh Bailey, Kiley Morrison, Lucy Collins, Makayla Gill, Isabelle Reynolds, Kaylee-Ann Martey, Alex MacVicar, Mia Reiling, Zachary Murphy, and Marcus Wile.
Middle School Band District II Regional Honors Music Festival (Band) recognized Hazel Waterman.
Middle School Chorus District II Regional Honors Music Festival (Chorus) recognized Isana Bell, Isibella Hulit, Jeidy Varela, Finley Bishop, Laila Anjjar, Colleen Buruga, Ainsley Harris, Benjamin Fortin, Isaac Colby, and Sawyer Cote.
Carter Libby won 2nd Place at the Cross Country Maine State Meet and was recognized as an All-New England Runner.
U.S. News and World Report Top Rankings placed Gray-New Gloucester High School as 16th out of 111 schools across the State.
Alternative options for NEASC. Before providing a very thorough presentation to the Board about the Great Schools Partnership (GSP), Principal Sadie Grealish and Assistant Principal Jade Costello assured the Board and public that Gray-New Gloucester High School and MSAD 15 are dedicated to school improvement, reviewing current practices, and making sure that all staff are using best practices to align with the Strategic Plan.
Also as a reminder, Ms. Grealish shared that the district has been looking for alternatives to New England Association of Schools and Colleges (NEASC), which assesses, supports, and promotes quality education through accreditation. GNGHS has found that the process provides limited impact on growth and that limited district professional development time and limited resources have made the NEASC process unwieldy. Many schools across New England are facing the same choice: to focus more on a School Improvement Plan approach versus a surface-level report of accreditation. Schools that have chosen to step away from NEASC report no negative impacts on students’ college acceptances or scholarships.
During the presentation comparing NEASC to Great School Partnership (GSP), it became obvious that GSP is prepared to focus on the district’s strategic plan and will provide more feedback (a report twice every ten years as opposed to once every ten years). GNGHS administration stated that this will involve more rigorous self evaluation and self reflection in all important areas: from academic expectations and assessment practices, to teacher recruitment and retention.
GSP will utilize Global Best Practices to assist in reviewing learning standards, organizational structure, leadership models, teaching strategies, professional development, and student outcomes in relation to research on high-performing educational systems and research-based practices.
Moving away from NEASC and working with GSP will not only provide positive impacts on School Improvement, administrators said, but it will also save the district money (about $22,000 over a ten-year cycle). Breaking away from NEASC will not impact students’ relationship with higher learning institutions because it will ensure that a system of school improvement and instructional accountability is in place. Portland’s high schools stopped working with NEASC about 10 years ago because of similar concerns about cost and effectiveness and have not seen adverse impacts from the change.
The Board unanimously passed a motion to accept the Administration’s recommendation that NEASC be replaced with GSP and allowing administrative staff to manage the details.
STEM presentation. Middle School STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) teacher Calvin Vaillancourt was joined by two Middle School students, Ida Waterman and Elizabeth Keith. They presented the Board with some of the work of the Middle School STEM program. Mr. Vaillancourt challenges his students to use prior knowledge, flexibility, and creativity. Ida and Elizabeth took a moment to thank the Board for providing the funds for the STEM curriculum before explaining and demonstrating how they are able to control and manipulate simple objects like soda cans, using hydraulics and simple materials.
Update on Ad Hoc Transportation Committee. Earlier this school year the MSAD 15 School Board formed a special committee to address specific student transportation-related challenges faced by the district, identify possible solutions, and recommend one or more solutions to enact. Board Chair Sam Pfeifle presented the final report of this committee. The report outlines the formation of the committee, its objectives, the methodology used to define the challenges and analyze proposed solutions, and a final set of nine recommendations to the board for addressing the district’s transportation challenges.
The nine recommendations are as follows:
● Early data collection: Opening the Transportation Needs survey at the end of the year rather than over the summer and creating incentives for families to complete the survey before summer will give the dispatcher the necessary time to create the bus routes over the summer.
● Bus driver professionalization: The bus drivers should have continued professional development specific to their positions and they should be included in problem-solving solutions to transportation challenges.
● Local legislator assistance: The district should work with local legislators to express the need for legislation that helps remove barriers to people obtaining their bus license, and express the need for additional funding for programs to address district transportation needs.
● Expand continuing education relationships: The district should establish new and expand existing relationships with continuing education organizations like CMCC, SMCC, Adult Education, and others.
● Expand / SEO: The district should expand their digital footprint to other recruitment sites like ZipRecruiter.com, Indeed.com, CareerBuilder.com, and other appropriate services. Job advertisements should include search engine optimization to improve the chances that the advertisements are seen by people searching for jobs.
● Job Fair: Identify various opportunities for setting up a recruitment and district information table at various local events and businesses including the Gray Blueberry Festival, New Gloucester Community Fair, local businesses like True Value and Hannaford, and local continuing education organizations with career fairs.
● Car Lines: Work with school administrators to identify additional signage and personnel needs in order to improve traffic flow, improve safety, and reduce the reliance on current staff members that could be checking in with students at risk.
● Video and Audio Marketing: Create video and audio recruitment advertisements to be played in various formats at different locations like Smitty’s Movie Theater, cable TV, recruitment tables at job fairs, and local events.
The Board unanimously approved the acceptance of this report and recommended that the Administration follow the recommendations of the report to the best of their ability.
Other business. The Board approved Lawrence Peters for a 1st probationary contract as a Special Education Teacher.
GNG Middle School Math and Science teacher Katie Josephs approached the Board for approval for the annual school-sponsored trip to Washington D.C. GNGMS has partnered with WorldStrides, a tour company that creates itineraries, schedules all visits to all attractions such as museums and monuments, coordinates transportation, and takes payment. GNGMS had hired World Strides for multiple years when the middle school traveled to Washington D.C prior to the pandemic. This is an opt-in trip; it is not expected that every student goes on the trip.
The Board unanimously approved this as per policy IJOA School-Sponsored Trips and Non-School-Sponsored Student Trips.
GNGHS Spanish teacher Jenn Vargas happened to be in the audience and was asked to share information with the Board about two nonschool-sponsored trips that are upcoming.
In February of 2024, in conjunction with EF Tours, she and GNGHS math teacher Rebecca Eugley will be traveling to Italy with 17 students. In April of 2025, again with EF tours, a group of high school students will be traveling to Ecuador under the guidance of Ms. Vargas and Ms. Eugley. This brief presentation was for information only.
MSAD 15 Data Dashboard presentation. Dr. Chanda Turner reviewed the State’s data dashboard with the Board. This ESSA (Every Student Succeeds Act) Data Dashboard provides information about all aspects of a school district from its demographics and high school graduation rates, to post-secondary learners and beyond. The Data Dashboard can be found at https://www.maine.gov/doe/dashboard. It is important to note that when searching for Gray New Gloucester schools in this Dashboard, the District is referred to as RSU15 / MSAD 15.
Dr. Turner expected that data from Spring 2023 would be pushed into the ESSA dashboard before the holiday break and that data may look different over time as state test criteria are perfected and when NWEA re-norms their standards. The current norm measure is from student performance in 2017. An anticipated 2023 norm measure will be released for next year.
Dr. Turner also presented a document provided by the Maine Department of Education to district assessment coordinators across the state as a preview to the state-wide data that will be available in the ESSA Dashboard when 22-23 data is published. The report shares a criterion-referenced analysis of the spring state assessment aligned with Maine Learning Results expectations. State expectations were determined by a committee this past summer and are explained at length in the Maine Department of Education’s Maine Through Year Assessment Reports Interpretive Guide: 23/24 Reading and Math. This state-wide data can serve as a reference point for understanding the same preliminary data specific to MSAD 15.
A supplemental data report looking at student cohort performance from Spring 2023 to Fall 2023 showed some inconsistent data. Dr. Turner explained that while some fluctuation is expected, there appears to be 15-30% improvements from spring to fall for many cohorts, especially at the middle and high school. The fall numbers are more in line with the trends the district is seeing with students than the spring numbers, Dr. Turner explained. Another data sheet looked at the NWEA test analyzed as a norm-referenced assessment and as a criterion-referenced assessment.
Students across the state participated in the NWEA assessment in the spring. The state analyzed students’ responses to produce criterion-referenced reports of student achievement, commonly referred to as the “Maine Through Year.” Additionally, students’ responses were analyzed by NWEA to produce norm-referenced reports of student achievement, commonly referred to as“MAP Growth.” Map Growth are among the reports included on the supplemental data dashboard since its inception.
During this presentation it became clear that MSAD 15 students are performing better than their national peers than they are against state expectations. As this is true for many districts in Maine, Dr. Turner suggested that the State may need to take a look at this.
Updated job descriptions. The Board unanimously approved updates to numerous job descriptions: Van Aide/Bus Aide, Van Driver, Bus Driver, Food Service, Secretary, Ed.Tech. I, Ed. Tech. II, and Ed. Tech. III. Reviewing the various Support Staff job descriptions is part of the contract negotiation process.
Requesting a waiver for lost instructional days due to mass shooting. Superintendent Craig King asked that MSAD 15 be allowed to request a waiver from the Maine Department of Education for the two instructional days lost as a result of the mass shooting incident. There is a state law that mandates days of attendance and following a school calendar. Whether or not the district will utilize these waivered days, if granted, depends on the number or snow days used this winter. Dr. King explained that the administration prefers not to bring the students back after Juneteenth if possible. The Board agreed unanimously to request a waiver from the Maine Department of Education for the two instructional days lost as a result of the mass shooting.
Policies. The Board unanimously approved revisions to policy JKAA Use of Physical Restraint and Seclusion, JKAA-R Procedures on Use of Physical Restraint and Seclusion, and JHB Truancy.
Committee Reports. The Facilities Committee is continuing to update and review the document that Dr. King and others have designed to account for the conditions and needs of the district’s facilities. In conjunction with this they are following the district’s progress in utilizing a previously existing (but not utilized) Assets Management Program. They also reviewed what the committee might be looking ahead to with the bond review process.
The Finance Committee is reviewing the budget process and all that it entails, as well as discussing the bond review process.
The Personnel Committee continues to discuss Bargaining for the Support Staff contract. Reviewing the various Job Descriptions for Support Staff was part of this process as well.
The Curriculum Committee reviewed the presentation that was given to the Board during this meeting.
The Policy Committee reviewed the policies covered at this meeting and are reviewing other policies and preparing them for updating.
School Board Chair Report. In his Chair Report, Sam Pfeifle shared that an Ad Hoc Bond Committee has been formed by the Board. That committee will include four members of the community and will meet for two hours every Tuesday in January. The point of these meetings is to consider all the variables necessary before deciding whether to move forward with a bond for the future of our facilities.
Superintendent Report. New Hires: Rhonda Davis is an Ed Tech I, at the Middle School. Abigail Small has been hired to be a Health Assistant Ed Tech III for the District. Jessica Slaney is a new Ed Tech II at Russell School. Elleena Petersen is a new Ed Tech II at Memorial School. Stephanie Dolan has been hired to be the Nordic Ski Assistant Coach for the High School. Jason Homer is a new Long-Term Substitute at the Middle School.
Resignations: Casey Hill-Smith has resigned the position of RTI-B Ed Tech II at Memorial School as of December 21.
Retirements: Paul Godwin has retired as a Mechanic for the Transportation Department, effective December 15. Diane Boucher will be retiring as the Finance and Operations Director for MSAD 15 as of June 30, 2024.
Transfers: Cynthia Morse has transferred from an Ed Tech II Russell to a Health Assistant Ed Tech III for the District. Britney Miller has transferred from a Self-Contained Ed Tech II to a Self-Contained Ed Tech II for the Gateway program at Memorial School. Uel Gardner is being transferred from a Resource Room Teacher at the High School to an Ed Tech III at the High School.
