School Board delays contract vote

The Springfield Teachers Association will have to wait until another week for its contract to be renewed. That’s because the School Board did not believe the agenda item was warned properly.

http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20110530/NEWS02/705309973

Published May 30, 2011 in the Rutland Herald

Springfield School Board delays contract vote

By Christian Avard

SPRINGFIELD — The Springfield Teachers Association will have to wait until another week for its contract to be renewed. That’s because the School Board did not believe the agenda item was warned properly.

On Wednesday, the School Board postponed a decision on the teachers contract because it was added too late to the board’s special meeting agenda. Although the meeting and the agenda item were legal, School Board Chairman Scott Adnams believed the public should be warned earlier and the board should have more time to review the contract.

According to Alison Sylvester of the Springfield Teachers Union, the contract includes a 14 percent workweek extension over three years. Under the current contract, teachers work 35 hours per week through the 2011-2012 school year. Under the new contract, teachers will work 37.5 hours during the 2012-2013 school year and 40 hours during the 2013-2014 school year.

The new teachers contract also includes a sick time common pool. In the program, all unused accrued sick time is combined and if a teacher has an extended illness or is out of sick time, the extra hours can be used when available. The teachers association approved the contract and now awaits the School Board’s approval. The board is to revisit the issue June 6.

Principals Bob Thibault of Springfield High School and Becky Read of Riverside Middle School were on hand to discuss their annual yearly progress structural changes. Neither school met adequate yearly progress measurements, for the second year in a row, and the schools were required to make major structural changes to meet national standards.

Thibault said the high school’s structural changes are moving along steadily, including instruction with an emphasis on literacy, block scheduling, daily advisories, developing an academic resource center and more.

According to Thibault, Springfield High School faculty and staff are trying to meet their objectives but their program has not been peer reviewed. Thibault arranged a peer review with representatives from Bellows Falls Union High School and requested an extension from the School Board to continue the necessary work. School Board member Jeanice Garfield asked Thibault if Springfield High School faculty are on board with the changes. Thibault said 50 percent of the faculty are on board and 30 percent are in striking distance.

“We have critical mass,” Thibault said.

Read said Riverside Middle School is progressing with its AYP structural changes, including an emphasis on students’ needs, professional development programs and improved communication with parents. Read said the faculty are defining new ways to track student progress and are looking at how to measure results that create effective outcomes for students.

Riverside is also aiming for a 5 percent annual increase in test scores on the New England Common Assessment Program and Measure of Academic Progress. Both tests are used to measure student progress, and Read stressed that Riverside Middle School scores need to improve to meet AYP standards.

The School Board granted Thibault an extension and approved Riverside’s structural changes plan. The next board meeting takes place June 6 at 6:30 p.m. in the Springfield High School library.