SWCC Education Committee Minutes 2019-03-27

The Education Committee of the SW Common Council

Wednesday, March 27, 2019

6:30 to 8:00 pm at

Arnett Branch Library, 310 Arnett Boulevard

Here are the meeting notes as a .pdf file: SWCC Education Committee Minutes 2019-03-27.pdf

The video of this meeting can be viewed at: https://youtu.be/FYmTMgruAAY

Attendance:

Brian Babcock 19^th Ward Resident, 969-3222, bryan@14619.org

Christin Babcock 19^th Ward Resident, 633-7480, christinmae@gmail.com

Joe Baldino School #29 Principal, 490-2245, joseph.baldino@rcsdk12.org

John Boutet SWCC Education Committee Chair, 328-4271, jboutet@frontiernet.net

Eleanor Coleman CFC YouthBuild, 224-5119, eleanor.coleman@gmail.com

John Laing 19WCA Schools Comm & Sch #16 Vol, 235-5236, jlaing1@rochester.rr.com

Avril Little 19^th Ward Resident, 420-8521, avrilglittle@gmail.com

Frank McCoullum 746-2035, fmccoullum@rochester.rr.com

Mike Schmidt RCSD Chief of Operations, 410-3830, Michael.schmidt@rcsdk12.org

Introductions

Cecilia Golden will be at our next meeting. She will discuss “Distinguished Educator's Action Plan - Culturally Responsible Instruction Strategy, Parent Engagement”

Discuss latest developments on the budget. Check out: Community schools, RCSD budget 2019

Still strong interest in having the playground connected to School #16 staffed for the summer along with the Rec/Community Center. New school model works to include a recreation center to be connected to the school in a way that closes off the academic part of the building and opens up space for recreation; air conditioning is now a priority but School 16 gym and cafeteria have no AC. We had hoped the School 16 Rec/Community Center would have City stafing, but School 16 has Quad-A and we can’t have a recreation center and Quad-A at the same time because they use the same facilities. Can it be staffed this summer?
Mike Schmidt reported all pools will be open for a variety of hours this summer; city recreation staffs them. Only Edison pool will be closed.
FACILITIES: Now in final stages of Phase 2; hoping to have School #10 completed in summer of 2020. Phase 3 will address School #10, School #54 & East H.S. New pool at Monroe; 2^nd gymnasium at Franklin; site work at School #54. School #3 & recreation center and School #19 & recreation center and School #29 to be renovated inside and out. Wilson Commencement – 3-year project; renovation of building; modernizing the building; air conditioning, new mechanics, etc.
Have been able to do all projects on time and under-budget.

Local Busing Initiative – Update on the online petition at http://chng.it/kxvLJG4Vr6 and plans for lobbying.

School #17 uses “Walker Buses, which are all utilized to accommodate their schedule of 9am-4:30pm. Other expanded schools which have expanded hours also have Walker Buses (about 7-8 schools). 77% attendance from grades K-2 at School 17.
School #17 – a true community school; full-service clinic; neighborhood groups meet there, etc.
Looking for the State to change its reimbursement formula.
Study indicates that if you have at least a quarter of the kids taking advantage of the neighborhood school, you would reduce the amount spent on buses. Need to look at the criteria around School Choice. Also need to consider that families move a lot during the school year; at this time, there have been 59,000 transportation changes since August.
Parent work schedule changes also affect where the child will be going to school. A relative's address may be given so child leaves from and returns there for safety reasons.
Partnering with another Big 5 District can expand the number of legislators who would in the position address the issue. Rochester has much more busing than other Big 5 Districts.
Proximity to school positively impacts parent involvement and student involvement. School #17 experience confirms this; however, they are also extremely diligent about going door-to-door and delivering information to neighborhood residents so they know about school activities and assets.
No current work being done to collect busing data at this time to update past busing studies. Mike is in support of moving all the children but it needs to be fiscally possible.
Caterina suggested connecting with Daisy Algarin, Director/Neighborhood Service Centers, our local NSC office and our neighborhood association to develop a strategy and support for “neighborhood busing” and engaging the City around this issue. Daisy has been contacted and we will work to connect with the Mayor.

School 17 / Children's Agenda Report is good news.

School turning around and making good progress.

CET meeting update - School 10, 16, 19, Joseph C. Wilson Foundation Academy

At least one SWCC Education Committee or 19WCA Schools Committee member has been in attendance at all of the meetings to date. It is interesting to see how different schools are handling the process which is very rushed. Videos of most of meetings attended are indexed on Location19.org at: Receivership and CET meetings.

School 29 – Update/Joe Badino

Little Free Library has been fixed, reopened and stocked.
Will use crushed stones that haven’t been picked up to create a path.
Anticipating a severe budget cut; equality is you cut by numbers in all schools; equity is looking at the whole school and its issues and make cuts considering their needs; need to raise the number of Kindergarteners; going door-to-door to solicit for new neighborhood families.
Creating sandwich boards by artist who has done a phenomenal job inside the school already to be put on the corners of Kirkland/Genesee & Aardmore/Chili to recruit students. Will offer tours. Think we should be looking at adding children to bus lines that already come to School #29 from other areas. Exploring Walking School Buses (parents/neighborhood residents walk children to school). Wrap-around services are crucial.
Need to gather data on the success/or lack thereof of other community school models in other places (Cincinnati); Ann Kress of MCC was working on this and Joe recommends contacting her.

CFC YouthBuild, Rochester Rotary SW, OACES – Update Eleanor Coleman

YouthBuild recruiting now for the last cohort of this year that will start up the end of June.
Rochester Rotary SW open to new members. Is interested in working with the community and can work with our schools.
OACES has community breakfast 4/3, 7:30am – 9am; if you would like to attend, contact Narlene Ragans at narlene.ragans@rcsdk12.org.

Walk-In: