Education Committee of the SW Common Council

Wednesday, November 25, 2020

at 6:00 -7:00 pm

 Here are the meeting notes as a .pdf file: SWCC Education Committee Minutes 2020-11-25.pdf

Video of this meeting is on YouTube at https://youtu.be/y0i6lMsBdDo

Attendance:

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

Mary Coffey            N. Winton Village Co-Chair; Many Neighbors Building Neighborhoods; Public Safety
                                   marycoffey0@gmail.com

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

Moniek Silas-Lee  School #19 Principal, 328-7454, moniek.silas-lee@rcsdk12.org

Rochester Coalition for Public Education (RCPE)

• Having a meeting 11/27 to prepare for meeting with RCSD Superintendent in early December.

• Talking with Bronson about funding and support related to new recommendations being made that doesn’t seem to take into consideration the concentration of poverty in the City; how are we making sure support services get into the schools?

• Principals need to be part of the vision for schools. Leadership at City level should make sure schools know it’s important to work with the community and support that happening.

• There was a time in the past, when teachers got the significant pay raise,that we were seen as an example of investing in children all over the country; however, did we get the necessary accountability that should have gone with the salary?

• Getting great input and direction from Peter McWalters via Zoom.

• High stakes testing leads to “teaching to the test.”

• Waiting to see how Biden transition impacts overall Education.

• Mixed messages regarding the impact of Bill Gates and others are having on education from a business point of view.

• All schools should be good; shouldn’t have a few schools to which students can go to receive a high quality of education.

• There are about 50 RCPE coalition members (persons who receive emails & notices); Dan Drmasich, past principal of School Without Walls is the coalition Coordinator.

• Coalition member Howard Maffucci is a County Legislator working on how to expand internet connection within the City.

• RCSD Covid cuts resulted in loss of staff needed to have schools function effectively (some support, some teaching staff, etc.).

• Barrier to having volunteer adults to assist with Zoom tutoring due to confidentiality and required background checks to avoid child predetors.

School #19

• 120 students in 7th & 8th grade (2 sections at each level); Pre-K - 8th grade; 361 students altogether

• Students could benefit from having tutors, but Covid restrictions have presented a barrier. Ricky Frazier at Central Office is the contact person for this effort.

• Superintendent has been supporting school efforts.

President’s Council

• Might be a good place to ask for tutors; important to get the mechanics in place first before we recruit. Focus on after Covid. School #3 is doing tutoring online-just getting off the ground.

• After Covid, Zoom will still be there and can be a tutoring resource if we begin working on a process now. Have different tutors for different subjects. Many of the subjects have changed and/or are being taught differently.

Scribe Services: Eleanor Coleman, CFC YouthBuild & Rotary, 224 -5119, eleanor.coleman@gmail.com

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