Ms. Dobrow thanked her colleagues and thanked Mr. Picker for his service as Chair. Ms. Dobrow appointed Ms. Hessler as Vice-Chair. Ms. Dobrow made subcommittee assignments. Mr. Picker will continue on the Finance Subcommittee and Ms. Manos will join him. Ms. Hessler will be the representative to the town-wide Capital Planning Committee. Mr. Picker will represent the School Committee on the pre-BRAC planning committee. Ms. Manos will be the School Committee representative to the Communications subcommittee. Ms. Rogers will serve on the Policy Committee. Ms. Dobrow will be the School Committee representative on the Facilities Committee.

Ms. Dobrow mentioned that she, Ms. Hessler and Mr. Picker will each serve as mentor to the new and relatively new School Committee members.

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Ms. Dobrow said that she saw the production of �Fiddler on the Roof �and that it was a huge success. She also said that a School Committee coffee had taken place earlier in the week; it was attended by Ms. Dobrow and Ms. Manos and four members of the public.

1. Report on Teachers� Professional Status, Certification, and Highly Qualified Status
   Mr. Brandmeyer presented a report on teacher certification and requirements to be highly qualified. Mr. Brandmeyer reported on requirements for Massachusetts licensure and on requirements to attain the status of highly qualified under the federal regulations referred to as No Child Left Behind (NCLB).

   Massachusetts licenses are granted by the Massachusetts Commissioner of Education. Once licensed, teachers must renew their licenses every five years. For license renewal teachers must earn either 120 or 150 professional development points (PDPs) (the exact number depends on date of original license).

   For compliance with NCLB, core subject teachers must meet the standard of �highly qualified� by the end of the 2005-2006 school year. To be �highly qualified,� teachers must (1) possess a Bachelor�s Degree, (2) possess a Massachusetts teaching license, and (3) demonstrate subject matter competency. To demonstrate competency, teachers must either pass a test, complete a Massachusetts HOUSSE individual Professional Development Plan, or for middle and secondary teachers (but not elementary) complete certain academic coursework. Under HOUSSE, teachers must obtain 120 PDPs and 80% of the PDPs must be related to the core academic subjects the teacher teaches. Teachers will be considered highly qualified when they have obtained 50% of the content area PDPs so long as they complete 120 PDPs by the end of the 2006 school year.

   Mr. Brandmeyer presented charts regarding Lincoln teachers� licensure, �highly qualified� status, degrees, and years in service. 132 of the 136 teachers are licensed. Of the unlicensed teachers, some hold licenses in other states and are working to complete Massachusetts licensure. For others, there is a lag between completion of licensing requirements and the actual issuance of the license. 106 FTE are �highly qualified� in core subjects, with 7.8 FTE not yet core subjects highly qualified. The District seeks to be 100% licensed and 100% highly qualified and doesn�t anticipate any difficulty in reaching this goal..

2. Discussion and Vote on Lincoln School Foundation Grants
   Lincoln School Foundation (LSF) representatives, Sandy Storer, co-chair of the LSF, and Tom Longnecker, Grants Committee Chair, appeared before the School Committee regarding the grants that are being recommended for approval. More grant applications submitted by teachers at Hanscom are being recommended for Foundation funding because more of the Hanscom applications were consistent with the Foundation�s mission. The Foundation�s mission is to work in three areas: (1) school-community collaboration, (2) professional development, and (3) curriculum enhancement. Ms. Storer said that the Foundation does have additional funds for grants this year and that if they receive additional applications that are consistent with their mission additional grants could be awarded at their May 18 meeting. The Committee considered the desirability of the Committee and the Foundation working together to meet district goals without compromising the Foundation�s independence. They discussed the possibility of the Foundation reporting back to the School Committee on results produced by the grants. Ms. Storer said that the grants funded will be described in the Foundation�s annual newsletter which is mailed to all Lincoln residents.

   Ms. Dobrow moved that the Committee accept the grants. Ms. Hessler seconded the motion. All members voted in favor, with Ms. Borgert concurring.

3. Professional Development
   Mr. Naso presented a report on the status of professional development activities for 2004-2005 and plans for 2006. Mr. Naso said that increasing regulations and requirements affect the teachers in planning their professional development, the District oversight of professional development, and procedures the District must follow. Attachment 1 to the report is the form which teachers must fill out to get professional development approved in advance. Attachment 2 is a list of activities which the District supported this year divided into outside offerings and within District offerings. Mr. Naso is monitoring attendance at EDCO and EMI events to allocate free seats and other seats. Attachment 3 is the request to attend off-site professional development which teachers must fill out. Mr. Naso is trying to reshape procedures so that teachers� decisions and how they benefit the District can be better tracked.

   Mr. Naso described three activities that the District sponsored this year: math differentiation, writing in all areas of the curriculum, and looking at student work. Additional training on looking at student work is being planned for teachers who took part in the first offering.

   The teachers completed a survey on Institute Day about their interests for professional development. Plans for next year are being built around these interests and also around alignment with district initiatives. Mr. Naso said that at the Middle School level it will be hard for the district to present core level subject courses that will meet teachers� needs, due to the relatively small number of teachers in each core teaching area. He is considering options such as partnering with Sudbury and sending teachers to courses offered by Primary Source. Regarding differentiation of teaching, Mr. Naso wants to have more training that is specifically focused on practical issues in the classrooms.

   The Principals are responsible for working with individual faculty members regarding their individual professional development plans. They review the plans to see that they comply with the regulations and that the teachers are doing what they need to do to improve their practice. Following up on professional development will become part of the regular teacher evaluation process.

1. Warrant Approval
   Mr. Picker moved that the School Committee vote warrants in the amount of $835,806.18. Ms. Hessler seconded the motion. All members voted in favor, with Ms. Borgert concurring.

1. 2004-05 School Calendar
   Mr. Brandmeyer reported, that since two snow days have been used, the last day of school for grades 1 to 8 is now projected to be June 21 which will be a half day. The last day for Kindergarten students will be June 15. Kindergarten screening will be on June 16, June 17, and June 20. Eighth grade graduation will be on June 15 for Hanscom and June 16 for Lincoln.

1. Establish Meetings to be held at Boston and Hanscom
   The School Committee meeting scheduled for April 28 conflicts with the pre-BRAC meeting scheduled for the same evening. The Committee determined to move the School Committee meeting of Wednesday, April 27 so that Mr. Brandmeyer, Ms. Dobrow and Mr. Picker can attend the pre-BRAC meeting. The Committee determined to hold an additional meeting in Boston on Thursday, May 19. This will be billed at a School Committee Open Forum rather than a regular meeting and will be for dialogue and conversation. Ms. Dobrow moved that the April 28 School Committee meeting be moved to April 27 and that an additional meeting be added on May 19. Ms. Hessler seconded the motion. All members voted in favor, with Ms. Borgert concurring.

   Ms. Dobrow asked the members to email her regarding their availability for a School Committee workshop will be held on a weekday morning in May to initiate and mentor the new and relatively new members.

   The Committee determined that the April 27 meeting should be held on the Lincoln campus and that the May 12 meeting will be held on the Hanscom campus and the dates for consideration of various items will be changed. Mr. Picker moved that the long-term agenda be revised to reflect these calendar and meeting content changes. Ms. Dobrow seconded the motion. All voted in favor, with Ms. Borgert concurring.

2. Approval of Minutes
   Ms. Dobrow moved that the School Committee approve the March 24 minutes as amended. Mr. Picker seconded the motion. Ms. Hessler, Ms. Dobrow, and Mr. Picker voted in favor, with Ms. Borgert concurring and Ms. Manos and Ms. Rogers abstaining since they were not School Committee members on the date these minutes were taken.

3. Information Enclosures

4. Adjournment
   Ms. Dobrow moved that the Committee adjourn to Executive Session for the purpose of reviewing and approving minutes of discussion regarding contract negotiations. Ms. Hessler seconded the motion. The motion was approved by the following roll call:
   Ms. Dobrow � yes
   Ms. Dobrow � yes
   Ms. Hessler � yes
   Mr. Picker � yes
   Ms. Rogers � yes
   Ms. Manos � yes
   Ms. Borgert � concurring
   The Committee adjourned to Executive Session at 9:05 P.M.

Respectfully submitted,
Sara Rolley, School Committee Recording Secretary