Tech Integration Specialist Gail Darmody, IT Director Rose Muller present to committee

The Portsmouth School Committee last night approved unanimously the state-mandated district technology plan for the next 3 years. The document, which goes to the RI Department of Education (RIDE) deals with everything from infrastructure to professional development.

District IT Director Rose Muller and Technology Integration Specialist Gail Darmody gave the committee a presentation that was partly a review of the plan, developed over the past year with broad district participation and public input, and partly illustrations of how the goals identified in the plan were underway at the schools.

For the first time this year, Darmody said, "We have a new employee tech handbook, and have provided training for every single new district employee to provide a base level of knowledge with all the systems in district."

Having everyone trained up on the systems is key to the plan's educational goals, which include technology literacy and internet safety curricula across the district. With the addition of a second technology literacy specialist — someone who works side-by-side with teachers, "teaching them to fish," as Darmody put it — the district is now aiming to have kids ready by 7th grade to deal with technology integrated into the curriculum. There will be a heavy emphasis on skill building during 6th grade, said Darmody.

Asst. Supt. Colleen Jermain noted the success of the work already being done at the elementary schools. "We've had great positive reports from the 6th grade instructor who shared out the skills, awareness, and use [of technology] of the students who entered building."

Some of the goals may be aspirational due to budget constraints — the aim to add another tech literacy specialist to work with teachers and a five-year replacement cycle for hardware were noted by Muller. The IT staff of just 6 (and two community college interns) maintains an infrastructure of 1,200 computers serving 3,800 users, while dealing with over 400 tech requests a month, Muller said. An important long-range goal, Muller said, was to ensure appropriate funding for technology, either by making the current warrants more stable (i.e., not subject to a review process in every budget cycle) or by moving this $350K into the operating budget.

In other business, the committee voted to approve a change to the PSAA and Council 94 contracts to reverse the elimination of step increases. School Committee Chair Dick Carpender urged support for the change, saying "These are 5 individuals who ended up with zero-dollar increases," adding that the budget impact for this year was only $7K. Committee member Marge Levesque also supported the measure, noting that these are "the lowest-paid of employees." The motion passed 4-3 with Angela Volpicelli, Marilyn King, and Cynthia Perrotti in the minority.

The Committee also unanimously passed a resolution opposing any state law requiring binding arbitration for teacher contracts. While there is currently no bill being considered, Supt. Susan Lusi said that "drafts are circulating," and Carpender urged the committee to take action to oppose a measure that would "take away our ability to control our budget and put it in the hands of a negotiator." Portsmouth Concerned Citizens (PCC) President Larry Fitzmorris said, "I find myself in complete agreement with the committee. On behalf of the PCC and Rhode Island Shoreline Coalition, we would fully support this resolution."

The School Committee also tacitly approved, without formal vote, the request of the ad-hoc skatepark committee to work with the administration to evaluate possible locations for a town skate park on school property. Items identified for further consideration include ensuring liability coverage and ensuring that the school department is not responsible for maintenance and supervision.

In other business, the normally pro-forma approval of minutes from previous meetings ground to a halt when committee member Cynthia Perrotti requested the inclusion of several specific items — mention of the still-to-be-identified cuts to the FY2010 budget, the flexibility of sub-line items which arose in a discussion of custodial supplies, and Perrotti's assertion that the request to RIDE for a clarification of tenure law should have been discussed at the June 23 meeting. Before the custodial discussion, said Perrotti, she was unaware that "adjusted budgets changed like the wind," and she moved to amend the minutes to reflect her statements.

"The administration never said that the budget changed like the wind," replied Supt. Lusi, who also noted that the past practice and advice to the administration had been to avoid verbatim minutes. The motion to amend failed 4-3 with Perrotti, Volpicelli, and King in the minority.

Larry Fitzmorris argued to the committee that minutes should either be verbatim or noted otherwise. "If a citizen reads the minutes with a view to finding out what happened," said Fitzmorris, "and there's clearly large parts of the procedings that are missing, that should be noted as a matter of public information."

He went on to say in particular about minutes posted on the Secretary of State web site, "The purpose of postings on the Secretary of State web site are informational. [They are] for citizens to read. Apparently there's not a legal record anyway because it's not complete. Suggest very strongly that you mark them as not being complete."

The position taken by the school committee and the Superintendent was that the minutes are legally complete because all actions taken by the committee are recorded.

Roberts Rules (section 48 in the Newly Revised, or section 60 online) does not seem to require the requested level of detail, but I'm not sure if it is superseded by state requirements. I have asked Secretary of State Ralph Mollis for clarification, and his office has promised a response later this week.

Don't forget — tonight is the joint school committee/town council meeting to hear the RIPEC presentation on regionalization.

Update: Received a response from the Secretary of State's office pointing to RIGL 42-46-7, and noting that as an "Open Meetings' issue, any specific guidance would come from the RI Attorney General. After consulting their web site it would appear that any request for official clarification in the form of an advisory opinion needs to come from a "public body."

Full disclosure: I am a parent/community participant in the school technology committee and a member of the ad-hoc skatepark committee.