January 25, 2001

Present:  

Chairman DiPrete, Mr. Canavan, Mr. Grove, Ms. Gaines, Rep. Crowley and Mr. Mancieri, Senator Gallo.

Public Remarks: There were no public remarks.

Chairman Remarks:

a.	Heritage Harbor Museum Project:
	Chairman DiPrete introduced Albert Klyberg, the Executive Director of the Heritage Harbor Museum project, Steven Pappas of the Smithsonian Institute, and Charles Mojowski to speak to the Board about the proposed Heritage Harbor Museum.  Mr. Klyberg gave the group an overview of the funding and proposed structure of the museum. Mr. Pappas spoke to the Board about some of the proposed collaborative programs with the Smithsonian that will be offered at the Heritage Harbor Museum. The Commissioner told the members of the Board that he met with Mr. Klyberg and has agreed to seek the involvement of the Regents in the planning of the museum. Charles Mojowski addressed the group on the Heritage Harbor Museum and how it will service the people of Rhode Island as an integral “education component.” He explained that an education plan will be developed and an advisory board put into place.
b.	Update on Commissioner's Evaluation:
	Vice-chairman of the Board, Bob Canavan, reported that the evaluation of the Commissioner is in its final phase. The Committee met and reviewed the NASBE report on the performance of the Commissioner [from the perspective of the Department] and has now given a copy to the Commissioner for him to review. Committee members will meet with the Governor on Friday for his input and then meet with the Commissioner early next week. The Regents will receive a copy of the report and the recommendations will be discussed in Executive Session at the meeting on February 8th, 2001.
c.	NASBE:
	Vice-Chair Canavan reported that he will be completing his final, three-year term as a member of the Board of Regents February 1, 2001.  At that time, because he will no longer be a member of the Board, he will also resign his term as a member of the NASBE Board of Directors.  He told members that, because he is resigning, he could recommend his successor.   He will recommend that JoEva Gaines be named to the NASBE Board of Directors.  Regent Gaines told fellow Regents that she is very interested in running for Vice-President of NASBE.  Chairman DiPrete congratulated Ms. Gaines and offered the Board’s support.
d.	Teacher Quality Conference:
	Chairman DiPrete reported that he had attended the recent Teacher Quality Conference at Rhode Island College that had been co-sponsored by the Departments of Elementary and Secondary Education and Higher Education along with the Education Commission of the States.
e.	Milken Awards Luncheon:
	The Milken Awards Luncheon was held on Saturday, January 20th, 2001. The new awardees are: Barbara Ashby, Mariann Hayward, and Judy Rowe.
f.	Public Hearing on Physical Restraints:
	A public hearing on the use of physical restraints on special needs students was held on January 16, 2001 at the Rhode Island School for the Deaf. The Regents heard testimony from five or six people. Proposed regulations will be brought back for Regents’ considerations within the next couple of months.
g.	Senator Gallo reappointed
	Chairman DiPrete announced that Senator Gallo had been reappointed to the Board. He extended congratulations on behalf of the Board.

Approval of Minutes:

The Minutes of the Board of Regents Meeting of December 14, 2000 were approved as presented.  

Approval of Waiver to Certification Regulations for the South Kingstown School District:

RIDE staff member, Joe Gaudiosi, explained that the South Kingstown School District has requested that they be given a waiver to state certification regulations.  They have been moving to a middle school structure and this waiver will allow their currently employed junior high, high school, and elementary school teachers to teach at the middle school while they complete their middle school endorsement certification requirements.

MOVED AND SECONDED: THAT, the Board of Regents for Elementary and Secondary Education approve the Waiver of Current Middle School Teacher Certification Regulations for the South Kingstown School District for the 2001-2002 and 2002-2003 school years.

VOTE: Approved Unanimously.  

Report on FY2001 Federal Education Funding:

Loreto Gandara spoke to the Board about FY 2001 federal funding details. She reported that Rhode Island’s total federal education funding increased from $108,136,620 to $121,833,502 – an increase of 12% from FY 2001 to FY 2002. She distributed a detailed report [attached], which highlighted the following programs:  

• Title I – Grants to LEA increased by $1,416,339 for a state total of 26M+.
• IASA Programs - Eisenhower professional development programs increased by $513,292; Class Size Reduction increased by 1.5M; no increase for Drug Free Schools.  
• Special Education – Increased by $5.1M; no increase for pre school programs.  
• Vocational/Adult Ed – Increased by $217,980; Adult Ed. grants increased by $197,264; no increase for Tech. Prep.  
• New Programs – Standards and Assessments, School Renovation, English Literacy.  
• Earmarked Funds – Technology Innovation Challenge Grants and Funds for the Improvement of Education. 

(Senator Gallo arrived at 6:45 p.m.)

Discussion of the Rhode Island High School Summit Report:

Deputy Commissioner Todd Flaherty introduced members of the High School Summit Planning Committee in attendance.  He briefly reviewed the pre-summit processes and attendees’ input, findings, and recommendations.

As part of this discussion, Dr. Flaherty spoke about the recent NEASC reports as connected to the recommendations in the Summit Report.  Representative Crowley urged that the Regents adopt a standard procedure for keeping informed on the outcomes of NEASC visits to local districts.  He recommended that when a high schools fails a NEASC visit, their resolution plan be submitted to the Commissioner for review. The Commissioner may then either forward the plan to NEASC or recommend revisions. Group discussion included: if local school committees are presently required to approve a school resolution plan [Dr. Flaherty told the group that it was up to the local communities if the school committee had to approve the plan or not]. The group suggested that the Commissioner should be notified when a district has failed an NEASC visit so that some sort of action can take place.  The discussion focused on a connection to the SALT process; a SALT visit planned in response to a failed NEASC visit or a SALT visit before a NEASC visit as a preparation for the visit.

Chairman DiPrete suggested that the Regents establish an ad hoc committee to consider the recommendations outlined in the Summit Report that would include a process for reviewing NEASC visits. It was decided that, before an ad hoc committee is named, the full Board would meet in a work session to review the report in its entirety and consider the proposed recommendations.

Dr. Dennis Cheek briefly reviewed the recommendations, as outlined on pages 22 – 28 of the report.  

Overview of “Quality Counts 2001” This agenda item was tabled until next meeting.

Report on Teacher Quality Conference:

Assistant Commissioner, Susan Lusi, gave a brief report on the recently held Teacher Quality conference. Per a request from Representative Crowley, a discussion of  “I...Plans," Mentoring, and the status of higher education teacher preparation programs was tabled for another agenda. 

Commissioner’s Report:  

Commissioner McWalters reported on the following:

• Bush Education Proposal
• Reception in Washington, DC for Roderick Paige
• Hearing on 4th grade test scores before the Accountability Committee on Thursday, February 1st, 2001, at 5:30pm.

Adjournment:

With unanimous consent, the meeting adjourned at 8:15p.m.