WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. — Williamstown Elementary School is asking its families about their aspirations for the K-6 school.

 

The district is in the process of developing a strategic plan, and part of that process will be an electronic survey that is being sent to stakeholders, Superintendent Douglas Dias told the School Committee on Wednesday evening.

 

"We've asked people in the community to respond a week from this Friday so we can gather the data," Dias said. "The next step after that is to take the data, put it in a workable form and put together a group of staff, community, School Committee members and look at the data to see what we can come up with to present at the PTO meeting in December."

 

The district plans a school-wide forum early in December to discuss the school's long-term future.

 

"We'd like to get to the point where we have a working draft of the plan by December so it can steer the budget process," Dias said. "But we also have the [previously approved] School Improvement Plan to do that as well."

 

Most families in the district will receive a Google forms version of the survey, Principal Joelle Brookner told the committee. A handful of families will receive a paper version to complete.

 

The School Committee on Wednesday decided to put on hold a discussion of setting up a separate set of goals for itself as a governing body.

 

At its September meeting, Chairman Dan Caplinger asked his colleagues to send Dias their individual "wish lists" for such a document, but Dias reported Wednesday he had received no responses.

 

"I don't see the need for them, myself," committee member Joe Johnson said.

 

Cathy Keating agreed.

 

"I think it would be an intellectual exercise," Keating said. "I'm not sure it would make us work more efficiently in the end."

 

John Skavlem suggested that for the School Committee to create a list of its goals before the school district had a strategic plan in place would be putting the cart before the horse.

 

"I thought we had talked about [the committee goals] being in sync with the strategic plan," Skavlem said. "I'd rather work collectively on the strategic plan and helping Doug there rather than writing our own."

 

Caplinger accepted the committee's decision but indicated the goal-setting exercise still might be worth undertaking.

 

"I'm going to attend the [Massachusetts Association of School Committee's] annual meeting the first week of November," Caplinger said. "I should have a better sense from talking to people there of what the best practices are around the state. I'll get a sense of what other committees do with this and, more importantly, what they get out of it.

 

"If it's just an intellectual exercise, we shouldn't do it. But finding out more about what the process could look like and how it could help would be good."

 

The committee embarked on one long-term project Wednesday as it began a formal rereading and review of all the district's policies. Some of the policies have been in place since the 1970s and all are being reviewed to ensure they conform with the laws of the commonwealth and, where possible, align with the MASC's model policies.

 

As the committee waded through the first section of the book, it began to discover just how intricate and, at times, redundant the policies can be. Dias said his hope is that once all of the policies have been updated and properly cross-referenced, the book can be maintained more easily on a regular basis.

 

The exercise is being conducted in all three schools of the Tri-District that Dias and his central office staff serve. Assistant Superintendent Kim Grady is taking the lead on the project, sitting down with smaller working groups of each School Committee outside the regular posted meeting to review the policies before bringing them to the committees for decisions.

 

On Wednesday, the School Committee did its first read on 12 different policies ranging from Policy AA, which defines the name of the district, to Policy ADF, which addresses the school's wellness program, including the nutritional value of food in the cafeteria.

 

Several of the policies reviewed Wednesday will be brand new to the district, including policies on sexual harassment and non-discrimination based on gender or disability. Dias noted that the absence of those policies in the past has not meant that the school tolerated harassment or discrimination.

 

"The legal obligation already exists," he said. "Title IX exists. The fact that we don't have a policy on file doesn't mean we don't have a legal obligation."

 

Second reads and votes on the 12 policies discussed are planned for the committee's November meeting, scheduled for Nov. 30.

 

In other business, Brookner gave the committee a more in-depth report on the school's spring 2016 standardized test results and the Level 1 attainment reported at the panel's September meeting.

 

Brookner explained how the data reported by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education show the school has successfully narrowed its performance gaps and elevated the test scores of high needs students while maintaining a high number of high achievers.

 

She also stressed that this was accomplished without "teaching to the test."

 

"It's been a goal for a long time," Brookner said, recognizing the work of retired Superintendent Rose Ellis in helping WES reach Level 1. "And we got here in a very deliberate way. The main reason is the amazing group of teachers and paraprofessionals who have gone on this journey. Everyone has been committed to supporting every student's learning. I know that may sound like a given, but I don't take it for granted at all.

 

"Part of what we've done is … not teaching to the test but teaching what students need. We believe that if we're teaching well, they'll test well."

 

Brookner said that unlike other schools she has heard about, WES has raised its test scores without sacrificing the school's culture, including things like field trips, assemblies and special events like this week's Words Are Wonderful festival.

 

And she offered a caveat.

 

"Next year, we could be Level 2 again, but we'll continue to stay the course," Brookner said. "We'll continue with reading interventions, continue with math interventions. We're really jumping into the new science standards."