Quincy Citywide Parent’s Council

Minutes from November 13, 2006

Broad Meadows Middle School

 Meeting was called to order at 7:10 pm, with Sandy Arabian presiding.

Sandy introduced Jim Rendle, the QPS Athletic Director who was the guest speaker for the night. 

 Mr. Rendle thanked the council for inviting him to speak.  He said that Athletic Director is a new position for him but that he has been at NQHS for 21 years as a coach.  He pointed out that with the recent improvements to the Stadium and to Adams Field that Quincy now has a reputation in the state for some great facilities.  His goal is to now make QPS sports programming has just as good a reputation as the physical facilities do.

 Mr. Rendle gave an overview of his philosophy for the department, which will be incorporated into a written policy that is being reviewed now and will go to the School Committee soon.  He believes that athletics are part of the educational program not separate or additional.  With the focus on MCAS, athletics becomes even more important in order to teach citizenship, responsibility, time management, a strong work ethic, teamwork, and to build self-esteem.  The policy will also include a code of ethics for coaches that emphasizes communication and sets the expectation that coaches will be teachers.

 He acknowledged that the major issue facing the department is communication—especially between coaches and parents.  He has formed an Athletic Advisory Team with the high school Deans, coaches, teachers, middle school Principals and the person assigned to sports at each middle school.  The first issue to be addressed is the transition from middle school to high school, which he acknowledged is a difficult one mainly because of poor communication.  He has received inquiries from kids and parents about certain sports well after tryouts have taken place.  He has proposed a mass mailing to 8th graders’ families with the requirements and tryout schedules for the high school sports.  He says that this procedure will be in place for this year’s 8th graders in advance of the start of next school year.

 Another issue that he wants to address is the limited involvement of parents in sports especially at the high school level.  For example, he has been disappointed by the amount of participation by parents in running the concession stands at sporting events to help teams make money.

 He noted that the Athletic program is large in Quincy.  There are 65 Varsity sports, 80-90 teams, and 120 coaches.  He said that there are always vacant coaching positions, particularly in some sports like diving.  There are 700 athletes between the two high schools.

 He knows that long bus rides for teams, especially on school nights, is a problem.  Quincy has applied to change leagues for this reason.  However, the Atlantic Coast League has voted to keep Quincy and according to MIAA rules, they can block the change for two years.  Mr. Rendle will know this week whether they will block the change in which case we may have to wait another year for the change to take place.  He hopes that Quincy will be placed in the same league as towns such as Hingham, Randolph, Rockland, Hanover—which will shorten many of the bus rides for teams.

 Mr. Rendle agreed to take questions:

bullet Hank Brawley initiated a discussion about teams that combine athletes from QHS and NQHS and the fact that the uniforms often do not reflect the colors of both schools and sometimes the lettering does not clearly refer to both.  This was raised as an issue in regards to the Track Team.  QHS parents felt that the uniforms looked like NQHS uniforms.  Mr. Rendle explained that when a school is not able to field a full team, a combined team is formed.  He said that he thinks beyond colors and focuses on the competition and what the kids are learning.  He acknowledged that historically NQHS had more participation in track than QHS and that therefore NQHS tended to buy new uniforms every year and thus had more of them.  He agreed to talk to Geoff Hennessy about a new design for the uniforms.  During this discussion he also noted that when the city has a new track facility, he would like to see Track become a lead sport for the city.  He thinks that football players should be running Track in the spring.
bullet Bonnie Marcel noted that Geoff Hennessy has done a good job with the Track program and asked what was being done about a new track facility now that the Stadium track has been removed.  Mr. Rendle said that the Parks Department, Mr. Hennessy, his department and others are working on it but that the decision is “out of my hands”.
bullet Bonnie Marcel then asked about what the Athletic Department does for kids participating in special education, including those who may attend school outside of the city.  Mr. Rendle responded that kids in special ed are not excluded and that some are already involved.  He noted that they must be able to compete athletically.  In response to a follow up question from Sandy Arabian about outreach to these kids, Mr. Rendle said that his department rarely actively recruits kids.  He acknowledged that the issue of communication with kids in special education is similar to the problem with communicating to 8th graders about the transition to high school.  He said that kids attending school outside of the city could participate in QPS teams—with a little paperwork required to the MIAA by his department.
bullet Anne Mahoney asked about whether information about school sports is posted on the website.  Mr. Rendle said that game schedules are but not practice schedules and other basic information.  He noted that practice schedules change all the time but that contact info and tryout schedules could easily be posted.  Several parents said that they would find information posted on the website very useful.  Anne Mahoney noted that practice schedules could be posted “subject to change”.
bullet Barbara Isola commented that she is happy that there will be a focus on communication and described her family’s frustrations with the lack of information provided about her son’s participation on the freshman basket ball team at NQHS.  The schedule was not available in advance, which made it impossible to schedule other activities.  When her son missed practices he was penalized.  She emphasized that students must balance many priorities including academics, family time as well as athletics.  Mr. Rendle responded that coaches should be providing information and if they don’t, parents should contact him.  He said that communication needs to happen with parents and with teachers.  As far as missing practices or games, he believes there is a difference between JV and Varsity.  JV is a “learning experience” and vacations should be OK with advance notice.  He does not believe in “ benching” but he does think a player should “earn back his position”.  Varsity is different and requires a higher level of commitment.  Absences should be allowed only for “good excuses”.  A discussion followed about what is a “good excuse” with some parents stating that family events and vacations should be allowed and Jim responding that a player must still “earn back their position”.
bullet Susan Sheridan brought up the issue of fundraising.  Is it a requirement?  What are the funds for?  Other parents added examples of uses of funds that they thought were not necessary such as banquets and cash awards to seniors.  Mr. Rendle responded that he has many similar questions about fundraising and that the Athletic Advisory Council has started to explore the issue.  He also stated that cash awards are illegal.  He described his own approach to fundraising, which was sometimes aimed at checking in with athletes during the off-season just as much as raising funds.  He also stated that banquets are “spectacular” and that he tries to enable all the players to attend.  However, if an athlete does not raise enough money for a jacket, then he or she should not receive one.  He said that funds raised do sometimes pay for coaches but rarely for equipment.
bullet Tim McAloon gave some examples where funds raised were used for equipment.  He also addressed the issue of legitimate reasons for absences (weddings, family reunions) and stated that he hopes that coaches will be encouraged to be flexible even in Varsity sports.  Other parents commented that absences due to planned vacations should not mean that a player has to lose their position and “start back at ground zero”.  Mr. Rendle responded that it is hard to draw a line and that once you “open the dam” all sorts of reasons will be put forth.  He said that the “rules motivate the kids” and that a coach “must go with the players he has” and that kids shouldn’t see it as a punishment.  He also pointed out that a player who fills in for another who is absent must be treated fairly.
bullet Cathie Durham asked about the policy for disciplinary action for coaches.   Jim described the process, which is a reprimand from him, a reprimand from the Principal, and non-renewal of contract.  It depends on the severity of the offense.  Dismissal may also take place, even for a first offense.  He said there is no written rule about whether dismissal in one sport will carry over to another sport—it depends on the severity of the offense.
bullet Cathie Durham also asked about recruitment of athletes by colleges—is it the responsibility of the coach to manage this process?  Jim responded that usually colleges contact coaches.  Many athletes “self-promote” themselves, especially with Division III schools which tend not to have big recruitment budgets.
bullet Tracy Christello asked about the distribution of Quincy Youth sports information through the schools and mentioned that she hasn’t seen that happening as much as before.  Jim replied that notices of that type are supposed to go through his office but that he hasn’t seen many this year.

 In closing, Jim mentioned that he recognizes he was a “demanding coach” and that he has strong opinions, not all of which are necessarily QPS policy at this point.  He said that parents should feel free to call him and that he would like to deal with issues early on.  He gave his number: 617-984-8858.  Messages left on voice mail will be returned, if not that day, then the next day.  Sandy thanked him for taking the time to come and speak with the Council. 

The minutes from the October 16th meeting were accepted with no changes.

 Treasurer’s Report—Mary Beth Dooling reported that many PTOs have not yet paid their dues and asked representatives to make the request that the $25 dues be paid.

 Report from the School Committee meetings—Hank Brawley said that the School Committee heard a presentation on the Trophies Reading Program which is a scientifically-based program now being implemented in K-4 in all schools.  He also noted that the 5th graders from Montclair performed an impressive musical presentation.  There was no discussion of the NQHS/Atlantic traffic situation.  The Mayor has made a commitment to do a traffic study and everyone is waiting for the results.  The issue has been assigned to the Safety Subcommittee, which is chaired by Anne Mahoney.  Other parents noted traffic problems at other schools and suggested that the process that is being developed for NQHS/Atlantic should be implemented city-wide.

 Fiona Canavan provided another phone number for Jim Rendle 617-984-8782.

 Old Business:

bullet Volunteers for the Middle School to High School Transition Subcommittee were requested.  The formation of this committee was discussed at the October 16th meeting when Dr. Cristofaro spoke.  Volunteers were: Fiona Canavan, Cathie Durham, Hank Brawley, and Deirdre Durkin.
bullet School lunch shortage—Sandy spoke with Joanne Morrissey, Director of Food Services, after the issue of some schools running out of lunches was brought up at the October 16th meeting.  Joanne said that the implementation of full-day K and normal start of the year changes resulted in the fact that the projections which were made in June were not very accurate.  She believes that the problem has been resolved but told Sandy that she would be happy to speak with any parents about any concerns.  Her number is: 617-984-8768.  She also offered to speak to the Council.  It was agreed that she would be included in the schedule of possible speakers.  Mary Beth Dooling asked about the Wellness Teams and the fact that they were supposed to be in place by October 1st but were not.  Sandy suggested that representatives ask whether Wellness Teams are in place and are active and report back.
bullet Foreign language program—Fiona said that the NQPAC has voted to send a letter to Dr. DeCristofaro asking him to reconsider the cutbacks in the foreign language program at the middle schools.  She suggested that representatives propose that other school PTOs do the same.  A discussion followed of the details of the situation.  Several parents stressed that this issue has been a longstanding one and that gains were made several years ago (2 years of middle school foreign language) and that the current situation results in only a 1 year program.  This means that Quincy students will only have 4 years of language when they apply to college and won’t be competitive since many colleges prefer 5 years.

 New Business:

bullet Teacher contract negotiations are ongoing.  The membership agreed to invite Paul Phillips, President of the Quincy Education Association, to speak at the December 11th meeting.  Parents asked that he address the foreign language program from the perspective of the teachers and that he talk about how teachers handle the integration of autistic students in high school.
bullet Rich O’Brien, Director of Information, Technology and Media Service, will be invited to speak in January. 
bullet Information about Quincy School Community Partnership events was handed out.

 Meeting was adjourned at 8:50pm.