Town Government &
  Services:

Committees Home Page

School Committee      

Minutes 

Committees: School Committee

Telephone: 781-741-1500
Address: 220 Central Street, Hingham, MA 02043

Persons interested in communicating with the School Committee may:

• Send a letter to the School Committee Chair or an individual member, c/o the School Department at 220 Central Street. Letters marked Confidential will be forwarded unopened to the individual.
  
• Send an e-mail to schoolcommittee@hinghamschools.com. A designated school official will receive and print or forward e-mails to the School Committee Chair for sharing and response, as appropriate.
  

School Committee
(Established by Mass General Law)

The School Committee derives its authority from Massachusetts General Law and maintains its authority when they serve as a legal body. Members have no authority over school affairs when they act as an individual. The School Committee’s powers and duties consist of the following: the power to select, to evaluate and terminate the Superintendent, to review and approve the school budget, establish educational goals and standards consistent with the law’s requirements, conduct collective bargaining with all school department bargaining units, hire legal counsel for said bargaining and other general purposes and submit an annual report to the town on the state of the schools. The School Committee consists of seven members chosen by ballot from the registered voters of Hingham to staggered terms. Each term is three years which expires at the annual town election with no limit on reelection. Members serve without any compensation.

The School Committee conducts its business in open public meetings, the goal and objectives which include, but are not limited to: (i) establishing and periodically reviewing policies, (ii) assuring that the Superintendent uses competent and conscientious personnel and evaluates their performance in implementing School Committee policies, (iii) adopting budgets which will provide sufficient funds to operate the school system economically and effectively to the extent possible given fiscal constraints, (iv) monitoring the school administration’s execution of established policies and (v) establishing and evaluating annual School Committee performance objectives.

The Committee generally meets every other Monday night and establishes an annual meeting schedule during the month of August. In January, extra meetings are generally held on Thursday nights for budget discussions. In addition, each member is given one or more subcommittee assignments by the School Committee chairperson annually. Each of the six school councils is also assigned a school committee member liaison as well.

Hingham School Committee Sub-Committee Assignments 2012-2013

Additional information about the Hingham Public Schools is posted on the Hingham Public Schools website

2011 Annual Report

As of October 1, 2011, there were 4087 students enrolled in grades K-12 in the Hingham Public Schools, an increase of 44 students over October 1, 2010.  In addition, the district had responsibility for funding and/or programming for 48 pre-school students in the integrated program, 58 out-of-district students (special education), and 3 vocational students. 

The 2011 Town Election saw Carol M. Falvey and Edward Schreier elected to the School Committee, replacing retiring members Christine Smith and Esther Healey.  Linda Hill and Caryl Falvey were elected School Committee Chair and Vice Chair, respectively, in May 2011.   Ray Estes assumed the roles of SC Secretary and Chair of the School Building Committee.

School leadership changes in 2011 included the appointments of Jennifer Lowe as Assistant Principal for South and Foster Schools, Katie Roberts as K-12 Science Director, Kim Smyth as Interim Director of the Food Services Program, and Kathleen Jordan replacing long-time director Sharon McKay at the helm of the Kids-in-Action Program.  John Ferris, Director of Business and Support Services, began his Hingham service in January 2011, succeeding David Killory, who retired.

The operating budget for fiscal year 2012 (school year 2011-2012) was approved in April 2011 at $38,434,395 (and $329,327 in capital funds).  That figure includes a town meeting appropriation and the use of federal stimulus dollars in the amount of $783,629.

The April 2011 Town Meeting also approved funding for a $600,000 Feasibility Study for a new Middle School under the Massachusetts School Building Authority’s (MSBA) Model School Program.  A companion warrant article rescinded a prior unexpended appropriation of $236,000, thereby reducing the net appropriation to $364,000.

An October 2011 Special Town Meeting and Debt Exclusion Ballot Vote approved final design and construction funding for a new middle school, to be built on the site of the current middle school at a cost of $60,910,920.  The anticipated state reimbursement of the project will be at 43.87% of eligible costs thereby resulting in a net cost to Hingham of approximately $35,000,000.  At the same Town Meeting and Ballot vote, citizens also agreed to fund construction costs for Phase I (track reconstruction and tennis court repair) and design fees for Phase II (multi-purpose field, drainage improvements, and other possible attributes) of a much needed, comprehensive high school fields improvement project 

Academically, Hingham students continued to perform above state averages at every grade and subject on the 2011 MCAS.  The percentage of Hingham students performing at the proficient or advanced levels increased in grade 5 English Language Arts (ELA) and mathematics, grade 6 ELA, grade 8 ELA, and grade 10 ELA and math. In grade 10, 96% of students scored at the proficient or advanced level in ELA, 91% in math, and 89% in science, with 53% scoring at the advanced level in ELA and 57% scoring advanced in math.  All members of the Class of 2011 demonstrated proficiency on the ELA, math and science MCAS tests that are required for a state certified diploma. Student Growth Percentile (SGP) reports released by the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) are used to measure student performance changes on MCAS over time. In Hingham, SGPs were rated as “high” at grades 5, 7, and 10 in ELA and at grade 5 in math.

All six schools and the district as a whole met the 2011 Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) targets issued by the DESE in math for the aggregate, and all but South met the ELA target for the aggregate population. The district, HHS, East, Foster, and PRS met subgroup as well as aggregate targets. HMS is in “Improvement-Year 1” status for its special education subgroup performance in ELA and math; and South School is in the “Corrective Action” category for ELA in the aggregate and for special education subgroup performance in the prior two years. Plymouth River School received a DESE commendation for “High Growth”.

Following the Spring 2011 MA DESE adoption of the federal Common Core Standards, now the 2011 Massachusetts Curriculum Frameworks in Mathematics and English Language Arts/Literacy, Hingham administrators, teachers, and support staff at all levels began work on aligning and revising local curriculum to better prepare students for the 2012 MCAS.  The realignment efforts will continue over the next two years.

On June 4, 2011, 245 students graduated from Hingham High School. Of these graduates, 88% planned to continue their formal education.  Academic accomplishments of the HHS Class of 2011 include: 3 National Merit semi-finalists, 16 National Merit commended students, 64 Advanced Placement Scholars, and 39 members inducted into the National Honor Society.  At the Annual Senior Awards Night, 199 members of the Class of 2011 were honored.  More than $292,000 in local scholarship funds was awarded to these graduates.  Myriad awards were also presented in recognition of students' outstanding performance in academic areas or involvement in school organizations.

Participation in athletics remains very high.  Approximately 72% of all  high school students participate in athletics. The success of the program continues to be impressive.   Hingham High School won the Patriot League Sportsmanship Award for 2011.   Twenty-four teams participated in Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association (MIAA) post-season competition.  Six teams won the Patriot League Championship including girls’ winter and spring track, boys’ winter track, baseball, boys’ tennis and boys’ soccer.  The boys’ soccer team has won the title for four years in a row.  The wrestling team won the MIAA Division III South Sectional Championship. The girls’ ice hockey team won the Division I MIAA State Championship.  This is most notable because girls’ ice hockey has been an established program in Hingham for only 7 years.  In 2008, the team won the MIAA Division II Championship.  They also won the prestigious Mulloy Award for sportsmanship for the second year in a row.  The girls and boys winter track teams won the MIAA Division III Relay Championship.   Coach of the Year honors went to Girls’ Track Coach, Dave Jewett (Boston Globe), Wrestling Coach, Paul Canniff (Division III Coaches Association) and Girls Ice Hockey Coach, Tom Findley (Boston Globe and National Ice Hockey Officials Association.)  Athletic Director, Margaret Conaty was the recipient of the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association’s Distinguished Service Award.

In February of 2011, the middle school suffered extensive damage to a number of the laminated wooden beam roof supports due to the weight of snow, ice, and rain that had accumulated after several winter storms in rapid succession.  The school was promptly evacuated and the building was assessed for structural integrity; over the next four days, the roof was cleared, and short-term repair/mitigation steps were taken for the safe return of the students.  Due to the herculean efforts of administration, school support staff, and town and private contractor help, the school was closed for only two school days after the evacuation.  Those two days were made up on Saturdays in March and April.

Shortly thereafter (and as a direct result of the roof structural issues) the middle school was invited into the MSBA’s Model School Program, leading to the previously mentioned April Town Meeting vote for the required feasibility study.

The four elementary schools continue to enhance instruction in literacy, math, science, and social studies through a variety of initiatives including Response to Intervention (RTI) models of targeted instruction, updated curriculum and assessment materials, technology support, tutoring, holiday and seasonal celebrations, book clubs, literacy and math nights, involvement with the community, cultural enrichment programs, and service projects.  Each of the elementary schools has designed, posted, and trained staff in school-specific behavior matrixes in order to create safe and productive learning environments that foster responsibility and respect.  The latter efforts reflect the HPS Bullying Prevention and Intervention Plan (The Three Rs: Respect, Responsibility, and Relationships), Hingham’s response to the 2010 MA “Bullying Law.”

During Spring 2011, Hingham administrators developed a new Five-Year Strategic Plan with an accompanying One-Year Action Plan, both of which were adopted by the School Committee.

The Hingham Public Schools again benefitted from strong and long-standing community partnerships in 2011.  The cooperative efforts and generosity of parents, PTO’s, booster and other community groups, civic organizations, the Hingham Education Foundation, and the Hingham Sports Partnership have supported the School Department in realizing its mission and achieving its goals.  The School Department and the School Committee gratefully acknowledge and appreciate the many community efforts that serve to enhance the excellent facilities, programs, and activities of the Hingham Public Schools. A special thank you goes to the citizens of the Town for their ongoing support of education and their recent funding of the proposed new middle school and improvements to the high school athletic campus!

DOROTHY GALO, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools

SCHOOL COMMITTEE
Linda Hill, Chair
Caryl Falvey, Vice-Chair
Raymond Estes, Secretary
Barbara Cook
Andrew Shafter
Carol M. Falvey
Edward Schreier, DDS