It’s back to work for members of the school committee unless there are more political parties to attend.
The Haverhill School Committee is scheduled to meet in regular session Thursday night. On the agenda, committee members will begin its formal business of the new year with votes to select their president and vice president for 2015.
The last school committee meeting was cancelled late when four of the six members could not attend. Three reportedly went to Governor Charles D. Baker’s inauguration bash.
Superintendent James F. Scully is scheduled to give an update on plans by Haverhill High School administration to improve graduation rates and state MCAS test scores among the school’s tenth graders. According to school department documents, three focus areas have been identified by a Department of Elementary and Second Education (DESE) Accountability Report. They include lowest performing 20 percent of schools and subgroups, less than 95 percent MCAS participation rate and persistently low graduation rate for one or more subgroups of students. The subgroups include students with disabilities, low income and hispanic/latino.
Among measures outlined to improve test results and graduation rates, an intervention program for grade 10 students identified as being “at risk” that would focus on attendance, grades and discipline through group structures and parental involvement. Access to after-school resources and an in-school tutoring program are among offerings to those students.
In January, 2014, the high school implemented a plan to improve MCAS participation rates, according to department documents.
The Haverhill School Committee is scheduled to meet at 7 p.m., Thursday, in city council chambers at Haverhill City Hall.