WESTFIELD – The Westfield School Committee met for a regularly scheduled meeting on June 15 to accept an updated bullying prevention plan, combined Westfield High School and Westfield Technical Academy ski teams, and to evaluate Superintendent Stefan Czaporowski.

To start the meeting the school committee thanked the district’s Chief Financial officer Ronald Rix for his time in the district with his term expiring at the end of the year. Committee Member Diane Mayhew prepared some comments and said, “You have been a wonderful colleague and friend. You have taught us all a lot about budgets and Lord knows we came to you for advice and ideas over the years. You are leaving behind a good track record of achievement, teamwork, and good work ethic, which you should be proud of. We will surely miss your experience.”

Along with Mayhew’s comments, the school committee also presented Rix with several gifts, including a golf package for two at the Southampton Country Club.

Rix thanked the school committee and reflected on his time in the district. “We’ve had a great working relationship. I’m proud of our accomplishments we’ve had in the Westfield Schools over the last 24 years. I learned a longtime ago that the key to fulfillment in life is to leave with memories and not regrets, and I’m leaving Westfield with some incredible memories,” he said.

As part of a two-year cycle, the school committee also had to adopt an updated Bullying Prevention and Intervention plan. Superintendent Czaporowski then jumped into the call to discuss the policy and how it has been adjusted to remote learning. He said, “When it came to making adjustments one of the things we had to adjust was remote learning. We wanted to build on a document that is already darn good and just adapt it to what has happened at what may happen next year.”

The committee unanimously approved the policy.

After accepting the bullying prevention policy, the school committee also approved a motion for a two-year agreement to combine the Westfield Technical Academy and Westfield High School Boys and Girls Skiing teams. Westfield High School Athletic Supervisor Ryan Dunphy then jumped into the call to discuss combining each team. “Westfield Technical Academy has had a skiing team the last two years, but it was co-opted with Gateway and Smith Academy, and that relationship has been on the outs because of their numbers decreasing. The numbers for Westfield High have been getting lower so it allows the MIAA to approve something like this,” he said.

The school committee unanimously approved the motion to combine the ski teams.

The committee then went through and unanimously approved a litany of requests for budget transfers with little discussion as each request required its own motion to be approved.

As part of the end of the year wrap up, the School Committee also evaluated Czaporowski’s work from the past year. Committee Secretary Cindy Sullivan read off how he did in each category including instructional leadership, management and operations, family and community engagement, and professional culture. Sullivan explained that he was proficient or exemplary in every single category and his work had a high impact on student learning.

Sullivan added that Czaporowski excelled in promoting the growth and learning of students throughout the district. “These ratings are a clear indication that Czaporowski has worked tremendously hard with extraordinary outcomes in out of ordinary circumstances,” she said, “The superintendent works passionately to promote the learning and growth of all students by creating a shared vision that has an impact on the climate and attitude of the entire school system.”

Committee Member Ray Diaz reflected on the first time the district interviewed Czaporowski. He said, “I always remember the interview and from all the superintendents we interviewed, none had the passion that he did. It has not changed, and it really does my heart good that we made the right choice a long time ago.”

During his regular report, Czaporowski said the district sent out surveys to students to get their thoughts on reopening in the fall and remote learning, before reaching out to parents and other stakeholders in the community. “We know that we have families that won’t send their kids to school without a vaccine and there are others that want students in school every day. We’re going to try to meet those needs so getting this data early is important,” he said.
    After Czaporowski’s report, the meeting adjourned with no date set for the school committee’s next meeting.