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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm. 09/01/2020Approved 09-08-20 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, September 01, 2020 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held virtually on Tuesday,, September 01, 2020. The open meeting session was called to order by Chair Kiera O'Neil at 61:02.p.m. Members Present: Administration Present: Kiera O'Neil Teresa Murphy, Superintendent of Schools Lynn Cavicchi Michael Connolly, Assistant Superintendent (Teaching/Learning) Linda Fernando Lauren Scher (arrived at 6:05) Jenn Walsh Members Absent: None ***All votes taken by roll call vote *** Roll Call Vote: Kiera O'Neil aye Lynn Cavicchi aye Linda Fernando aye Lauren Scher (arrived at 6:05 directly into executive session) Jenn Walsh aye Kiera O'Neil asked for a motion to enter into Executive Session pursuant to M.G.L. Chapter 30A, Section 21 for the Following Purpose: Under Exception No. 3. To discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the public body and the chair so declares. Motion to enter into executive session by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Roll Call Vote Kiera O'Neil Yes Lynn Cavicchi Yes Linda Fernando Yes Jenn Walsh Yes Motion Carries 4 - 0 School Committee returned to Open Session at 7:03 p.m. Chair O'Neil asked for a moment of silence in honor of Patty Coyne, a long time reading teacher at the Jordan/Jackson who passed away last week. Public Sneak: Public Speak is open for 15 minutes for anyone who has registered via GoToWebinar. NONE Page 1 of 7 Approved 09-08-20 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, September 01, 2020 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Communications: Chair O'Neil acknowledged the receipt of several emails during the week in relation to the opening of schools. Administrative Reports: Superintendent Murphy provided the following updates from DESE: • Received requirements on how we must take attendance in the remote/hybrid environment • Mandated flu shot by 12/31/20 • Power standards on curriculum noted (These are the most important of the curriculum standards.) • MCAS still on for the spring Assistant Superintendent Connolly provided an update on the first school day for staff: • Great to see staff back in the buildings • Principals held staff meetings • Staff participated in department meetings and mandated training • Staff started to setup their modified classrooms • IT has created a website to assist with tech issues. • Digital learning is offering 32 sessions of professional development Questions: • Lynn Cavicchi-Is there is a sense of what additional training staff may want? Mr. Connolly said there are ongoing discussions with administrators to identify and support staff needs. • Lynn Cavicchi- Is there time for collaborative work? Mr. Connolly noted that there is time built into the schedule. • Lauren Scher- Is there is training regarding SEL (Social/Emotional Learners). Mike said that there is some time built in but the schedule is tight. Some information has been distributed while lessons are being built as self -paced modules that staff can do on their own. • Lynn Cavicchi - Is there is a plan to survey families on their well being? There are no plans yet but we are open to ideas. Old Business: Committee Updates: Audit: Met last week to review the audit timeline. Auditors were able to complete town audits virtually and the committee will review results in December. The committee is also looking into a fraud hotline. Facilities: A meeting is scheduled for next week. Return to Hybrid: Two meetings were held to discuss goals and identify the added value to the district. The committee will meet next week with health representatives to identify metrics. New Business: Consideration of 2020-2021 School Calendar Mr. Connolly reviewed the process taken and the changes made to the calendar including conference dates, curriculum nights and professional development days. Chair O'Neil asked about the scheduling for conferences. She had concern of how the half days fit into the hybrid model. Linda Fernando asked what a Wednesday early release looks like. Mike indicated that this is still an open item. Lynn asked how we were handling snow days; did DESE opt for remote? Mr. Connolly Page 2 of 7 Approved 09-08-20 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, September 01, 2020 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Linda Fernando- What is the concern with gaiters? The CDC indicated they are thinner and do not provide as much protection. However the MIAA feels that it will be very difficult for athletes to wear masks and the gaiters are a good compromise. Jenn Walsh- What are the metrics for canceling a game? MIAA is asking districts to decide. However, the league is working together with local health agents to discuss. Lynn Cavicchi- Can you expand on training for coaches? Athletic Directors have received a lot of information from MIAA and Christine Dooling. This information is shared with coaches. In addition coaches will meet by sport to discuss new protocols. Lynn Cavicchi- What the budget implications? Busing cost will increase by 20-25%. Other costs include port -a -potties, water that must be supplied since there are no refill stations, pinnies and other practice gear must be supplied per person rather than shared, increase number of soccer balls and equipment, hand sanitizer, electronic whistles. In total, Mr. Redding expects a cost of $20,000 - $30,000. Lynn Cavicchi- Has there been an increased need for fee waivers? We have started registration but have not yet requested payment so we do not know what the need will be. Lynn Cavicchi- Do we need to revisit the family cap because with the new format, students can participate in 4 sports instead of 3. Have not looked at that but will review with Ed Donoghue. A vote will be taken at the next meeting with hopes that we will have a little more information from the MIAA at that time. Consideration of2020-2021 MHS Parking Fee waiver. Assistant Superintendent explained there would be limited parking use this year so it does not make sense to charge seniors. This waiver is for the upcoming school year only. Kiera O'Neil asked if the students will still have stickers. Yes, because we need to still manage the spots and safety of our students. Assistant Principal Tichacek explained the plan. The school will setup parking spots for Seniors closest to the schools. Two students in opposite cohorts will share a space. Once those are filled, extra spots will be designated for Juniors. Once we go full in person then the spots will be reassigned. At that time Juniors will go back to Memorial Park. Motion to approve the 2020-2021 MHS Parking Fee Waiver by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Roll Call vote: Lynn Cavicchi abstain Jenn Walsh aye Kiera O'Neil aye Linda Fernando aye Lauren Scher abstain Motion Carries 3 - 0 - 2 (Two abstaining members have Senior students) Consideration of2020-2021 handbook changes: Assistant Principal Tim Tichacek presented the attached handbook changes for MHS. Motion to approve the 2020-2021 MHS Handbook by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Roll Call vote: Lynn Cavicchi aye Jenn Walsh aye Kiera O'Neil aye Page 4 of 7 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, September 01, 2020 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Linda Fernando aye Lauren Scher aye Motion Carries 5 Approved 09-08-20 Assistant Principal Mary Cotillo presented the attached handbook changes for QMS. Motion to approve the 2020-2021QMS Handbook by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Roll Call vote: Lauren Scher aye Linda Fernando aye Kiera O'Neil aye Jenn Walsh aye Lynn Cavicchi aye Motion Carries 5 - 0 Assistant Principals Denise daGrasa and Ryan Gentile presented the attached handbook changes for Jordan/Jackson and Robinson. Motion to approve the 2020-2021 Elementary Handbook by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Roll Call vote: Lynn Cavicchi aye Jenn Walsh aye Kiera O'Neil aye Linda Fernando aye Lauren Scher aye Motion Carries 5 There will be additional changes for Title IX and for COVID related items. These will be brought forth as they are reviewed for impact. Consideration of a new policy (EBCFA Face Coverings): Vice Chair introduced the new policy and how it was developed. The district started with the MASC sample policy, spoke with other districts, reviewed CDC guidelines and met in house with several key players. Mansfield has decided to go beyond DESE guidance and require face masks for all K - 1 students. Current DESE requirement is grade 2 and above. This is due to the size of our school and the most recent guidance on the importance of masks. At Roland Green, masks will be strongly encouraged but not required. Exceptions are allowed for medical or disability reasons. The policy has been modified slightly to allow greater decision malting by administration. For example, there has been a lot of different guidance on the use of gaiters. If we are specific in a policy then we may find ourselves changing the policy frequency. The policy allows the superintendent to provide district guidance. These expectations will be articulated to staff and families. We will notify all families and staff of this policy highlighting the policy shift for K and Grade 1 students. Chair O'Neil asked if we should discuss face shields. Christine Dooling indicated there are some students who cannot wear masks. In some of those cases students did wear facemasks. It is on a case by case basis approved by administration. Motion to approve policy EBCFA Face Coverings as amended to include the word "appropriate" in paragraph 3 by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Page 5 of 7 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, September 01, 2020 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Roll Call vote: Lynn Cavicchi aye Jenn Walsh aye Kiera O'Neil aye Linda Fernando aye Lauren Scher aye Motion Carries 5 Approved 09-08-20 Mansfield High School Return to School Plan. - Principal Mary Watkins reviewed progress made and where the schedule stands now. There is impact to AP courses. However the biggest impact seems to be to the science courses. Some of the variables that got us to where we are: room size, 3 feet restriction which changed to 6 feet restriction, maximum class enrollment, available courses, enrollment for those courses, various looks at cohort structures, switch from virtual state model to virtual Mansfield model which resulted in the loss of 6 teachers representing 30 sections. MHS is prioritizing core content courses required for graduation. In May the long process of completing the original schedule was finalized. We are now scrambling to do in a few days what normally takes a few weeks. There are many factors that go into the schedule and many rounds are required to complete the process. Staff worked over the weekend and made significant progress. Questions: Lynn Cavicch- No question but recognized the challenges facing Mary and thanked her staff for their work. Jenn Walsh reiterated her thanks. Lauren Scher- A lot of students spent the summer doing AP homework and preparing for classes. Those students need to know if they are going to get their AP classes. Mary Watkins indicated that as soon as we get the schedules built we can start to notify parents. However, it is too early to say when the schedule will be complete because each impacted change needs to be evaluated. Lauren Scher- If a student cannot take a class, can a family seek outside resources to take that class? Mary Watkins will pull together a list of resources. Lauren Scher- Is there any potential for hiring new staff to cover these classes? Teresa Murphy indicated that it is difficult to hire teachers right now and it is our understanding we need to work within the budget guidelines that were approved at town meeting. District Return to School Plan. Right now the district is still collecting parent requests for remote learning. There are new requests and changes coming in. We are finalizing the daily cohorts and are almost complete. Parents will be notified. Lynn Cavicchi asked if the schools were working on frequently asked questions from their virtual info meetings. These need to get out to parents via the website and newsletters. Schools have not been able to complete these yet but will work to finish. FY20 Financials end ofyear Review. Tabled due to time FY21 Budget Review: Tabled due to time New School Committee Business: Next meeting 09-08-20 Page 6 of 7 Approved 09-08-20 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, September 01, 2020 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Other- Items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meeting, None Documents Referenced: Handbooks School Calendar Motion to adjourn: At 10:36 p.m., Motion to adjourn the open meeting by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Roll Call vote: Lauren Scher aye Linda Fernando aye Kiera O'Neil aye Jenn Walsh aye Lynn Cavicchi aye Motion Carries 5 - 0 Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Secretary to the Superintendent & School Committee Page 7 of 7