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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm. 09/22/2020approved 10-06-20 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, September 22, 2020 r Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar - ,� ICE Ii1 A � An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held virtually on Tuesday, September 22, I 2020. The open meeting session was called to order by Chair Kiera O'Neil at 6:02 p.m. Members Present: Administration Present: Kiera O'Neil Teresa Murphy, Superintendent of Schools Lynn Cavicchi Michael Connolly, Assistant Superintendent (Teaching/Learning) Linda Fernando Edward Donoghue, Assistant Superintendent (Finance/Operations) Lauren Scher Jenn Walsh (arrived at 6:06) Members Absent: ***All votes taken by roll call vote *** Roll Call Vote: Kiera O'Neil aye Lynn Cavicchi aye Linda Fernando aye Lauren Scher 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 Purposes: Under Exception No. 2, To conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with nonunion personnel or to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with nonunion personnel. 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 / Lauren Scher Roll Call Vote Lynn Cavicchi Yes Kiera O'Neil Yes Linda Fernando Yes Lauren Scher Yes Motion Carries 4 - 0 School Committee returned to Open Session at 6:45 pm Public Speak: Public Speak is open for 15 minutes for anyone who has registered via GoToWebinar. None Communications: Chair O'Neil mentioned that several emails related to kindergarten and technology concerns. Overall the feedback on remote learning was positive. There were also emails regarding the high i/ Page 1 of 8 approved IM6-20 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, September 22, 2020 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar school schedule which were sent to Mary Watkins and addressed individually. We also received correspondence that the Hornet Mascot turns 75 this year. Further information on a celebration will be provided. Administrative Reports: Superintendent Murphy provided the following updates. Kelly Kreizinger has been hired as the new Assistant Special Education Director - Robinson and J/J. We welcome Kelly who will start in Mid October. Thank you to Cavallo & Signoriello Insurance who donated 13 crates of Purell, Paper towels, windex and masks. Thank you to Esposito Realty Group (Ben Esposito and family) for donating boxes of school supplies to Robinson and J/J. These supplies are greatly appreciated for the return to school as many of our supplies were shipped home to students for remote learning. Assistant Superintendent Connolly provided the following updates on the Daily Cohort. We are off to a good start with our daily cohort students. Everyone is adjusting and attendance is good. We witnessed a lot of staff members coming together to get students the support that they need. Per request of School Committee, Mike Connolly will report back on the numbers by school. Assistant Superintendent Donohue provided the following updates. We are almost complete with the furniture storage. We rented 10,000 square feet of space and overall it took 5 days to move all of the furniture. Parking at MHS will be modified to provide better signage and the removal of parking spots for an easier flow. At QMS anew right hand only turn will be added to the morning drop off parking lot which should help with traffic flow. Food services will provide free lunch and breakfast for all students until December 31st or until federal funds run out. The cafeteria is looking at a touch less system using barcodes. Meal distributions were discussed. Meals will be available one day per week and we hope to include 7 days of meals with each package. We are reimbursed for all meals at the Federal meal rate. We track the number of meals delivered. The district is reviewing busing for the hybrid model. There is minimal cost savings as there is cost for cleaning and hiring of new drivers. Chair O'Neil noted that parents are anxious about the new routes and procedures. Jenn Walsh Stepped out of the meeting at 7:34 PM Approval of Minutes: Motion to approve the open meeting minutes dated 8-11-20 by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Roll Call Vote: Lauren Scher Yes Linda Fernando Yes Kiera O'Neil Yes Lynn Cavicchi Yes Motion Carries 4 - 0 Motion to approve the open meeting minutes dated 9-8-20 by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Page 2 of 8 approved 104)6-20 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, September 22, 2020 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Roll Call Vote to pass motion as amended Lynn Cavicchi Yes Kiera O'Neil Yes Linda Fernando Yes Lauren Scher Yes Motion Carries 4 - 0 Motion to approve the executive session meeting minutes dated 8-11-20 by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Roll Call Vote: Lauren Scher Yes Linda Fernando Yes Kiera O'Neil Yes Lynn Cavicchi Yes Motion Carries 4 - 0 Motion to approve the executive session meeting minutes dated 9-8-20 by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Roll Call Vote: Lynn Cavicchi Yes Kiera O'Neil Yes Linda Fernando Yes Lauren Scher Yes Motion Carries 4 - 0 Old Business: Committee Updates. Budget: At 9/11/20 meeting reviewed the upcoming budget season and planning process. Need to schedule joint meeting to discuss upcoming budget. Kiera O'Neil will reach out to Select Board. Facilities: At 9/11/20 meeting reviewed return to hybrid plans. Most discussion was highlighted in the Assistant Superintendent's report. Return to Hybrid: Next meeting is scheduled for 9/25/20. The committee has spent time with Christine Dooling about changing metrics. Vice Chair Cavicchi asked if the subcommittee will provide a final report. A final update will be provided. New Business: District Technology Update Technology Director Lori Letendre provided an update of her department and the support for remote learning. Some of the Ivey highlights are: Chromebooks provided across the district, added staff; new help desk ticketing system, increased bandwidth, modifications to our firewall; identified areas of poor wi-fi coverage; purchased webcams and ethernet adapters for use with teacher desktops for improved performance. Lori has spoken with several other districts who are having the same issues. The network team has responded to over a 1000 tickets with only 60 open today. There are many little items across the district; town; school, etc that contribute to the overall problems so there is not just one area we can target. Google is working heavily to make many modifications at their end. They have increased their staff significantly to support the massive increase in google meets. They will be pushing through system updates for Google Enterprise any day now. Page 3 of 8 approved 10-06-20 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, September 22, 2020 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Questions/Answers: Kiera O'Neil: Thank you and your staff for all of your hard work. She has received positive feedback regarding our technology department. Lynn Cavicchi: Thank you for all of your efforts. Are those teachers who are teaching from home experiencing the same issues? Yes, the connectivity problems are not unique to our physical building. Will the Google Enterprise help? It could go either way. There will be many new features. Sometimes these are helpful while at times the new features could put a strain on our resources. We can only wait to see what happens. Are there certain times per day that are worse than others? There is not consistency so it is hard to identify any particular issue. Lauren Scher: Can teachers shut off a mic and camera for any student if needed? Yes. Will we have hotspots available for families with poor wi-fi? We have ordered additional units and are expecting delivery soon. Jenn Walsh re-entered at 8:08 pm. Director of Digital Learning Julia Greenstine, provided several updates. In March, she began researching all the available Google tools available and started mass distribution of information to staff. Over the summer significant training sessions were created for the 9 days of PD in September. Eighty six percent of our staff have taken advantage of these modules. Julia and Kevin Smith have provided group and individual support to staff and have added many new resources available through our webpages. Additionally, Julia has been reviewing the student privacy policies with over 275 vendors. To date 232 of these have been approved. Questions/Answers: Lauren Scher liked the parent support webpage but questioned whether or not parents are using it. Can we add a tech update as part of every newsletter? Lynn Cavicchi emphasized the communication needed for parents. Is there any Google training available for parents? Julia agreed that both of these were good ideas. We use Typing and Keyboarding applications to teach 2nd graders to type. Should we be using these in the younger grades? Principal Sankey feels that 1st and 2nd grade students need to focus on basics of writing and spelling first and expect that they are getting some assistance from parents on typing skills. Kiera O'Neil asked about the backordered chromebooks. Lori believes we will receive these in October. Consideration of Final Changes to 2020-21 School Calendar The final items added to the calendar are curriculum nights and parent/teacher conferences. The district made some adjustments to the conferences to balance out the half days on A and B cohorts. Motion to approve the 2020-2021 School Calendar by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Roll Call vote: Lynn Cavicchi yes Jenn Walsh yes Kiera O'Neil yes Linda Fernando yes Lauren Scher yes Motion Carries 5 - 0 Page 4 of 8 approved 10-06-20 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, September 22, 2020 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Consideration of COVID Amendment to Handbook. Several COVID related items have been added to an addendum rather than modifying the actual handbooks. Examples are health issues, remote privacy issues, attendance, vacationing students; travel restrictions, student conduct, safety, cafeteria usage, etc. These will be posted alongside our regular handbooks. Motion to approve the 2020-2021 COVID Handbook Addendums by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Discussion: MHS has a dedicated attendance email address. Do the other schools as well? QMS is using normal reporting procedure which is a standard phone line. JJ and Robinson are using their standard operating procedure where parents call the main office. It was noted that MHS also has a call in number. Can virtual remote students participate in student activities? Yes and announcements have already been made regarding this. One quick fix: all handbooks refer to QMS in the cafeteria section. Kiera emphasized the need to communicate this to parents via newsletters. Roll Call vote: Lauren Scher yes Linda Fernando yes Kiera O'Neil yes Jenn Walsh yes Lynn Cavicchi yes Motion Carries 5 - 0 Consideration of a transition plan for remote cohort to hybrid. Superintendent Murphy highlighted what steps have been taken and details on our return plan. On Thursday October 15th, cohort A starts in the building in addition to the daily cohort. On Friday October 16th, cohort B starts in the building in addition to the daily cohort. Ongoing the students will report as follows: Monday Cohort A Tuesday Cohort B Wednesday: At home Asynchronous / Synchronous learning Thursday Cohort A Friday Cohort B Significant work has been done to plan transportation, health protocols, handbooks, food services, technology, negotiations, school schedules, subbing, HVAC systems. There are two big challenges that we face. The first is substitute teachers as very few are willing to take on this role. Many of our regular subs have said they would not work this year and we are having a hard time hiring new subs. Second is the constant change of cohorts. Families are changing their minds on which model they want for their students. DESE recommends a 4 week transition when changing from one plan to another. We will follow these guidelines to allow schools time to change teacher assignments, modify schedules and manage transportation. Page 5 of 8 approved 104)6-20 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, September 22, 2020 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar The hybrid model starts in three weeks. Schedules and teachers must be finalized. If there are big shifts in cohort requests then we may have staffing issues. We want to support our students but we are receiving many more requests to change than we expected. Questions/Answers: Is there wiggle room at every school for changes? Yes, but the flexibility is decreasing. If the remote requests continue to decline, will some of these teachers be brought into the building? We will need to review each case individually. So far, students who have left virtual remote have been disbursed among several classrooms. This does not allow for an easy answer on teacher reassignments. Are the high school virtual remote students all set on their schedules? Principal Watkins indicated that they are still working through a few of these as we await new classes from Edgenuity. We should be done by Friday. At the high school level there are additional concerns if a student transfers from the virtual remote cohort to the hybrid cohort. There is no guarantee they will get in the same electives and then grading, catching up with work and transcripts become an issue. Consideration ofAP Fees for 2021 College Board has increased their fees for next spring so Superintendent Murphy wanted to discuss our options with the committee. Many districts add an additional fee on top of the standard AP fee to cover expenses. Teresa does not propose this but does request that we increase by $1.00 to cover the College Board increase. Mansfield Students who are on free/reduced lunch will continue to take the exam for free. Motion to approve the $1.00 increase to the AP fees by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Discussion: There was general concern that College Board picked this year to raise rates but support the district's plan to increase our rate to match. Can we see trends in years past to see if economically disadvantaged students are taking AP courses? It is great that we waive the testing fee but what about other costs associated with taking the course? Are there students who are temporarily having financial difficulty that may benefit by a fee waiver? MHS will review. Roll Call vote: Lynn Cavicchi yes Jenn Walsh yes Kiera O'Neil yes Linda Fernando yes Lauren Scher yes Motion Carries 5 - 0 Page 6 of 8 approved 10-06-20 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, September 22, 2020 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Consideration of Policy See table for list of policies, motions and votes. Code Title Notes Action Motion Motion Vote Roll 1 2 Call Reviewed by lynn Cayiceh€ ACAB Sexual Harassment Update Per MASC. Since we are Revise replacing the generic policy with LS one geared toward sexual LF harassment, are we at risk by not KO having a generic harassment JW policy? We are working with LC Felicia at MHTL for a new policy. LF JW 5-0 ACAB-R Sexual Harassment Update Per MASC New Procedures EBC-S Covid Related Issues Providing leeway for School New LF JW 5-0 LC Committee and Superintendent JW to make decisions during KO pandemic. LF LS Typo regarding Contact Tracing will be fixed. IHBHE Remote Learning Remote issues during COVID New LF 1W 5-0 LS remote learning LF KO JW LC JB Equal Education Updated per MASC Revise LC Opportunities LF JW 5-0 JW KO LF LS JH Student Absences Update per MASC Revise BB Educational Equity Per MASC New LF JW 5-0 LS JICFA Hazing Per MASC. Previously we just New had a document on state LF regulations KO JW LC FY21 Budget Update: Currently we are reviewing all spending and applying as much as possible to our COVID grants. Page 7 of 8 approved 10-06-20 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, September 22, 2020 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar New School Committee Business: Lynn Cavicchi asked about the status of School Councils. She discussed the normal voting options during in person curriculum nights and wanted to remind us of the importance of School Councils, Lynn Cavicchi asked if we can get an update on Green Community Initiatives. Kiera O'Neil asked if we could get an update on Health Protocols from Christine Dooling. What are the procedures if we have a COVID positive case? Other- Items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meeting_ None Documents Referenced: COVID Handbook Addendums AP Fee research Policy Motion to adjourn: At 10:11 p.m., Motion to adjourn the open meeting 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 S - 0 Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Secretary to the Superintendent & School Committee Page 8 of 8