Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm. 10/27/2020Approved 11-10-20 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, October 27, 2020 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar r r,t k1,i; i I, �\-); An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held virtually on TuesdayOctbbe'e2T, 2020. The open meeting session was called to order by Chair Kiera O'Neil at 7:01-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) Jenn Walsh Lauren Scher Members Absent: None ***All votes taken by roll call vote *** Roll Call Vote: Kiera O'Neil aye Lynn Cavicchi aye Jenn Walsh aye Linda Fernando aye Lauren Scher aye Executive Session Cancelled. Public Speak: Public Speak is open for 15 minutes for anyone who has registered via GoToWebinar. NONE Communications: Chair O'Neil noted that the committee had received a few emails and they have been addressed. Administrative Reports: Superintendent Teresa Murphy provided a COVID update by reviewing numbers, contact tracing and procedures that would be taken if we were to have to close down in the future. She noted the Town of Mansfield and Mansfield Public Schools COVID websites. The decision to close is not automatic when a district goes into the Red Category. There are many factors in place such as need for extensive cleaning, widespread transmission, high absences of students and/or staff, three weeks being in the Red zone, and a positivity test rate over 1.5% for a school or 5% for the town. The committee discussed the data, the website and requested a few changes for clarity. Assistant Superintendent Connolly reviewed upcoming MCAS Testing. DESE is working on a plan to test ELA and Math for the class of 2022 who were not able to take the exam last year. Districts are required to offer these tests in January but students are not required to participate. Clarification needed on the DESE requirement as there is confusion over the Page 1 of 8 Approved 11-10-20 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, October 27, 2020 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar graduation requirement. Can students test in order to qualify for the Abigail Adams scholarship? Can we verify what it means when DESE will send a letter to parents if the students do not participate?) All questions will be researched. QMS has been selected to participate in the NEAP testing which is a National baseline assessment. This is a mandated exam and will occur between late January and mid March. DESE will allow districts to use remote days in place of snow days for the 2020-2021 year only. The district will review our options and present our plan for the 11-10-20 school committee meeting. Finally, Mr. Connolly reminded the community that we are in desperate need of substitute teachers and paraprofessionals. Approval of Warrant: Motion to approve warrant memo dated 10-13-20 by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Goods & Goods & Services Salary & Wages Services Salary & Wages Goods & Services 21009S 2021-5 21011S 2021-6 21013S 9-1-2020 94.2020 9-15.2020 9-18-2020 9-29-2020 General Fund 274,100.04 1,517,785.12 290,413.66 1,604,323.84 206,368.69 CARES - 28,596.12 17,445.58 16,068.03 59,914.25 Medicare - - - 2,901.81 - Capital 32,991.84 - 218,240.65 - 15,258.30 Revolving 4,216.90 44,949.91 11,197.42 66,755.36 4,788.09 Food Service 256.00 7,077.31 2,170.09 7,010.64 12,557.70 Gifts - - 2,880.00 - - Student Activity - - - - - Grants 693.00 6,648.09 - 47,623.06 1,525.89 Prior Year 29,490.59 2,890.00 3,667.35 - 19,178.37 $ 341,748.37 $ 1,607,946.66 $ 646,014.76 $ 1,7",682.74 $ 319,591.29 Roll Call Vote: Lynn Cavicchi aye Jenn Walsh aye Kiera O'Neil aye Linda Fernando aye Lauren Scher aye Motion Passes: 5 - 0 Page 2 of 8 Approved 11-10-20 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, October 27, 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 Passes: 5 - 0 Consideration of Connolly Bus Contract Amendment #2. Given the nature of the year, Connolly Bus has worked with school districts to adjust fees for the 2020-21 school year based on 1) students not starting until October 2) students riding only 2 days per week and 3) no students riding on Wednesdays. Assistant Superintendent Donoghue is very comfortable with the adjustments. Chair O'Neil asked if we are saving a lot of money this year. The savings are minimal since St Mary's has been in School since late August, and Connolly Bus still has to pay bus drivers. The savings comes mostly with fuel usage. Motion to Approve the Amendment to the Connolly Bus Contract 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 Passes: 5 - 0 Mr. Donoghue also provided an update on the current bus status. The district has made some changes to the morning drop off at QMS and MHS. This has eased the traffic issue at the schools. Many parents are still dropping off students rather than using the bus. Friday 10/30 is the deadline to opt out of transportation for the year if a family would like a refund. This week, the district will continue to review capacity and routes with the hope that we can open up registration again next week. Consideration of Capital Requests for FY22 (Spring Town Meeting). Facilities Director Matthew Jacques reviewed the Capital needs for the schools. The school is requesting 5 items in the spring. 1) Snow Plow Truck 2) Two Mini Buses 3) Univentilator replacements 4) Lighting upgrades and 5) Paving & Concrete. These requests align with items that had been forecasted out in prior years. Questions/Answers: Does the school keep the maintenance vehicles in a garage? No, unfortunately we do not have space for indoor storage. Page 4 of 8 Approved 11-10-20 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, October 27, 2020 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Is there any possibility of using COVID money for the univentilators? No, the district has met with the town and the use of those funds have been established. If these funds are extended past 12/31 we will revisit. Are we comfortable that we have the money to work on univentilators between now and town meeting? Yes, given what we know, the operating budget can cover any costs. Motion to move forward with the FY22 CIP requests (Priorities 1- S) 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 Passes: 5 - 0 Consideration of School Council Election Process: Superintendent Murphy reviewed the history of school councils, the state laws regarding election processes, the composition of the group (number of staff, parents, community members and students) as well as council responsibilities. In lieu of an in person election typically held on curriculum night, the district has created a google form which will contain candidate biographies. Parents will then be able to vote online. This proposal is for 2020-21 only. Questions/Answers: Can we do anything to encourage diversity on the councils? We can't force candidates to volunteer. What we can do is get the word out and encourage various members of our community to participate as well. Motion to implement a temporary (2020-21) online voting process for School Council 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 Passes: 5 - 0 Consideration of Attendance Policy Changes for COVID Handbook Addendum: When the COVID handbook addendums were created, the district recognized the probability of changes being made along the way. Having gone through a week and a half of hybrid, we have identified various issues with attendanc. Primarily the district is attempting to identify various reasons for absences and how they should be coded. Several scenarios were reviewed including Page 5 of 8 Approved 11-10-20 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, October 27, 2020 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Quarantining due to travel, being identified as a close contact, having positive test case, and COVID anxiety. One change was requested by School Committee. The document stated that during quarantine, a well student would be marked absent. However, it was noted that these students can login on their regular virtual at home day just like other members of the cohort. This reduces the number absentee days. All agreed. There was still a lot of confusion regarding the days that students should be in school. The key issue is "should the student be marked absent if they are forced to stay home while quarantining?" At the same time, there is not a formal process in place for these students to log in when the other cohort is in the building. There are times when this works but teaching is most definitely geared towards the in person students. There was concern that students marked absent (even though excused) would lose interest and not participate in learning. DESE is requiring us to mark students absent if not in the building on their scheduled in person day. The committee asked if there were other codes that could be used other than absent. One member recommended a code of "Absent -engaged." The students who are forced to stay home cannot lose even more time from learning. They need to be engaged as much as possible. On the other extreme, there are students who are not logging in to classes, families that are leaving town and will "have their students log in from home even on in -person days." This does not work. Families cannot choose to be remote when it is convenient. Superintendent asked that the agenda item be tabled while the administrative team revisits attendance issues. It will be brought back to the committee on November 10th. Superintendent Goals for 2020-2021 Initial Presentation: For this year, DESE has introduced the term "SMARTIE." This adds two components to all structured goals. Inclusivity (the extent, to which a goal brings traditionally, marginalized people into processes, activities and decision making) and Equity (the extent to which the goal includes an element of fairness or justice that seeks to address systemic injustice, inequity or oppression). Teresa will address these items specifically in her goals: Student Learning Goal - Provide professional development to all faculty and staff with a focus on inclusion and equity. District Improvement Goal - Capitalize on the district's inaugural membership in the MA Partnership for Diversity in Education to increase the district's capacity for attracting and retaining a more diverse faculty and staff. Professional Practice Goal - Increase my personal knowledge by reading the forty academic papers referenced in the Guiding Mansfield Forward Report. This literature cites evidence that speaks to creating a culturally responsive curriculum, hiring diverse teaching staff and fostering a culture of civic engagement. Superintendent reviewed each of these goals with supporting action items and references. The committee felt that these were very good objectives. This will move our district forward in a positive direction. Lauren Scher suggested that Teresa reach out to staff to ask what they feel needs Page 6 of 8 Approved 11-10-20 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, October 27, 2020 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar to happen next. Linda Fernando felt that these goals represent a good representation of what is ahead in the short term and long term. This needs to be permanently ingrained in our culture. Lynn Cavicchi asked Teresa to clarify what her expected outcome is for each of these steps. She also asked how the pandemic and school improvement plans will fit into these goals. Teresa Murphy will keep these questions in mind. Kiera O'Neil and Jenn Walsh were happy with the goals set forth. Goals will be approved at the 11-10-20 meeting. Consideration of Policy: Code Title Notes Action Motion Motion Disc Vote Order 1 2 Y N FCB Retirement of Code Change Review LF JW N 5-0 LS-LC Facilities LA Educational Agency Review Relations Goals LB Relations with Other Review Schools & School Districts LBC Relations with Non Review Public Schools LOA Student Teaching and Revise LF JW N 4-0 LC-LS Internships (Jenn BDFA School Councils Update for MGL Revise and district briefly lost procedures connection) JQ Student Fees, Fines Review penalties Revise and Char es for non a meat New School Committee Business: The committee discussed whether or not to send a delegate to the annual MASC conference. The Mansfield Town Meeting will be held at the same time so no one will be able to attend the conference. Meeting dates were established: 11/10, 11/17. 12/8, 12/15, 1/12, 1/14 and 1/26. Note that on 12/8 and 1/14 there is a 7:00 p.m. cutoff time. Meeting times were established: Open meetings will start at 6:00 pm with executive session to start at 5:30 in needed. Other- Items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meeting_ None Documents Referenced: Field Trip Information Bus Contract CIP Policies Superintendent Goals Page 7 of 8 Approved 11-10-20 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, October 27, 2020 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Motion to adjourn: At 10:27 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