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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm. 06/22/2021Approved 08-24-21 Mansfield School Committee Meeting RECEIVED Minutes for Tuesday, June 22, 2021 r01!T} CLERKS OFFICE Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar 1011 AUG 25 A q* 45 An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held virtually on TuHw JFIE 124 2021. The open meeting session was called to order by Chair Kiera O'Neil at 6:02,,',aho A.d.,HU S FTT C Members Present: Administration Present: Kiera O'Neil,Chair Teresa Murphy, Superintendent of Schools Lynn Cavicchi, Vice Chair Michael Connolly, Assistant Superintendent (Teaching/Learning) Linda Fernando Lauren Scher Jenn Walsh Members Absent: None ***All votes taken by roll call vote*** Roll Call: Lynn Cavicchi Jenn Walsh Kiera O'Neil Linda Fernando Lauren Scher aye arrived at 6:11 pm aye aye aye Public Speak: Public Speak is open for 15 minutes for anyone who has registered via GoToWebinar. None Communications: None New Business: Impact on Student Learning Presentation to the Committee regarding 2019/20 and 2002/21 COVID Pandemic impact on students. Assistant Superintendent introduced the presentation which had been requested by the school committee so that they could have an understanding on our students during the last year and a half. Each Principal presented on their school with input provided by both Assistant Superintendent Connolly and Superintendent Teresa Murphy. Key topics for each school are: data reporting and analysis of content, engagement and Social / Emotional Learning Past and future efforts to provide intervention Positive experiences Secondary School Presentation by Principal Mary Watkins (MHS) and Principal David McGovern (QMS) Questions/Answers: Lauren Scher - Why was it difficult to come up with absenteeism statistics for the high school? Mary reported that there was a lot of technical difficulty with how Aspen operates and how the high school had to create schedules with proper distancing (odd schedules, rotations and new absence coding.) We Page 1 of 6 Approved 08-24-2I Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, June 22, 2021 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar can get a feet of daily absences but not on a class by class basis. At Qualters Middle School it was easier to identify when students were skipping classes on team. Looking ahead the MHS schedules will go back to old scheduling enabling us to report on absences once again. We see what curriculum was delivered but do we have a sense of what curriculum was actually absorbed since there were so many absences? David McGovern reported that grades were reflective of student absences. Those that attended class performed well and those that did not had a significant chance of failing classes. When our students came back in person our teachers did a fantastic job getting many of the students caught up. Michael Connolly noted as we move forward with our data assessment system, we will be able to better monitor student progress. Lauren also noted that the district has worked hard to reduce the gap for high needs students. We are at risk of the divide increasing again. Linda Fernando - How might some of the changes made for COVID stay in the upcoming years? Principal Watkins hopes to keep outside lunch and classrooms an option. She will also work with administrators on modifying the school schedule to allow for some open student time during the day. Both staff and students were very outspoken about how beneficial this time was during this school year. She is also looking at the use of virtual conferences and curriculum nights. Attendance at these meetings increased with the availability of remote access. Lynn Cavicchi- How do you see the transition from Grade 8 to Grade 9 and from Grade 5 to Grade 6? Principal McGovern indicated that both transitions required a great deal of collaboration among schools. Additionally this year, QMS is offering summer school options for incoming 6th graders. The 6th graders will also spend the first 5 - 10 school days in a "Jump Start" type setting learning routines, the building, lockers, etc. Tours will also be available the last week in August. For those students moving to MHS, department chairs have been working closely with us and we feel that we are in a good place. MHS will also give tours at the end of the summer. Principal Mary Watkins noted that she is working on various activities for those students and staff who were 100% remote last year. Perhaps an in -person social or tours to help students become comfortable with the school. Did the high school see an increase in food distribution similar to the increase at QMS? Mary did not have those figures. Mr. Connolly indicated we would get that information district wide and provide to the committee. Principal McGovern noted that even prior to COVID there had been a trend to more meal participation. Superintendent Murphy noted that QMS built one of their mask breaks into the breakfast schedule. This was another factor in encouraging participation in the meals program. Any data on SAT scores yet? Mary Watkins has not seen any data yet Page 2 of 6 Approved 08-24-21 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, June 22, 2021 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Was there an increase in bullying at QMS? Yes, there was a socialization problem with our students as they came back together for the first time in over a year. Also, anything "mean" that was said, was reported as bullying. Many reports were flushed out as non -bullying. Elementary Presentation by Principal John Nieratko (J/J) and Principal Kerri Sankey (Robinson) Questions/Answers: Jenn Walsh left the meeting at approximately 7:35 pm. Linda Fernando - Can you expand on the J/J information regarding percentage scores? Percentages are the average scores of all test takers. How will the Robinson manage DIBELS skill lost? Overall our kindergarten students fared well compared to grades 1 and 2 students who lost both spring of 2020 and fall of 2021. The school is doing a reset and bringing in an outside consultant to train our staff on phonics and reading. Lynn Cavicchi- Have parents been notified yet if their students need summer school? Yes, all calls have been made and we are working on follow up calls now. How are you preparing our incoming grade 3 students for the J/J reading program? They have spent half of their Robinson experience in the COVID settings without completion of the entire reading program. Principal Nieratko noted that the programs differ at each school because they are age based instruction. We are already studying data assessments from Robinson and working closely with our reading specialists and counselors to assess placements. Our second grades were able to have an in person visit to the school when restrictions were opened up at the very end of the year. How are we re-evaluating IEPs? Jim Leonard was unavailable so we will defer that question until a later meeting. However, Teresa Murphy did note that our annual and re-evaluations all took place as required. We had great parent/guardian participation partially due to the remote availability of meetings. Additional supports are being made over the summer. Lauren Scher - What additional supports are being put in place? Teresa Murphy made note of some of our new positions. With COVID and ESSR funds we have added interventionists. All elementary class sizes are being monitored as many students are returning to our schools after a year in private school or home schooling. Are there any assessments that will show us math data (similar to DIBELS?) We so not currently have a system for this but some teachers have been helping us pilot a program. So we did have a small sample to study. We are running professional development this summer to bring more students up to speed. How well did we cover curriculum at J/J? Page 3 of 6 Approved 08-24-21 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, June 22, 2021 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar John feels that we covered the material on par with state standards. What helped was that there were no assemblies, field trips or other major stoppages in academic time when the students returned. This allowed us to make up a lot of the material. Kiera O'Neil left the meeting at 7:50 pm Consideration of Athletic Director Job Description Superintendent Murphy introduced this position as an after school hours, evenings and weekends role to help the athletic director with such things as team travel; game security, setup, breakdown; officials, etc. It is a stipend position that was proposed a couple of years ago by outgoing Athletic Director Joe Russo. We will pilot during 2021-22. Lynn Cavicchi asked if there was any degree requirement. Teresa noted it would not necessarily be a teacher but someone who has coaching experience and understanding of game management. Motion to approve the Assistant Athletic Job Description by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Roll Call Vote: Lauren Scher aye Linda Fernando aye Lynn Cavicchi aye Motion Carries 3 - 0 Consideration of Teresa Murphy'sAppointment to BICO Board: Motion to appoint Teresa Murphy to the BICO Board of Directors for 2021-2022 by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Roll Call Vote: Lauren Scher aye Linda Fernando aye Lynn Cavicchi aye Motion Carries 3 - 0 Page 4 of 6 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, June 22, 2021 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Approval of Warrant: Salary & Wages 2021-21 4-2-21 General Fund 1,629,613.53 Goods & Services Salary & Wages 21041S 2021-22 4.13-21 4-16-21 333, 424.54 1, 645, 205.06 Approved 08-24-21 Goods & Salary & Services Wages 21043S 2021-23 4-27-21 4-30-21 651,175.53 1,623,009.07 CARES - Medicare 2,323.69 - 2,323.69 - 2,323.69 Capital - 1,045.40 - 4,263.94 - Revolving 29,227.69 292.50 30,431.87 1,312.95 20,492.03 Food Service 21,174.16 20,186.40 21,062.33 31,835.81 16,410.49 Gifts - 2,634.33 - 3,260.85 - Student Activity - 2,251.00 - 647.74 - Grants 28,614.51 5,747.77 11,462.83 45,596.18 11,668.64 Prior Year - - - - - 1,710,953.58 365,581.94 1,710,485.78 738,093.00 1,673,903.92 Motion to approve the Warrant Memo dated 04-05-21 by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Roll Call Vote: Lauren Scher aye Linda Fernando aye Lynn Cavicchi aye Motion Carries 3 - 0 ADDroval of Minutes: Date 1st 2nd Discuss Y N Vote Roll call Order Open Meeting 04-27-21 LF LS Y- 3-0 Linda F. Remove Lauren S. mention Lynn C. of Linda as she was not at the meeting. Open Meeting 05-25-21 LF LS N 3-0 Linda F. Lauren S. Page 5 of 6 Approved 08-24-21 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, June 22, 2021 Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Lynn C. Joint Budget Meeting 04-29-21 LF LS N 3-0 Linda F. Lauren S. Lynn C. Executive Session 04-06-21 LF LS N 3-0 Linda F. Lauren S. Lynn C. Executive Session 04-13-21 LF LS N 3-0 Linda F. Lauren S. Lynn C. Executive Session 04-27-21 LF LS N 3-0 Linda F. Lauren S. Lynn C. Old Business / Committee Updates: Returning and Learning Subcommittee met to discuss where we are at the current time. Reviewed summer programming and then discussed the future of the subcommittee since we hope to be back to school in person this fall. It was determined to continue for the beginning of the school year and then reassess. School Committee Business: None Other- Items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meeting Documents Referenced: Student Impact Presentation Motion to adjourn: At 8:47 p.m., Motion to adjourn the open meeting by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Roll Call vote: Lynn Cavicchi aye Linda Fernando aye Lauren Scher aye Motion Carries 3 - 0 Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Administrative Assistant to Superintendent & School Committee Page 6 of 6