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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm. 08/24/2021Approved 09-28-21 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, August 24, 2021 / In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar RECEIVED V r.I "RK.S OFFICE An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held in the TovfflIH4 lkJ& Rob �nP virtually on Tuesday, August 24, 2021. The open meeting session was called to ordeb 1r Kiera O'Neil at 6:02 pm. ; � �� i he.L� Members Present: Administration Present: Kiera O'Neil,Chair Teresa Murphy, Superintendent of Schools Lynn Cavicchi, Vice Chair Michael Connolly, Assistant Superintendent (Teaching/Learning) Lauren Scher Edward Donoghue, Assistant Superintendent (Finance/Operations) Jenn Walsh Members Absent: Linda Fernando Roll Call: Lynn Cavicchi aye Jenn Walsh aye Kiera O'Neil aye Lauren Scher aye Public Speak: Public Speak is open for 15 minutes for anyone in person or who has registered via GoToWebinar. Ryan Barry, 11 Willis Street Mr. Barry spoke out regarding the School Committee policy and DESE mandate regarding masks. He does not believe in forcing students to wear masks. It is not a state of emergency; DESE does not have the right. Kids should not be wearing masks; in fact it is more dangerous for them to wear masks as they breathe in their own germs. After approximately 10 minutes, Chair O'Neil asked that he end his comments. Communications: Three emails received regarding masks (2 against masks and 1 in favor of masks) Administrative Reports- Teresa Murphy Mitigation Efforts for the opening of school includes masking, hand sanitizer, plexiglass, contact tracing and testing. Our facilities department has replaced filters on all of our univentilators, air purifiers, vents and water fill stations. Health Information Webinar: There will be a zoom webinar on Thursday, August 26th at 6:30 for students, families and staff to hear about our health mitigation efforts and our "Test and Stay" efforts. Open House will be held on Thursday August 26th. Staff is not required to attend. Specific information regarding the open house has been sent out via newsletters. It will be the first day of our mask mandate; summer protocols have ended. First day of classes is September 1 for grades 1 - 12. Bentley was honored at a recent Red Sox game as "Service Dog of the Game" for his work with the Special Olympics. Page 1 of 6 Approved 09-28-21 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, August 24, 2021 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Approval of Warrants Motion to approve the warrant memo dated 7-13-21 by Jenn Walsh / Lauren Scher Goods & Salary & Goods & Salary & Goods & Goods & Goods & Services Wages Services Wages Services Services Services 21049S 2021-25 21051S 2021-26 21053S 21054S 21066S 6-8-21 6-11-21 6.22-21 6-25-21 6-30-21 (1) 6-30-21 (2) 6-30-21 (3) General Fund 352,337.95 2.556667.27 600,682A6 1,470,845A5 1,188,139.69 535,334.19 272,428.71 CARES - - - - - Medicare - 2,323.69 - 115.20 - - - Capital 34,965.29 - 29,173.99 - - 2,502.00 Revolving 1,521,71 31,039.95 3,938.64 31,580.56 8,548.18 150.00 - Food Service 35,090.83 21,108.07 35,436.28 21,882.77 20,797.74 - - Gifts 4,230.71 - - - 1.476.34 589.21 Student Activity 6,724A5 - 46,608.00 1,450.31 19,171.70 3,946,90 - Grants 1,350.00 6,786.13 17,921.97 4,696.34 20,165.33 10, 115.00 Prior Year 1,354.26 - 4,000.00 - - - $ 437 574.90 $ 2,617,925.11 $ 737,761.04 $ 1,530,570.33 $ 1,258,298.98 $ 652,637.30 $ 272,428.71 Motion Carries 4 - 0 Motion to approve the warrant memo dated 8-11-21 by Jenn Walsh / Lauren Scher Salary & Goods & Wages Services Goods & Services 2022-1 22003S 2022-2 7-9-21 7.20-21 7-23-21 General Fund 160,846.70 357,406.90 289,641,46 Medicare 2,393.60 - 2,393,60 Capital Revolving 3,668,07 - 6,803.84 Food Service - - 3,479S5 Gifts - Student Activity - - - Grants - - 3,157,07 Prior Year 1,168,963.60 - 1,016,980.78 $ 1,335,871.97 $ 357,406.90 $ 1,322,456.60 Motion Carries 4 - 0 Approval of Minutes Motion to approve open meeting minutes dated 7-20-21 by Jenn Walsh / Lauren Scher Motion Carries 4 - 0 Page 2 of 6 Approved 09-28-21 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, August 24, 2021 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar New Business: Consideration of Policy Changes., Code Title Notes Action Motion 1 Motion 2 Disc Y N Vote Order EBCFA Face Per MASC new Revise IW LS Y. 4-0* n/a Covering recommendations JCFB Bullying Revise -remove Revise IW LS N 4-0 n/a JCFB-R Bullying one sentence Plan *EBCFA discussion: Superintendent Teresa Murphy reviewed the revisions based on DESE/MASC mask guidance including mask breaks. Clarifications were made on exemptions, accommodations, outside masking (none) and reviewing plans (monthly). Teresa feels confident in what the district is proposing. We are take all opinions seriously and will keep everyone in the loop as we review again in a month. The committee asked if we could continue to get additional information from the DESE on their mask plans. Teresa noted that our priority is to get students in the building. While doing so we will continue to monitor DESE plans. Lauren Scher asked how we would communicate to parents the process of getting accommodations. The process is no different than last year. Accommodation requests can be made via 504 plans, teachers, health services or principals. Lynn Cavicchi noted that we drafted these changes prior to the DESE vote to mandate masks statewide. We have to be ready to make changes if DESE changes course again. Kiera O'Neil questioned the order of priority. Does DESE guidance supersede us? A DESE policy supersedes us only if it is stricter. If DESE changes policy on October 1 does our policy stay in place? Yes, our policy stays in place until the committee re -votes. It is confusing especially when DESE waits so long to make a decision. Lauren asked if we need to add a note to the policy noting the impact of a DESE change. She suggested a modification to policy reflecting what would happen if DESE policy changes. Jenn Walsh motioned to approve policy EBCFA Face Coverings policy as amended. Lauren Scher seconded the motion. Motion was approved as amended. Overview of New Welcome Windows. Superintendent Murphy provided an overview of the new check -in stations at each of the 4 schools K - 12. Roland Green already has a single point of entry. The idea is to channel all visitors into one entry point with the Rapture Visitor management system so that all visitors are screened before entering the building. Visitors and tardy students will enter via this entryway. Additionally, parents who drop off papers, lunches, etc will leave the items here without having to enter the buildings. At Robinson, all visitors will now enter through the West Office. Jordan/Jackson has a brand new entry where the CHAMPS office used to be. Jordan/Jackson office assistants will rotate shifts. The entry for QMS remains the same with the welcome window located just beyond the front doors. The entry for MHS is still the same main doors but now with a brand new office located in the lobby of the building. Office assistants will rotate through shifts at this new office. Page 3 of 6 Approved 09-28-21 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, August 24, 2021 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Superintendent Murphy thanked Matthew Jacques for overseeing this effort. Assistant Suprintendent Donoghue noted that there had been a lot of hurdles throughout this process especially with construction and supply delays. The district worked closely with the police and fire departments when designing the windows. We are also looking into processing all tardy students through this window using the student ID/barcode to automatically update our student database system. We are also working on signage for each building. Superintendent Murphy thanked Town Manager Kevin Dumas, Assistant Town Manager Barry LaCasse who reviewed and supported our final plans. Teresa also thanked our office assistants who will be rotating through these mini offices. Kiera O'Neil is happy to see the safety improvements that we have added. Jenn Walsh noted that she has seen the MHS new office and thinks it looks amazing. Consideration of CIP requests for fall town meeting: Four items were reviewed. 1. District Univentilator Replacements are ongoing. The work requested now will occur next summer so supply orders need to occur now. This item was already approved by school committee but was not chosen as a CIP project for the spring town meeting. 2. Lighting upgrades will continue throughout the district. All lights are being converted to LED. Included in this request are replacements of lights at Alumni Field. The new lights have a much longer lifespan which greatly reduces the amount of time needed to use a cherry picker to replace bulbs. This item was already approved by school committee for the spring but it did not make the final CIP cut for spring town meeting. 3. District wide paving and concrete continues. During this past summer we installed new sidewalks around the QMS/MHS bus loop. Paving at MHS was delayed because of the inability to obtain paving materials. Next we will focus on curbing and sidewalks at Robinson. We have adjusted the dollar amount. 4. The MHS boiler and hot water tank need to be replaced. We are currently in the running to obtain support by MSBA funding. We are awaiting the next round of approvals. By law, we must be able to show that we can fund the entire project; once complete we would get reimbursed for a portion of the cost by MSBA. Questions/Answers: Lynn Cavicchi noted that we have univentilators on our list every year. Can we use any federal COVID relieve money for these? Ed does not believe this is best practice; feeling that those funds need to go directly toward education. Lynn agreed but also wanted to consider all funding options Lynn also inquired on the LED lighting. As we move toward being a green community do we get any financial benefit to help with this cost? Are other grants available? Ed noted that once we become an official green community we can start seeking out grants. The committee asked if we could get an update on the status of green communities. Lauren Scher asked if we could have additional information on additional funding options and specific cost breakdown for the MHS boiler. Ed will provide those details. Motion to approve four CIP items for Fall town meeting by Jenn Walsh / Lauren Scher Motion Carries 4 - 0 Financial Reviews: Page 4 of 6 Approved 09-28-21 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, August 24, 2021 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Assistant Superintendent Donoghue provided an update on the FY20 year-end audit report, FY21 Year end closing report, FY22 Anticipated Revolving Account usage and FY23 Budget timeline. Audit: Preparing for this audit is a big undertaking, typically several weeks of effort. We submit the data to DESE and then a third party completes the audit. Final results are then submitted to the state. There were 3 findings 1) More specific information was needed on bond notes. We obtained this information from the town and amended our report to the state. 2) Written agreement between the schools and town does not exist. This document would show specifically how funds are allocated to the schools. According to Ed this is a very common finding as many towns do not have such agreement. It is a best practice rather than a legal requirement. There was some discussion as to whether or not it would benefit the schools. 3) Schedule 7 / details of student transportation needs to provide more detailed information. Our new transportation system is starting up and may be able to provide additional information in the future. Kiera O'Neil feels that we have a very good relationship with our town so I don't feel that we need a detailed financial agreement at the moment. However, it may be valuable for the future. She asked that Ed provide some examples that other towns use and then discuss further. Lynn agreed that we should work toward a possible agreement. FY21 Year End Closing report: $347,623 is the amount returned to the town for unspent $ from the FY21 budget. $217, 149 was allocated back from unused encumbrances. Kiera asked if these unused funds were higher than normal. Yes, it could be because of COVID and the amount of time we were out of school. Lynn asked if Ed would give an overview of the revised budget amounts. He then reviewed each line item variance. It was noted that there was no income for CHAMPS or Food Services during FY21. Increased costs in the school committee line item were due to increased negotiation costs. Technology increases were due to the massive purchase of chromebooks. Food Services expenses should decrease this year. We will not need to individually wrap all food items and will not be doing weekly distribution of meals. FY22 Revolving Accounts: Lynn noted that one of the audit findings from a few years ago was to review these accounts on an annual basis. It would be beneficial to have a mid -year review as well so please schedule this for January. Lauren noted that revolving accounts are critical as evidenced by last year. Those funds saved us through the pandemic. Budget timeline: Lynn noted that we need to focus on getting these dates set. She will reach out to Finance Committee, Select Board and Town Manager. School Committee Business: None Other- Items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meetine: Documents Referenced: CIP request list and backup information FY20 Financial Audit report FY21 Fiscal year end closing report FY22 Anticipated Revolving Account usage FY23 Budget Timeline Page 5 of 6 Approved 09-28-21 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, August 24, 2021 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Motion to adjourn: At 8:20 p.m., Motion to adjourn the open meeting by jenn Walsh / Lauren Scher Roll Call vote: Lynn Cavicchi aye Linda Fernando aye Lauren Scher aye Kiera O'Neil aye Motion Carries 4 - 0 Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Administrative Assistant to Superintendent & School Committee Page 6 of 6