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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm. 11/16/2021Approve) 12-07-21 L! Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, November 16, 2021 RECEIVED In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWeb}nar,' F"' S 0 F F I C E 2021 JAN I I A 10: ZO An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held in person and virtually on Tuesday, November 16, 2021. The open meeting session was called to order by Chair flq�ijg 11ja 6:OSp.m. tisc,„ 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 Ed Donoghue, Assistant Superintendent (Finance/Operations) Lauren Scher Jenn Walsh (arrived 6:1S pm) Members Absent: None Motion to Enter Executive Session: 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. At 6:06 p.m., Motion to leave the open meeting; enter into executive session and return to open meeting by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Roll Call Vote: Lynn Cavicchi aye Kiera O'Neil aye Linda Fernando aye Lauren Scher aye Motion Carries 4 - 0 Return to Open Meeting at 6:40 p.m. Public Speak: None Communications: None Administrative Reports: Superintendent Teresa Murphy discussed the previously announced departure of Mary Watkins as Principal of MHS. Mary has taken the position of Superintendent / Director at a Rhode Island vocational school in Lincoln, Rl. This is a fantastic opportunity for her and although we will miss her tremendously we wish her all the best. Mary started at the high school as a history teacher 18 years ago and rose to an Assistant Principal, Associate Principal and lastly Principal. The School Committee thanked her for her years of service to our district and community. Mary Watkins spoke about her tenure here and her appreciation of administration, the committee, students and families for the wonderful years she had here in Mansfield. Chair O'Neil presented Mary with a small thank you gift. Page 1 of 5 Approved 12-07-21 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, November 16, 2021 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Interim Principal Timothy Tichacek thanked Superintendent Murphy and the committee for the opportunity to take over the principal role at MHS. He has high praise for the Mansfield School District and is looking forward to his new leadership role. Teresa Murphy then announced that Matthew McGuire would return to Mansfield as the interim Assistant Principal. We welcome Matt back to Mansfield from his latest role as Assistant Principal in King Philip. His start date is not yet determined. During the winter, the district will begin a formal search for a new principal. Chair O'Neil praised the district for having a strong succession plan. Ms Murphy also announced that DESE and Fallon Ambulance will host 2 vaccination clinics for our 5 - 11 year old students on 11/22 and 12/13. On November 12th the district held a booster vaccination opportunity for our staff. Assistant Superintendent Michael Connolly reviewed the Mansfield Public Schools Digital Citizenship program for our elementary schools. This program provides education opportunities for our students in topics such as "Safety in an Online Neighborhood", "Media Balance", "Digital Citizenship", "Cyberbullying", etc. We had to move quickly to provide chromebooks for our students due to COVID and we are now emphasizing the digital resources needed to be sure to ]seep our students safe online. Lynn Cavicchi asked if we would be able to present the information to parents. Mike noted that we do have a parent resource site but would review to see if we could build parent packets from the classroom material. Lauren Scher asked if we had a way to assess whether or not the information resonates with the students. She suggested that we might use the 1/1 student council as a focus group. Mike suggested that we monitor different behaviors to see if we see an increase or decrease in social media bad behaviors. Linda Fernando asked if there was any opportunity to alter the spring portion of the curriculum if other social media issues arose. Mike felt that, pending time issues, the team could make adjustments if needed. Now that we have two full time library / media assistants, we can schedule regular classroom time in the library. We are using some of those spots for this training. Mr. Connolly also spoke about recent training held with the Department of Children and Families (DCF). Administrators and counselors met with DCF to discuss our systematic process for mandated reporting, and other concerns. Our representative was pleased with the processes that we had in place. Lynn Cavicchi asked if there any additional training opportunities for new hires; or is it possible to schedule refresher classes every few years. Mike will note that and look into future training. Assistant Superintendent Edward Donoghue provided an update on the FY23 budget planning. All of the budget requests have been sent to the business office. This week, Ed and Teresa will meet with each department to review and finalize. On November 18th we will meet with the budget subcommittee and FinCom to review the initial proposals. The numbers will be provided to school committee at the December 14th meeting. Page 2 of 5 Approved 12-07-21 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, November 16, 2021 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar MHS High School Representative Report: Karine Ayoub attended the meeting virtually to provide an update on happenings at MHS. The fall athletics teams are done with the exception of the annual Thanksgiving Day game against Foxboro. The cheerleaders are heading toward the state final which is very exciting. The Performing Arts is getting ready to put on the "Little Mermaid" in December. The Marching Band and Color Guard did very well during their fall competitions. This week is "Kindness Week" at school leading up to Thursday's Best Buddies Fri endsgiving celebration. Report cards come out today and conferences will be held on December 1st and 2nd. Finally Karine gave a heartwarming shout out to Ms. Watkins before her departure. Approval of Warrant: Motion to approve the Warrant Memo dated 11-10-21 by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Salary & Goods & Salary & Goods & Salary & Wages Services Wages Services Wages 2022-7 220015S 2022-8 220017S 2022-9 10-1-21 10-12.21 10-15-21 10-26-21 10-29-21 General Fund 1,649,063.20 185,413.54 1,637,106.20 661,431.83 1,622,38&83 Medicare 2,393.60 3,618.60 2,393.60 Capital - 76,216.50 - 28,210.39 - Revolving 81,407.42 1,751.00 72,911.11 1,205.20 74,939.71 Food Service 22,976.90 35,619.34 23,913.48 28,938.07 23,225.33 Gifts - 179.98 - 10.13 - Student Activity - 14,006.31 - - 5,410.00 Grants 60,418.22 10,199.99 64,624.46 11,882.75 74,225.66 Prior Year - 7,951.99 - 66,227.61 - 1,816,259.34 331,338.65 1,802,173.86 797,905.98 1,802,581.13 Motion Carries 5 - 0 Approval of Minutes: Motion to approve Open Meeting Minutes dated 10-26-21 by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 5 - 0 Motion to approve Open Meeting Minutes dated 11-04-21 by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 5 - 0 Motion to approve Executive Session Meeting Minutes dated 10-26-21 by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 5 - 0 Page 3 of 5 Approved 1M7-21 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, November 16, 2021 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar New Business: Facilities Update: Director of Facilities, Matt Jacques provided an update on facilities efforts. Matt is at the start of his 5th year and is very proud of our school district. He promised a new approach when he started and feels that there is a lot of evidence of success. Over the summer: 34 moving trucks moved items from storage to facilities for cleaning, reassembly as needed and eventually to classrooms. 100 classrooms were stripped and re -waxed, common areas were cleaned, 130 rugs were moved from storage back to the classrooms, 4 welcome windows were installed, 5300 feet of sidewalk was installed along with 500 feet of new curbing, landscaping, remodeled Robinson office, added 2 offices to Robinson library, 1 office to the QMS library and 1 Yoga room to MHS, 130 pieces of new furniture were assembled, univentilators, heating systems all cleaned and/or filters replaced. The level of preventative maintenance has significantly reduced the number of heat and A/C related maintenance calls. Mansfield was recently awarded the MSBA contract for the MHS Boilers so we are moving forward with the project. It was noted that there is at least an 8 month wait for delivery. Facilities completed minor repairs due to the recent Northeaster. Chair O'Neil commended the facilities team for the work that has been done over the last 5 years. It has raised our district to a new level. Lynn thanked Matt as well. The maintenance plans and proactive efforts are good for education. The forward planning makes the budget process a much easier task. School Committee Business: None Other- Items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meeting: A field trip request has been added. It would originally be on the 12-7 meeting but Superintendent Murphy is requesting an earlier review so that a meeting with parents could be scheduled. The ski club is being reworked from 6 Friday evenings to 2 full day Saturdays. The trip is moving to school committee because it is out of state. (New Hampshire) Motion to Approve the two ski trips to Pat's Peak in New Hampshire by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Discussion: Linda Fernando asked if scholarships were available for students who could not pay. Teresa did not believe that there would be but would follow up with QMS. She also asked if we would be clarifying to parents how lunch would work and the associated cost. Yes, as part of the parent meeting, our chaperones will review all details of the trip including what students would need to bring for lunch (bag lunch or purchase at site) Linda asked why were using Bloom Bus rather than Connolly Bus. This has long been the method of transport for ski club due to the number of students and the equipment that must be brought. It ends up being a better fiscal solution. Lauren Scher asked about ventilation on the buses. Teresa noted that these buses have ventilation/HVAC systems for heat and A/C. She is not concerned with ventilation. Lynn Cavicchi asked that we add a new part to the form to account for COVID safety measures. She asked if masks would be required on the bus. Yes, all must be masked. Lynn noted that masks are required in the ski lodge and asked that we make sure to communicate that to parents. She also asked that Teresa revisit the possible use of scholarship. Page 4 of 5 Approved IM7-21 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, November 16, 2021 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Jenn Walsh asked that we add the potential cost for lunch to the field trip. She also asked that we consider financial aid to our families. She asked that COVID protocols be added to the field trip form. Motion Carries 5 - 0 Documents Referenced: Field Trip information Motion to adjourn: At 7:33 p.m., Motion to adjourn by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Motion Carries 5 - 0 Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Administrative Assistant to Superintendent & School Committee Page 5 of 5 The November 18, 2021 School Committee Budget Subcommittee did not meet a Quorum. No Minutes were taken for this meeting. m� o0 <n tv n � rn