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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm. 12/14/2021Approved 01-11-22 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, December 14, 2021 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinaf C CEIV ED ^c N S OFFICE An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held in pers&16HAallQbhi- 00sday, December 14, 2021. The open meeting session was called to order by Chair It{g4 ff nil t 6:02p.m. Members Present: Administration Present: ` t .F l 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 Members Absent: Jenn Walsh 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 6:03 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 Linda Fernando aye Lauren Scher aye Kiera O'Neil aye Motion Carries 4 - 0 Return to Open Meeting at 6:30 p.m. Public Speak: None Communications: None Administrative Reports: Superintendent Teresa Murphy announced many holiday charitable projects by each of our schools including sock, clothing and pajama drives; food drives for Our Daily Bread as well as many donations to West Side Benevolent Society such as books, clothing, toys and gift cards. We are so appreciative of our staff and students who support our community. Teresa also spoke about the recent rise in COV1D cases. Numbers currently are: School 'Positive Cases Close Contacts Close contacts who are not Vaccinated MHS 9 149 28 QMS 7 42 17 Page 1 of 5 Approved 01-11-22 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, December 14, 2021 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar JJ & 3 51 39 Rob 6 Teresa has kept families informed through newsletters, updates to social media and our website. The newsletter sent today outlined important changes to our COVID contact tracing protocol. In the past we called parents of all close contacts. Going forward we will call only parents of non - vaccinated students. Parents of vaccinated close contacts will receive an email with instructions including the option to opt -in to testing on day five. Teresa also noted that the state has phased out their contact tracing process and it now takes place at the local level. Finally, Ms. Murphy noted the change in holiday concerts for this year. We were hopeful to have in - person concerts for both parents and students. However, with the rise of cases, we are now going to have the student audience watch virtually from the classrooms. We are still holding the evening parent concerts but with some modification. The MHS concert is Wednesday in the gym and performers will be on stage only for their portion of the show. The QMS concert will be on Thursday in the auditorium but it is for grade 8 only. Lynn Cavicchi asked if we could, in an upcoming newsletter, ask elementary parents to notify us of vaccine status. Teresa noted that she is working with Christine Dooling and there is a plan to start collecting this data after the beginning of the year, giving families time to get the vaccines. Linda Fernando asked if we will have to track the booster. Teresa was not sure but would follow up with Christine. Assistant Superintendent Michael Connolly gave an overview of Go Guardian Teacher. The district is already using Go Guardian Administration to monitor inappropriate or concerning web usage. With this new module which is currently in pilot mode, teachers can push URLS out to the students in class, allow and block specific websites, send a teacher screen or message out to all or some of the students. It integrates well with Google Classroom and it provides teachers a management tool to keep kids on track. So far we have had positive feedback. Regarding privacy, we are not invading any privacy issues since students are using school owned devices on a school owned network. MHS High School Representative Report: Students were not available for tonight's meeting. Approval of Warrant: Goods & Services Salary & Wages Goods & Services Salary & Wages 220019S 2022-10 220021S 2022-11 11-9-21 11-12-21 11-23-21 11-26-21 General Fund 203,005.91 1,612,375.55 645,704.72 1,611,61119 Medicare 2,393,60 2,393.60 Capital 3,169.18 - 18,211.25 - Revolving 2,908.41 76,279.17 472,20 72,534.26 Food Service 68,582.91 24,020.39 16,913.81 24,711.26 Gifts Page 2 of 5 Approved 01-1 t-22 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, December 14, 2021 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar 1,760.50 - 846.41 - Student Activity 9,268.48 - - - Grants 37,062.52 70,157.07 19,738.30 70,615.08 Prior Year 917.72 - 41,109.36 - 326,675.63 1,785,225.78 742,996.05 1,781,865.99 Motion to approve Warrant memo dated 12-09-21 by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Motion Carries 4 - 0 Approval of Minutes: Motion to approve Open Meeting Minutes dated 12-07-21 by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Motion Carries 4 - 0 Motion to approve Executive Session Meeting Minutes dated 12-07-21 by Linda Fernando /Lauren Scher Motion Carries 4 - 0 New Business: Consideration of Field Trip: MHS Varsity Baseball to Maryland and Washington, D.C. Postponed to future date given current COVID concerns. FY23 Fees: Fees were discussed in detail at the 12-7-21 meeting. Tonight, Assistant Superintendent Ed Donoghue provided some additional information. The MHS family cap applies to all student activities not just athletics. Lauren Scher asked that we make sure to broadcast this information out to families. For example a notice that says "If you think you will surpass the family cap, please contact xxxxxx." Lynn Cavicchi wants extensive messaging on our webpages about financial assistance and fee waivers. Cost cannot be a barrier to students. Linda Fernando asked if we could automate the UniPay website to calculate the cap across all activities. Ed did not believe we could and noted that currently only 10 -12 families are impacted. Existing Proposed Fee Fee Little Hornets per Week $285 $315 $300 $330 $325 $385 Roland Green per week $250 $275 $250 $275 $450 $475 Page 3 of 5 Approved 01-11-22 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, December 14, 2021 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar MHS Evening School Resident per course $210 MHS Evening School Non -Resident per course $260 MHS PSAT Exam $30 MHS Athletics: Hockey $150 MHS Athletics: Gymnastics $150 MHS Athletics: Swimming $150 MHS E-Sports (per season) n/a MHS Extra Curricular: Jazz Ensemble $50 MHS Extra Curricular: Color Guard, Percussion $50 MHS Extra Curricular: Theater (per play) $50 CHAMPS Summer Institute $110 $120 $130 $235 $285 $35 $300 $200 $200 $200 $75 $100 $100 $125 $135 $145 Motion to approve FY23 fees as presented by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Motion Carries 4 - 0 FY23 Initial Budget Presentation and Bottom Line Approval: Assistant Superintendent Ed Donoghue presented the first look at the FY23 budget. Tonight's presentation is at a high level and will provide school committee with information to consider the Budget total amount to be sent to the Town Manager. In January, the budget will be explained in greater detail. The budget represents a 3.53% increase over the FY22 budget. For salary and wages we have taken into account the potential for 6 new FTEs as well as potential contract increases since we are negotiating 4 contracts this year and 2 next year. On the consolidated spreadsheet, Ed highlighted budget impact by line item. 1. Central Services is up due to the transportation contract which goes out to bid this year. We know there will be an increase. There will also be increased legal fees due the number of contracts to be renegotiated. 2. Technology costs are up for a few reasons. First, the SmartBoard leases are moving from the school budgets to the technology budget. Second there are new chromebook leases needed and finally upgrades will be done to support cyber security. 3. Facilities costs are up mostly due to the increase in fuel costs. 4. Special Education costs are anticipated lower due to a reduction in outplacement tuitions. Several students will age out. 6. Athletics budget is up due to increased offsite facility rental fees and increased transportation costs. 8 - 10: Elementary and preschool costs are projected lower mostly due to the removal of SmartBoard upgrades and repairs from their budget. Ed feels comfortable with our budget and after initial review with Assistant Town Manager Barry LaCasse thinks we are at a good base point. Page 4 of 5 Approved Ol-t 1-22 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, December 14, 2021 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Linda Fernando asked if we are accounting for the rapid increase in inflation and costs. Ed has built in some money to account for these factors but will continue to monitor. She also thanked the district for prioritizing cyber security. Lynn Cavicchi reminded all that this is just a place holder and we are allowed to lower or increase the number as needed between now and the spring. She also noted that we must review all of the COVID funding and look ahead to FY24 when we no longer have this money. How will we maintain these covered positions and costs in the future? She asked that we highlight these costs at the January presentation. Lauren Scher agreed stating we need to be crystal clear on what staff and efforts COVID money is funding. Linda Fernando also noted that we could have other needed supports down the road as we continue to recover from the pandemic. On a similar note, Lauren Scher asked us to include Student Opportunity funding in our presentation. Lauren Scher asked if we are being conservative on our special education budget. Jim Leonard approaches his budget very conservatively. He does expect decreased cost due to students who are aging out but definitely understands that students moving in to the district could also need outplacement. Lauren noted that we now have another tool to help us fund unexpected special education costs with the special education reserve fund. Kiera O'Neil was pleased with the initial proposals and re -instated that we can make changes to the number as we move forward. Motion to approve FY23 Budget Bottom line amount of $56,751,048 by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Motion Carries 4 - 0 School Committee Business: None Other- Items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meeting Documents Referenced: FY23 Fees FY23 Budget Motion to adjourn: At 7:26 p.m., Motion to adjourn by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Motion Carries 4 - 0 Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Administrative Assistant to Superintendent & School Committee Page 5 of 5