Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm. 02/04/2022Approved 07-26-22 Mansfield School Committee Returning & Learning Subcommittee Minutes for February 04, 2022 A meeting of the Mansfield School Committee Return to Learning subcommittee was opened and call -A to order at 8:31 am. N N Attendees: Lauren Scher, Linda Fernando, Teresa Murphy, Michael Connelly U) �C M C-7) rn Approval of Minutes: 01/10/22 (Roll Call vote 2-0) (Motion made by Linda Fernando/Lat¢enscl — ) ,e Corr- N New Business © �y o0 _n • COVID Testing and UpdatesCn (7 o Test kits went home on Thursday (a day early due to potential weather issues) r?1 o 383 staff members and 1095 students opted into the program. However, it remains open and families/staff can opt in at any time. o Test & Stay and Contact tracing will end next week with the start of at-home testing. o DESE is still allowing nurses to use their professional judgement for testing of athletics, clubs, activities and classrooms on an as needed basis. For isolated events, contact tracing can be completed. o Vaccination rates are growing. The district is further pursuing this information and will have for the February 15`h meeting. o DESE continues to modify protocols and a newsletter will be sent out to notify parents. It was pointed out that going forward we will not differentiate between vaccinated and non -vaccinated staff and students. Fully vaccinated continues to mean the two shots and does not yet include the booster. o Linda Fernando noted how amazing our nursing staff is and Teresa emphasized how hard they are working and the number of extra hours that they put in. o The district has seen a drastic drop in cases which is very encouraging. o Lauren Scher noted she would still like to see 3 bullet points added to the beginning of the At- home Testing instructions to make it easier for parents to understand. Teresa noted we would add that but it is important to note that we are required to provide all information before they can signoff. • Student Opportunity Act o DESE asked districts to revisit the SOA and update our plans this spring to show progress and any change in direction. o Our goal is to target marginalized students and see what we can do to close the gaps. Funding was very unclear and with COVID, districts were never really notified of the amount awarded. It is not a grant as originally noted; rather money added to chapter 70 and ESSER funds. Lauren asked how much money we have received. Per Mike Connolly, it is unclear and we need to do Approved 07-26-22 some digging to find out the amount. Teresa Murphy did see a general statement from DESE that we were receiving approximately $30 per student but that needs to be checked. o A meeting will be held next week to review the current plan and then the following week to review progress and make any necessary adjustments. Additionally, we are reviewing school improvement plans to make sure we align with our SOA proposals. o Lauren asked who chose our metrics and how were we identifying progress. Mike noted that there was a webinar this week to discuss and we would work through short term metrics. Long term metrics will be based on state information. DESE recommends that we use metrics already in place. o Mike noted that we are moving forward with our plans related to SOA even though DESE had not checked in with us on SOA. Lauren asked that we make sure we know that the efforts will work the way we expect. Mike is confident and does not expect that we will make too many changes prior to our April submission. • Math acceleration grant o DESE is putting their money in the areas of SOA. We are potentially getting a grant up to $70,000 for the math acceleration program which will run during both February and April vacations. o Classes will be in person 4 days per week and tailored to individual students. o We started by focusing on the economically disadvantaged sub group. However, with low responses from families, we have expanded the offering out to a broader group of students. o There have been very few families willing to participate. Initial contact was via a letter, next we will make phone calls to each of the families. Letters were sent to 50 students and so far we have 5 students who have signed up. o Mike Connolly will check with DESE on requirements for running the program. (For example can we run if only a few students or can we expand it to all students.) o DESE is awarding gift cards to students as incentives. o Lauren Scher asked if parents knew about the April term as well. Perhaps if we give earlier notice, some families may plan around the classes. Mike agreed but also recognized that students and families need a mental break and may not be interested in a week of math. o Linda asked how we are measuring success. Mike noted that staff knows where are students stand today. The students will also do simple benchmark testing at the beginning and end of the week. We can also see how the students progress during the spring. Meeting closed at 9:21 am Next meeting: tbd