Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm. 04/25/2023 (2)Approved 05-23-23 V Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, April 25, 2023 In Person& Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar RECEIVED TOWN CLERKS OFFICE An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held in person and dl u4Iy onueesdaay,58 April 25, 2023. The open meeting session was called to order by Chair Kiera O'Nei�l,0fREE.0 MASSACHUSETTS Members Present: Administration Present: Kiera O'Neil, Chair Teresa Murphy, Superintendent Lynn Cavicchi, Vice Chair Michael Connolly, Assistant Superintendent (Teaching / Learning) Lauren Scher Ed Donoghue, Assistant Superintendent (Finance/ Operations) Jenn Walsh Vivian Webster Members Absent: None All members attended in person; roll call votes are not required. Public Speak: None Communications: Letter from a Youth Foreign Exchange Agency requesting that we accept an exchange student for 2023-24. The committee discussed our history. We have not had an exchange program since 2007. We could send this to the policy subcommittee for review to determine if it is something we want to move forward with. It would require work with district administration, high school administration and the committee. If we decide to move forward we can create policy and an infrastructure to support a positive experience for exchange students. At this time, we cannot accept anyone as an exchange student. Chair O'Neil will respond to the parent. Letter from a parent regarding an issue with their student. This is a school issue and will be addressed not by the committee but by the principal. Administrative Reports: Teresa Murphy: Informed the committee that the CHAMPS Summer Institute registration has been released online and it looks fantastic. It is very easy for families to navigate. Edward Donoghue noted that with the new online booking system, families can immediately see what sessions have remaining spots. This streamlines the process for both our CHAMPS office and our families. The District can also easily run reports from the registration process. Lynn Cavicchi asked when summer school information will be distributed to parents. Michael Connolly and Ed Donoghue noted that the district is currently working through schedules and facility needs. Information will be sent out soon. Teresa announced that for the first time the Roland Green students entering kindergarten next year will have a field trip to the Robinson School. They will ride a Connolly Bus and be greeted by administration. They will tour the building including a read -a -loud in the library, a snack in the cafeteria and play time at the playground. Approval of Warrants: Motion to approve the warrant memo dated 04-12-23 by Jenn Walsh / Lauren Scher Motion Carries 5 - 0 Page 1 of 6 Approved 05-23-23 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, April 25, 2023 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Salary & Goods & Salary & Goods & Salary & Wages Services Wages Services Wages 2023-18 230365 2023-19 230038S 2023-20 3-3-23 3.7.23 3.17.23 3-21-23 3-31-23 General Fund 1,684,138.33 342,284.66 1,685,452.55 728,382.41 1,729,467.26 Medicare 2,466.60 - 2,465.60 - 2,465.60 Capital - 7,140.00 - - - Revolving 37,212.19 2,638.70 45,255.51 3,159.29 38,519.47 Food Service 21,583.90 54,253.06 23,652.53 39,584.47 27,786.89 Gifts - 326.26 - 52.94 - Studenl Activity - 594.67 - 5,976.63 - Grants 67.373.89 46,276.00 66,402.51 47,629.08 65,438.27 Prior Year - - - 296.30 - S S 5 S 8 1,812,773.91 463,613.36 1,823,228.70 826,081.02 1,863,677.49 Annroval of Minutes: Date 1st 2nd Discuss Vote Roll Call /comments Y N Open Meeting 04-11-23 Jenn Lauren None 5-0 Walsh Scher Exec Session 04-11-23 Jenn Lauren None 5-0 Walsh Scher Tri-Board Meeting 03-29-23 Jenn Lauren None 5-0 Walsh Scher Student Advisory 04-14-21 Jenn Lauren None 4-0-1 Vivian Webster abstained Walsh Scher Student Advisory 06-15-21 Jenn Lauren None 4-0-1 Vivian Webster abstained Walsh Scher Old Business: None New Business: Consideration of revised FY24 School Budget: Assistant Superintendent Donoghue advised the committee on the recent change in electric rates. Our budget has been adjusted down by $119,000 to reflect this change. The new budget is $57,482,994 reflecting an increase of 2.92% over the prior year. Motion to approve the revised FY24 Budget of $57,482,994 by Jenn Walsh / Lauren Scher Discussion: Vivian Webster asked if Ed had any more concrete information on staffing. Ed reported that we are still looking at a number of 10 -12 but are have not notified specific staff members yet. She asked Page 2 of 6 Approved 05-23-23 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, April 25, 2023 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar why the playground is on hold. Teresa noted that we are on a steady progress with this effort. Based on the initial CIP approval, we are on target to remove the buried oil tank and prepare the area this summer. We have ordered all equipment and will place in storage. The company is completing their design and then we will put the playground build out for bid. Our plan will be a summer of 2024 install. Vivian stated that the playground should have been completed by now, Motion Carries 4-1 (Aye= O'Neil, Cavicchi, Scher, Walsh / No= Webster) Presentation of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Strategic Plan: Assistant Superintendent Michael Connolly reviewed the history of our efforts with this plan along with the steps that have been taken along the way. Our plan has evolved into one with five key focus areas which he introduced at a high level. Superintendent Murphy proceeded to discuss each focus area in detail. 1) Cultivate a shared district -wide culture of and vision for diversity, equity and inclusion in the MPS. One of our first steps will be to rewrite our District Vision to incorporate DEL Dr. Rayna Freedman will facilitate this committee. Once finalized, we will start a campaign to make everyone aware of our new vision. The district has already created committees to engage our staff including the ICU team, wellness committee, multi -tiered support system (MTSS) and diversity clubs for students. Long term, the district intends to use the results of professional development and perception surveys to target where we might be falling short of our vision. 2) Data -informed decision -making to ensure success for all students The short-term goal is to adopt a strong MTSS structure that continuously identifies individuals in need of additional support. This will improve on the strong programs we have in place already. Then the district will utilize our adopted data management program to identify student and opportunity gaps. Additionally, our staff will be provided support on how to analyze and utilize the data. The long-term plan is to continue to improve our MTSS and data management systems while also involving students in setting clear, rigorous and attainable goals. Kiera O'Neil noted that it seemed we are already doing this. Teresa agreed but we are going deeper, adding additional supports and analysis tools. This was an area of need identified in the audit. Michael noted that we had a system in place but we need to expand it by bringing it to all staff and use it for a more rigorous review to better identify gaps and set target areas. Vivian noted that we aren't doing everything; there is always room for improvement. The district has addressed dyslexia screening. Are there other areas of concern that we need to address? Teresa responded by asking "Are we providing what all students need?" We think we are but it is hard to address as new concerns arise. Additionally, not all parents accept help when we address concerns with their student. In those cases, it may take additional time to put a plan in place. Mike noted that it really does take a village. It may be a group of teachers or a period of time to recognize patterns in learning concerns. Vivian followed up by asking if we can speak to students to see how they perceive their education. Teresa noted the recently held student summit and the soon to be released perception surveys will help with that. Page 3 of 6 Approved 05-23-23 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, April 25, 2023 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Lauren is concerned about our ability to staff all of these efforts. Teresa noted that the original plan as presented by Mass[nsight was way too involved for our staff to handle. We worked closely with administration to identify areas where we can manage efforts and provide the best outcome. Mike noted that it is an evolutionary process and these tools will help our teachers. Over time, it will be easier for staff to work with the tools. 3) Increase cultural competency understanding and practices in order to move MPS across the continuum of cultural proficiency. Goals for this focus area include monitoring the district's culturally responsive teaching practices, social emotional learning, and trauma informed practices; expand cultural proficiency training and professional development opportunities to the greatest number of faculty, staff and students; Institutionalize inclusive teaching, culturally responsive and social emotional approaches across the district. Vivian Webster asked if we could step up efforts to translate all correspondence; work with our religious organizations and groups such as New Hope to gather the needs of our community. 4) Increase student belonging, access, and support to foster a culture where every student feels safe and included Our first step in achieving this goal is to update our student handbooks to clearly reflect existing discrimination reporting procedures. Second, the district will expand opportunities to provide student training, agency and voice at all grade levels. Long-term we intend to establish teams trained in cultural proficiency to engage students about their experiences. We are moving slower than we had hoped in this area. Over the summer the district will reconvene groups to develop documents and procedures. Kiera noted that sometimes slow is ok. It is comforting to know that we are trying to get this right. Lauren noted that there will be challenges in training all of our staff. We have gaps in our own staffing diversity. By improving upon that we can help to build connections with our community. 5) Inclusive communication and engagement with families/caregivers and community in support of the success of all students. The district and school -level staff will diversify their methods of communication and engagement with families. Multiple modes of communication will be used. Both Vivian Webster and Lauren Scher noted that it is difficult for families to always take time to read the website and frequent newsletters so other methods are needed. Teresa noted the difficulty in identifying all of our marginalized communities and what methods of communication is best. An example of improvements made so far was the recent videotaping of a Vaping presentation to parents. Very few parents attended in person so we have created a link for parents to view the recording from home. Starting next year, the district will send out text messages to families when there are school closures or emergencies. Additionally, School leaders will expand outreach to targeted communities in order to foster partnerships with identified subgroups who need the most support. Long term, the district will continue to utilize surveys to inform decision -making at the district and school level. At this point of the presentation Steve Schoonveld a Mansfield parent and member of the Equity Strategic Planning Committee asked if he could provide some insight. Steve noted that we had a Page 4 of 6 Approved 05-23-23 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, April 25, 2023 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWehinar very strong team of staff, parents, community members and consultants. We did not just adopt the plan given to us by Massinsight; we built a strong internal based plan by building upon what is already successful in our district. Discussions were open and collegial. The overall goal is to make sure we have a way to measure all of our students allowing all of our students to be the best they can be. Superintendent Murphy noted that the next steps are to incorporate these efforts into our new School Improvement Plan. Questions/Comments: Lynn Cavicchi thanked Teresa and Mike for their efforts; it is very rewarding to see all of the efforts over the last couple of years come to fruition. Focus area 3 can be very emotional and the district approached this with detailed attention. She noted that this effort is a marathon not a sprint and we hope to move forward for a very long time. She has already seen shifts in awareness. We are building the foundation blocks for our future. In the plan, it would be helpful to indicate the needed resources so that the committee can support the district. For example, does the district need more time or more staffing? She asked what the student role will be. Teresa noted that student involvement will increase over time as part of the school improvement plans. Student voice is important but we also recognize how busy our students already are. Lynn also noted that this effort is not just classroom specific; we need to bring it to our office assistants, food services, bus drivers, etc. jenn Walsh noted that parents and our community have been involved from the start which should encourage them to continue to own some responsibility for its success. Teresa promised our strategic plan taskforce that their commitment will be short term. Some may be willing to stay on but others will not so we will seek out new volunteers. Are we done with Massinsight? No, in fact, they asked Mike to be on a panel of presenters at this fall's MASC conference. They also check in with us to see how we are doing, do we need help, can they offer any tools for us. Kiera O'Neil noted that we cannot let perfection get in the way of progress. Keep moving forward and enjoy the successes. Vivian Webster noted Mike's growth through this process. She also emphasized that the district can ask her and other school committee members for help. Lauren Scher commended Mike on pulling this large group together. She asked if anyone made suggestions on how to improve upon the process. Mike noted that yes, members of the planning committee made suggestions along the way which were incorporated into our final plan. Teresa noted that other suggestions will be included when the School Improvement Plan is created. Lauren suggested some changes: First, the glossary should be placed at the beginning so that the reader knows it is available. She suggested that the term marginalized be replaced with a term such as "traditionally underserved or under-resourced." She noted that it is a very deficiency -based plan on what the district needs to do rather than highlighting the strengths of our community. The district should add more positive language. Lastly, she asked how this plan will be publicized to staff, students, families and the community. How do we get buy -in? Teresa and Mike will reflect on Page 5 of 6 Approved 05-23-23 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, April 25, 2023 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar the suggestions. Lauren noted that going forward all of our decisions must be made through an equity lens. Vivian Webster noted that we need to find ways to get this information out. An example of improving communications would be to stream all school committee meetings on Facebook. School Committee Business: Last year, Kiera O'Neil was appointed as the school committee representative to the Mansfield Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee. After some delay, the group will be meeting for the first-time next week. Kiera has asked to be replaced for that meeting since she will be out of town. The school committee reorganization will not happen until May 23rd so we are looking for a one- time replacement and then the permanent appointment will be made. Vivian Webster volunteered to attend this meeting. Other- Items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meetine: None Documents Referenced: Revised FY24 Budget Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Strategic Plan Motion to adjourn: At 8:17 p.m., Kiera O'Neil asked for a motion to adjourn. Motion to Adjourn by jenn Walsh and Lauren Scher. Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Administrative Assistant to Superintendent & School Committee Page 6 of 6