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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm. 06/20/2023Approved 07-18-23 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, June 20, 2023 In Person Meeting An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held in person on Tuesday, June 20, 2023. The open meeting session was called to order by Chair Lynn Cavicchi at 6:04 p.m. Members Present: Administration Present: Lynn Cavicchi (Chair) Teresa Murphy, Superintendent Jenn Walsh (Vice Chair) Michael Connolly, Assistant Superintendent (Teaching / Learning) Steve Schoonveld Jenifer Sellon i CD Members Absent: n ., Vivian Webster Tonight's meeting is a workshop with Dorothy Presser of MA Association of Schooit-c— e a was held in Superintendent Murphy's Office at 2 Park Row. ` r o o V N �- 4� -n The meeting began with introductions of each person in the room. Dorothy Press r ope%'e b}h asking what is the most important role of the committee: Continuous improvement of student" achievement. What makes an effective school committee? Student achievement, goals/monitoring, self - governance, professional development which can be accomplished by having a vision of high expectations, accountability, data review, building relationships, trust and respect, collaborating with others. Identifying roles is key as there are distinct roles of a superintendent vs a school committee. The ultimate goal of the two is to build community trust. The committee as a whole is the "boss" of the superintendent and operates under an open meeting with a quorum. Decisions are made "at the table." An individual member has no authority. (page 5-8) The role of a subcommittee is to work on initiatives and then provide updates and recommendations to the whole committee. Subcommittee reports should be thorough so members have the information needed to make informed decisions. A video was given to provide an example of what not to do as a school committee member. For example, do not ask a superintendent to intervene in an individual parent/student need; do not walk into a classroom or meet directly with a staff member; do not tell a parent that a committee member "can take care of something." A member should understand the hierarchy of communication and suggest that the parent speak to the teacher first. In most cases a problem can easily be solved. However, if not, the next step would be to speak with a principal or assistant principal. The proper chain of command should be followed. Lynn Cavicchi suggested that at another workshop the committee sets up "norms and expectations." These do not necessarily need to be in writing but should be agreed upon. In addition to internal committee expectations, the committee should look at building good working relationships with the Page 1 of 5 Approved 07-18-23 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, June 20, 2023 In Person Meeting select board and finance committee. School committee goals should beset in a manner that supports the goals of the district. Goals (page 12): A school committee's leadership is guided by the goals established. Page 1S of the presentation highlights the alignment of goals. The superintendent and district administration start by creating the district goals which are approved by school committee. Once established the superintendent creates a personal set of goals (approved by school committee) and the principals develop their school improvement plans (accepted by school committee). At the same time the school committee establishes their goals (must be within committee purview, not an additional goal added to the superintendent or administrators.) From there administrator goals are set, followed by teacher goals all leading to improved student achievement. Steve Schoonveld noted that long term goals should focus on meeting the needs of ALL students not just those attending colleges. It is important to consider those students choosing a vocational path or join the military for example. District goals are typically not a one year beginning to end goal. For example, a goal could be a three-year plan. In each of those three years the district goal will be the portion to be completed that given year. Policy (page 16): What is policy? It is the framework within which the superintendent and staff can move forward in a positive manner. They are clear statements, adopted by the committee, to set very specific guidance. Where can policy be found? In the policy manual, student handbook, the budget, strategic plans, collective bargaining agreements, etc. Policy is the what and the why. Procedures reflect how to carry out policy. An example given was dress code. A dress code policy would be rather broad. However, in each handbook, specific dress codes can be identified as it would be different at different age groups. Personnel (page 19): The school committee is responsible for hiring the superintendent and working annually on their goals, evaluation and contract. The committee advises and agrees to the hiring of an assistant superintendent, legal counsel, business manager, director of special education, attendance officer, physician and nurses. Jeri Sellon asked for further information on the attendance officer. In Mansfield, the School Resource Officers act as our attendance officers. In their absence any member of the police can act in this role. Budget Responsibilities (page 21): The committee needs to have a general understanding of the budget, not necessarily every detailed line item. The committee is in charge of warrant approvals and the final budget approval. Social Media Guidelines: The committee's role is to get families to the right person rather than trying to solve every individual problem. Social media practices should be discussed. If you are on social media or communicating with a community member, be clear that you communicate only as an individual; Page 2 of 5 Approved 07-18-23 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, June 20, 2023 In Person Meeting you cannot speak on behalf of the committee. Remember that all decisions must be made at a meeting. On social media, you should not make any reference to how you plan to vote on any issue. If multiple members comment on a social media post you can inadvertently create a quorum which would violate open meeting law. Also, it is important to remember that all postings are permanent. It is o.k. to reference facts such as an available link on the school website. Steve Schoonveld asked about forming a Mansfield School Committee Facebook page for communication to our constituents. Dorothy Presser discouraged this idea. Anything placed on this page should be no more than what is already on the district webpage or district Facebook page. If a Facebook page is created then a subcommittee would need to be established to determine what goes on that page as an individual cannot speak for the committee. Facebook pages also result in comments which are not always favorable. Court cases dictate that public comments cannot be shut off. Lynn Cavicchi and Jenn Walsh noted that the district manages communication from the district. We also have a contract with a public relations firm that assists with outgoing messages. It was also noted that individuals never really remove "their school committee hats' and even when posting about non -school items, they could be viewed as providing input from the committee. All agreed that it is a difficult concept to manage. Dorothy Presser described the term "serial quorum" where one member texts another member. That member then texts a third member. Now three people are involved and a quorum has been reached violating open meeting law. However, the superintendent (who is not part of the committee) can contact all members individually. Then if a decision is needed, it will come to the committee at an open meeting for consideration. At this point, Dorothy switched gears slightly to discuss policy BA-R (School Committee Operational Protocols.) This policy guides our school committee on communication, decision -making, collaboration and meetings. She first asked the committee to self -grade on current protocols. Ms. Presser led a discussion through the communication protocols. She encouraged the committee to continue to review these protocols at a later date to ensure everyone understands and if needed adjustments made. BA-R Communications: Our role at the town budget subcommittee was discussed. For reference, two of our members form the budget subcommittee. Those two members also serve on the town budget subcommittee which in itself is a committee subject to open meeting law. Communicating on this board can be tricky as our two members represent our school committee. As such, they can make statements such as "the committee approved the budget on this date." "I will bring this information back to the school committee for review." However, they cannot speak on behalf of the committee. For example, "I think the committee will agree to this increase" is not acceptable. The members representing school committee must also be cautious of providing their individual opinions on matters. The role of our members on the town subcommittee was discussed as to whether it is a liaison role or member role. This should be discussed further. Public Comment was discussed. Ms. Presser highlighted recent court cases which allows pubic comment to be just about anything as long as it does not cause harm. Public bodies cannot decide Page 3 of 5 Approved 07-18-23 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, June 20, 2023 In Person Meeting which public comments will be accepted vs those that will be disallowed. All opinions must be equally heard. Important: The public body cannot engage with citizens during public speak. The board can simply listen. A school committee meeting is a business meeting of the board not an open ended listening session. What if the citizen is presenting misinformation? Later during the business portion of the meeting someone can refer to the inaccurate statement by referencing policy or our website for example. Steve noted that while this may be true, we need to make our board more welcoming to the public. Our introductory public speak statement is too harsh. He also suggested setting office hours. Dorothy did not recommend this practice but if it were to occur then 2 members should attend so that one individual is not alone having a discussion with a citizen. Steve feels that the public is scared to come to the committee. Jenn Walsh felt it was more that the public was apathetic or just trusts what we are doing. Jen Sellon thought we need to be more open to citizen concerns and comments and was open to new ideas. Steve also suggested malting it easier for the public to view videos of the meetings. Teresa mentioned that very few if any citizens attend or watch our meetings unless they are angry or unhappy. Steve thought it was very important to take whatever steps are needed to show us in a good light. Superintendent Murphy felt we already do a good job at that; it is just parents are busy and don't have the time to read everything that we do. Superintendent Murphy asked Ms. Presser to elaborate on written communication (from citizens) to the committee. Ms. Presser suggested that sharing this communication during an open meeting does not serve any purpose. As long as communication is addressed by the chair back to the individual, the letter does not need to be added to the packet. The chair should be responsible for responding and in most cases the response will be to direct the parent to the appropriate staff member. Steve commented on the open communications allowed between school committee members and school staff as opposed to his old committee which was very restrictive. Superintendent Murphy guided the committee on communication. School committee members should not reach out to directly to any staff including principals to discuss any topic, issue or concern. An exception to this is when the member is reaching out to a staff member as a parent. This would include contacting a staff member in writing, by stopping by a classroom or while out and about in town. Time ran out for the evening, so Dorothy suggested that the committee's homework is to review the remaining items in BA-R prior to the start of the school year. Steve asked if Dorothy could run a goals workshop for us. She has very limited availability but someone from MASC can come out and work with us. Other- Items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meeting_ Teresa announced that Ryan Gentili has been hired as the new Robinson principal and Felicia Frank was called back to be the assistant principal. (Previously as part of the budget, the second assistant principal was removed from Robinson.) Tomorrow, Teresa will interview a candidate for the new assistant principal at QMS replacing Kevin Hoffman who resigned. Steve asked how these Page 4 of 5 Approved 07-18-23 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, June 20, 2023 In Person Meeting positions are posted. Teresa noted they are posted on our website and through SchoolSpring which is the primary job posting site for schools. Documents Referenced: BA-R School Committee Operational Protocols MASC Presentation "Mansfield School Committee Workshop' Motion to adjourn: At 8:41 p.m., Lynn Cavicchi asked for a motion to adjourn. Motion made by Steve Schoonveld / jenn Walsh Motion carries 4-0 Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Administrative Assistant to Superintendent & School Committee Page 5 of 5