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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm. 03/12/2024Approved 03-26-24 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, March 12, 2024 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held in person and virtually on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. The open meeting session was called to order by Chair Lyme Cavicchi at 6:33p.m. Members Present: Lynn Cavicchi (Chair) Jenn Walsh (Vice Chair) Jenifer Sellon Steve Schoonveld Vivian Webster (at 6:45 pm) Members Absent: Nmre Administration Present: Teresa Murphy, Superintendent Michael Connolly, Assistant Superintendent (Teaching/Learning) Ed Donoghue, Assistant Superintendent (Finance/Operations) Vivian Webster entered the meeting via phone. vote. Public Speak: None Apuroval of Minutes: r— M Any votes after her arrival were, t�ken.as a roll-aall --9 o 'D rrr m D u>M . 1C) CD --?l -ri a - Date list 2nd Discuss Vote Roll Y N CaWComments Open Meeting 02-27-24 jW JS 4-0 Attend Budget Subcommittee JW JS 4-0 As amended 02-28-24 For the Tri-Board meeting, Steve Schoonveld asked how the minutes were taken. Diane Nugent noted that she watched the video of the meeting and took input from Carrie Champagne. He had some concern that it was brief. It is noted at the end of the minutes to see the Budget Subcommittee minutes for complete info. It was suggested that this sentence be moved to the top. New Business: Presentation on Attleboro Area School to Career Partnership: Executive Director Christine LaChance presented on her organization and how it works together with Mansfield Public Schools. This program was started 20 years ago with a grant from the Attleboro Chamber of Commerce. It has grown tremendously and now services 5 local school districts. High School students participating typically work 20 hours per week (over breaks) and receive a total of 15 hours of career readiness training. Hours are less during the school year. It also offers an internship to high school seniors who plan to enter college for an education program. On our PSAT day, speakers from Electric Boat and Medtronics spoke to our students. There are also resources for teachers who can do an "externship" allowing them to explore information on possible career opportunities and then bring the information back to the classroom as part of the curriculum. Asa new effort they offer student training to become a CNA (certified nursing assistant.) This is an effort to introduce nursing to students. Superintendent Murphy noted the great partnership we have with Christine. Through her organization, she has brought many opportunities for our students. Steve Schoonveld asked if any trade groups were involved. Currently not for this summer. It is difficult to place students in the Page 1 of 4 Approved 03-26-24 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, March 12, 2024 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar trades because there must be a minimum ratio of licensed individuals to apprentices. Staffing shortages are limiting the ability to bring on students. Consideration of Student Opportunities Act Proposal: Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Michael Connolly and Director of Instruction and Assessment Julia Greenstine presented an overview of the Student Opportunity Act as well as the planned submission items. This program was initiated back in 2019 by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) when they saw that although all student growth was trending positive, the gap growth between all students and our various student subgroups was increasing. In other words, most students were showing improvement but for some, that improvement was at a much slower rate. Assistant Superintendent Connolly listed several items that have come out of our original submission in 2020: culturally responsive teaching, ICU, expanded learning time for some, extended day academic programs, extended summer school, inclusion and co -teaching, a new EL paraprofessional position, expanded capacity for social emotional learners, the McC►ean Hospital program. Additionally, some of our work has earned us the opportunity to apply for various grants such as the one that will cover over half the cost of our elementary school math curriculum. Lynn Cavicchi noted that part of the original premise with the SOA was that districts would see significant extra money. In reality, Mansfield received just an additional $102,000 in chapter 70 money. The state was never able to fully fund this initiative. DESE encourages districts to view the list of focus areas and narrow down to two items that the district can do well rather than spreading too thin on numerous areas. Our choices should align with our district improvement plans and be sure that they will help to close opportunity and outcome gaps. In building our plan, Mansfield reached out to many stakeholders for feedback. We also reviewed our data on students with disabilities, English learners and low-income students. We looked where we had the greatest control and will be concentrating on curriculum, instructional strategies and environment. The focus areas chosen are 2.1) Select and skillfully implement state rated high quality and engaging instructional materials that support culturally and linguistically sustaining practices and foster deeper learning. This will target all students, EL, students with disabilities, and low-income students. The second focus area is 2.2) Use MTSS process to implement academic supports and interventions that provide all students, particularly students with disabilities and multilingual learners, equitable access to deeper learning which will target EL students, students with disabilities and low-income students. Questions / Answers: Steve asked how the district would evaluate a program for its ability to meet the needs of all students. Teresa noted that by using DESE approved curriculum we ensure we are working with high quality materials. In addition, when we review curriculum, we have many stakeholders involved especially a wide range of teachers. The curriculum is reviewed by many points of view to ensure fit across all student groups. Vivian Webster asked if parents of these subgroups self -identify or if we seek out additional information. She gave an example of a parent who may not properly identify a race or disability out Page 2 of 4 Approved 03-26-24 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, March 12, 2024 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar of fear or understanding. How can we sure we are identifying all those in need? Julia and Mike appreciated the viewpoint and they will look into how well we are identifying need. In one instance, DESE provides us with the list of those students performing at the bottom 25% so there is no guesswork. Jenifer Sellon asked why there are no metrics in our presentation. Julia noted that for the most part DESE identifies our target metrics; we have no say. Additionally, we seek improvement in the bottom 25%. Jenn Walsh appreciated all of the hard work and is pleased that it ties in with our District Improvement and School Improvement Plans. Lynn Cavicchi appreciates that DESE is working hard to support the underperforming groups and building incentives in grant opportunities. She asked how often we will need to report on our progress. Mike noted that it is likely that we will need to report annually. Steve Schoonveld noted that the DESE metrics are awful. They do not account for any variation and districts cannot live up to the standards. We should stick with locally defined metrics. Can we review these before the SOA is approved? Are we already helping those students who fall below the 25% mark? Yes, we are moving forward with goals that we have set for these students. Some of whom were identified prior to notification from DESE. Steve asked if we could move the vote on the SOA to March 26th so that he had a chance to review metrics. Superintendent Murphy understood but did suggest that March 2601 would put us close to the submission deadline of April 1stand there would be risk of not being able to submit by the deadline. Julia Greenstine noted that metrics are given to us by DESE, that we don't have a lot of say in these and that the metrics are not part of the actual submission so can be managed at a later date. Our Data Assessment Tool allows us to easily view achievement gaps. It has been very beneficial in identifying students in need. The committee agreed to move forward with a vote but did ask for a copy of the actual submission upon completion and the opportunity to ask follow up questions at the next school committee meeting. Vivian asked which groups showed the greatest gaps. We base our sub groups on federally identified groups. There must be at least 20 students in a particular group in order to isolate down to that level. We do not have those figures tonight but can pull them together for the committee. Lynn noted that some of this information was reflected in the DESE report card presentations in the fall of 2023 where principals broke down achievements by subgroup. Motion to approve the Student Opportunities Act Proposal by Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon Roll Call Vote: Vivian Webster yes Steve Schoonveld yes Jenn Walsh yes Jenifer Sellon yes Lynn Cavicchi yes Motion Carries 5 - 0 Page 3 of 4 Approved 03-26-24 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, March 12, 2024 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar School Committee Business: Steve asked if a few items can be placed on the upcoming agendas: Flag policy, adding warrant information online, student opportunity act follow up, and revolving accounts. Other- Items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meeting: Consideration of Field Trip CMHS Girls Lacrosse team to Mt. Hope. R/: Superintendent Murphy presented this request on behalf of Athletic Director Tim Selmon. This trip will occur after school on a Friday and students will return at approximately 7:00 pm after a game with the Mt Hope girls varsity and junior varsity teams. Motion to approve the girls Varsity and JV lacrosse teams to Mt Hope, RI by Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon Roll Call Vote: Vivian Webster yes Steve Schoonveld yes Jenn Walsh yes Jenifer Sellon yes Lynn Cavicchi yes Motion Carries 5 - 0 Documents Referenced: Minutes Attleboro Area School to Career Partnership flier Student Opportunity Act Presentation Field Trip request form Motion to adjourn: At 8:34 p.m., Lynn Cavicchi asked for a motion to adjourn. Motion made by by Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon. Roll Call Vote: Vivian Webster yes Steve Schoonveld yes Jenn Walsh yes Jenifer Sellon yes Lynn Cavicchi yes Motion Carries 5 - 0 Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Administrative Assistant to Superintendent & School Committee Page 4 of 4