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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm. 08/27/2024Approved 09/10/24 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, August 27, 2024 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held in person and virtually on Tuesday, August 27, 2024. The open meeting session was called to order by Chair Steve Schoonveld at 6:32 p.m. Members Present: Administration Present: Steve Schoonveld (Chair) Teresa Murphy, Superintendent Jenifer Sellon (Vice Chair) Michael Connolly, Assistant Superintendent (Teaching/Learning) Lynn Cavicchi Jessica Davis, Assistant Superintendent (Student Services) Jenn Walsh Ed Donoghue, Assistant Superintendent (Finance/Operations) Vivian Webster Members Absent: None C) 0 Public Speak: None Go o Administrative Reports: Superintendent Teresa Murphy provided an update on the opening of schools. All mcm alo w@i $ '. we are ready to welcome students. She provided a brief overview of upcoming event!'ove� th_nexthW weeks. She noted that the first day of staff is also election day for primaries. We are a�gcomm9latinr"g voters and are adjusting our own schedules to work around their needs. There are mfifly studwt F) registrations still coming in. We will do our best to get these students started but cannot guarantee lat they will start on day 1. Bus routes have been posted. There was discussion on communication methods when there are bus issues. We will continue to let families know when there are major bus delays. Steve asked for transportation registration numbers. Ed noted they are similar to past years but we always get a rush during the last week of summer and the first two weeks of school so it is hard to tell right now. Steve asked for clarification on bus payments- when do all students pay? All students grade 7 —12 pay for transportation regardless of their address. Enrollment numbers are constantly changing but as of Friday our overall enrollment is approximately 100 fewer students than last year. Most significant is the senior class is down by 40 students and now stands below 250. There are currently no concerns on class size. Assistant Superintendent Ed Donoghue reported on the summer projects which are all nearing the end of completion. The MHS gym floor has been coated with polyurethane and will be ready for the first day of school. Bleachers will be installed later in September. The district is looking at a new vendor for the backboards and are working to get those done in September. The track is being installed this week. Scoreboard is up but still needs power and then training for use. Bleachers are in and press box painted. The Robinson playground is close to completion and should be ready for the first day of school; however, it will not be open for open house. There was discussion about new signage noting the times of day that it is available to the public. Ed will follow up. QMS Boiler work will continue at night. The west parking lot changes are almost complete. Steve asked about dedication ceremonies. Teresa noted we are not there yet. Ed also announced a partnership with Mansfield Municipal Electric Department (MMED). Our field hockey field is not lit and the band has trouble practicing into the evening. Last year MMED lent us a tower of lights. This year, MMED has offered to permanently install 4light poles in the Page 1 of 5 Approved 09/10/24 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, August 27, 2024 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar field area. This is exciting news for us and we are very appreciative of MMED and the light commission. The cost will be approximately $82,000. Ed provided the committee with the enrollment by week for the CHAMPS Summer Institute. Lynn asked if he could break down the numbers further. Currently it shows number of students per class per week. Can we get a count of the individual students as many attend more than one week. She feels this would be helpful for budgeting purposes. It will also help guide Director Scott Sanchez in what investments he can make in the program. Steve asked Ed to review any classes that were of low interest and could get cancelled. He also asked if we properly advertised all of the jumpstart classes. Teresa feels that we do a great job at notifying families. Ed reviewed the FY24 Quarter 4 financial numbers by major cost center. In total we were able to turn back $587,235 to the town which is typically set aside for next year capital projects. This number is similar to recent years. The following items were noteworthy: Excess money in salaries and wages is primarily due to grants received or open positions not filled. Business office expenses exceeded the budget due to adjustments of the pay-n-ride revolving fund. Central Office was hit with higher than expected assessment from Bristol County Agricultural School. Curriculum Office had excess funds because not all available course reimbursements were requested. By contract, we must allocate a certain amount of money each year. Some courses are decreasing in cost because they are now online. Facilities is favorable due to energy use which was down by 16% this year. Additionally, due to the number of large facilities projects, we did not take on smaller efforts typically done over the summer. Prepaid tuitions in special education caused the budget to be overspent but this is a good fiscal practice that we have done for several years now. Lastly, technology was overspent due to work done to protect our district from cybersecurity issues. Lynn emphasized that we must be clear with the town that our salary and wages looked positive this year but many of those grants used to offset are one-time items and we cannot guarantee that it will look favorable next year. Lynn. asked if the committee could get an updated report which also shows FY24 numbers as comparison. Steve summarized some of the findings highlighting the prepaid tuition, use of the pay-n- ride revolving account. He also appreciated that the school did not transfer money between cost centers. Assistant Superintendent Connolly gave an update on summer school across the district. Many families took advantage of transportation offered by the district. Robinson: 35 students across the three grades. Invitations extended based on student success or needs. The focus was on high quality academics and social opportunities. Jordan/Jackson: 33 students across the three grades. Focus was on ELA and Math. The students moving up to QMS also worked on their summer reading. Qualters: 10 students were required to attend due to academic performance. An additional 7 students attended at the recommendation of staff. MHS: Students were asked to attend based on academic gaps. 24 students participated in Biology, ELA, Algebra, History and Spanish. Assistant Superintendent Jessica Davis provided information on the revised Special Education Procedural Manual. Jessica worked with staff to complete an extensive review of the manual and make updates for Page 2 of 5 Approved 09/10/24 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, August 27, 2024 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar the new IEP form and 504 process. The handbook will be updated to the website. Parents were notified via a new newsletter for parents of students on IEPs. Approval of Minutes: Date 1st 2nd Discuss Vote Y/N 07-23-240pen Jenn Jenifer Y* 5-0 Walsh Sellon 08-13-24 Open Jenn Jenifer 5-0 Walsh Sellon Executive Session 07-23-24 Jenn Jenifer 5-0 Walsh Sellon *Steve reviewed his requested edits of minutes. A discussion was held on the level of detail for future minutes. No decision made. Committee Updates / Old Business: Space Needs Assessment: Jenn Walsh updated the committee on the 8/19 meeting. They went more in depth than prior meetings focusing first on school needs as determined last month by school committee. Jenn recommended that the full space needs committee take a tour of the school buildings to get a better understanding of our needs and requests. This might happen at the next meeting 9/30/24. Lynn asked if we should bring TBA Architects back in to meet with the space needs committee. This has been discussed. Steve asked if we could provide a copy of last year's presentation. DEL Jenifer Sellon noted that the meeting on 8/21 was very productive. The first phase is to help improve town wide communications which is a similar approach that the schools have taken over the last few years. Teresa noted that the improved meeting productivity could be attributed to the change to an in -person meeting which was run by Town Manager Kevin Dumas rather than a consultant. Budget: Lynn Cavicchi summarized the 8/22 Budget Sub meeting. Key point was that another budget sub meeting has been added prior to the next tri-board meeting. At the next meeting there will be a high-level overview of FY25 and 5-year projections. Analysis of override scenarios has begun. Steve requested an agenda item on the 9/10 meeting to discuss the budget scenarios prior to meeting with the town. A school budget sub meeting has been scheduled for 9/5 at 5:30 pm. New Business• Consideration of revised Roland Green report card: Roland Green Director Kris Delaplain presented background and information on a new report card. This has been a long process involving several staff members as well as research of DESE and public preschools in area towns. We found that we are not aligned with other preschools. The team chose key content areas and then researched standards for each area. Also involved were Robinson Assistant Principal Felicia Frank, kindergarten teachers, Director of Instruction & Assessment Julia Greenstine, Assistant Superintendent Michael Connolly, SEPAC, parent groups and our technology department. The committee asked several questions related to content and wording. Several suggestions were made for Kris to consider. It was also suggested to put information regarding standards and grading on the Page 3 of 5 Approved 09/10/24 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, August 27, 2024 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar website. Going forward, Roland Green will look at modifications to the report card based on feedback, then build the appropriate assessments. Training will then be held and will be rolled out for the fall of 2025. Motion to approve that the Roland Green report card process move forward to the next steps with Roland Green returning to the committee for final approval by Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon. Motion passes 5 — 0. Consideration of Policy Changes: Code Title Action Notes Motion Motion Vote 1 2 ACAB-R Sexual Harassment and Revise See note 1 Jenn Jenifer 5-0 Title IX Policy Walsh Sellon Note l: Last month the committee approved changes to this policy based on recommendations from our legal counsel (MHTL). It has since been determined that the process as defined will not work for Mansfield. MHTL has provided the changes to the policy. The district felt that it was important to keep the investigator and decision maker as separate entities. Consideration Handbook Changes Based on Recent Policy Change: This policy change affects handbooks and therefore requires committee approval. Motion to approve the handbook changes as needed to support the change to the Title IX policy ACAB-R by Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon Mr. Connolly noted that if a student is involved in a Title IX case in any way, they are given a copy of the policy directly. Motion carries 5 — 0. Update on revised organizational chart: The org chart has been modified to reflect the change in titles for the special education department as well as the realignment of health services to fall within student services. This is informational only as the committee approves job descriptions but not the org chart. Steve Schoonveld asked for an internal copy which includes names. Update on early college grant application: Superintendent Murphy provided an update on a competitive state grant for the early college program which was recommended as part of the school improvement plan. We are applying for this grant to support the preplanning stage. The grant will pay for stipends, professional development and consultation fees. Other- Items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meeting: None School Committee Business: Three items postponed until a future meeting: School Committee goals, review of policy BA-R, procedural review of policy changes. Steve asked the committee to review all of these prior to the next meeting. Page 4 of 5 Approved 09/10/24 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, August 27, 2024 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar School Committee Questions and Comments: Steve asked if the district has communicated with Mansfield Parks & Rec and youth sports groups on the status of the new field, usage and potential new rental fees. Groups are trying to budget for the upcoming year. Ed noted that there are no fee or process changes with youth sports at this time. There may be in the future but that will take some time. Documents Referenced: Enrollment Report CHAMPS Summer Institute Report FY24 Q4 Financial Report Roland Green Report Card Job description Curriculum Coach Policy ACAB-R Food Services Fees Motion to adiourn: At 9:13 p.m., Chair Schoonveld called for a motion to adjourn Motion to adjourn by Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon Motion carries 5 — 0. Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Administrative Assistant to Superintendent & School Committee Page 5 of 5