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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm. 11/12/2024Approved 12-03-24 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, November 12, 2024 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held in person and virtually on Tuesday, November 12, 2024. The open meeting session was called to order by Chair Steve Schoonveld at 6:31 p.m. Members Present: Steve Schoonveld (Chair) Jenifer Sellon (Vice Chair) Lynn Cavicchi Jenn Walsh Vivian Webster (remote at 6:33 pm) Members Absent: None Administration Present: Teresa Murphy, Superintendent Jessica Davis, Assistant Superintendent (Student Services) Ed Donoghue, Assistant Superintendent (Finance/Operations) New Business: Consideration of Saravanan Karuppusamy to serve on the audit committee: This is a joint meeting with the select board. Select Board: All present (Diane Bren remote.) Meeting called to order by Maureen at 6:32 pm and School Committee: All present (Vivian Webster remote) Chair Schoonveld asked Mr. Karuppusamy for a brief background. Mr. Karuppusamy noted that he has both a finance and engineering background having attended college in India. He is currently a partner at Ernst & Young and holds the following licenses: CPA, CFA, FLMI. He is a Mansfield resident with one son having graduated from MHS now attending Georgia Tech and a second son currently a freshman at MHS. His wife is a Dentist in Taunton. Q/A: Brendan Roche asked what made him interested in this committee? / Saravanan reported he has much to offer with his experience and skill set and feels that he has much to offer and wants to give back to the community. Steve Schoonveld asked if EY would ever be involved in an audit of a municipality? / Typically, no, but if it were ever to occur, Mr. Karuppusamy would make the proper notifications. Select Board: Motion to jointly appoint Saravanan Karuppusamy to serve on the audit committee by Maureen Doherty/Brendan Roche Roll call: Diana Bren aye Brendan Roche aye Mike Trowbridge aye Walter Wilk aye Maureen Doherty aye Motion carries 5 - 0 School Committee: Motion to jointly appoint Saravanan Karuppusamy to serve on the audit committee by Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon Roll call: Vivian Webster aye Jenifer Sellon aye Jenn Walsh aye re Lynn Cavicchi aye Steve Schoonveld aye c's Motion carries 5 - 0 W i - Congratulations on unanimous 10-0 approval. Public Soeak: None W � �agF1 of 6 Approved 12-03-24 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, November 12, 2024 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Administrative Reports: Superintendent Teresa Murphy noted that she was in receipt of an email announcing the town meeting date for January 9, 2025. She went on to discuss the 250" celebration committee on which she serves. She spoke with MHS teacher Rob Smith -MacDonald who has joined heron the committee and has taken on the roll of chair. The committee requested the creation of a time capsule. Ms. Murphy spoke with the class of 2025 advisors/officers and requested their assistance. The students were enthusiastic to pull together items. They will seek ideas from fellow students. Upon completion the time capsule will be stored at MHS. Superintendent Murphy announced that Julia Greenstine, Director of Instruction and Assessment will take over as the interim Superintendent of Teaching and Learning until the new superintendent chooses who will fill that roll permanently. Julia will start on February 11t. Lastly, Teresa attended the DESE commissioners call where the primary focus was on the results of the MCAS ballot question. As everyone knows, the ballot question was approved so that MCAS will be eliminated as a state-wide requirement for graduation. That leaves a lot of questions, none that DESE was ready to answer. It was noted that the results need to be certified by the legislature in December before the law comes into effect. On November 61h, DESE produced a FAQ regarding the results. Teresa read through those items. Most importantly, all students and staff will move forward with MCAS testing and retesting until further notice. She noted that in some cases the high school MCAS results may impact scholarship awards. Teresa also readout of the handbook our own graduation requirements as there is some talk that each district will identify their own requirements going forward. However, we will wait for DESE advisories on competency determinations. Lynn requested data on our students meeting MA core standards. Assistant Superintendent Ed Donoghue reviewed the FY25 Q1 financials. There are no current issues this early in the year. The committee requested that some additional information when the Q2 is reviewed: projections, revolving funds and circuit breaker calculations. Student representative report: Andrew Fleischman expanded the representative report to now include happenings across the entire district. MHS: Q1 has ended; football and soccer are in the playoffs; student voice summit kicked off with several projects planned for the year. TriM Haunted Hallways was a huge success. QMS: Cross country team had huge success; TOM junior hosted the annual Fall Flannel Fest. 1J: STEM week just ended with volunteers from Cardinal Health; bullying prevention month included two speakers for students. Rob: Staff is very excited to use the new Reveal Math program; students have been identified as Mathematician of the month and the new social / emotional curriculum is working on whole school expectations. Approval of Warrant: Salary & Salary &. Goods & Services Wages Goods & Services Wages 25010S 2026-6 26012S 2026-7 9/3124 9113/24 9117/24 9127124 General Fund 169,219.76 1,734,711.20 289,268.30 1,711,663.59 Medicare - 2,615.20 - 2,615.20 Capital 1,017,387.47 - 788,453.10 - Revolving 6,215.62 66,928.11 8,460.77 88,522.72 Food Service 294.84 32,827.10 129,523.03 41.979.30 Gifts - - - - Studenl Activity - - - - Grants 10,964.99 88,036.56 7,874.80 126,770.44 Prior Year 1,854.54 21,799.76 1,205.00 - $1,205,937.22 $1,946,917.93 $1,224,775.00 $1,971,661.25 Page 2 of 6 Approved 12-03-24 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, November 12, 2024 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Motion to approve the warrant memo dated 10-11-24 by Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon. Roll Call: Lynn Cavicchi aye Jenn Walsh aye Steve Schoonveld aye Jenifer Sellon aye Vivian Webster aye Motion Passes 5 - 0 Approval of Minutes: Date 1st 2nd Discuss Vote Roll Call order/ Y/N Comments 10-08-24 Open Jenn Jenifer N 5-0 JS, JW, LC, VW, SS Walsh Sellon 10-22-24Open Jenn Jenifer N 4-0-1 VW, LC (abstain), JW, Walsh Sellon 1S, SS 10-29-24 Open Jenn Jenifer N 5-0 VW, JS,1W, LC, SS Walsh Sellon 10-08-24 Exec not to be released Jenn Jenifer N 5-0 LC,1W, JS, VW, SS Walsh Sellon Committee Updates: Facilities: Next meeting is November 141h. Prior meeting was interrupted by an emergency evacuation at MHS and QMS. Jenn Walsh noted that the district response was impressive. It was a chaotic and fast changing situation but the staff and students made it look very smooth. It was reassuring to see things in motion. While meeting, the committee discussed fees. Hope to bring these to the full committee on December Yd. Budget: Have been meeting regularly. Of concern are the upcoming insurance rates which are very high. Presentations on staffing needs have been made by public safety. old Business: Consideration of the selection of the superintendent search consultant. Chair Schoonveld updated all on previous steps. To stay in line with state laws, he with the help of Lynn Cavicchi has put together a Request for Quote from three vendors (MASC, NESDEC, Cape Cod Consortium) with bids due on Thursday. At the 11/19 meeting the committee will review the bids and select the consultant. The budget meeting will be moved up to 5:00 to give enough time to also hold the school committee meeting that night. Steve also referenced a legal advisory from 2013 discussing whether municipal employees should participate in a search committee. Jenn Walsh recommended we forward to MHTL for their legal opinion. New Business: Consideration of field trip — MHS baseball team: Baseball Coach/Teacher Chris Hall presented his plans for the varsity trip which is similar to one taken by the team back in 2022. Discussion: Will the college visit location be chosen soon? Yes, as soon as the trip is approved we will start contacting colleges to schedule. What happens if a student drops out of the trip at the last minute? There is no financial loss as we would bring up a student from the junior varsity team similar to if an athlete is hurt. That new student will make payment and the initial student can be reimbursed. There is no impact to the total cost. The identify of students will be provided as soon as the varsity team is selected. One tricky aspect is that Chris is trying to book a tour of the White House. If approved, we will need to get security clearance of each attendee soon. This may mean we Page 3 of 6 Approved 12-03-24 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, November 12, 2024 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar get that clearance of several students who in the end may not get to go if they do not make the team. It was noted that the cost of the trip exceeds the per student cost * number of students by $7000. Chris noted that they plan to do a lot of fundraising. if there is a gap then the per student cross could increase. If the students are not identified until April then who covers the upfront costs? Chris intends to put these charges on his credit card and then reimburse himself later. The committee discussed and agreed that would be bad practice. It is a risk for a staff member to use their personal card and risk not getting fully reimbursed. It was agreed that Chris will use the district credit card. Motion to approve the MHS baseball field trip to Maryland and Washington, D.0 in April 2025 by Tenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon. Roll Call: Vivian Webster aye Lynn Cavicchi aye Jenn Walsh aye Jenifer Sellon aye Steve Schoonveld aye Motion Passes 5 - 0 Consideration of student activities by school: Annually, the committee reviews student activity accounts and opines on the following: the maximum balance for checking accounts, the addition of new accounts, the disbursements of inactive accounts (with and without balances) and the overall account list. Motion to Approve the Maximum 1st 2nd Discuss Vote Roll Call order or Checking Acct Balances comments MHS $75,000 4 $90,0001 Jenn Jenifer *1 5-0 VW, IS, JW, LC, QMS $32,000 Walsh Sellon SS JJ $20,000 Rob $17,000 'Increase allows for greater ability to manage high expenses that occur all at once at the end of the school year. Motion to accept New Student Activity Accounts as follows: 1st 2nd Discuss Vote Roll Call order or comments MHS Senior Celebration 2028' Jenn Walsh Jenifer Sellon *2 *3 5-0 VW, JS,JW, LC, SS MHS Class of 2028' MHS The Buzz (formally The Scoop) ZParent funded. No startup funds used. 'Startup funds of $575 used from "Freshman Class Start-up funds." Per prior school committee vote 11-27-18. Motion to close zero balance 1st 2nd Discuss Vote Roll Call order or accounts Y/N comments MHS Class of 2023 Jenn Jenifer N 5-0 VW, LC,1W, IS, Walsh Sellon SS Page 4 of 6 Approved 12-03-24 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, November 12, 2024 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Motion to approve the Deletion / 1't 2nd Discuss Vote Roll Call order or disbursement of funds for the Y/N comments following Accounts* MHS Senior Celebration 2024: Jenn Jenifer *4 5-0 LC, JW,1S, SS, $2152.21 to be evenly split between Walsh Sellon VW the next three celebrations (2025, 2026,2027) MHS Anime: No need for monetary transactions. Changed from a student activity to a club. Funds ($52.77) to go New Student Activities Account MHS Stylus: No need for monetary transactions. ($80.31) Changed from a student activity to a club. Funds to go New Student Activities Account MHS Class of 2022 -> Class of 2025 as requested by the class of 2022 *4Is there a way to help offset any negative balance in the AP account by using extra money in other accounts? No, the money must stay with the account unless it is closed and then it should go to other student accounts. The district is working on a plan to cover AP costs going forward and will bring the plan to the budget subcommittee next week. Motion to approve the 2024-2025 1st 2nd Discuss Vote Roll Call order or Student Activity Account List as Y/N comments presented in spreadsheet plus/minus new and obsolete line items as approved above. Jenn Jenifer 5-0 SS, JW,LC,JS, Walsh Sellon VW Ed Donoghue also noted that the annual internal audit was just completed. The next external audit will be during the 25-26 school year. Consideration of policy changes: At a previous meeting, the committee discussed revisions to policy ADC tobacco and smoking on premises. Questions arose on how this would impact student discipline since it did not appear to be clear. The policy was brought back tonight noting that student discipline is a separate policy not covered here. ADC simply covers the use of tobacco products. Motion to approve revisions to policy ADC by Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon. Roll Call: Steve Schoonveld aye Vivian Webster aye Jenifer Sellon aye Jenn Walsh aye Lynn Cavicchi aye Motion Passes 5 - 0 Page 5 of 6 Approved 12-03.24 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, November 12, 2024 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Consideration of superintendent goals for 2024-2025: Motion to approve Teresa Murphy's 2024-25 goals by Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon. Discussion: Regarding the student learning goal, how will Teresa measure growth in new school leaders and what will this process feel to them? Feedback will come from the new administrators. They should feel like there is an open- door policy with non -judgmental support. Growth will be evaluated at the end of the year by measuring their progress, Roll Call: Jenn Walsh aye Vivian Webster aye Jenifer Sellon aye Steve Schoonveld aye Lynn Cavicchi aye Motion Passes 5 - 0 School Committee Business: None School Committee Questions and Comments: Note that there is a budget meeting tomorrow and a Tri-board meeting on Monday. Lynn suggested that the district add a new web page to document the superintendent search process Other- Items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meeting: None Documents Referenced: Ql financials Warrant Minutes Field Trip Student Activities Policies Superintendent Goals Motion to adjourn: At 8:13 p.m., Chair Schoonveld called for a motion to adjourn Motion to adjourn by Tenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon Roll Call: Lynn Cavicchi aye Tenn Walsh aye Jenifer Sellon aye Vivian Webster aye Steve Schoonveld nay Motion Passes 4 — 1 — 0 Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Administrative Assistant to Superintendent & School Committee Page 6 of 6