HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm. 12/03/2024Approved O1d4-25
Mansfield School Committee Meeting
Minutes for Tuesday, December 03, 2024�
In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar ((� i,L1', " _
OFFICE
An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held in person and virtually on Tuesday` 'ecq�er 03,
2024. The open meeting session was called to order by Chair Steve SchoonvelclKg:0 p;m„ I
Members Present: Administration Present:
Steve Schoonveld (Chair) Teresa Murphy, Superintendent I
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
The chair asked for a motion to enter into Executive Session under Exception No. 3 To discuss strategy with
respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the
bargaining or litigating position of the public body and the chair so declares
Motion by: Jenifer Sellon / Lynn Cavicchi
ROLL CALL Vote:
Lynn Cavicchi aye
Jenifer Sellon _aye
Steve Schoonveld aye
Motion Carries 3 — 0
Return from Executive Session at 6:40 pm. Jenn Walsh and Vivian Webster arrived for the start of the executive
session.
New Business:
Public Speak: None
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Within 48 Hours of Posting: R
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Superintendent Murphy announced that Michael Redding had just earned his 300" victory of head coach of the €
Mansfield High School football team. Athletic Director Timothy Selman and Chair Steve Schoonveld also spoke of
Mike's dedication to the school and to his students. They thanked Mike for all that he has done and presented him
with both a certificate and gift. Student athletes, assistant coaches and his family were in attendance. Mike then
spoke of his appreciation for the district, his students and his family. i
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Student representative report: Andrew Fleischman updated the committee on the upcoming super bowl
appearance at Gillette, the start of winter sports, the upcoming school play "The Lightning Thief' as well as several
winter concerts A recent food drive for 'Our Daily Bread' was extremely successful.
Superintendent Search Agenda Items moved here:
Presentation of District Profile: The district and committee provided all of the details needed for the District Profile
and worked with MASC on edits and a final document. MASC will finalize and post on the website with the job
posting. No vote required. y
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Presentation of Superintendent Search timeline: MASC provided a high-level time frame to meet the February
hiring deadline that was set by the School Committee. The district and committee have added specific tasks and
reviewed the full timeline with MASC. Committee notified of key dates. Discussion regarding
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Approved 01-14-25
Mansfield School Committee Meeting
Minutes for Tuesday, December 03, 2024
In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar
Consideration of superintendent job description: The current superintendent job description is from 1982. The
district used job descriptions from various districts and worked with the committee to finalize a description.
Members reviewed the draft and made suggestions for modifications.
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Motion to approve that the job description with the edits made this evening be sent to MASC for review and
finalization by: Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon
Motion Carries 5 - 0
Consideration of focus group identification: MASC will coordinate focus groups to engage our stakeholders in
building the criteria for the search committee to use in their screening process. Groups that will be setup are:
Staff, Parent/Guardians, MHS students, Parent groups (MESA, PACs, Boosters,...), Special Education families and
SEPAC, District Leadership and the community at large. The town official invitations will include the town manager
and assistant manager, Head of DPW and Highway, Select Board members, FinCom members, Police Chief, SROs,
Fire Chief, Head of Health Department and HR. The committee discussed how to best set these up (in person,
zoom, during the school day, evening, etc.)
Motion to approve that eight focus groups identified by Jenn Walsh /Jenifer Sellon
Motion Carries 5 — 0
Consideration of search committee composition:
Lynn Cavicchi and Steve Schoonveld brought forward some recommendations as to the structure of the committee
which should include staff, students, parents, community and school committee. Discussion included whether or
not members need to be Mansfield residents (no). There was discussion on making sure both elementary and
secondary is equally represented. There was a discussion on whether or not the community or school related
members be the majority of the committee. Steve emphasized the need to show that this is a community hire. A
small group is best as we are very short on time. Large groups tend to have a difficult time reaching a consensus.
The committee has been proposed as follows:
School Committee (2 co-chairs)
Parent/Guardians (2 to represent both elementary and secondary)
MHS Student (1) s
Community member (1 Appointed member from FinCom)
Community member (1 Appointed member from Select Board)
Central Office (2 Identified in the meeting to be Jessica Davis and Ed Donoghue)
Principal/Assistant Principal (2 to represent both secondary and elementary) If
Teacher(1)
Staff -Other (1)
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In addition, the application process was discussed. A google survey will be sent to families, students, staff,
for appiyin g. This will go out later this week.
Motion to appoint the positions as identified above by Jenn Walsh. Lynn noted that the committee needs to be
created with a charge. Steve suggested a revised motion.
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Motion pulled and an Amended Motion to establish a search' committee and appoint the positions as identified g
above by Jenn Walsh / Lynn Cavicchi
Amended Motion Carries 5-0
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Consideration of superintendent search stakeholder survey: Lynn and Steve had discussed survey options with
Glenn Koocher of MASC and presented some ideas at this meeting. Regarding the proposal, the following
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Approved 01-14-25
Mansfield School Committee Meeting
Minutes for Tuesday, December 03, 2024.
In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar
questions were kept: 1, 2, and 9. Question 3 and 4 were modified to be a pick out of a list rather than fill in the
blanks. Questions 5, 6, 7 were removed. An open response question asking for characteristics of a superintendent
was added. No vote required. Changes will be sent to Glenn Koocher for modification. He will send the link to us
for distribution.
Administrative Reports:
Superintendent Teresa Murphy announced the receipt of $4700 to the Mansfield Fire Department for instructional
time with students in grades PreK to 6. In addition to these lessons, the fire department is working with the school
resource officers on opioid use, safety programs for students heading off to college and fire extinguisher training
for our food services staff. The district is very grateful to Lt. Ryan Brousseau and the entire fire department.
Assistant Superintendent Michael Connolly provided an update on our English Learner (EL) program. Currently
109 students are serviced which is up approximately 36%since 2018. Mike also noted that once a student
completes the EL programming, they are then monitored for additional 4 years He is grateful for the additional
staff that the committee has approved to support these students. Currently the district translates documents into i
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8 different languages and there are 18 languages spoken. With some of the Title III graM money, the district has a
new Extended Day program including transportation for students in the EL program. families of20 students have
taken advantage of this program which offers academic, social and emotional support. An EL family night was well
attended as well. Lastly, support for EL students has expanded to include the preschool at Roland Green.
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Assistant Superintendent Jessica Davis provided an update on the Civil Rights / Special Education Program review.
DESE will be on our campus (one hour per building) tomorrow. Then on December 10tb, DESE will conduct
interviews with staff including SEPAC, Special Education teachers, general education teachers, guidance,principals
along with Mike Connolly and Jessica Davis. On January 151h, DESE will meet with the leadership team to present
their findings.
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Approval of Warrant:
Salary & Salary &
Goods & Services Wages Goods & Services Wages Goods & Services.
25014S 2025-8 250165 2025-9 260185
10101 /24 10/11/24 10/15/24 10/25/24 10/29/24
General Fund 736,769.37 1,790,057.30 502,637.32 1,762,690.90 465,004.46
Medicare - 2,615.20 - 2,61&20
Capital 969,468.65 - 1,018,748.85 - 456,685.49
.Revolving 6,446.26 88,739,87. 8,239.08 $9,223.28 19,778.16
Food Service 33,107.66 41,689.78. 61,051,69 41,275.11 59,525.41
Gifts 366,47 - 100.00.
Student
Activity - - - - 8,785.50
Grants 58,232.99 68,610.85 27,478.61 78,420.61 1,064.61
Prior Year 6,082.95 - 1,387.28 2,527.54
$1,810,106.78 $1,991,613.00 $1,619,909.30 $1,974,226.10 $1,013,461.17
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Motion to approve the warrant memo dated 11-15-24 by Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon.
Motion Passes 5 - 0 I
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Approved 01-14.25
Mansfield School Committee Meeting
Minutes for Tuesday, December 03, 2024
In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar
Approval of Minutes:
Date
1st
2nd
Discuss
Vote
Roll Call order/
Y/N
Comments
11-07-24 Open
Jenn
Jenifer
N
5-0
Walsh
Sellon
11-12-24Open
Jenn
Jenifer
iN
5-0
Correct vote for
Walsh
Sellon
adjourn from 4-0-1 to
4-1-0
I1-19-24 Open
Jenn
Jenifer
N
5-0
Walsh
Sellon
10-08-24 Exec not to be released
Jenn l'
Jenifer
N
5-0
Walsh
Sellon
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New Business:
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Presentation and consideration of proposed FY26 school -based fees:
The annual review of fees was presented by Assistant Superintendent Donoghue. Some fees were
changed in recent years while for others it has been quite a long time. Ed reviewed the following
proposals:
• Transportation: Increase annual per student fee and family cap l
• Little Hornets: Increase in weekly fee j
• QMS Athletics: Increase per session
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• QMS Color Guard: New fee l
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• MHS AP exams: Increase per exam l
• MHS Athletics: Increase per program; increase in family cap; removal of hockey from family cap
• MHS Performing Arts: Increase per program
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• MHS Evening School: Increase per course for both residents and non-residents'
Motion to approve the Mansfield Public School Fees for 2025-26 by Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon.
Discussion: Lynn asked for clarification on the hockey program being removed from the family cap. At what fee
point will other programs be removed from the cap. Ed clarified that it isn't the fee that caused this decision; it is j
the cost to run the program. Our fees fall in line with other local districts. Lynn asked that this get clarified in the I
fee report for historical purposes.
Motion Passes 5 - 0
Presentation and acceptance of initial proposed FY26 school budget (moved up in the agenda):
Assistant Superintendent Donoghue presented the initial budget that will be sent to the Town Manager by
December 31. The proposed budget is$62,668,461 which is an increase of $2,811318 or 4.7% over last year. He
gave high level information on salary and wages, special education and expenses. Each year the School Committee
votes on the bottom line budget number to be delivered to the town. Chair Schoonveld referenced school
committee policy and town charter and indicated that the committee should not be voting on the budget or
capital improvement plans until there is a final budget in the spring and there has been a public' hearing. The
committee disagreed on whether or not the initial budget amount should be approved as had been done in the
past. The conversation ended when the committee decided that they would vote to accept the amount rather
than voting to approve the budget.
Jenn Walsh left the meeting at approximately 9:00 pm before a vote was taken.
Motion to accept the FY26 budget of $62,668,461 by Lynn Cavicchi / Jenifer Sellon
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Approved 01-14.25
Mansfield School Committee Meeting I
Minutes for Tuesday, December 03, 2024
In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar
Motion Passes 4 - 0
Presentation and consideration of proposed CIP for Town Meeting:
Six items were presented with details of past activity and estimates as provided to us through our
contractors. The J/J chiller repair has been increased from $1M to $1.2M; District wide paving has been
reduced from $300 K to $250 K; the cost of rooftop HVAC unit replacements has been lowered from
$250 K to $100 K. These do not reflect reductions in cost but rather a reduction in scope for the
upcoming year. Work will still be needed in future years. The committee placed the priorities as
follows:
1. A Chiller
2. QMS Generator (new item based on issues with unit) d
3. Special Education bus replacement
4. Rooftop HVAC unit replacements i
5. District Wide Paving and Concrete
6. District Wide lighting upgrades
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Motion to approve the FY26 CIP items as adjusted tonight by, Lynn Cavicchi J Vivian Webster i
Discussion: Why are the rooftop and paving items on the list every year?Matt Jacques indicated that we try to
keep on top of maintenance to avoid costly repairs in the future. The paving should be completed in the next
several years which should hold us over for a bit. Could we partner with the DPW for reduced expenses? We
already partner with them to facilitate the work. Has our 5 year CIP plan been updated? It will be updated to
reflect items voted tonight and then redistributed to the committee.
Motion Passes 4 - 0 `
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Presentation and consideration of proposed FY26 Facilities fee structure:
Facilities Director Matt Jacques presented. The facilities subcommittee worked to develop a new fee structure for i
facilities use. The new proposal will create a reduced fee rate for youth organizations and will be implemented
over a 3-year period. Currently there are many organizations that pay an extremely reduced annual fee or no fee
at all. The new rates will still remain substantially lower for youth groups.
Motion to approve the proposed facilities fee structure for FY26, FY27, FY28 by lenifer Sellon / Vivian Webster
Discussion: Does Matt anticipate any increase to the standard fee? None in the next few years. Do we identify
who is considered a youth group? Yes, in policy.
Motion Passes 4- 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 suggestea tnat the aistrict aaa a new web page to aocument the supermtenaent searcn process.
Other- Items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meeting:
Steve brought to the committee, a series of updated town wide financial policies to be approved by both the Select
Board and School Committee. It also addresses the need for a financial agreement between the town and school.
Lynn Cavicchi has mentioned the agreement in the past noting that it is an item that needs to be worked on. No
vote taken tonight, i
Documents Referenced:
• warrant
• minutes
• district profile
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Approved 01-14-25
Mansfield School Committee Meeting
Minutes for Tuesday, December 03, 2024
In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar
• superintendent search timeline
• superintendent job description
• focus group identification
• superintendent search committee composition
• search stakeholder survey
• Proposed FY26 school -based fees
• proposed FY26 Facilities fee structure
• initial proposed FY26 school budget
• proposed CIP for Town Meeting
• town financial policies
Motion to adjourn:
At 9:26 p.m., Chair Schoonveld called for a motion to adjourn
Motion to adjourn by Lynn Cavicchi / Jenifer Sellon
Motion Passes 4 — 0
Respectfully Submitted,
Diane Nugent, Administrative Assistant to
Superintendent & School Committee
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