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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm 02/25/2025Approved 03-04-25 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, February 25, 2025 In Person An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held in person on Tuesday, February 25, 2025 at the Community Room of the Public Safety Building, 500 East Street, Mansfield. The open meeting session was called to order by Chair Steve Schoonveld at 6:00 p.m. Members Present: Steve Schoonveld (Chair) Jenifer Sellon (Vice Chair) Lynn Cavicchi Jenn Walsh r Vivian Webster (remote) r y co Members Absent: None —;'^D c, r� New Business: t Presentation of proposed contract for the next Superintendent of Schools: Chair Schoonveld announced that he and Vice Chair Cavicchi have agreed to a contract with next year's Superintendent, Michelle McKeon. Lynn Cavicchi briefly described the process of working with Ms. McKeon and our attorney, Andy Waugh. As this is the first external superintendent hire in some time, extra care was taken to ensure that our contract met current standards; it has also been aligned with our current administrator contracts. Some additional items have been added. Steve Schoonveld summarized the contract details. This is a three-year contract with the initial starting salary of $200,000 and a minimum increase of 2%for each of the next two years. If the contract is extended beyond three years there will be a $5000 incentive amount added to the base salary. Expenses and professional development costs are also covered by the contract with fringe benefits aligned with our current practices. There is also some flexibility to work from home on occasion due to the expectation that the superintendent will be working many evening and weekends during a normal school year. Chair Schoonveld gave the members an opportunity to enter executive session to answer any questions. Seeing none, no executive session was held and a motion was made. Motion to approve a superintendent contract for Michelle McKeon commencing on July 1, 2025 with a starting salary of $200,000 as detailed in the contract of employment by Jenn Walsh /Jenifer Sellon. Motion Passes 5 - 0 Other- Items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meeting: None Documents Referenced: • Superintendent Contract Motion to adiourn: At 6:11 p.m., Chair Schoonveld called for a motion to adjourn Motion to adjourn by Tenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon Motion Passes 5 - 0 Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Administrative Assistant to Superintendent & School Committee Page 1 of 1 Approved 3-7-25 Mansfield School Committee Facilities Subcommittee Minutes 11/14/24 A meeting of the Mansfield School Committee Facilities subcommittee was opened and called to order at 2:02 p.m. Attendees: Jenifer Sellon, Jenn Walsh, Matt Jacques Minutes for 10-11-24 were approved 2 — 0. Facilities Usage Fees The group discussed the revisions to the fees made in response to the feedback we gave last time. It was proposed that we have tiered pricing through 2027, implementing the fee changes slowly so as not to have a huge immediate impact on users. We would offer a discount to in - town youth groups. We agreed that the fees and schedule for increasing seemed like a good approach so we suggested Matt bring the proposal to the budget subcommittee and if they agree with the changes, bring it to the full committee for a vote. Facilities Related Policies Matt reviewed the following policies and we agreed on the following: • KF - no changes needed • KFR-2 - Remove rates from the policy and refer to the fee schedule Upcoming meetings - we agreed to meet in February next but didn't set a date. Other items not anticipated • MSBA Visit - all schools are being visited, we were first. This establishes a baseline of maintenance. Going well. • 11 Roof update -preparing to submit SCI to MSBA Meeting adjourned at 2:28 p.m. ti Respectfully submitted by Jenifer Sellon e, co r%ry Approved 03-10-25 Mansfield School Committee Policy Subcommittee Meeting Minutes for January 10, 2025 Superintendent's Office, 2 Park Row, Mansfield, MA 02048 A meeting of the Mansfield School Committee Budget Subcommittee was opened and called to order at 1:05 p.m. SC Members Present: Lynn Cavicchi (chair), Jenifer Sellon Others present: Teresa Murphy, Superintendent; Michael Connolly, Assistant Superintendent; Russ Booth, Principal; Tina Karidoyanes, Director of Guidance; Julia Greenstine, Director of Instruction and Assessment Approval of Policy Minutes: Approved 2 — 0 • 11-14-24 Old Business: None New Business: Review of graduation requirement and competency determination. Passing MCAS is no longer a state law effective in December 2024. Graduation requirements are now to be set at the district level and immediate action was needed since it impacts the class of 2025. The high school presented an overview of the competency determinations for the following: Class of 2025 Class of 2026, 2027, 2028 (students currently in high school) Classes starting with 2029 (students currently not yet in high school) The group discussed the variables and set the following action items: Modify policy IKF to remove the MCAS graduation requirement and replace with new language based on the competency determinations. Modify the 2025-26 program of studies to reflect the changes. Verify paths to graduation for class of 2025. Hold a follow up meeting with the Assistant Superintendent of Student Services to address the class of 2025 students who had taken the alt MCAS test and prepare a path for graduation. Program of Studies, Competency determinations and policy will be approved by school committee on January 28`^ Other items within 48 hours- None N Meeting adjourned at 2:30 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Diane Nugent, Administrative Assistant co i n C-7 J M Approved 03-25-25 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Attendance at Mansfield Tri-Board Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, February 25, 2025 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held in person and virtually on Tuesday, February 25, 2025 the Public Safety Community Room. The open Tri-Board meeting session called was called to order by Chair Steve Schoonveld at 6:35 p.m. Members Present: Steve Schoonveld Lynn Cavicchi Jenifer Sellon Jenn Walsh Administration Present: Teresa Murphy, Superintendent Ed Donoghue, Assistant Superintendent (Finance/Operations) Other: Vivian Webster Select Board FinCom ij Town Administrators ;' co " l Members Absent: None p < «cD Members of the Finance Committee, Select Board, School Committee and Budget Subcorpmitteo convened to discuss the FY26 Budget. Multiple budget scenarios were discussed. Town Manager Kevin Dumas reviewed the upcoming timeline as well as budget financials. Discussion held on the various items needed to close the gap. The budget plan is to prioritize safety, essential services, equity, quality of life and consolidation of services. Police Chief Ron Sellon made note that the SAFER grant has not yet been made available to apply. In the past the town of Mansfield received $250k for 2 FTEs for 3 years. The town plans to utilize free cash to cover the snow and ice deficit. A new high deductible insurance plan may help keep costs down. Need to market this new plan to all employees for the program to be successful. Superintendent Murphy reviewed the proposed $1M school reductions. The school district proposed the use of additional revolving funds including athletics, transportation and circuit breaker funds. Will be using more of these funds than we would like but we feel these onetime offsets are needed this year. Some adjustments will still be needed. Currently looking at reducing 12 —17 FTEs. Also looking into some of our auxiliary services. Will share with staff before announcing publicly. This has been a very hard decision and will have impact to families, staff and students. The impact is immediate and does not wait until June. Class sizes and NESDEC enrollment projections were reviewed. Per state law our Reduction in Force (RIF) deadline is May 151h. However, notice will be given as soon as possible to provide staff enough notice. Impact to the district: QMS was hit hard with cuts last year. MHS was hit hard over the past two years. At elementary, we need to look at class sizes which will need to increase based on reductions. When we compared class sizes to other districts, there are some higher and some lower. However, most districts noted that they will be increasing class sizes next year due to cuts. Additionally, the MHS program of studies has been reduced which has immediate impact to those students currently working on next year's course selections. Some student support programs may also need to be reduced. It was also noted that in addition to reductions, we will not move forward with Page 1 of 2 Approved 03-25-25 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Attendance at Mansfield Tri-Board Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, February 25, 2025 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar some programs we had intended to start. Teresa's goal is to meet the requested $1M in cuts with as little impact to our staff and students. Ed Donoghue reviewed our transportation fees and noted that those fees cover only a portion of our transportation contract. The school was asked to do a 5-year projection and review the revolving account sustainability. The possibility of an override was discussed. For FY26, looking at a $2M override or a $2.81A override if trash fees are removed and incorporated into the tax revenue. This may be beneficial to residents but needs to be looked at again in 5 years when our trash contract is complete. The Select Board voted unanimously to place an override on the warrant. The final figure will be determined. Upcoming dates were discussed for public forums during the day at the Council of Aging, on a Saturday at a school auditorium, and during the evenings. Dates will run between March 31 and April 121h and will be finalized during the week. Additional meetings include a CIP meeting, the public hearing for the school and town budget and town meeting. A document reviewing the rule of advocacy was provided to all attendees. This document guides municipalities on how they may or may not promote an override. Kevin will run PR and social media efforts including a FAQ document. The group discussed the upcoming state deadline for remote meetings. We are waiting for final legislature word. It appears that meetings can no longer be completely remoted. However, we are not sure the extent to which remote access must be made availability. This could potentially add a lot of cost and issues for the town. Currently only room 3AB provides full in person and remote option. Documents Referenced: Budget Cut Proposals from Town and School Motion to adjourn: At 8:53 p.m., Motion to adjourn by Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon Motion passes 5 —0. Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Administrative Assistant to Superintendent & School Committee Page 2 of 2