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Home My WebLink AboutSchool Comm 01/28/2025yi Approved 04-29-25�., Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, January 28,2025 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held in person and virtually on Tuesday, January 28, 2025 in Town Hall room 3AB. The open meeting session was called to order by Chair Steve Schoonveld at 6:00 p.m Members Present: Administration Present: Steve Schoonveld (Chair) Teresa Murphy, Superintendent Jenifer Sellon (Vice Chair) Jessica Davis, Assistant Superintendent (Student Services) Lynn Cavicchi Ed Donoghue, Assistant Superintendent (Finance/Operations) Jenn Walsh Vivian Webster (@6:10 pm) Members Absent: None The chair asked for a motion to enter into Executive Session under Exception No. 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 regarding collective bargaining of office assistants/clerks; paraprofessionals; buildings and grounds Motion by: Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon ROLL CALL Vote: Lynn Cavicchi aye Jenn Walsh aye Jenifer Sellon aye Steve Schoonveld aye Motion Carries 4-0 r, Return from Executive Session at 6:36 pm."-> Public Speak None ]7 til q Administrative reports: CD Superintendent Murphy announced that Trish Parrillo is adopting a dog from the NEADS World CIW Service Dogs organization and has requested permission to bring this dog to the Robinson as a trained therapy dog. Te district used the same agency when Detective Ken Wright adopted Bentley. NEADS trained dogs have a positive impact on the mental health of children. The 2-year-old Labrador retriever will be finishing training in February. Once there is more information there will be a formal introduction. The high school Quiz Team is again competing in the state quiz show competition. Assistant Superintendent Donoghue presented the FY25 second quarter financials. At this point in time there are no areas of concern. Mr. Donohue will present a review of revolving accounts at the next meeting. Lynn Cavicchi asked if there had been any progress made on the cost sharing agreement. Ed will look into this. Regarding capital projects, Ed noted that there 9 bids were received on the 1/J chiller project. He has signed a contract and expects that the project will start in 4 — 6 weeks. The committee then took this opportunity to congratulate Assistant Superintendent Michael Connolly on his retirement. Each member took the time to thank Mr. Connolly for his efforts and a signed proclamation was awarded. Mr. Connolly thanked the district and committee for their support over the years. Student representative report: Andrew Fleischmann provided updates as follows: At MHS, the second semester has started; the girls swim team are Hockomock/Davenport League Champions for the first time in approximately 13 years. In two weeks, the Student Voice Summit will begin; National Honor Society Awards will take place this week; Prom plans have been finalized and post -secondary planning has started for Juniors; grade 8 opportunities night as held for incoming freshmen. Andrew also spoke to a recent presentation by Quinton Champagne of "Minding your Mind" that was given to students during the day and parent/guardians at night. It was a very Page I of 4 Approved 04.29.25 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, January 28, 2025 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar powerful presentation of the importance of taking care of your mental health. At QMS, next year's ambassador to Project 351 was chosen and attended the launch day in Boston. Bentley awards were given out at both 1/J and Robinson. Robinson students have chosen the name of the new playground: The Treetop Playground. Anoroval of Warrant: Salary & Salary & Wages Goods & Services Wages Goods & Services 2025-23 25024S 2025-25 25026S 1216124 12/10124 12/20/24 12124/24 General Fund 2,047,800.57 510,444.37 1,752,779.46 647,747.82 Medicare 2,615.20 - 2,615.20 - Capital - 754,238.22 - 2,670.00 Revolving 87,414.01 7,657.61 86,021.46 6,110.33 Food Service 40,866.71 48,112.61 40,274.73 36,622.76 Gifts - 1,207.92 - 4,167.71 Student Activity 181.30 11,034A3 - 40,443.23 Grants 110,933.54 - 86,741.06 124.76 Prior Year - 137.36 14,747.00 3,895.87 2,289,811.33 1,332,832.22 1,983,178.91 741, 782.48 Motion to approve the warrant memo dated 1-13-25 by Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon. Motion Passes 5 - 0 Approval of Minutes: Date 1st 2nd Discuss Vote Roll Call order/ Y/N Comments 12-03-25 Exec Jenh Jenifer N 5-0 Steve asked if these could Walsh Sellon be released. It was decided to hold off until negotiations were over. New Business: Consideration of graduation competency determination Assistant Superintendent Connolly along with Principal Russ Booth, Guidance Director Tina Karidoyanes and Director of Instruction/Assessment Julia Greenstine spoke of the ballot initiative to remove MCAS from a graduation requirement. It was noted that the actual MCAS testing is not going away. They reviewed the current requirements and discussed the new requirements for the class of 2025 and 2026 ensuring that there is a path for all students. The district has a proposal for the class of 2027 and beyond but is waiting for further guidance from DESE. As soon as the vote was taken, DESE instructed all districts that it is now a district decision and that high schools needed to develop a plan. Since that time DESE has backed off a bit and is not taking an overarching review of the graduation requirements. This puts us in a bit of a "wait and see' approach beyond this year's graduates. Also discussed was the diploma track vs the MCAS Alt track for students in the past continued with school until their 22Id birthday and did not receive a diploma in grade 12. All families are well aware of the options and have been notified on how the new change impacts those students. See vote below. Page 2 of 4 Approved 04-29-25 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, January 28, 2025 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Consideration of policy change for graduation requirements (IKFI: Per the new law removing MCAS, this policy was updated to reflect the competency determinations for MHS students. Motion to approve policy modifications to IKF for the new requirements by Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon. Motion Passes 5 - 0 Consideration of MHS 2025-26 Program of Studies: Annually the high school reviews with the school committee the changes for the following year. Changes were presented as a summary sheet along with the full program. At high level, sequencing grids were updated; course description, prerequisites or titles were updated for several courses; one new course added (AP Calculus) and five courses were deleted (Hip Hop History, PreCalculus Honors and CPB, Intro to Engineering 2, Science in the Media, Identify and Culture through Memoir.) The deletions were identified via changes in current courses, low enrollment or the departure of a teacher. Question/Answer: Lynn Cavicchi asked how the district is improving accessibility to our courses. Ms. Karidoyanes noted that courses are recommended by teachers but the prerequisites have been changed to be a passing grade rather than a minimum grade opening up courses to more individuals. Lynn then commented that the high school will need to support teachers whose courses are opening up for more students and the strategies that might need to change to accommodate all students. Steve noted it is important to see kids where they are at and bring them to where they need to be. What was the rational for creating an AP Calculus class and removing the honors class? There is not a significant difference between the two courses and in many cases, when students get to college, that college course is easier than or own Honors program. By changing to the AP level, students have more opportunity to obtain credits and to bypass the college course if desired. Motion to approve the 2025-2026 Program of Studies subject to minor editing by Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon. Motion Passes 5 - 0 Consideration of MSBA Statement of Interest for the J/J roof replacement: Assistant Superintendent Donoghue presented the statement of interest document so that he can submit it to the state by the set deadline. Motion as follows by Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon: Resolved: Having convened in an open meeting on January 28, 2025, the School Committee of the Town of Mansfield, in accordance with its charter, by-laws, and ordinances, has voted to authorize the Superintendent to submit to the Massachusetts School Building Authority the Statement of Interest Form dated January 24, 2025, for the Jordan/Jackson Elementary School located at 255 East Street, Mansfield, MA 02048 which describes and explains the following deficiencies and the priority category(s) for which an application may be submitted to the Massachusetts School Building Authority in the future. Submitted Statement of Interest — Priority 5- the Jordan/Jackson Elementary School located was constructed in 1992, the building roof is over 32 years old & in poor condition, numerous active leaks are negatively impacting the learning environment. This situation and the environment it creates present many challenges in delivering the best education possible for the students of Mansfield; and hereby further specifically acknowledges that by submitting this Statement of Interest Form, the Massachusetts School Building Authority in no way guarantees the acceptance or the approval of an application, the awarding of a grant or any other funding commitment from the Massachusetts School Building Authority, or commits the Town to filing an application for funding with the Massachusetts School Building Authority. Motion Passes 5 - 0 Page 3 of 4 Approved 04-29-25 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, January 28, 2025 In Person & Virtual Meeting using GoToWebinar Consideration of MPS District Calendar 2025-2026: Assistant Superintendent Connolly reviewed specifics of next year's proposed calendar including a start date of 9/3/25, initial end date of 6/17/26, holidays, professional development days, curriculum nights and conferences. The day before Thanksgiving will be a half day. Motion to approve the MPS 2025-26 Calendar by Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon. Motion Passes 5 - 0 Consideration of Title IX policy changes: This effort will back out changes to policies made in 2024 at a federal level. ACAB is a complete modification back to the version earlier in 2024. ACAB-R is a partial modification back to early 2024 with one change in the number of days needed for a written response changing it from 10 to 5 days. Motion to revert policies ACAB and ACAB-R to the previous version prior to most recent federal ruling Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon. Motion Passes 5 - 0 School Committee Business: FY26 Budget: The committee discussed the shift in capital requests by removing textbooks from the operating budget to capital pending approval by the CIP committee. Preliminary discussions held on an upcoming Public Hearing on the budget including a possible date and slide content. Search Committee: Upcoming dates were presented as follows: 1/27: last interviews by search committee 1/29: Search Committee chooses finalists 1/30: School Committee meeting to announce candidates (Press release, emails, communication...) 2/3-6: Site Visits 2/8: School Committee meeting to interview candidates (Saturday) 2/10: School Committee meeting to deliberate candidates — details tbd 2/11: School Committee meeting to further deliberate and announce candidate. The committee also discussed the need for reference checks and interview preparation. School Committee Questions and Comments: Other- Items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meeting: None Documents Referenced: FY25 Q2 Financial Update Policy IKF, ACAB, ACAB-R MHS Program of Studies Summary of Changes MHS Program of Studies 25-26 Statement of Interest for 1/1 Roof MPS 2025-26 Calendar Motion to adjourn: At 9:21 p.m., Chair Schoonveld called for a motion to adjourn. Motion to adjourn by Jenn Walsh / Jenifer Sellon Motion Passes 5 - 0 Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Administrative Assistant to Superintendent & School Committee Page 4 of 4