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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm Minutes 1/28/2014Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, January 28, 2014 Town Hall, Room aB & C AMENDED An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held at the Town Hall on Tuesday, January 28, 2014. After returning from Executive Session the Open Session meeting was reopened and called to order by Chairperson, Mrs. Kiera O'Neil at 7:35 Paz. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 Members Present — roll call vote to re -open the Open Meeting; Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, Mr. Wayne Smith, Jr. Mrs. Lynn Cavicchi Mrs. Linda Fernando Mr. Michael Trowbridge Also Present: Chairperson; yes Vice Chairman yes yes yes yes Mrs. Brenda Hodges, Superintendent of Schools Mr. Edward Vozzella, Director of Finance Before we begin tonight's meeting, I would like to read a statement that I have prepared regarding the press release from the Mansfield Educator's Association. The school committee will not publicly comment on the ongoing negotiations between the school and Mansfield Educator's Association. We do not believe it is appropriate to speak publicly while we are working to reach an agreement. We are obviously disappointed in the recent actions by the union, but we continue to maintain positive that we will reach a fair and equitable agreement soon. We respect the work that is performed by all the educators in our district. The school committee will continue to bargain in good faith and look forward to reaching an end to these negotiations quickly. SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT Spotlight on Students: Students were unable to attend meeting due to teachers work to rule schedule. — 1 — APPROVAL OF WARRANTS (2 ) Warrants Warrant Vs Dates Amount Salary & Wages 2014 -10 11/08/13 1,515,833.61 Goods & Services 2014 -1016 11/12/13 481,030.71 Salary & Wages 2014 -11 11/22/13 1,460,701.51 Goods & Services 2014 -1018 11/26113 484,116.00 $ 3,941,681.83 Chairperson, Mrs. Kiera O'Neil called for a motion to approve the warrants. A motion was made to approve the warrants 1St by Mrs. Linda Fernando; 2nd by Mrs. Lynn Cavicchi, Motion U.C. 5 - 0 Warrants Warrant #'s Dates Amount Salary & Wages 2014 -12 12/06/13 1,629,793.54 Goods & Services 2014 -1020 12/10/13 764,213.34 Salary & Wages 2014 -13 12/20/13 1,487,817.27 Goods & Services 2014 -1022 12/26/13 318,980.18 $ 4,200,804.33 Chairperson, Mrs. Kiera O'Neil called for a motion to approve the warrants. A motion was made to approve the warrants 1St by Mr. Michael Trowbridge, 2nd by Mr. Wayne Smith, Jr. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 APPROVALOFMINUTES Executive Session Minutes of November 19.2013 Executive Session Minutes of November 19, 2013, were approved. Chairperson, Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, called for a motion to approve the Executive Session minutes of -2- November 19, 2013. A motion was made to In by Mr. Michael Trowbridge, 2nd by Mrs. Linda Fernando. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 Executive Session Minutes of November 26.2013 Executive Session Minutes of November 26, 2013, were approved. Chairperson, Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, called for a motion to approve the Executive Session minutes of November 26, 2013. A motion was made to In by Mr. Michael Trowbridge, 2nd by Mrs. Linda Fernando. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 School Committee Minutes of November 26.2013 The School Committee Minutes of November 26, 2013 were approved. Chairperson, Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, called for a motion to approve the Open Session minutes. A motion was made to In by Mr. Michael Trowbridge, 2nd by Mr. Wayne Smith. ( Motion U.C. 4 » 0 -1 - Mr. Smith arrived late School Committee Minutes of December 1S, 2013 School Committee Minutes of December 18, 2013, were approved as amended. Chairperson, Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, called for a motion to approve the minutes of December 18, 2013. A motion was made to 1st by Mr. Michael Trowbridge, 2nd by Mrs. Linda Fernando. Motion U.C. 4 - 0 -1 - Mr. Smith was not present for the meeting. School Committee Budget Minutes of January 7. 2014 The School Committee Budget Minutes of January 7, 2014 were approved. Chairperson, Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, called for a motion to approve the minutes of the January 7, 2014 Budget Meeting.. A motion was made to In by Mr. Michael Trowbridge, 2nd by Mr. Wayne Smith. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 OLD BUSINESS -3- Budget: Mr. Vozzella first addressed the 2014 budget and that in January he had issued the second quarter statement and that at this time the repairs & maintenance in certain areas are running over budget and we will be over budget for the year. Mr. Vozzella is hoping that he will have other favorable variances to offset it but noted it was too early to say if we will have any issues for the year 2014. There were several major issues at different schools that were the root causes for being over budget. For the FY15 Budget Mr. Vozzella stated that we already had a sizable variance between the Town and the schools combined with the next step would be for Brenda and Ed will meet with Bill Ross and John Stanbrook and begin our process. We first look at the revenue increases and back out the fixed expenses like debt, interest payments and benefits and that leaves how much is available to spend. We then look at where we are and where the town is combined and go from thereto look at what is the next best step and what we can cut out. Mr. Vozzella stated that there is a big deficient and this budget season will be a lot harder than the last 2 years and then went on to explain some of the meetings he has had with two of the Finance Committee subcommittee members. Ed felt that he was able to help them understand where we are and how we are moving forward. Sub Committee Updates: • Audit Committee — Mrs. O'Neil stated that they have not met since the last meeting • CIP — Mr. Trowbridge noted that they have completed everything in December like last year. We may need to have a meeting before Town Meeting only for the purposes of adding a couple of items that come in afterwards • Budget Subcommittee —Mrs. Cavicchi said that they met last week and they meet again on February 6, 2014. • Policy Subcommittee —Mrs. Cavicchi stated that they were working on things and speaking with Brenda regarding the Bullying Plan , not a Bullying Policy. Getting things in order to move forward. Walter Parker gave an overview of the work that has been done on the high school wall and the upcoming Robinson School replacement windows. The next projects will beat the MHS gym floor and the Qualters Middle School this summer and they have the same timeframe. Strategic Plan Update / Final Document: Superintendent, Brenda Hodges presented the School Committee with the final Strategic Plan document. Mrs. Hodges acknowledged Mrs. Lynn Cavicchi for her work on the final presentation ( and embedding of all the pictures in the final Strategic Plan document. Mrs. Hodges went on to -4- thank all the teachers, parents and administrators that participated on this plan, they spent a great deal of time working on this and are to be commended. Mrs. O'Neal stated that she felt this Strategic Plan looked very professional y done and the document was something that we can be very proud of in our district. The School Committee was very pleased with the final document. Mr. Michael Trowbridge made a motion to approve the Final Strategic Plan as presented with Mr. Wayne Smith as a second. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 Superintendent Goals / Action Plan: Mrs. Hodges had submitted her goals at the beginning of the year and informed you that she would was providing you with the Action Plan on January 28th. The Action Plan is actually the work that we are doing throughout the district. The School Committee had previously approved the superintendents' s goals in the Fall. It is not necessary to approve the Action Plans but Mrs. Hodges felt that the Committee could approve them if they liked, but the Goals were the ones they had needed to approve. There will be an update on the details of the work at the end of the year ( when the Committee does the Superintendent's Evaluation. Communities That Care Survev: Mrs. Hodges presented the Communities that Care Survey on behalf of Mrs. Pat Harrison, District Head Nurse, who was unable to be here tonight. There has been very little change from the last time we did this. We surveyed 935 students in grades 6, 8 & 10. The most significant change is the fact that our students feel it is easier to get cigarettes, alcohol and marijuana. The 2009 & ii surveys showed it was more difficult, and those were the basic changes., everything else was the same. We are not that different from the State statistics as well as in the area around us, it is in the ballpark. NEASC / Accreditation with Recommendation: The Superintendent spoke to the NEASC letter regarding their visit this past December 17, 2013, at the Mansfield High School and voted to award the school continued accreditation in the NEASC. The Committee was impressed with many of the programs and services and commended them. Chairman, Mrs. O'Neil thought it was very positive. Mrs. Hodges noted that it is very common for recommendations and they felt that the high school staff worked very hard 15- and that it took tremendous work put into this visit together. The School Committee will receive the full report once we receive it. MHS Schedule: Mansfield High School Principal, Mr. Michael Connolly, updated the School Committee and spoke of the high school schedule and the needs regarding the recent state mandates and the PARCC Assessments State Mandates • New Common Core Curriculum • Core Subjects need more teaching time in 11' grade • New PARCC Assessments • Require testing through iith grade in ELA& Math • MCAS = meet minimal competency to pass • PARCC = must demonstrate mastery • Students will have a mid -year formative assessment (Performance Based Assessment) • Students will have a summative assessment (End of Year Assessment) Recent Update on PARCC Implementation Timeline • This year we are field testing PARCC with select students • 2014 -2015 MCAS and Initial administration of PARCC • 2015 -2016 - PARCC test (except grade 10) • Class of 2018 will still have MCAS for graduation requirement The School Committee took a vote to use the Trimester schedule for the upcoming year. Chairperson, Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, called for a vote to continue the use of the Trimester Schedule at the high school for the upcoming year. A motion was made to continue the Trimester Schedule 1st by Mr. Wayne Smith, 2nd by Mrs. Lynn Cavicchi. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 Bullying Plan / Revised & Updated: Jordan Jackson Assistant Principal, Sarah Duggan, was responsible for the revision of the ( Bullying document to the School Committee. -6- Field Mrips (if needed) Costa Rica — World Travel Club — Summer 2015 Chairperson, Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, called for a vote to approve the trip to Costa Rica. A motion was made to approve the Costa Rica trip 1st by Mr. Michael Trowbridge, 2nd by Mrs. Linda Fernando. Motion U.C. s — o Band Chairperson, Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, called for a vote to approve the MHS Percussion Ensemble and Winter Guard to travel to (1) Trumbull, Connecticut, on March 1, 2014 and to travel to (2) Dayton, Ohio in April for the World Championships. A motion was made to approve the 1st band trip to Connecticut 1st by Mr. Michael Trowbridge, 2nd by Mr. Wayne Smith. Motion U.C. R — o Chairperson, Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, called for a vote to approve the MHS Percussion Ensemble and Winter Guard to travel to (2) Dayton, Ohio in April for the World Championships. A motion was made to approve the 2nd band trip to Dayton, Ohio 1st by Mr. Michael Trowbridge, 2nd by Mr. Wayne Smith. Motion U.C. 5 o NETT' Field Trip— Chairperson, Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, called for a vote to approve a field trip for 30 MHS students on April 4, 2014 to visit the New England Institute of Technology in East Greenwich, Rhode Island. A motion was made to approve the Rhode Island field trip 1st by Mr. Michael Trowbridge, 2nd by Mrs. Linda Fernando. Motion U.C. r; — o Student Update: MHS Senior Jake Moran updated the School Committee on the current events going on within Mansfield High School. —7— Mansfield resident and Jordan Jackson teacher, Ms. Warriner, requested to speak to the School Committee about the current status of the negotiations. Chairperson, Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, cautioned Ms. Warriner that there was an agreement in place from the very beginning of the negotiation process between the MEA and the School Committee that the negotiations would be done in Executive Session and remain private and that discussion along these lines would negate the ground rules they had set up. These ground rules were set up in advance and were accepted by all that were present. Ms. Warriner continued to speak to the issue and became upset and the School Committee meeting was adjourned for the evening. OTHER Motion to adjourn: Chairman, Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, called for a motion to adjourn the School Committee Meeting of January 28, 2014 at 8:50 PM for the sole purpose of adjourning. A motion was made to close the meeting 18t by Mr. Michael Trowbridge 2nd by Mr. Wayne Smith. A Roll call vote to close: Mr. Michael Trowbridge, yes; Mrs. Lynn Cavicchi, yes; Mrs. Linda Fernando, yes; Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, yes; and Mr. Wayne Smith, Jr. Motion U.C. 5-0 1 g- Respectfully submitted, Mary O. Jackson Secretary to the Superintendent & School Committee