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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm Minutes 10/7/2014Approved 10128114 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, October 7, 2014 Town Hall, Room 3A &B An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held at the Town Hall on Tuesday, October 7, 2014. Executive Session Followed. The open meeting session was opened and called to order by Chairman Michael Trowbridge at 7:00 p.m. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 Members Present: - roll call vote to enter into Open Session: Michael Trowbridge, Chair yes Kiera O'Neil, Vice Chair yes Lynn Cavicchi yes Linda Fernando yes Wayne Smith, Jr. yes Also Present: Zeffro Gianetti, Superintendent of Schools Edward Vozzella, Director of Finance SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT: Personnel - Two New Hires: Diane Pape- Library / Media Specialist at MHS Diane Nugent- Temp Sub replacement at Central Office APPROVAL OF WARRANTS: Warrants Warrant Vs Dates Amount Goods & Services 2015 -1005 09/02/14 346,348.06 Salary &Wages 2015-6 09112/14 1,465,617.92 Goods & Services 2015 -1007 09/12114 686,735.14 Salary & Wages 2015 -7 09126/14 1,550,809.50 Goods & Services 2015 -1009 09/30/14 541, 748.52 $ 4,591,259.14 A motion was made to approve the warrants. 15C by Wayne Smith and 2nd by Linda Fernando. Kiera O'Neil abstained from voting. Motion Carries 4 -0 -1 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: School Committee Minutes of September 3, 2014 A motion to approve the minutes was made 1st by abstained. Motion Carries 4 - 0 -1 Approved 10/28/14 Kiera O'Neil, 2nd by Linda Fernando. Kiera O'Neil School Committee Minutes of September 9, 2014 A motion was called to approve the minutes 1st by Wayne Smith, 2nd by Kiera O'Neil. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 Old Business Budget Update: HVAC- One area of concern is unexpected HVAC repair costs since February which is approximately $130,000 over expected. Ed Vozzella & Zeff Gianetti recently met with Bob LaConte, Mike Ahern and our two HVAC Repair vendors. Everyone is pleased with the work done to date and expect this cost to level out. There is also a hope that energy costs will be reduced. CIP- Zeff and Ed have completed their initial pass of the buildings and will work on prioritizing work. There are several small non - capital projects that must be completed as preventative maintenance. These repairs will prevent larger, unexpected events in the future. Completed capital projects include a new carpet and a modified floor plan in the MHS library. Mike Ahearn is working on the Roof Vents. Enrollment- October enrollment total of 4143 shows a 4.3% (186 students) decline since last October. Of this decline, 145 of these students are in grades K - 5 which match projections from last year thus keeping class sizes down. Staff had been reduced in anticipation of this enrollment drop. Superintendent's Search: October 151h is the deadline for applications. As of tonight there have been three applicants. More expected closer to deadline. Sub Committee Updates: Audit Committee: Meeting was held last week to review town and electric audits. Currently determining what needs to be the focus of our audit. CIP: Meeting was held last week. Two future meeting dates set (10/21 and 10/28.) Intention is to wrap things up by end of December. Budget: Will have first meeting soon. Ed advised the committee that $2.8 million of free cash is available. Policy: In progress. Many changes will be introduced later in the meeting. Sick Bank: No updates. Approved 10 128114 Approved 10 128114 New Business School Physician: Patricia Harrison submitted a request for the school committee to renew the appointment of Dr. Karen Halle, M.D. to the position of School Physician. A motion to approve this appointment was 1st made by Wayne Smith, 2nd by Linda Fernando. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 Elementary Report Cards: Teresa Murphy presented her proposal for new Report cards at Jordan /Jackson. Background: Phase 1 of these changes was made to the Math and ELA sections last year. Phase 2 was discussed during a Summer Institute where staff reviewed and discussed potential changes. (Staff - T. Murphy, B. Conroy, P. Coyne, J. Curry, P. DeAngelis, S. Duggan, D. DaGraca, A. Kirk, K. Risotti, K. Slarve, K. Warriner, N. Thorsteinson) Minimal changes were made to the math section. Bullet items that were once just part of Term 1 now extend into Term 2 and 3. Effort categories were added to all subjects and will help parents see progression of growth. ELA changes include new standards and various revisions as requested by staff. Future changes will address Science, Social Studies and Specialists. Kiera O'Neil pointed out that the recent changes have been more parent friendly. Teresa noted that she intends to seek more parent input with upcoming revisions. Michael Trowbridge commended the use of effort as that is an important indicator of overall student performance. No changes were made to Robinson report cards at this time. A motion was made to approve the identified modifications to the Jordan /Jackson Report card 18t by Kiera O'Neil and 2nd by Linda Fernando. Motion U.C. 5 - 0. Approval of BICO Agreement: A new type of BICO agreement was sent to each participating town in order to obtain School Committee approval. A brief review of the agreement was held. A motion to approve BICO Agreement and to authorize Michael Trowbridge to sign the agreement was 1st made by Kiera O'Neil, 2nd by Wayne Smith. Signature will be sent to BICO. Motion U.C. 5 - 0. Approved 10128114 Field Trips: 1. MHS Band to New York City 5/22/2015 - 5/24/2015 for a clinic with the NY Philharmonic Orchestra. A motion was made to approve this trip 1st by Wayne Smith, 2nd by Mera O'Neil. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 2. French Club to Providence, RI 11/14/2014 for a hands on study of French cuisine and Medieval History at Pot au Feu. A motion was made to approve this trip 1st by Kiera O'Neil, 2nd by Linda Fernando. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 3. All State Choral to Boston, MA 3/19/2015 - 3/21/2015 for rehearsals with a professional conductor and a performance at Symphony Hall. A motion was made to approve this trip 151 by Kiera O'Neil, 2nd by Wayne Smith. Discussion: It was noted that there was one chaperone listed but number of students was TBD. Michael Connolly will make sure that the proper number of chaperones is assigned. Typically there are just a handful of students who attend (based on auditions) so 1 chaperone may be fine. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 4. Drama Students to NYC 4/17/2015 - 4/18/2015 for a theater workshop and a Broadway Show. A motion was made to approve this trip 1st by Kiera O'Neil, 2nd by Wayne Smith. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 Policy Updates (Various): Approximately 30 policies were introduced for review and approval. Michael Trowbridge recommended that a discussion be held without reading through each policy. A motion was made 1st by Kiera O'Neil, 2nd by Wayne Smith to waive the reading of the policies. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 Discussion: BBBDA: Michael Trowbridge requested the addition of our Charter on this page. BDG: Michael requested a slight modification so that either the Chairman OR a vote by School Committee could authorize access to legal counsel. ECAF: A discussion on the camera policy was held to modify portions of the text. Live feeds are monitored by the police station so this should be mentioned in the context of the policy. The policy states where cameras are NOT located but also notes that "cameras are prohibited in any space where individuals have a reasonable expectation of privacy." Michael Trowbridge requested a review of this language with Andy Waugh as some of the context was open to interpretation. Approved 10 128114 ECAF policy approval was tabled until a future meeting. A motion to approve all policies as amended (with the exception of ECAF) was made 1st by Wayne Smith, 2nd by Kiera O'Neil. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 High School Representative Report: Derek Lynch introduced himself as one of two representatives for 2014 -15. He was very positive about some of the recent changes and updates at MHS including: • The new carpet and floor plan of the library • The Water Refill stations which are getting a lot of use • MHS Drama will perform Almost Maine 11/21 and 11/22 • Two sports teams are currently undefeated (Field Hockey and Cross - Country) • PSAT's are upcoming in October • Leaf Raking Community Service Project will be held on 11/11/14 • Student Council is preparing for Spirit week leading up to the Homecoming game Sarah Nash introduced herself as the second representatives for 2014 -15. She was very enthusiastic about a recent meeting of the Southeastern Regional Advisory Council on which she and Charles Losiewicz are MHS representatives. This student run group focuses each year on one particular issue of their choosing. This year's focus is on increasing classroom attention on Civics. They hope to introduce information such as taxes, local government, citizenship, personal finance to more students across the region. The next meeting is scheduled for 12/2/14. Citizens Comments: None School Committee New Business: School Schedules: Linda Fernando requested that discussions be held at some point to review the current start and end times of each school. There is a growing trend toward starting high schools later and elementary schools earlier. Zeff Gianetti agreed to review this but noted that it could have an impact on High School Sports and may be difficult to implement within our current structure. MHS Schedule: Kiera O'Neil asked for an update on the MHS schedule structure for next year. Zeff Gianetti noted that discussions are being held now. He is reviewing the history of these changes and the pros and cons of each. MCAS: This information will be presented at next meeting. School Committee Other Business: Mansfield Review: Ed Vozzella noted that Mansfield, MA was 4th in State as "Best Bang for the Buck' by Nerdwallet.com Michael Trowbridge will be speaking at this year's MASC State Convention. Topic will be "Role of the Chairman." Approved 10 128114 Approved 10 128114 Motion to adjourn: Mr. Trowbridge called for a motion to enter into Executive session to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining /grievances and to discuss strategy with respect to litigation at 8:10 PM and then adjourn the meeting for the evening. A motion was made to move to Executive Session then adjourn for the evening.lst by Wayne Smith, 2nd by Kiera O'Neil. A roll call vote to close: Michael Trowbridge yes Kiera O'Neil yes Lynn Cavicchi yes Linda Fernando yes Wayne Smith yes Motion U.C. 5 -0 Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent