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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm Minutes 11/18/2014Approved 12 -9 -2014 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, November 18, 2014 Town Hall, Room 3A &B f 4� r , - ; D r „i= r ICE An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held at the Town Hall qqt�y4 TT ^^0 %- 2014. The open meeting session was opened and called to order by Chairman Michael 9`i (6 r Xt 7:0 p.�h. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 : ": . , Members Present: - Michael Trowbridge, Chair Kiera O'Neil, Vice Chair Lynn Cavicchi Linda Fernando Wayne Smith, Jr. Also Present: Zeffro Gianetti, Superintendent of Schools SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT: Personnel - None APPROVAL OF WARRANTS: The following warrants have previously been reviewed and signed by the School Committee and will be read into the minutes at the meeting as follows: Warrants Warrant Vs Dates Amount Salary & Wages 2015 -8 10/10/14 1,545,057.05 Goods & Services 2015 -1011 10/14/14 1,124,514.59 Salary & Wages 2015 -9 10/24/14 1,521,497.52 Goods & Services 2015 -1013 10128/14 389,242.91 $ 4,580,312.07 A motion to approve the warrant was made 1st by Kiera O'Neil, 2nd by Wayne Smith. Michael Trowbridge abstained due to a reimbursement relating to his purchase of required software for committee IPADs. Motion Carries 4 - 0 -1 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: School Committee Minutes of October 28, 2014 A motion to approve the minutes was made 1st by Kiera O'Neil, 2nd by Wayne Smith. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 Old Business Budget Update: None Superintendent's Search: Moved to end of meeting Sub Committee Updates: ( dit Committee: A meeting will be held on Wed 11/19/14 where the Town will report on their audit. CIP: Capital priorities for 2016 were presented and discussed. All requests concern existing facilities. Discussions on specific items were held. Once approved by committee it will be presented to CIP. Zeff pointed out the benefit of working together with Mike Ahern and Bob LaConte. Approved 12 -9 -2014 • Panels: Panels are on the Jordan /Jackson exterior wall. Recommendation by Mike Ahern due to safety concerns. • Text Books: Qualify due to the cost and anticipated useful life over S years. • Needs study was recommended to get a good picture of long term building issues. A similar study was performed on the town side a few years ago. • IT- WIFI modifications include a request for an IT tech person who will provide ongoing support. • QMS /MHS Stages: The curtains are old should be brought up to fire code. In addition there is splintering of the floor. No word yet on roof vents; we cannot get a contractor to work on this. Doesn't make sense to work on floors until vents are fixed. • Kiera O'Neil asked whether the entire QMS gym needs to be looked at rather than just the bleachers. Although the gym is old, the bleachers are the only concern currently due to safety /splintering issues. • Food Service Equipment was discussed and reprioritized to Number 6, moving items 6 - 8 down based on a recommendation by Linda Fernando. Kiera O'Neil asked whether any money could come out of the food services revolving accounts. Unfortunately these funds are low due to the recent changes made toward healthy foods. • Bathrooms - These changes are to facilitate the maintenance and cleaning of bathrooms. • Michael Trowbridge expressed his concern for the creation of a new parking lot as part of the CIR There are other items that require repair before discussion of a new parking lot A motion was made to remove QMS Parking from the priority list 1st by Wayne Smith, 2nd by Kiera O'Neil. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 A motion was made to approve the 2016 Capital Requests as amended (remove QMS Parking and reprioritize Food Services equipment) was made 1A by Linda Fernando, 2nd by Kiera O'Neil. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 Budget: Meeting was held on November 6th. The next meeting, to be hosted by School Committee, will take place in January. Three versions of a budget were presented by the finance committee (conservative, mid range and optimistic.) It was also noted that since we will have a new MA Governor, he has one extra month to put together his budget. This will delay information on state dollars heading our way. It was recommended that the December 2 School Committee meeting be postponed to December 9 to allow more time to create the budget. ( rolicy: In progress. A few changes will be introduced later in the meeting. Other: Teresa Murphy briefly discussed Jordan /Jackson's annual event for Grade 4 in celebration of National Literacy Month. An evening celebrating reading included a book swap, activities, reading area and "Goodie Bags" which were prepared to represent different components of literacy. Many teachers were thanked for their efforts. She presented goodie bags to each of the School Committee members. New Business School Improvement Plan- MHS: Michael Connolly presented the 2014 - 2016 School Improvement Plan. Michael's presentation is available on the district web page. He began by thanking the many people involved in helping to prepare this plan including staff, parents and students. He reviewed the school's core values and beliefs, highlighting the four overall goals for Mansfield High School. Recommendations are based on staff and parent input along with recommendations made by NEASC and the State. He then discussed various demographic trends for the school. Core values and beliefs: The Mansfield High School community is committed to life -long learning with the understanding that it is essential to meeting the challenges of21sr century living. We want our students to be well equipped to make positive contributions to the local, national, and international communities. Objectives: 1. Provide a high - quality curriculum and instructional program for all students and will provide the necessary support so all students demonstrate proficiency in the core academic areas. • School -wide Rubrics will be revised based on NEASC recommendations. • MHS schedule has been, and will continue to be studied. • District Determined Measures will meet new state expectations. 2. Develop a highly qualified staff through the planning and implementation ofqualityfocused professional development • Provide time for staff to evaluate student work/ common assessments with the goal to improve learning. • Working toward differentiated instruction where it is not a "one size fit all" model. Approved 12 -9 -2014 • Provide staff training in using instructional technology to engage students. 3. Provide a proactive continuum ofservices that providesfor the academic, social, and emotional support of all students. • New Discipline /Attendance measures are state mandated. This is very worthwhile in helping our students though it is labor intensive for staff. • Increase resources / support for RTL Give staff resources to be successful. Small group instruction is key. • Increase resources to narrow the proficiency gap. Would like to increase support for our high needs groups, finding out what gaps exist for those students and provide them additional time in these areas. 4. Develop a positive school climate and create opportunities to make our school more personalized. • Tony Lattanzio is performing a self study on school safety, creating check lists and recommendations. Also looking for available safety grants. • Increase opportunities for student leaders to become more engaged our decision making. Will continue to train students for these types of roles and look for more opportunities for these students. Questions by board: Kiera O'Neil asked for further clarification on the new schedule. Michael clarified that we need a lot of time to work toward a new schedule including budget changes, planning and scheduling. A decision really is needed in the December time frame. Therefore, we are looking toward next December for a decision deadline. Zeff Gianetti added that there are many puzzle pieces that have to fit together before we can move forward with planning a new schedule. Discussions with the teachers association and department chairs have begun. Additionally, the state has backed off some of the initial PARCC testing requirements. This opens up more scheduling options for us to consider. It is expected that the first year of a new schedule would be 2016 -2017. Michael Connolly pointed out that it is our goal to take our time and get it done right. Lynn Cavicchi asked how our current Academic Learning Center is staffed. Michael indicated that we have two staff members who wear "multiple hats" and are very over taxed (tutoring, MCAS prep and ELL training.) In addition there is increased demand for these services. ( afessional Development Update: On Election Day, Mansfield Schools held a professional development day which was extremely well received. Zeff Gianetti indicated that it was a very productive day and it was nice to get away from Teacher Evaluation work which consumed development days last year. A presenter was brought in for the elementary levels. We were unable to obtain a presenter for the middle and high schools so Michael Connolly along with Carolina DiBiassi and Suzanne Ryan worked quickly to put together their own schedules for the day. MHS: At the high school, the overarching theme was "The Use of Technology Integration" Four stations were set up: X2 Grade book, Edmodo (online communications tool), Smart board, Misc Online resources including Remind.com, Cahoot (formative assessments), a card / Smartphone interactive quizzing tool. Teachers were surveyed on the day and gave positive feedback especially on the smart board training. QMS: Suzanne Ryan worked with staff to put together teacher led workshops. Topics included: Smart board, X2 Grade book, motivating students, pre- writing and vocabulary strategies, and programs for high needs students. In addition, there was opportunity for department and team time. Teachers were asked to sign up for a minimum of two topics. Many teachers signed up for additional sessions as well. Feedback from teachers was overwhelmingly positive. QMS hopes to offer another day similar to this. JJ /Robinson: As a district, we are starting to recognize more complex needs in our students. We need to make sure we can engage them in our changing society. Martha Kaufeldt was invited to speak on Differentiated Instruction which is learning new ways to engage our students. Martha is a teacher and author. She focuses on neurological development which provided an interesting twist to her presentation. She assesses how students develop at different levels and how staff can begin brain compatible teaching. Survey of staff indicated that it was a very (sitive and engaging presentation. After her presentation, the administration spent time with Martha on how to oceed with instruction balancing common core with the need for differentiation. Lynn Cavicchi asked if there is a plan for administration professional development. Zeff Gianetti indicated that they are working on teacher evaluation. It is time to fine tune the process and make things consistent across the Approved 12 -9 -2014 district. Kiera O'Neil suggested that due to the success of the whole day professional development, it might be good to explore various schedules for professional development days in the future. AESOP (Attendance and Subbing): Zeff Gianetti introduced Mary Watkins who was responsible for implementing AESOP. She gave an overview of the new staff attendance and substitute management system. Three systems had been reviewed prior to choosing this system to implement; currently 53 districts in MA use AESOP. AESOP automates the process of recording staff absences and matching openings with qualified subs. It also reduces a tremendous amount of paperwork. Majority of staff is up and running with custodians, Little Hornets, food services and special education busing rollout in early 2015. Field Trips: 1, Winter Track to Providence, RI (Brown University) on various dates for indoor practice. Michael Trowbridge indicated that a vote was not needed since travel distance was within policy guidelines. No vote taken. 2, MHS Orchestra to NYC May 21- 23, 2015. Students will attend a clinic then attend a performance by the Montreal Symphony. A motion was made to approve this trip 1st by Kiera O'Neil, 2nd by Linda Fernando. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 Policy Updates (Various): The following policies were brought forth for approval. No discussion required and one vote was taken on the group of policies. Policy Sub - Committee Reconnnendation - November 18,201 CDB Recruitment and Selection of Administrators Reconnnendation: delete front policy manual; not policy. CDD Administrative Personnel Supervision Recommendation: delete from policy manual; not policy CE Atbninistrative Councils, Cabinets, and Committees Reconnnendation: adopt, with MASC recommended wording CH Policy Implementation Reco nmendation: reviewed, no changes CHA Development of Regulations Reconnnendation: reviewed no changes CHB School Committee Revlenv of Regulations Reconnnendation: reviewed, no changes CHC Regulations Dissemhtation Recommendation: reviewed, no changes CHCA Approval of Handbooks and Directives Recommendation: minor revision; add wording to outline authority ofstate lav, SC policy, and individual school handbooks. On a practical note, any proposed changes to policy and regulations in the student handbooks each spring should require a review of existing correlating policies in the SC manual so that the t vo documents align. And on a related note, any changes to the SC policy manual over the year should be reflected in the handbook changes submitted each spring; policy changes at the SC level need to be disseminated to the building principals on a consistent basis. CHCA - EApproval of Handbooks and Directives Recommendation: Revise wording to reflect change in state (student discipline) law (sections E -G) CHD Administration Ia Policy Absence Approved 12 -9 -2014 Recommendation: change title from Emergency Powers of Superintendent and revise policy to align with MASC wording, which is more of a general statement ofsuperintendent's authority. CM School District Annual Report Recommendation: revise to align with MASC and other districts' wording. Ammal report is required by law M.G.L. 72:4. A motion was made to approve all policy changes as presented,lst by Wayne Smith, 2nd by Linda Fernando. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 FinCom Policies: Steve Schoonveld and Scott Feely came to the table to discuss the proposed policies by FinCom. Steve spoke first, providing the board with a background on the policies. These were done in anticipation of Rating Agency Reviews. Mansfield's bond rating was established based on a draft version of these policies so it is important to move forward on a final agreement. A benefit of these policies is an improved credit rating and decreased borrowing costs. Policies were established based on best practices along with activity which already takes place in Mansfield. Their goal is to get policies in place prior to the budget season. Steve indicated a desire to get comments from School Committee. Michael Trowbridge pointed out that the school committee had intended to discuss these proposals at the meeting but not vote to approve. The board appreciates the need for policies in order to ensure financial stability. However, the policies, as presented, are a mixture of policy and protocol. They tie people's hands since they dictate how future boards can vote. Of greatest concern was the shift of FinCom making recommendations to actually voting on school budget related issues. Scott Feely pointed out that many of these policies are based on MA state guidelines and policies from similar communities with high ratings. Scott is open to wording changes as needed. Michael Trowbridge stated that the changes were more than just wording since it affected the charter of the school committee and restricted its ability to move forward without FinCom approval. It was agreed that all parties (School Committee, Selectman, FinCom) should meet together to go over the policies and how to move forward. Discussions would be held on the best time for this meeting. - aperintendent's Search: On Thursday, November 20, 2014 a modified site search will be held at the Jordan /Jackson School. Discussions were held as to how to format these conversations. One thought was to have Zeff meet with various groups and the other was to have only the School Committee meet with these groups. Discussion was held on the benefits /disadvantages of each method. It was determined that Zeff would participate in a portion of the day. The remaining of the day the school committee would meet directly with the participating groups. At 7:00 pm the same night, the school committee will meet to interview Zeff in an open meeting. Hieh School Representative Report: None Citizens Comments: None School Committee New Business: None School Committee Other Business: None Motion to adjourn: Mr. Trowbridge called for a motion to adjourn at 9:44 PM. A motion was made to adjourn for the evening 1st by Wayne Smith, 2nd by Linda Fernando. Motion U.C. 5 -0 Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent Secretary to the Superintendent & School Committee