Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm Minutes 12/13/2011Mansfield School Committee Meeting Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday. December 13, 2011 Town Hall, Room 3B & C An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held at the Town Hall on Tuesday, December 13, 2011. After returning from Executive Session the Open Session meeting was reopened and called to order by Chairman, Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz at 7:35 PM. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 Members Present — roll call vote to re -open the Open Meeting; Mr. Michael Trowbridge, Chairman; Not Present for beginning of Meeting Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz, Vice Chairman; yes Mrs. Jean Miller, yes Mrs. Kiera O'Neil yes Mr. Jim Perry yes Also Present: Mrs. Brenda Hodges, Superintendent of Schools ( Mr. Edward Vozzella, Director of Finance The meeting was opened by Vice Chairman, Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED None SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT Personnel The Superintendent noted that she did not have any thing for personnel but she did want to report on the Electronic Report Cards. The Electronic report cards at the elementary schools, the Robinson and the Jordan / Jackson schools, were up and running and we sent out our first electronic report cards for the district. It went very well. Mrs. Hodges wanted to thank Lori Letendre, who worked very diligently and helped train the staff and she also thanked the staff because she knows that it has been a big change for everyone and this is a tremendous improvement to the report card process and it also allows the district to comply ti2th the state reporting. APPROVAL OF WARRANTS There were no warrants for approval. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Executive Session Minutes of October 11, 2011 were approved. Motioned by Mrs. Jean Miller, 2nd by Mrs. Kiera O'Neil. Motion U.C. 5 — 0 School Committee Minutes of October 11 , 2011 were approved as amended. Motioned by Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, 2nd by Mrs. Jean Miller. Motion U.C. 5 — 0 Executive Session Minutes of November 15, 2011 were approved. Motioned by Mr. Jim Perry 2nd by Mrs. Kiera O'Neil. Motion U.C. 4 — 0 —1 Jean Miller absent from meeting. School Committee Minutes of November 15, 2011 were approved as amended. Motioned by Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, 2nd by Mr. Jim Perry. Motion U.C. 4 — 0 —1 Jean Miller absent from meeting. Executive Session Minutes of November 29, 2011 were approved. Motioned by Mrs. Jean Miller, 2nd by Mrs. Kiera O'Neil. Motion U.C. 4 — 0 —1 Lisa Losiewicz was absent from meeting. School Committee Minutes of November 29, 2011 were approved as amended. Motioned by Mr. Jim Perry, 2nd by Mrs. Kiera O'Neil. Motion U.C. 4— 0 —1 Lisa Losiewicz was absent from meeting. OLD BUSINESS FY'13 Budget: Director of Finance and Operations, Ed Vozzella and Superintendent Hodges presented the FY 2013 Budget. Mr. Vozzella began the presentation with a review of the budget assumptions. A consolidated spreadsheet showing the comparison of the budget appropriations for each district category for the years FY11, FY12 and projections for FY13 were presented. Mr. Vozzella explained that the district begins the FY13 school year with a decrease of the Federal SFSF and Education Jobs Grant Funds equaling $1.35M. The cost of contractual obligations for all union employees equals an increase of $1.1M. With these two items alone, the district begins the FY13 school year with a deficit of approximately $2.5M to maintain last year's staff and services. Superintendent Hodges reviewed the other immediate needs put forth by the district administration that addresses the additional staff needs at each building and the central office. Included in this are additional classroom teachers at Jordan Jackson, school psychologists and guidance counselors, special education teachers and para's, ELL teacher, mathematics coach , elementary library assistant, RTI tutors, reading teacher, high school business teacher and a hall monitor. Mrs. Hodges shared with the School Committee the top ten priorities from this list of immediate needs for the district. After discussion, the School Committee approved the FY13 Budget in the amount of $41,419,361m to go forward to the Town. This number is not the final budget number. The School Committee, as in years past, will further review the budget as the process progresses and as the numbers from the Town and the State become available and are firmed up. This number includes $433,280 of additional monies above the level services budget of FY12 to support the other immediate needs of the district. The full list of other immediate needs and the FY13 proposed budget may be viewed on the district website. Chairman, Michael Trowbridge, called for a motion to approve the new Budget number of $41,419,361.00 Motioned I" by Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz, 2nd by Mrs. Jean Miller. Motion U.C. 5-0 Strategic Plan Update: Chairman Trowbridge provided the School Committee with an update on the Strategic Planning Process. The members of the five sub committees have been selected and will hold the first meeting the week of January 19, 2012. Dr. John Mullins, consultant for the Strategic Planning Project has been meeting with a number of civic and municipal organizations to gather information and has conducted extensive research regarding the town and schools in Mansfield. He will share this information with the committee members in the January meeting. Communication School Committee member, Kiera O'Neil, requested an update on the communication survey that is planned for the district and community. The School Committee was contacted by a community by a community member volunteering to assist with conducting the survey. Superintendent Hodges reported that she has been in contact with the individual and will be meeting to discuss how the district may benefit from these volunteer services. NEW BUSINESS Remote participation By Members: The School Committee discussed the possibility of crafting a policy that would permit School Committee members to participate in School Committee meetings from a "remote" location, other than being physically present at the meeting. After discussion, it was determined that the Committee prefers to continue with the practice of having all members physically present at the meeting. As the School Committee updates the handbook, the Committee may decide to revisit the possibility of permitting "Remote Participation ". School Messeneer: Superintendent Hodges updated the School Committee on the expansion of the utilization of the School Messenger Program. She informed the Committee that the school district will soon have the capability of providing automated calls, via School Messenger, to parents informing them of the absence of their son /daughter. The superintendent also informed the Committee that the system will be utilized to contact a very specific group of parents to communicate information to this identified group. This will greatly enhance the ability of the school district to communicate with parents. The school district can also work in partnership with the local municipal sei vices to provide timely communication to parents. Concussion Policy — I" Reading: Mrs. Patricia Harrison and Joe Russo brought forth the district Concussion Policy for the School Committee to review and approve. The School Committee voted unanimously to move the policy forward for the required second reading at the next regularly scheduled School Committee meeting. You may review the policy on the school district website. Mrs. Hodges publicly thanked Pat Harrison and Joe Russo for their time and effort put forth to design a very ( thorough concussion policy for the district. Chairman, Michael Trowbridge, called for a motion to waive the I" reading of the Concussion Policy. Motioned 1" by Mrs. Jean Miller, 2nd by Mr. Jim Perry. Motion U.C. 5 — 0 Dedication of Robinson Stomvell: The School Committee unanimously approved the dedication of a portion of the Robinson Library as the Anne- Marie Rodrigues Storywell. This is quite an honor bestowed upon Mrs. Rodrigues, who retired from Robinson last year, after a lengthy tenure at Robinson as both a teacher and an Assistant Principal. Mrs. O'Neil noted that these enhancements had been funded by the MESA Group. Chairman, Michael Trowbridge, called for a motion to allow the dedication of the Anne- Marie Rodrigues Storywell at the Robinson Elementary School. Motioned ls` by Mr. Jim Perry, 2nd by Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz . ( Motion U.C. 5 — 0 MHS Percussion Ensemble Trip: The Mansfield High School Percussion Ensemble's and Mr. Peter Conti, requested permission to travel to three W.G.I. events . This was approved by the School Committee. Chairman, Michael Trowbridge, called for a motion to allow the MHS Ensemble to travel to three W.G.I. Events. Motioned I" by Mrs. Jean Miller, 2nd by Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz . Motion U.C. 5 — 0 Field TripAApproval (if any) The School Committee approved a request made by Ms. Mary Casale to travel to Quebec City in May, 2012 with the high school orchestra students. Chairman, Michael Trowbridge, called for a motion to allow the MHS orchestra to travel to Quebec City, Canada. Motioned 1" by Mr. Jim Perry 2nd by Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz . Motion U.C. 5 — 0 None SCHOOL COMMITTEE NEW BUSINESS The School Committee discussed the extension of Superintendent Hodges contract for an additional year. Chairman Michael Trowbridge, Vice Chair Lisa Losiewicz and member Jean Miller voted to extend Superintendent Hodges contract through June 2014. Members Jim Perry and Kiera O'Neil voted not to extend the Superintendent's contract for the additional year. Roll call vote to extend the contract 1 more year was approved by: Mr. Trowbridge, yes; Mrs. Miller, yes; Mrs. Losiewicz, yes; Mr. Perry, no; Mrs. O'Neil, no. MOTION CARRIES: R — 2 -0 The School Committee also discussed the merits of adding the stipend, which the Superintendent receives for assuming the duties of the Curriculum Director /Data Analyst for the district, along with the responsibilities of the Superintendent. For the fiscal year of 2011- 2012, the Superintendent shall be paid $15,000 for the role of acting Curriculum Director. This amount was previously paid as a stipend outside of the terms of the contract. This will now be part of the employment contract for 2011 -2012. After discussion, Chairman Trowbridge called for a vote. Chairman Michael Trowbridge, Vice Chair Lisa Losiewicz, members Jim Perry and Kiera O'Neil, all voted to add the stipend to the contractual salary for the FY11 -12 school year. Motion Carries : a — i- o Member Jean Miller voted not to add the stipend to the contractual salary. OTHER None Motion to adjourn: ( Chairman, Mr. Michael Trowbridge, called for a motion to adjourn the School Committee Meeting of December 13, 2011, at 9: oo PM for the sole purpose of adjourning. A Motion was made to close the meeting by Mrs. Jean Miller 2nd by Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz. A Roll call vote to close: Mr. Michael Trowbridge, yes; Mr. Jim Perry, yes; Mrs. Jean Miller, yes; Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz, yes; Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, yes. Motion U.C. g — o Respectfully submitted, Mary O. Jackson Secretary to the Superintendent &School Committee