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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm Minutes 5/22/2012Mansfield School Committee Meeting as AMENDED Minutes for Tuesday, May 22, 2012 Town Hall, Room 3B & C An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held at the Town Hall on Tuesday, May 22, 2012. After returning from Executive Session the Open Session meeting was reopened and called to order by Superintendent, Mrs. Brenda Hodges to bring the Mansfield School Committee into reorganization at 7:35 PM. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 Members Present — roll call vote to re-open the Open Meeting; Mr. Michael Trowbridge,; Chairman yes Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, Vice Chairman yes Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz, yes Mrs. Jean Miller, yes Mr. Wayne Smith yes Also Present: Mrs. Brenda Hodges, Superintendent of Schools Mr. Edward Vozzella, Director of Finance PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mrs. Hodges introduced and welcomed the newest member of the School Committee, Mr. Wayne Smith, who was voted onto the Committee on May 8, 2012. The Superintendent, Brenda Hodges, opened the meeting to bring the Committee into reorganization. Committee Reorganization: The School Committee annually votes to choose new leadership for the Committee after each new election. Mrs. Hodges asked for any nominations for the Chairmanship. Mrs. Jean Miller nominated Mr. Michael Trowbridge to remain as Chairman. Mrs. Miller stated she felt that Michael was doing a great job and that he could continue with the meetings and all the things that he's been doing with the Board of Selectman and felt that he was doing great and nominated him to continue. Mrs. O'Neil asked if she could nominate someone else, and nominated Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz as Chairman. Mrs. O'Neil felt that she had done a great job as Vice Chairman and Michael has done a good job as Chair the last couple of years, but it is helpful to rotate who does this. Mrs. O'Neil felt that Mrs. Losiewicz would do a greatjob. Mrs. Losiewicz thanked Mrs. O'Neil for her nomination but unfortunately felt that she had to decline because at this particular point, because of her professional job, she was beginning to see conflicts, so she thought she needed to not accept that just because of work, but she did appreciate that. Mrs. Hodges then asked that at this time, for those in favor of Michael as chair to please vote. Mrs. Losiewicz, Mrs. Miller, Mrs. O'Neil and M. Smith, all answered in the affirmative. Mrs. Hodges told Mr. Trowbridge that it looked like he got his gavel back. Mrs. Hodges called for a vote to have Mr. Trowbridge as Chairman. A motion was I" made by Mrs. Miller with a 2 "d from Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz. Motion passes 4 — 0. Mr. Trowbridge is Chairman of the Mansfield School Committee. Motion U.C. 4 - 0 - 1 - Chairman, Mr. Michael Trowbridge, asked for nominations for Vice Chair. Mrs. Miller asked if anyone wanted to do it. Mrs. O'Neil said that she would like to do it. Mrs. Miller asked Mrs. Losiewicz if she wanted to do it with Mrs. Losiewicz saying that she would not mind doing it but if Mrs. O'Neil wanted to do it that was good. Mrs. O'Neil nominated herself for Vice Chairman. Mrs. L,,.,., . iez then ...,minmod Mrs. O'Neil as Vi n> ' . Mrs. Miller said she was going to nominate Mrs. Losiewicz and asked if she were sure about wanting to do it. Mrs. Miller noted that she thought that Mrs. Losiewicz and Mr. Trowbridge were doing a good job working with the Board of Selectman and just to continue the process rather than having someone else get up to speed. It just seems like things have been going well, particularly recently, she thought you two made a good team and to continue on. Mrs. Losiewicz said that she didn't mind doing it, but if Mrs. O'Neil wanted to, either way was good with her. Mrs. Miller nominated Losiewicz for Vice Chairman. Mr. Trowbridge called for a vote. Everyone for Mrs. O'Neil, Mr. Smith and Mrs. O'Neil voted yes. Mr. Trowbridge called for all votes for Mrs. Losiewicz. Mr. Trowbridge and Mrs. Miller voted yes. It's a tie breaker, Mrs. Losiewicz must vote. Mrs. Losiewicz asked Mrs. O'Neil if she would really like to do it with Mrs. O'Neil replying that it was important, although I appreciate that you guys have done a great job, I think it's important, there is a learning curve, obviously everybody on the board, it's a 5 person board and if the only way for me to learn to be a chair is to be a Vice Chair. Mrs. Losiewicz then stated that she votes for Mrs. O'Neil. 3 votes Mrs. O'Neil, 2 votes Mrs. Losiewicz. Mrs. Losiewicz thanked Mrs. Miller. Chairman Michael Trowbridge then said that they needed to revote and asked for all those in favor of Mrs. O'Neil say yes. Mr. Trowbridge, Mrs. Losiewicz, Mrs. O'Neil, Mr. Smith and Mrs. Miller all replied in the affirmative. Motion passes 5 — 0. Mrs. Kiera O'Neil nominated herself as Vice Chairman with a 2 °a from Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz. Motion passes 5 — 0. Mrs. O'Neil is Vice Chairman of the Mansfield School Committee. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 The School Committee went over the other committee's they are required to cover. The participants are as follows: Capital Improvements Selectman/Budget Subcommittee Audit District Policy Manual Sick Bank CORRESPONDENCE RECEIVED None SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT i) Personnel Jean Miller & Michael Trowbridge Mike Trowbridge & Lisa Losiewicz Kiera O'Neil Kiera O'Neil & Wayne Smith Jean Miller & Wayne Smith Mrs. Hodges informed the Committee that Mr. Al Ani , Ms. Ellen Lea, and Ms. Diana Mobley have announced their retirements. Mr. Josh Thurston has given his resignation. 2) Senior Project — Memorial Bench �2� MHS Principal, Michael Connolly introduced senior, Kristen Starke, who eloquently presented her Senior Project and was looking for approval to place a Memorial Bench on school grounds in honor of her friend Fallon Finnegan, who passed away from Cystic Fibrosis on August 23, 2010. Chairman Trowbridge called for a motion to approve. A motion was made to approve the Memorial Bench 1s* by Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz, 2nd by Mrs. Jean Miller. Motion U.C. 5 — 0 3) Spotlight on Students (presented 1a in the evening) • QMS Bch Grade Science Students —Mark DeGirolamo, teacher. The students of Qualters Middle School performed a study called the "Rumford River Water Quality Assessment Utilizing Benthic Macro Invertebrates." The study was conducted on October 19, 2011 in Mansfield, Massachusetts. The study location consisted of one sampling site at the Fulton's Pond Waterfall on West Street. The purpose of this study was to introduce benthic macro invertebrates and their role as indicators for evaluating stream water quality. Students utilized state of the art methods and techniques during all aspects of this study. The "Rumford River Water Quality Assessment Utilizing Benthic Macro invertebrates" sampling program detailed a diverse macro invertebrate community. It also showed that the Rumford River appears to be in excellent condition as indicated by the macro invertebrate community. The data appears to support the findings from the above mentioned 2005 EPA report and exceeds the results identified within the 2007 QMS study. These students participated and presented their findings at the Bridgewater State University's ( Annual Conference. APPROVAL OF WARRANTS The following warrants were presented and accepted by the School Committee on May 22, 2012: Good & Services # 2012 — 1034 dated 04- 03 -2012, in the amount of $391,145.67 Salary & Wages, 9 2012 — 21 dated 04- 13 -2012, in the amount of $1,401,467.03 Goods & Services #2012 -1036 dated 04 -17 -2012 in the amount of $430,246.65 Salary & Wages, # 2012 — 22 dated 04 -27 -2012, in the amount of $1,368,612.87 Chairman, Mr. Michael Trowbridge, called for a motion to approve the warrants. A motion was made to approve the warrants 1st by Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz, 2nd by Mrs. Kiera O'Neil. Motion U.C. 5 — 0 APPROVAL OF MINUTES The School Committee Minutes of April 18, 2012 were approved as amended. Chairman, Mr. Michael Trowbridge, called for a motion to approve the warrants. A motion was made by 1't Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz, 2nd by Mrs. Kiera O'Neil. Motion U.C. 4-0-1 — Mr. Wayne Smith is a new member. 13- OLD BUSINESS FY'ii Budget: Mr. Trowbridge noted that the Committee had been sent information regarding where we were this year with the budget. Mr. Vozzella explained that since the Town Meeting, the Senate came out with their version of the budget and now it goes to committee. John Stanbrook, the Town Accountant looked at the net of all of the numbers given to him and they were within $15 -1600 of his estimates. So that was good, it kind of ratifies the assumptions he had made. The only number that is still outstanding is the Circuit Breaker. According to this version, it is going to be fully funded and fully funded has yet to be defined. We budgeted 65% which I consider fully funded plus another $66,000 if you recall. So if it's not fully funded then well get a little bit less, than if it comes in at 6o% or 58, we'll have a little less than we budgeted. Mr. Vozzella was not concerned about that because it was a small number and stated that we were aggressive with the budget. Mr. Trowbridge asked about the FY12 budget and stated that the Committee received an email regarding where we were to date and that has also been forwarded to the Selectmen and Town Manager, Bill Ross, so that everyone is aware of where we are. We are in pretty good shape for this year. Mr. Trowbridge asked Mr. Vozzella what amount he was predicting that would go back to the torn. Mr. Vozzella stated that at a point in time, if you closed the books as of April, we still have more encumbrances to book and journal entries, but if you had a snap shot of the end of April it shows that we would be about r% under the Annual Budget, a little over $300,000, $318,000favorable and that was a net of being unfavorable in payroll and favorable in expenses, and that note you can see the three major areas that are going to be typically volatile every year, your utilities, sick pay and Special Education. So those three numbers alone netted to us about $200,000 savings and there was another $118,000 spread among every other line item. This point in time, I did say that about six times in the report. We still have a month and half to go. Regardless, we will be returning some money; I don't see anything that would happen that would take that favorability away from us. We will still be about $2oo,000 favorably. We have given back money every year. Last year we gave back $168,000, the year before it was $98,000 and the year before that was $342,000. We spend where we need to spend, we don't spend just to spend every nickel of the budget. Mr. Trowbridge asked if there were any questions. Mrs. O'Neil asked that on the next meeting agenda she wanted to discuss, again I know I kind of go on and on about this , about the transfer of line items and cross categories and the School Committee's involvement in that. Mr. Trowbridge noted that we don't have a line item budget, Mrs. O'Neil noted, a cross category, with Mr. Trowbridge saying right, but it's line item budget is, our budget is approved in total, se we don't have like the town has, separate line items for everything. Mrs. O'Neil agreed but noted that with everything she was reading, we are to suppose to approve anything that goes across categories. Mr. Trowbridge clarified that there was no category and that he had spoken with Attorney Andy Waugh because he too had asked that question, and you're right, that if there is cross categorized, you can't delegate authority to the Superintendent, but if you're budget is approved as a lump sum figure, unless you are going from Salary & Wages to Purchased Goods, those are the only two line items we have. Mr. Vozzella stated that he had spoken with the Town Accountant, Mr. John Stanbrook, about that and he said that if we were going to do that and it was decided upon, it is a rather perfunctory task, you do it at year's end and you switch like right now, switching budget money out of expense into Salary & Wages, so that Salary & Wages wouldn't be unfavorable and expenses would be less favorable. When you think about that, what have you accomplished? All you did was move a budget from one line to another. The budget was done in October of `io. Mr. Trowbridge said it would be nice to know where we are going, but no approval is required. Mr. Vozzella agreed and noted that if we did, that is what he would suggest doing, just move from Salary & Wages or whatever way you need to balance, but it does not change the total number. Mrs. O'Neil stated that she would just like to see us doing the same things that other towns are doing, it helps with our transparency. Mr. Vozzella said that he had spoken with ten people last week about that very subject and some are just like us, they don't do any, some of the Business Managers do it with or without approval, they just move it. 14— There were 2 or 3 whose system are such that constraints don't allow a purchase order to push an account over budget, so therefore they have to do it just because their system dictates it to them. That's not the way we work, we have a much more flexible system, and in all cases it's done at year's end. When talking to the Business Managers Mr. Vozzella asked what they accomplished when they did that and their answer was really, nothing, all we're doing is robbing one budget line to offset another and the net effect is we have not changed a single number; whatever was our variance was to the total budget. All we've done is line up the budget as if we really knew a year and a half ago how much we would spend in the current year. We can do it. Mr. Trowbridge asked the rest of the committee what they wanted to do. Mrs. Miller was unclear, she did not want to give Mr. Vozzella a lot more work to do because he already had a lot of work. Mrs. Miller asked Mrs. O'Neil what she was looking for; did she want a monthly update or at years end? Mrs. O'Neil noted that she was looking for two things. First, the year end. Yes, it's one number but it was just getting the numbers out there, making her more aware. Mrs. O'Neil was seeing that we were so far over in the overtime, it was just helpful if we have overall oversight. Mr. Vozzella noted that was different that a budget adjustment. Mrs. O'Neil then said that her second thing was that she thought that they really should be getting some type of quarterly report. Mr. Trowbridge said that we would be doing that this year. Mr. Vozzella said that when you look at it you have to understand that the first quarter of next year, you obviously will have spent only X amount of dollars, relative to your budget for Salary & Wages which is 8o %. You really can't see until further into the year, like this time of year, the end of March and April, winters over and you have most of the salaries in and you will see your major variances pop by the time April comes, so that is a good time to give you a hard glance of what the favorability or the unfavorable is going to be. When you do it in the first and second quarter you just aren't going to have as a great an insight to what's going to happen because there is so much still in front of you. With the year end when all is said and done at the end of the year it's the same report with all the numbers in it. Mrs. O'Neil said that she wanted to see quarterly as well; she know that some do monthly but she felt that would be too much work, but she felt that to be aware as we start looking at budgeting and we see every year half way through we are $roo,000 over in substitutes and in overtime, then we are not budgeting. Mrs. O'Neil felt that she needed more information and that she felt rather blind to what's in the budget. Mrs. Miller asked if it would be fair to ask for a report if there is something that is significantly off. Mr. Vozzella added that in the past we have verbally stated that we had a favorability here and unfavorable there. Mr. Vozzella usually says if we are going to have a problem. Last year we knew we were going to be over in the utilities, we spent nearly $9o,000 just shoveling off roofs. We knew where our issues were and whether there would be offsets; he has given updates. Mr. Trowbridge stated that we had already committed to giving quarterly's, so that is not an issue. Mrs. Losiewicz noted that we did commit to the quarterly but she did not know what else Mrs. O'Neil was asking for. Mrs. O'Neil said yes, two things, that quarterly, that's great and the other thing is technically, according to everything she has read from her packet, the training and in speaking with Mr. Jim Hardy, that if we are under in one category and over in another, it is the School Committee that technically is supposed to approve all those transfers across the categories. Mrs. Hodges noted that we only have two categories, Goods & Services and Salary & Wages. The way that we approve our budget in the town, so certainly we can let you know we are running over in a particular area, but because we can go to a broader area in Salaries or Goods & Services, we're not going to have a handle on where we are going to be over until later in the year. I think that's what Ed was saying because we only have two categories. Mr. Trowbridge stated that if you look at the opinion that you had sent from the Division of Local Services, Department of Revenue, they even say in there if you're worried about giving permission or transfer of line items, approve a budget with fewer line items, we only have two. It's still nice at the end of the year to know where we are. 15- Professional Develonment Committee / Teacher Evaluations Ms. Teresa Murphy, Co- Principal of the Jordan Jackson Elementary, and Ms. Mary Casale of the Qualters Middle School, updated the School Committee on the current status of the process made by the Professional Development / Teachers Evaluation Committee and the direction they are going forward in. Ms. Murphy stated that the focus of the Committee is to adapt the model to meet the needs of Mansfield. The state has not released their final model as yet but it our aim to adopt, adapt and revise the final model. We have the chance to make it work for Mansfield. The deadline for final model is September 2013. NEW BUSINESS District Policy Update: School Committee member, Mrs. Kiera O'Neil and former Committee member, Mr. Jim Perry had been undertaking the challenge of updating the current Mansfield District Policy Manual with the help of Mr. Jim Hardy of the MASC. It was decided at the last meeting that the School Committee would vote to accept each new policy and revision as they were finished instead of waiting to do it all at once. The School Committee chose to table this exercise this evening until the next meeting due to the number of items on the agenda and the need of accomplishing these items at this meeting. 2012 — 201R School Committee Meeting Dates Chairman, Mr. Michael Trowbridge, called for a motion to approve the proposed School Committee dates for next year. The School Committee decided that they wanted more dates placed on the schedule. This item was tabled until the next meeting so as to have additional dates added for next year. Student Handbooks The district principals presented their individual student handbooks to the School Committee with additions and revisions made for each school and for the approval of the School Committee. The votes recorded for each school are below. Chairman, Mr. Michael Trowbridge, called for a motion for the acceptance of the following changes in the school handbooks. Motions for each school were made as follows: 1st Motion U.C. .2nd Roland Green Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz 5-0 Elementary — Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz Mrs. Kiera O'Neil 5-0 OMS Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz Mrs. Jean Miller 5-0 MHS: Faculty Handbook — Mrs. Jean Miller Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz 5-0 Student Handbook — Mrs. Jean Miller Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz 5-0 Attendance Policy — Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz Mrs. Kiera O'Neil 5-0 & Procedures 16- i Dress Code — Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz Mrs. Jean Miller 5-0 Financial Obligations — Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz 5-0 as amended Course Selection Process — Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz Mrs. Kiera O'Neil 5-0 Advanced Placement — Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz Mrs. Jean Miller 5-0 Expanded Description Graduation Requirements — Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz Mrs. Jean Miller 5-0 Withdrawal from Class — Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz Mrs. Kiera O'Neil 5-0 Rankin Class — Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz 5-0 Summer School Credit — Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz Mrs. Kiera O'Neil 5-0 as amended Night School Credit — Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz Mrs. Jean Miller 5-0 Athletic Eligibility Program — Mrs. Jean Miller Mrs. Kiera O'Neil 5-0 Athletic User Fees — Mrs. Jean Miller Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz 5- o MUA Chemical — Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz Mrs. Kiera O'Neil 5-0 Health Rule as amended Captains Code — Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz Mrs. Jean Miller 5-0 School Choice The School Committee annually must inform the Department of Education of the status of the district regarding School Choice. The School Committee has continually voted to have Mansfield Public Schools considered a No School Choice district due to space constraints. Chairman, Mr. Michael Trowbridge, called for a motion to have Mansfield considered a No School Choice district. A motion was made to approve this motion 1st by Mrs. Jean Miller, 2nd by Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz. Motion U.C. 5 — 0 Amendment to Bi- County Collaborative The School Committee approved the proposed Bi- County Collaborative amendments to the Member Agreement. Chairman, Mr. Michael Trowbridge, called for a motion to approve the warrants. A motion was made to approve the warrants rn by Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz, 2nd by Mrs. Kiera O'Neil. Motion U.C. 5 — 0 Field Trip Approval (if any) 17— None SUPERINTENDENT'S EVALUATION: Mrs. Miller happily held up her notebook and stated that this was unbelievable, that there was a lot of work in there and that she appreciated all the documentation. It was significantly different than last year and she appreciated that, thank you. Mrs. Losiewicz added that it actually jogged her memory. Thank you. The School Committee evaluated the Superintendent of Schools in Open Session as required by the state's Open Meeting Law. CITIZENS COMMENTS SCHOOL COMMITTEE NEW BUSINESS Mrs. Miller wanted to thank the Town Manager, Board of Selectman, Police, Fire and custodial crews for all their help with the Boosters 5 IC race on May 20th. It was a wonderful time and very successful. Many thanks to everyone involved. Mr. Michael Trowbridge informed the Committee of the new Lacrosse MVP Award at the high school. The award is named memory of Mr. Bill Maxwell, a former Mansfield resident who played football for Mansfield High School and that went on to become an All American at the University of Massachusetts, then coached football at UMASS Amherst and Syracuse University in New York. OTHER Motion to adiourn: Chairman, Mr. Michael Trowbridge, called for a motion to adjourn the School Committee Meeting of May 22, 2012 at 10:40 PM for the sole purpose of adjourning. A motion was made to close the meeting by Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz, 2nd by Mrs. Jean Miller. A Roll call vote to close: Mr. Michael Trowbridge, yes; Mrs. Jean Miller, yes; Mrs. Lisa Losiewicz, yes; Mrs. Kiera O'Neil, yes; Wayne Smith, yes. Motion U.C. 5 - 0 18— Respectfully submitted, Mary O. Jackson Secretary to the Superintendent & School Committee