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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Committee 10/4/2016Approved 10-18-16 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, October 04, 2016 Town Hall, Room 3A&B An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held at the Town Hall on Tuesday, October 4 2016. The open meeting session was opened and called to order by Kiera O'Neil at 7:04 pm. Members Present: Kiera O'Neil, Chair Lynn Cavicchi, Vice Chair Linda Fernando Lauren Scher Jenn Walsh Members Absent: None COMMUNICATIONS: None Also Present: Zeffro Gianetti, Superintendent of Schools Teresa Murphy, Assistant Superintendent of Schools Edward Vozzella, Director of Finance and Operations SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT: 1. Zeffro Gianetti confirmed his retirement plans for June of 2017. He has worked for 34 years in 5 districts. He thanked the School Committee, administration team and town government for their support during his time here as superintendent. 2. Two retirements have been presented to the superintendent for FY18 3. There is a Spanish Teacher vacancy at MHS. 4. Kiera O'Neil thanked Mr. Gianetti for his accomplishments over the past 3 years and stated that the district is now in a good place. ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT: 1. MCAS/PARCC a. MCAS / PARCC: Student scores will be sent home on Friday Oct 7th. b. We have received an accountability level of 2 for this year. c. Next spring the state will administer the revised MCAS test. PARCC will not be used. We will be rolling out the computer based testing for grade 5 and B. Teresa feels confident of our ability to handle the technology needs. 2. Safe Routes to School a. 2008 was the first walk to school day. b. Grant that was initiated by Teresa has now come to fruition. c. Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Wednesday, October 5th. 3. QMS Counseling a. Working on a series of lesson plans for in the classroom. b. Grade 6: "The Successful Student" and "Respecting Differences" c. Grade 7: "The Successful Student" and "Decision Making" d. Grade 8: "The Successful Student" e. Piloting the program of counselors entering the classroom and interacting with every student; trying to build connections. f. Anonymous needs survey will be sent home to students and parents Page 1 of 7 Approved 10-18-16 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, October 04, 2016 Town Hall, Room 3A&B g. School Committee reviewed the survey. No approval/ vote needed. 4. DESE Survey for Special Education Parents is now on our website. 5. STEM Fair: A group of MHS girls who attended a STEM summit during the summer will be working with parents and teachers on a STEM Fair for Grades 5 and 6 students in March. APPROVAL OF WARRANT: Warrants Warrantli's Dates Amount Salary & Wages 2017-6 09/02/16 1,490,991.24 Goods & Services 2017-1007 09/13/16 508,324.92 Salary & Wages 2017-7 09/23/16 1,613,293.47 Goods & Services 2017-1009 09/27/16 356, 558.13 167.76 Jenn Walsh motioned to approve the Warrant. Linda Fernando seconded the motion. Motion Carries 5 - 0 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Open Meeting Minutes of 9-12-16 Discussion: Modify the superintendent goals to add "to integrate technology" to the Professional Development line item. A motion to approve the minutes as amended was made 1st by Jenn Walsh, 2nd by Linda Fernando. Motion Carries 5-0 Executive Session Minutes of 9-12-16. A motion to approve the minutes was made 1st by Jenn Walsh, 2nd by Linda Fernando. Motion Carries 5-0 NEW BUSINESS: Field Trios (Taken out of order): 1. MHS Percussion to Trumbull, CT for competition a. Discussion: None b. A motion to approve the MHS Band Trip to Trumbull, CT was made by Linda Fernando and 2nd by Jenn Walsh. c. Motion U.C. 5-0 2. MHS Percussion to Dayton, OH for competition a. Discussion: Matt Maguire came to the podium to discuss the trip. It is a trip that has Page 2 of 7 Approved 10-18-16 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, October 04, 2016 Town Hall, Room 3A&B occurred every year for the last 9 -10 years. There was some question regarding the cost to students since there is already a trip to Disney planned. Parents approached Matt indicating their desire for the trip to happen and committed to fund raising efforts. To date fund raising is going well. b. A motion to approve the MHS Band Trip to Dayton, OH was made by Linda Fernando and 2nd by Jenn Walsh. c. Motion U.C. 5-0 3. MHS Boys Basketball to Key West, FL for competition a. Discussion: Mike Vaughn (basketball coach) and Joe Russo (athletic director) approached to speak about trip. Mike reviewed the process in which this trip came to be which included a search to various parts of the country for willing and comparable teams for games. This trip has now become a jamboree tournament with a few Florida communities involved. The cost is high but parents have been working on fund raising and anticipate that most of the trip can be funded. School Committee expressed some concern with the cost and location but was satisfied with the information that Mike provided. b. A motion to approve the MHS Boys Basketball team to FL was made by Linda Fernando and 2nd by Jenn Walsh. c. Motion U.C. 5-0 4. MHS Study Skills class to NE Institute of Technology a. Discussion: None b. A motion to approve the MHS Study Skills class to RI was made by Linda Fernando and 2nd by Jenn Walsh. c. Motion U.C. 5-0 5. MHS Common Connections Club to Providence Bruins Game a. Discussion: There was some question regarding the per student cost. $20 for a ticket was documented but no info regarding transportation. b. Motion tabled until more information gathered. Kiera O'Neil will approve on behalf of the committee once information provided. 6. QMS Band to Providence College a. Discussion: Committee asked for clarification on student cost. It was indicated that the cost per student would be between $20 and $25 to cover transportation. b. A motion to approve the QMS Band Trip to Providence, RI was made by Linda Fernando and 2nd by Jenn Walsh. c. Motion U.C. 5-0 NEW BUSINESS: concluded, return to scheduled agenda. FINANCE AND OPERATIONS REPORT: 1. Ed Vozzella advised the committee that starting on January 1st, the committee will be allowed, under new state regulations, to approve a warrant with one committee member rather than three. This will speed up the process allowing us to pay bills faster. Will revisit for approval in January. Page 3 of 7 Approved 10-18-16 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, October 04, 2016 Town Hall, Room 3A&B 2. Quarter 1 update: Ed Vozzella provided the school committee with an updated earlier in the week. Typically there is not a lot of action during the first quarter. One thing to note is a change in special education servicing for a student resulting in a larger than expected tuition payment. 3. Capital Projects: Ed anticipates extra money to be available once capital projects are complete. If that is the case we can either add another project to this year or roll the money into next year's plans. To date, Mansfield has not been able to obtain a successful bid on the J/J panel repairs. This appears to be too small a project for the construction companies involved. Our own Buildings & Grounds Department has made repairs to these panels to cover any safety issues. Tighe & Bond Capital efforts will be presented to the committee in the near future. 4. Timeline for new capital planning: New capital needs will be presented on November 15th. This will require that the committee vote on the school needs during the November 1st meeting. S. Bus Bids: We have 5 bids in progress for the open bus contract. Bids are due back to us on October 10t. Typically this will be a 3 year contract that will run approximately $5 million. 6. End of Year report to DESE has been completed and will be sent. Ed Vozzella thanked Debbie Scott for her efforts on this report. 7. Budget FY18 has begun. Ed has sent templates out to each school principal so that they can start their preparations. 8. A new process has been put into place for personal assignment sheets. This will eliminate a lot of paper, and make the approval process much more efficient. Ed thanked Lori Letendre for her efforts. OLD BUSINESS: Sub Committee Updates 1. Audit: No update. 2. CIP: First meeting held earlier this evening. Same timeline as previous years with a presentation date set to November 15th. 3. Budget: Upcoming meeting with other committees to discuss strategy NEW BUSINESS: Student Activity Accounts: Tabled. October 1 Enrollment Numbers: Enrollment numbers are included in packet. No discussion required. Policies.- The olicies;The priority list for the upcoming year was reviewed. Emphasis needed on the homework policy and wellness policy. IKB Homework ADF Wellness Page 4 of 7 Approved 10-18-16 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, October 04, 2016 Town Hall, Room 3A&B DFF/DH Bonding and Control over Internal Funds EBAB Pest Management ECBD Inspections EEAG Student Transportation in Private Vehicles EF Food Services Management Already under review: Non Discrimination policies, student records policies Additional policies will be added to the list as we work through the above. Ballot Question: The school committee addressed the upcoming ballot question (#2) looking to lift the cap on Charter School Expansion. Kiera read a drafted resolution against the ballot question. Resolution Against Lifting the Cap on Commonwealth Charter Schools WHEREAS, free public schools available to all students regardless of income, ability, need or English language proficiency are foundational to our democracy; and WHEREAS, all of our students deserve high-quality public schools that teach the whole child, providing enrichment and addressing social and emotional needs in addition to core academic subjects; and WHEREAS, local accountability for our public schools is necessary to ensure that schools are responsive to the needs of their communities; and WHEREAS, Mansfield is losing $1,298,871 to Commonwealth charter schools and public school districts across the state are losing more than $450 million this year alone — a loss of funds that is undermining the ability of districts to provide all students with the educational services to which they are entitled; and WHEREAS, Commonwealth charter schools are often approved over the objections of a majority of community residents and their elected officials and are not accountable to local elected officials once they are approved;and WHEREAS, Commonwealth charter schools often fail to serve the same proportion of special needs students, low-income students and English language learners as the districts from which they receive students and often use high suspension rates to drive out students they don't want to serve; and WHEREAS, the Commonwealth charter school system is creating separate and unequal opportunities for success; and WHEREAS, lifting the cap on charter schools would greatly worsen the problems listed above and lead to a costly and divisive two -track school system; THEREFORE, be it resolved that the Mansfield School Committee opposes lifting the cap on Commonwealth charter schools. School committee discussed the pros and cons of this ballot question. Primarily at issue is the cost to Mansfield; the allowance of up to 12 new charter schools per year; no real budget plan; and the concern on this becoming a drain on state funds. i Jenn Walsh motioned to approve the resolution AGAINST ballot question 2, Lifting the Cap on Page 5 of 7 Approved 10-18-16 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, October 04, 2016 Town Hall, Room 3A&B Charter Schools. Linda Fernando seconded the motion. Motion Carries 5 - 0. A letter will be sent regarding the decision. New Superintendent Search., The school committee addressed the upcoming superintendent vacancy due to Zeffro Gianetti's retirement in June 2017. The first question is to determine whether or not to start a search. Lynn Cavicchi made a motion to begin the search process for a new superintendent. Lauren Scher seconded the motion. Motion Carries 5 - 0. The second decision was whether or not to use an outside search group. Kiera O'Neil noted that the committee could choose to look on their own; they could use MASC as they did last time or they could obtain an outside search firm. Linda Fernando was very interested in an outside firm in order to broaden our list of candidates. The previous process with MASC was reviewed along with their proposal for this search. A second firm, Ray and Associates also provided us with a proposal. The committee asked Mr. Gianetti for his thoughts. He felt that based on our demographics we would unlikely draw many national candidates. He also emphasized the importance of someone from MA who understood the local laws and would have the appropriate licensing. It was noted by Lynn Cavicchi that the committee should move quickly on this search and MASC offered the best of the outside options to get the process started. Linda Fernando made a motion to use MASC for our search. Jenn Walsh seconded the motion. Motion Carries 5 - 0. MASC will be invited to the next meeting to present their process. At that time we will determine the makeup of the committee. Student Advisory Committee: Principal Michael Connolly introduced the group: Nithin Lankipalle, Chair; Josh London, Erin Hastings, Julio Arevalo (not in attendance), Elias Solis (not in attendance). Nithin reported on class passing times (challenging), new schedule (manageable), student council (great involvement) and guidance (very helpful during college planning.) Josh reported on the parking pass issue (resolved), and upcoming progress reports Erin reported on upcoming homecoming week and fall sports. School committee requested that we add students to a committee to work on the updated homework policy. They also asked that the student advisory committee create outreach opportunities and make their group more visible to the other students. Citizens Comments: None Page 6 of 7 Approved 10-18-16 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, October 04, 2016 Town Hall, Room 3A&B School Committee New Business: Linda Fernando asked that we add remote participation discussion to the November agenda. School Committee Other Business: Motion to adjourn: At 9:01 p.m., Kiera O'Neil asked for a motion to enter into Executive Session pursuant to M.G.L. Chapter 30A, Section 21 for the Following Purpose: Under Exception No. 3, To discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the public body and not to reconvene in open session and the chair so declares; Role Call Vote: Lauren Scher Yes Kiera O'Neil Yes Linda Fernando Yes jenn Walsh Yes Lynn Cavicchi Yes Motion U.C. 5-0 Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent Secretary to the Superintendent & School Committee Page 7 of 7