HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Committee 5/16/2016Approved 6-13-16
Mansfield School Committee Meeting
Minutes for Monday, May 16, 2016
Town Hall, Room 2A&B d ECi
An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held at t}a To t1all On Monday, May
16, 2016. The open meeting session was opened and call4lib ilVE y 2e fro Gianetti at 7:00 pm
Members Present: Also Present ......
Kiera O'Neil, Chair Zeffro Gianetti, Superintendent of Schools
Lynn Cavicchi, Vice Chair Teresa Murphy, Assistant Superintendent of School
Linda Fernando Edward Vozzella, Director of Finance
Jenn Walsh
Open Position
Members Absent: None
Video Taping: Dana Hourigan, 15 Evans Circle
BOARD REORGANIZATION:
On May 10, 2016, Lynn Cavicchi and Linda Fernando were re-elected to the School Committee;
Michael Trowbridge was elected to the Board of Selectmen leaving an open position on school
committee.
Superintendent Gianetti asked for nominations for a new Chair. Jenn Walsh nominated Kiera
O'Neil with a second from Linda Fernando. Gavel turned over to Kiera O'Neil.
Motion U.C. 4 - 0
Kiera O'Neil asked for nominations for a new Vice Chair. Jenn Walsh nominated Lynn Cavicchi
with a second from Linda Fernando.
Motion U.C. 4 - 0
COMMUNICATIONS: None
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT:
Mark DeGirolamo will be returning to MHS as a teacher leaving an assistant principal position at
QMS. There was a resignation of a .5 teacher at Roland Green.
ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT:
Congratulations to the cast, crew and staff of FOOTLOOSE.
Best of luck to the Special Olympians who will be participating on Thursday. A Pep Rally was held
in their honor on Friday.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
School Committee Attendance at Board of Selectmen Meeting Minutes of 3-30-16.
A motion to approve the minutes was made 1st by Linda Fernando, 2nd by Jenn Walsh.
Motion U.C. 4 - 0
Page 1 of 5
Approved 6-13-16
Mansfield School Committee Meeting
Minutes for Monday, May 16, 2016
Town Hall, Room ZA&B
Open Session Meeting Minutes of 4-25-16.
A motion to approve the minutes was made Istby Linda Fernando, 2nd by Jenn Walsh.
Motion U.C. 4 - 0
Town Meeting Minutes of 5-3-16.
A motion to approve the minutes was made lstby Linda Fernando, 2nd by Jenn Walsh.
Motion U.C. 4 - 0
Finance & Operations Report:
FY16 Actuals:
No new updates. Working toward Fiscal Year end close.
OLD BUSINESS:
Sub Committee Updates:
1. Audit: Met before Town meeting to revisit audit vote. Next week will discuss upcoming
audit. In June will review the audit plans.
2. CIP: Complete for year
3. Budget: Complete for year
School Calendar:
Superintendent Gianetti asked that the committee review the calendar based on actual attendance
figures for Good Friday 2016. There was a spike in student and staff absences from the prior year.
Next year Good Friday falls on the Friday before vacation raising concerns of a bigger staff and
student attendance issue. It was noted that some of the student attendance issue was due to many
Seniors choosing to stay home on the holiday. Zeff Gianetti is proposing a half day which may
help to minimize attendance issues. It was proposed that the vote take place for next year only and
then discussion on future years could be held next year.
Lynn Cavicchi motioned to change the Good Friday of 2017 to a iiday. Linda Fernando seconded
the motion.
Discussion: Linda Fernando was reluctant to change the Good Friday day without reviewing any of
the other holidays during the year. Zeff Gianetti is more concerned with the staffing issue than the
student attendance. It could be very difficult to find coverage next year. The attendance for both
students and staff well exceeded any other religious holiday during the year.
Motion Falls: 2 - 2 (Fernando, Walsh NAY)
Mansfield Financial Policies:
At the 4/25/16 meeting, these policies were brought up for approval. The committee tabled review
until the town and school had an opportunity to meet and discuss the policies. Changes were made
and were reintroduced tonight.
F Policies were reviewed. All except one looked ok. Ed Vozzella and the committee expressed some
concern, confusion over the refreshment policy. Two questions for the finance committee:
Page 2 of 5
Approved 6-13-16
Mansfield School Committee Meeting
Minutes for Monday, May 16, 2016
Town Hall, Room 2A&B
1. Does the policy as stated disallow refreshment reimbursement for staff only meetings
(which is the majority of the school's refreshment needs)
2. The $50 limit seemed low. Could it be raised?
The committee decided to table approval of all policies until the refreshment policy could be
clarified. Vote can take place at the 5/24 meeting.
NEW BUSINESS:
Appointment of new School Committee Member:
Timeline of process has been established.
• Town Clerk is in receipt of Michael Trowbridge's resignation letter.
• Letter to Board of Selectmen from School Committee will be delivered tomorrow.
• Post on school website, town website, Sun Chronicle & Mansfield News Public notices.
• Applications due 6/1/2016
• Meeting with BoS to appoint person will occur on 6/8/2016
Assignment of SubCommittees:
Tabled until new member appointed.
Restructuring of High School Administration:
Zeff Gianetti explained the new structure. The Co -Principal at Robinson has retired.
Administration has determined that with decreasing enrollment, Robinson can be run by having
one Principal to match the structure at the other schools. A part time coordinator will be hired to
run the Roland Green School. This allows the Co -Principal FTE to be moved to MHS as an
associate principal. This person will report to the principal and the assistant principals will
report into the associate. Adding a new administrator at the high school has been a long term
need due to increases in teacher evaluations, social emotional student needs, MA Discipline Law
222 which requires greater interaction between administration and parents, and updated MA
attendance laws which require increasing time with administration and parents.
Michael Connolly noted that the high school is doing a good job of keeping on top of these tasks
but they could be doing things better and in a timelier manner. The high school can focus more
on RTI, 504 evaluations and staff evaluations. Currently, due to the nature of the job, assistant
principals time is very unpredictable due the nature of their responsibilities.
Next steps: Superintendent Gianetti will prepare a job description for the school committee to
approve.
Discussion over the budget's ability to handle this new role: Mr Gianetti feels that they can keep
the budget balanced because they will be using an existing co -principal salary to fill an associate
principal and a part time preschool coordinator.
Jenn Walsh made a motion to accept the proposal for the Mansfield High School Restructuring
through the hiring of an Associate Principal. Lynn Cavicchi seconded the motion.
Discussion: Keep an eye on the budget, will need to approve the associate principal job
description, review the existing assistant principal job descriptions and approve a job description
Page 3 of 5
Approved 6-13-16
Mansfield School Committee Meeting
Minutes for Monday, May 16, 2016
Town Hall, Room 2A&B
for the Roland Green Coordinator.
Motion U.0 4 - 0
School Choice Annual Vote:
Lynn Cavicchi motioned to vote NO for 2016-2017 School Choice. Linda Fernando seconded
the motion. Letter must be sent to state indicating our preference.
Motion U.0 4 - 0
Field Trips:
Robinson trip to Roger Williams Zoo:
a. A motion to approve the Robinson Zoo Trip by Linda Fernando and 2nd by Tenn Walsh
b. Motion U.C. 4-0
School Committee Meeting Calendar:
Schedule for the remainder of FY16: Next meeting on 5/24 will be a workshop to discuss
superintendent evaluations. The following meeting will be set for June 130i at 6:30 PM. We will
set a tentative meeting date of June 21st but the goal would be to complete all activity on the 13th
Some discussion on the FY17 meeting dates but final decision will be tabled until new member
is appointed. A question was asked regarding the first meeting of the year and why it was so
late. It was set based on first day of school, curriculum nights and a Muslim religious holiday.
High School Advisory Council Report.• None
Citizens Comments: None
School Committee New Business: None
School Committee Other Business:
Motion to adjourn: At 8:25 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 Purposes:
Under Exception No. 2, To conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with nonunion
personnel or to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations with nonunion personnel.
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 the
chair so declares;
And not to reconvene in open session.
Role Call Vote:
Lynn Cavicchi Yes
lenn Walsh Yes
Kiera O'Neil Yes
Page 4 of 5
Linda Fernando Yes
Motion U.C. 4-0
Approved 6-13-16
Mansfield School Committee Meeting
Minutes for Monday, May 16, 2016
Town Hall, Room 2A&B
Respectfully Submitted,
Diane Nugent
Secretary to the
Superintendent &
School Committee
Page 5 of 5