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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Committee 02/07/2017Approved by 02-28-17 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, February 7, 2017 Town Hall, Room 3A&B An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held at the Town Hall on Tuesday, February 7, 2017. The open meeting session was opened and called to order by Kiera O'Neil at 7:03 pm. Members Present: Also Present: Kiera O'Neil, Chair Zeffro Gianetti, Superintendent of Schools Lynn Cavicchi, Vice Chair Teresa Murphy, Assistant Superintendent of Schools Linda Fernando Jenn Walsh Lauren Scher Members Absent: None Video Tanine: Dana Hourigan,15 Evans Circle, Mansfield, MA 02048 COMMUNICATIONS: None SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT: No update ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT: No update APPROVAL OF WARRANT: None APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Open Meeting Minutes of 1-24-17 A motion to approve the minutes was made ]stby Linda Fernando and 2^d by Jenn Walsh. Motion Carries 5-0 Executive Session Minutes of 12-12-16. A motion to approve the minutes was made 1st by Jenn Walsh and Zed by Linda Fernando. Motion Carries 5-0 FINANCE AND OPERATIONS REPORT: No update GIFTS: This is a new agenda item that will be used to recognize, and if needed get school committee approval for, donations made to the school district. 1. Jordan/Jackson Makerspace supplies: Patty Coyne, JJ reading specialist, was chosen as a DK Makerspace Sweepstakes winner. The publisher has presented her with a $300 gift card, one Makey-makey kit and a DK library worth $200.00. The gift will be used in the J/J Innovation Station. This is a remarkable tool for student hands-on learning. No approval needed. Page 1 of 6 Approved by 02-28-17 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, February 7, 2017 Town Hall, Room 3A&B 2. MHS Weight Room: The All Sports Booster Club would like to target their fund raising efforts toward upgrading the MHS weight room. They feel that this would provide a gift that will help ALL students and staff including student athletes, physical education classes, intramural programs, and sport rehab. The project includes new equipment and flooring as well as some structural changes to the room. Our current space and equipment are very outdated. The booster club fund started with $4000 and with fund raising and gifts, the funds have been expanded to $34,000. The district is working with local contractors and the DPW. jenn Walsh made a motion to accept the All Sport Booster Club funds to be used toward a new weight room at MHS. Linda Fernando seconded the motion. The committee asked that the school come forward to the committee again, once detailed plans have been established. Joe Russo is hopeful that the project will be completed by the start of school in the fall. Motion Carries 5 - 0. Sub Committee Updates 1. Audit: The School Committee will attend the 2-8-17 Board of Selectmen meeting to reappoint the At -Large audit member. 2. CIP: No updates until the spring. 3. Budget: The full committee has met and will continue to meet during budget preparation season. 4. Policy: The subcommittee has met with administration to complete a few more policies. Some will be approved tonight with others expected at the next meeting. 2017-2018 District Calendar: Tonight is the second review of the calendar. A couple of changes were made since the last meeting. First, Friday, November 10th was confirmed as a day off for Veteran's Day. Second, the professional development days were set for the year. The committee expressed concern about the number of professional development (early release) days that occur in the spring around the same time as spring conferences. The number of early release days is a hardship for parents with young children. Administration will take another look and bring it for vote on 2/28. Student Advisory Committee: Nithin Lankipalle provided an update on MHS. Both boys and girls basketball are doing extremely well. Mock Trial is also doing very well. The Science Olympiad placed first in their very first competition. Math team has made it to the playoffs. NEW BUSINESS: Assistant Superintendent of Finance & Operations Job Description: Teresa Murphy provided an overview of the hiring process. She highlighted the proposed title change to the committee based on the recommendations from Lynn Cavicchi. Ed Vozzella's job responsibilities exceed that of a typical Finance/Business Manager. Ed has basically worked in the capacity of an Assistant Superintendent for a long time. Therefore, the job description isn't changing; it is being appropriately documented as the existing one was very out of date. Teresa is bringing the updated job description and title to the committee for approval. Both Zeff Gianetti and Teresa feel that the new job description may bring a bigger pool of candidates. Teresa noted Page 2 of 6 Approved by 02-28-17 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, February 7, 2017 Town Hall, Room 3A&B that approximately 6 or 7 of districts polled use the assistant superintendent title Linda Fernando made a motion to approve the new job description/title of Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations. Lynn Cavicchi seconded the motion. Discussion: Lauren Scher would like to make sure we hire someone who plans on sticking around. She has some concern that if we hire as an assistant superintendent then that person may quickly be making the next step to superintendent. She is also concerned that by changing the title we may get many nonqualified candidates. Lauren also questioned the license needed. Zeff and Teresa responded to her questions. Although the title is assistant superintendent, the job description can be tailored to whatever the district needs. Currently central office works collaboratively on decisions regardless of title. All applicants will have the MA Association of School Business Officials (MASBO) license. Some may also have a superintendent's license but it is not likely. Teresa distributed a copy of the "Invitation to Apply" document that will be used. She also distributed a copy of the timeline. Motion to approve job title and description carries 5 - 0. Jordan/Jackson School Improvement Plan: John Nieratko presented his updated school improvement plan for 2016 - 2018 by way of a Powerpoint presentation. Several J/J students who will be shown in the presentation are in the audience with their families. John began by thanking his administrators and the school council for their assistance. This plan is based on a detailed action plan that was included in the packet. The five J/J goals directly relate to the two district goals of expanded offerings and teaching all students. John reviewed each action item: 1. Develop a plan to expand inclusionary practices forSpecial Education and Response to Intervention Services: By doing so, J/J supports the idea of teaching all students. 2. Build technological capacity and use the tools required to differentiate instruction effectively. John supported this goal by showcasing the work of several J/J students. He does not intend to use technology alone. Each technology project starts with a curriculum standard and classroom goal. Then technology is brought in to support the effort. Technology is being used in the classrooms and in the technology lab. 3. Increase flexible learning spaces and tools to enhance the performance of all learners. Examples of this are the science lab, technology lab, stand-up desk space and movement breaks during the day. 4. Each grade level will complete and implement two curriculum units designed to support Next Generation Science standards. Every effort taken in the schools is intended to match up with one of the standards. 5. Promote a school environment thatsupports students'social and emotional well-being. The school is seeing an increased need for this need. John reviewed a few ideas that have worked well for helping students with excessive tardy issues. John highlighted many examples of student work and collaboration in his presentation while referencing curriculum standards. John completed the presentation and opened it to questions. Lynn Cavicchi liked the presentation but was concerned with the lack of detail in the actual plan. She would like to see more information on action items, timelines and resources as well as Page 3 of 6 Approved by 02.28.17 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, February 7, 2017 Town Hall, Room 3A&B measurements to show that goals are actually reached. Linda Fernando enjoyed seeing the students in action during the presentation videos. Jenn Walsh questioned the space and how accessible they are to students. John indicated that all classes have access through a reservation system. Only ten classes have been in to date but that is expected to grow throughout the year. Lauren asked whether there was any potential for uneven access. John stated that it his goal to be accessible to ALL students. John envisions the new spaces to be like the library where classrooms attend on a regular basis. Lauren stated that with technology it is important to measure usage and variations of usage along the way. John will make sure that usage is monitored. Kiera thanked the students and families for taking time from their evening to attend the presentation. Teresa Murphy provided her insight on the efforts underway at Jordan/Jackson. She is very pleased with the progress that John has made with the use of technology and the ties to curriculum standards. FY18 Budget: Prioritize Positions: Zeffro Gianetti addressed the priorities. First, there has been a new retirement announcement that had not been reflected in the budget. On our request for positions is an ESL position that he feels is a must have. He recommends absorbing the ESL position into the budget as a replacement for the retirement. That ESL position can then come off the priority list. Of the remaining positions, the district feels that the new kindergarten teacher would be top priority due to increased class size. The second spot would be the two adjustment counselors as he could not identify one as more important than the other. The last priority would be the library/media specialist. The school committee discussed the position priorities. Lauren Scher asked questions regarding kindergarten and class size. Lynn Cavicchi inquired about the current number of adjustment counselors at MHS and QMS. Discussion held on the current positions, how they are used and how the new positions would be beneficial. Liz Christo of the Finance Committee approached the board with insight on how the ESL teacher would need to be presented to budget subcommittee. Our budget is a level services budget so by replacing a retirement with an ESL position, we would be changing the level services. She recommended keeping the ESL position as priority number one but show that the money can be taken from the retirement savings in the budget. it was agreed that positions would be presented in priority order of ESL, Kindergarten, 2 adjustment counselors and library media specialist. The ESL position will be funded by the retirement of another staff member. Ratify Paraprofessional Memorandum of Agreement: Kiera O'Neil highlighted key changes to the contract. Lynn Cavicchi motioned to ratify the paraprofessional Memorandum of Agreement and Linda Fernando seconded the motion. Motion carries 5 - 0. Policies: Two policies were brought forward tonight for approval. Page 4 of 6 Approved by 02-28-17 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, February 7, 2017 Town Hall, Room 3A&B AC Non-discrimination: Minor changes in the title and to align with handbooks. Two changes were recommended. Strike Teresa's name from the policy so that it does not need to be updated when the superintendent changes. Second, add a comma to the first sentence. Linda Fernando motioned to approve the policy as amended and Jenn Walsh seconded the motion. Motion carries 5 - 0. DDF-DH Bonding & Control Over Internal Funds: This policy is part of the discussion on student activity accounts. Linda Fernando motioned to approve the policy and Jenn Walsh seconded the motion. Motion carries 5 - 0. Field Trips; National History Day in Washington DC. This field trip is a place holder in the event that students qualify for the national competition in June. Travel options were provided which would need to be reviewed based on the number of students attending. Linda Fernando motioned to approve the field trip. Jenn Walsh seconded. Discussion: School committee discussed but had several questions including 1) Which travel option would be used? 2) Can graduates still participate? 3) How will fund raising be held if there is not a definite number of students? What happens to funds if the trip does not happen? Linda Fernando motioned to amend the motion to a preliminary approval of the trip with a final approval to come once more details were determined. Lynn Cavicchi seconded the new motion. Motion to preliminary approve the field trip with follow up approval required carried 5 - 0. Citizens Comments: None School Committee New Business: None School Committee Other Business: None Documents Referenced: Invitation to Apply for Assistant Superintendent Timeline and Plan for hiring Assistant Superintendent Motion to adjourn by Lynn Cavicchi at 8:52 pm; seconded by Linda Fernando. Motion U.C. 5-0 Motion to adjourn: At 9:12 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; and not to reconvene in open session. Linda Fernando motioned and Lynn Cavicchi seconded. Role Call Vote: Page 5 of 6 Lynn Cavicchi Yes Jenn Walsh Yes Kiera O'Neil Yes Linda Fernando Yes Lauren Scher Yes Motion U.C. 5-0 Approved by 02-28-17 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, February 7, 2017 Town Hall, Room 3A&B Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent Secretary to the Superintendent & School Committee Page 6 of 6