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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Committee 06/06/2017Approved 6-20-17 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, lune 06, 2017 Town Hall, Room 3A&B An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held at the Town Hall on Tuesday, ,4jie, i (i v 06, 2017. The open meeting session was opened and called to order by Kiera O'Neil at 7:00 pm. Members Present: Also Present: Zoic ja 19 P 12: Q5 Kiera O'Neil Zeffro Gianetti, Superintendent of Schools • ' ?' !'" Lynn Cavicchi Teresa Murphy, Assistant Superintendent of,Schools Linda Fernando Ed Vozzella, Director of Finance & Operations ' Tenn Walsh Ron Sellon, Mansfield Police Chief Lauren Scher Neal Boldrighini, Mansfield Fire Chief Roy Bain, Mansfield Police Sergeant Chris Balser, Mansfield Police Officer Members Absent: None COMMUNICATIONS: None SUPERINTENDENT REPORT: Patti Firing the Town HR Director has given her notice. ASSISTANT SUPERINTENDENT REPORT: None APPROVAL OF WARRANT: Warrants Warrant #'s Dates Amount Salary & Wages 2017-23 05/06/17 1,571,038.64 Goods & Services 2017-1040 05/09/17 327,222.38 Salary & Wages 2017-24 05/19/17 1,599,491.83 Goods & Services 2017-1044 05/23/17 657,803.89 $ 4,155,556 74 Motion to approve the warrant by Linda Fernando / Joint Walsh Motion Carries 5-0 APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Open Session Meeting Minutes of 5-16-17 Motion to approve the minutes by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Motion Carries 5-0 Executive Session Minutes of 5-16-17 Motion to approve the minutes by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 5-0 OLD BUSINESS: FY17 Update; Ed Vozzella will continue to meet with administrators to complete encumbrances for the year. The goal had been to complete all purchases by June 1. The district is on the path to return fund to the town again this year. Gifts: None Subcommittees. Audit: No update CIP: Town is moving forward with the Fales oil site. Mansfield received a $50,000 grant that will be used for a small park. Page 1 of 5 Approved 6-20-17 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, June 06,2017 Town Hall, Room 3A&B Budget: No update. Lynn Cavicchi requested a copy of the FY18 Budget Policy: The wellness policy will be brought forward tonight. NEW BUSINESS: Flag Pole. The Mansfield Gridiron club represented by Richard Palanza and Mark Schafer would like to install 7 Flags on the MHS track located in the corner by QMS and the snack shack The area will be called "Hero's Cornet" and the flags would represent the 5 branches of the military along with a U.S. flag and P.O.W. flag. The Gridiron has a history of supporting our veterans. Between fundraising and sponsorship, the Gridiron Club has $30,000 committed toward the project. The cost would cover the flags, materials and the labor to install and landscape. They are coming for approval and would like to have the project completed by football season. Discussion included several questions by district administration and school committee. Topics discussed were the location of the flags; how the project would be overseen; who would maintain the area; who would be responsible for raising and lowering the flags; who would maintain the flags; impact to flags when new track built. The gridiron club was advised that the project needed to be reviewed with buildings and grounds, MHS and the athletic director. Final approval will still be needed by school committee once the project has been vetted. Motion to give preliminary approval to the gridiron club to move forward with the next steps of review by Linda Fernando/jenn Walsh. Motion Carries 5-0 Wellness Policy, Teresa Murphy reviewed the process that had taken place to come up with the new Wellness plan. She introduced Christine Dooling, Head Nurse to answer any questions. Kiera O'Neil suggested that we add time into the annual school committee schedule to review required updates to the plan. Christine Dooling pointed out that the Wellness Plan would be placed on the website with links for both parents and staff. The curriculum is already in place but the district is working to use resources more efficiently in the delivery. Linda Fernando pointed out that significant progress has been made during this year. Lauren Scher questioned if we are addressing social emotional health in the policy. Christine indicated that it is not addressed in the policy but it is part of the district's annual plan. Many new programs are being developed. Lynn Cavicchi noted that it might be appropriate to add these as goals and action steps. Kiera O'Neil asked if the use of recess time for punishment or make up work was addressed. Christine Dooling pointed out section 33. The team had lengthy discussions on this and everyone feels that a good balance has been found. Christine pointed out that principals are working with teachers on the policy. For the most part schools are already embracing what the plan has mapped out. Actual methods for following the plan will evolve over time. Page 2 of 5 Approved 6-2047 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, June 06, 2017 Town hall, Room 3A&B The Wellness committee was made up of a principal, teacher, guidance representative, parent and nurse from each school along with representatives from the YMCA, Town Health Agent, School Committee member and High School student representative. One minor correction needed in section 5.1: The correct wording is "The District will provide..." Motion to approve the Wellness Policy as amended by Jenn Walsh / Lynn Cavicchi Motion Carries 5-0 Best Buddies: Teresa Murphy introduced the Best Buddies organization (B.B.)which services students with disabilities and their peers. About 5 years ago, Bernadette Conroy had wanted to bring this organization into Mansfield. Unfortunately, there is a long waiting list to get into the program. Bernadette and her staff created the Common Connections Club to play that role. We have had a successful run with that program but we now have the opportunity to enter the Best Buddies program. Bernadette Conroy, Christine Riley and Kelly Kenny presented their proposal on how B.B. would work. Students are matched as friends to another. Contact is made at anytime not just during school. Kiera asked if there were any concerns moving from the Common Connections club to B.B. Christine Riley noted that there should not be any issues but they will very carefully move from one program to another to make sure everyone is paired. This program is very structured and requires a bigger commitment. However, there is still opportunity for students to help even if they cannot make the full commitment. It is similar to the project teammate program though that is school hours only. The Best Buddies organization provides support and asks for accountability. It is very difficult to be accepted as a chapter so we are very fortunate. There is required training; the executive board is made up of students some of whom must attend an annual leadership conference in Indiana. Mansfield students applied to be part of the board. The B.B. organization itself chose the winners. Motion to approve Best Buddies as an official student activity by Linda Fernando / Lynn Cavicchi Motion Carries 5-0 Best Buddies Field Trip: Attendance at the annual leadership conference in Indiana is mandatory for two of the student board members. Christine Riley and Kelly Kenney will attend as chaperones and attend the staff portion of the leadership conference. Funds will come out of Professional Development. Motion to approve Best Buddies field trip to Indiana by Jenn Walsh/ Linda Fernando Motion Carries 5-0 Insurance Subcommittee Representative: The Board of Selectmen has asked that the school committee appoint a member to the insurance subcommittee which will be looking at health insurance coverage options for upcoming years. The subcommittee will meet over the summer and through September. It will consist of a member from Board of Selectmen, FinCom, Union Representation, School Committee. Ed Vozzella recommended that an insurance broker be on the committee as well. Lynn Cavicchi volunteered for this position. Appointment of Teresa Murphy to BICO: Annual appointment to the BICO board. Motion to approve Teresa Murphy by Jenn Walsh/ Linda Fernando Motion Carries 5-0 Announcement of High School Principal: Teresa Murphy reviewed the options she had considered for replacing Michael Connolly. She felt that the best approach was to appoint Mary Watkins as interim then proceed with a full search in the fall. Teresa provided background Page 3 of 5 Approved 6-20-17 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, June 06, 2017 Town Hall, Room 3A&B information on Mary and then asked her to approach the podium. Mary thanked everyone for the opportunity. She is looking forward to meeting parents and students in her new role. She wants kids to feel welcome and inspired everyday. Zeff Gianetti is pleased that we have such great talent within and that staff has risen to top positions. With Mary's appointment, the district has posted for a one year assistant principal position. Human Resources Position: Zeff Gianetti reported that in light of Patti Firing resigning, he has been in discussions with John Stanbrook, Interim Town Manager on how to reconfigure the current shared position. This is an opportunity to grow the position so that the school district has one full time HR person. Teresa Murphy noted that human resources is an area where we need the protection of someone who knows all the laws and can handle confidential situations. Building administrators take on a lot of this work today which means they are not attending to student needs and solutions maybe inconsistent from building to building. The next step would be to build a job description and discuss funding of the position. Emergency Preparedness: Attending the meeting are Ron Sellon, Neal Boldrighini, Roy Bain, Chris Baker. Ron Sellon started the discussion by praising the collaborative approach to emergency planning. Ron's goal is to allow educators to teach and let others handle security issues. He is very pleased with the formation of a team to identify and handle stressful events. As part of this plan there is a curriculum being built for the school staff. It is important to focus on low probability/ high risk events. As such the team reviews all potential situations and possible outcomes. Work will continue with the school department. Citizens Comments: None School Committee New Business: Meeting Schedule for 2017-18. The school committee reviewed a draft of potential dates for the upcoming year. Final dates set and will be scheduled. Other (Items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meeting) • None Documents Referenced: Best Buddies Field Trip amended proposal Wellness Plan Motion to adjourn: At 8:00 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. 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 not to reconvene in open session and the chair so declares; Motion to adjourn into executive session by Jenn Walsh / Linda Fernando Role Call Vote: Lynn Cavicchi Yes Jenn Walsh Yes Kiera O'Neil Yes Linda Fernando Yes Lauren Scher Yes Page 4 of 5 Motion U.C. 5-0 Approved 6-2047 (Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, June 06, 2017 Town Hall, Room 3A&B Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Secretary to the Superintendent & School Committee Page 5 of 5