HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Committee 09/12/2017Approved 9-26-17
Mansfield School Committee Meeting
Minutes for Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Town Hall, Room 3A&B
An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held at the Town Hall on Tuesday,
September 12, 2017. The open meeting session was opened and called to order by Kiera O'Neil at
7:30 pm.
Members Present: Others Present:
Kiera O'Neil Teresa Murphy, Superintendent of Schools
Lynn Cavicchi Michael Connolly, Assistant Superintendent (Teaching/Learning)
Linda Fernando Edward Donoghue, Assistant Superintendent (Finance/Operations)
lenn Walsh
Lauren Scher —'
Members Absent: None _ ,J
Video Recording: Dana Hourigan 15 Evan's Circle bl
TJ
COMMUNICATIONS: None
APPROVAL OF WARRANT: None
SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT: z
Teresa Murphy announced the resignation of Sarah McCracken, Assistant Principal at
Jordan/Jackson effective November 7, 2017. Sarah was approached by the North Attleboro school
district and has been chosen as the principal of Community Elementary School. Sarah has been
such an asset to our schools. Teresa presented some highlights of Sarah's contributions. Teresa
suggests that, due to the timing of the resignation, we post this as an interim to finish out this year
and then report in the spring.
Last night Teresa met with several individuals in our community to discuss diversity. She is looking
to create a task force; it is important to respect and understand our differences. The initial group
of individuals will provide tremendous resources and networking opportunities for us. Linda
Fernando and Jenn Walsh attended the meeting and both were very optimistic on where we can go
with this group. It was suggested that we also include student leaders.
SBIRT: Teresa handed out information that will be going home to parents regarding the opioid
addiction crisis in our state. Beginning in December, 8tb and 10th grade students will be meeting
individually with the nursing staff to discuss alcohol, marijuana, and other substances. We will
utilize the SBIRT (Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment) program. This
screening is a statewide mandate. Teresa provided a copy of the letter and flier advertising the
parent overview night to be held on October 3m at 7:00 pm. Teresa noted that parents can opt out
and student participation is voluntary. In other words, they do not need to answer the asked
questions. Committee questions included:
What information should be added to the district web page? Teresa will work with administrators
to add information which may include the letter, flier, video and possibly a list of questions.
What happens when a student is identified as potentially at risk for substance abuse? The student
will be referred to guidance for conversation. Parents are not notified.
Will parents have access to the questions ahead of time? TBD
Where will the data be kept? TBD
Does any of the reporting to back to the state? TBD
Mary Watkins spoke briefly. She indicated that the letter will go out to parents in a newsletter this
week. Administration will continue to discuss how the process and data collection will work.
Michael Connolly added that the state mandate is well -intended but it is frustrating for
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Approved 9-26.17
Mansfield School Committee Meeting
Minutes for Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Town Hall, Room 3A&B
administrators to put a process in place to support the requirement. We will continue to work
through this before the first set of interviews.
Teresa introduced part of her new administrative team:
Kevin Hoffman, Assistant Principal, QMS: Kevin has come to us from Norwood Public Schools. He
holds degrees in psychology, history, counseling and educational leadership. At Norwood, as a
guidance counselor, Kevin managed 504s, established a peer tutoring program, created a mentor
program between 8�h and 6th grade students, created an anti -bullying club.
Aimee Lima, Assistant Principal, MHS: Aimee holds degrees in English and education. She has come
from Framingham High School where she created an educate growth mindset; developed a writing
center, coordinated a foreign exchange program and researched why students struggle.
Jocelyn LeMaire, Human Resources Director: Jocelyn has private and public school experience;
private sector background and comes to us from the Fall River Schools. She holds a Master's degree
in human resources management and a Bachelor's degree in education.
Jack Aherne: Jack will be Teresa Murphy's coach during her three year "New Superintendent
Induction Program" . Jack is a retired superintendent who now works with the state of MA in
mentoring new superintendents.
TEACHING & LEARNING REPORT:
Michael Connolly provided a summary of the 2017 Summer Institute Program. A total of 49
programs were held for well over 400 hours. These institutes are vital in moving our district
forward. Some of the highlights were: Courses in support of the new schedule at MHS and QMS;
emotional well being; technology integration; MCAS 2.0; RTI; Nurse participation with fire
department on triage plans; department specific courses; and school level courses.
FINANCE & OPERATIONS REPORT:
Edward Donoghue reviews the variances between the budget and actual expenditures for FY17. A
spreadsheet of activity was provided. The final amount returned back to the town general fund was
$163,205.00.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
BOS open Session Meeting Minutes of 6-28-17
Motion to approve the minutes by Jenn Walsh / Lynn Cavicchi
Motion Carries 3-0-2 (Lauren Scher and Linda Fernando abstained / did not attend
meeting)
Open Session / Workshop Minutes of 8-15-17
Motion to approve the minutes by Jenn Walsh / Lauren Scher
Motion Carries 4-0-1 (Linda Fernando abstained / did not attend meeting)
OLD BUSINESS:
Gifts: None
Subcommittees:
Audit: No update.
CIP: No update.
Budget: No update.
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Mansfield School Committee Meeting
Minutes for Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Town Hall, Room 3A&B
Policy: No update.
Approved 9-26.17
NEW BUSINESS:
Opening Day Remarks:
District (Teresa Murphy, Superintendent) Opening day was smooth. A lot of staff worked incredibly
hard over the summer so that the district would be ready for the new school year.
Robinson (Kerri Sankey, Principal): The Robinson had a great summer and Kerri thanked all those
that helped to get the school ready. She recognized Tanna Jango for her role in student placements.
The school year started with 238 first graders, 256 second graders and 223 kindergarten full day
students. She is very excited about the exploration of new literacy programs and to move forward
on an upgraded version of Envision Math. The summer institutes were aligned with the new
garden; science vertical team, RTI, and technology.
Roland Green (Kerri Sankey, Principal): 105 students are enrolled at Roland Green which is full
capacity. The staff will continue to work on curriculum mapping. She thanked Joanne Jordan, Julia
Mitchell and the staff for preparing for opening day.
Jordan/Jackson (John Nieratko, Principal): 791 students were enrolled on the first day of school.
John thanked his custodial and district staff for their help over the summer. JJ is launching a new
program that was piloted last year. Students now attend recess prior to their lunch break. John
has received very positive feedback on this as the students seem to settle into the afternoon class
time very easily. There was an extensive makeover of the science lab over the summer which is
very exciting. All classes will have a chance to try out the lab during the fall. Curriculum night will
be held next week. John is also looking into the creation of a student council program soon. He will
update the committee on that progress.
Qualters Middle School (Suzanne Ryan, Principal): Suzanne thanked the school committee for
supporting the new schedule; staff and custodians for all their work to redo the school for the new
setup which included moving almost every teacher. She also thanked Dave McGovern for his
tireless work on the building / student schedules. At opening day, 931 students were enrolled
bringing the number below 1000 for the first time in many years. There are several new staff
members on board; clubs are starting to ramp up and the new lunch by grade level has been a huge
improvement.
Mansfield High School (Mary Watkins, Principal): Mary happily reported that the first day was very
"normal." In other words, the day went extremely well. 95% of the students received their first or
second choice in electives. There have been some changes to AP offerings based on student course
selection. In total 12 AP courses are running. History electives continue to be extremely popular.
In addition, students in grades 11 and 12 are often doubling up on math and sciences. Enrollment
is up from last spring. (1293 to 1330 students.) There was a sizeable increase in 9th grade
enrollments coming from private school. The cell phone/ hallway policy has gone well so far.
Field Trip MHS Band and Color Guard to New Britain, CT:
Mary Watkins presented information on the field trip. This is the first time that the MHS Band will
attend this event which is a qualifier for future Marching Band competitions. The group includes
12 QMS students who participate in the color guard. The trip is out of state but not over night.
Motion to approve the Marching Band/Color Guard Field trip to New Britain, CT by Linda
6' Fernando / Jenn Walsh
Motion Carries 5-0
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Approved 9-26-17
Mansfield School Committee Meeting
Minutes for Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Town Hall, Room 3A&B
School Physician Annual Approval•
After this item was added to the agenda, research was done to determine what is needed for this
appointment. In the past Mansfield School Committee annually approved the physician. However,
it was determined that we need to approve the appointment ONLY when there is a change in
physician. No Motion required.
Mansfield Organizational Chart:
Teresa presented an updated organizational chart for the district. Some minor adjustments had
been made since last year to account for the new central office positions. Note that the chart
hierarchy is primarily determined by who does the evaluation of an employee. It was not clear
whether the org chart needed school committee approval. If it does, then it will be added to the
9/26/17 meeting agenda.
Superintendent District Entry Plan:
Teresa reviewed the overarching goals for the district:
➢ To better understand the culture, values, and beliefs which define the Mansfield Public Schools
➢ To establish an identity in the schools and community as the Superintendent of Schools
➢ To foster positive working relationships with all stakeholders to cultivate credibility, trust, and
confidence in me as the Superintendent of Schools
➢ To develop structures and practices for organizational improvement
➢ To identify specific priorities and action steps that will guide future action
Teresa noted that the data collection process started last spring. She pointed out her plan for
upcoming data collection including meetings with members of the school committee,
administration, staff, parents, students, parent groups, business community, elected officials. While
identifying these groups she noted her objectives with each group. She then reviewed the
interview questions that she would ask in every interview:
➢ What do you value about Mansfield Schools?
➢ What do you believe that I, as the new Superintendent, should fight to keep/hold onto for our
schools?
➢ What do you think needs to be changed or improved in the MPS?
➢ When I'm in the schools, I want to ask: I want to be more visible in the school and feel a greater part
of the community. What do you suggest I do?
➢ I'm interested in your perceptions about equity and access to all aspects of our academic and
extracurricular programs.
➢ What do you want me to know about you or your organization?
Once complete, she will do a thorough review; with her intended outcomes being:
➢ Provide a summary offindings
➢ Create a strategy for district improvement
Questions:
Kiera O'Neil asked if Teresa would include survey results from the climate survey. She also asked if
we could include Mansfield parents who do not send students to the public school (FRCS, private,
home-school.)
Lynn Cavicchi asked if Teresa could meet with this year's student leaders and if she could shadow a
student during the school day. Teresa should add objectives for the student meetings. She also
asked if Teresa could add community leaders to the lists of interviewees.
Lauren Scher thought that the district entry plan was thorough but was concerned about Teresa's
ability to manage it all. How does this fit in with the Induction 3 Year Program?
t
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Approved 9-26-17
Mansfield School Committee Meeting
Minutes for Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Town Hall, Room 3A&B
Linda Fernando really appreciated the effort that Teresa put into this plan. The clarity and detail is
exceptional.
Jenn Walsh echoed the comments of other members and thanked Teresa for her efforts.
No approvals required.
New Superintendent Goals. At the last meeting, Teresa presented her goals for review. School
Committee requested some minor changes. Teresa reviewed the updates and requested approval.
Updates:
➢ Goal 2: Modify "within 6 weeks' to "October 15"
➢ Goal 3: Professional practice will use the New Superintendent Induction Program
➢ Key actions: Questions on content, assignment and curriculum were answered through
pamphlets that Teresa provided to the committee.
Jack Aherne spoke regarding the goals that Teresa established. He indicated that these were state
endorsed. Typically a superintendent will spend her first year developing and implementing the
entry plan. By January/February, Teresa will report on her findings. From there she will continue
to vet out information on a regular basis with school committee and administration in order to
develop a District Strategy over the summer. This strategy will contain the core values, actions and
4 or 5 goals with 3 - 5 initiatives per goal. This strategy will be in place for the next 3 - 5 years.
Jack then spoke of the 3 year induction program. He will meet with Teresa approximately 6 hours a
month for year one; 4 hours a month in year 2 and then in year 3 she will move into the
superintendent group that will meet regularly to develop common practices.
Goals amended to set October 151h date for Goals to be signed off and to set January as a proposed
date for Teresa to present district entry findings.
Motion to approve Teresa Murphy's Superintendent Goals as amended by Jenn Walsh / Linda
Fernando
Motion Carries 5-0
Upcoming Agenda Items:
Verify if the organizational chart requires approval. If so then add to 9/26/17 agenda.
Kiera proposed that we setup a finance workshop to review the budget process. Lynn proposed
review of the 5 year narrative. Tentative date set for October 17, 2017 at 6:00 pm.
Citizens Comments: None
School Committee New Business:
School Committee Goals:
Kiera and Jenn worked on a draft of goals for the committee. Discussion held on the reason for the
goals. The wording for professional development was modified. "Members will seek out
professional educational opportunities as appropriate."
Motion to approve School Committee Goals as amended by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh
Motion Carries 5-0
Protocols- Next Steps:
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Approved 9-26-17
Mansfield School Committee Meeting
Minutes for Tuesday, September 12, 2017
Town Hall, Room 3A&B
Kiera asked for two volunteers to finalize the protocols discussed at the July 25th workshop. Lynn
asked if this could be tabled until the committee had an opportunity to review the protocols set.
Kiera O'Neil and Lauren Scher will take on the review of these protocols and provide a summary
back to the committee.
Documents Referenced:
Superintendent District Entry Plan
New Superintendent Induction Program curriculum and summary
Motion to adiourn: At 9:32 p.m., Motion to adjourn by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh.
Motion U.C. 5-0
Respectfully Submitted,
Diane Nugent, Secretary to the
Superintendent & School Committee
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