Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Committee 08/29/2017Approved 10-10-17 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, August 29, 2017 Town Hall, Room 3A&B An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held at the Town Hall on Tuesday, August 29, 2017. The open meeting session was opened and called to order by Kiera O'Neil at 7:03 pm. Members Present: Others Present: Kiera O'Neil Teresa Murphy, Superintendent of Schools Lynn Cavicchi Michael Connolly, Assistant Superintendent (Teaching/Learning) Linda Fernando lenn Walsh Lauren Scher ..y Members Absent: None Video Recordine: Dana Hourigan 15 Evan's Circle COMMUNICATIONS: We received a letter from TEC Academy on Dawn Langtry s ouf�tanding service to them during a bid process. _ n SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT: (Teresa Murphy) Enrollment numbers are down y approxima�ly b 100 students. This count is very close to our projections. There have been a couple of lata registrations: a.6 orchestra teacher, a.6 art teacher and a full time speech pathologist. We will work to get those filled as soon as possible. TEACHING & LEARNING REPORT: (Michael Connolly) The district has had a smooth transition with staff. Administrators attended a Blended Learning conference in Natick. This approach brings together face to face instruction with the power of technology to help personalize learning for students. Mansfield is deploying hundreds of new chromebooks this year. Google training sessions were held earlier in the week for staff. This was an opportunity for teachers to take refresher classes as needed. New teacher orientation will be held tomorrow for 20 new staff members. The day will include presentations by administrators; technology; business office and special education. FINANCE & OPERATIONS REPORT: (Teresa Murphy) Custodial staff (including college and high school temporary staff) worked all summer to get the buildings ready inside and out. We are prepared for the Thursday open house. This year, we will be transporting approximately 2340 students by bus (approximately half of the district.) Connolly Bus will use 31 buses at MHS/QMS; 28 at JJ and 24 at Robinson. There will be 6 late buses. New this year: representatives from Connolly bus will be at the elementary school open houses to answer any questions that parents have. Routes will be posted online tomorrow and bus passes will be delivered to schools in a couple of weeks. APPROVAL OF WARRANT: Warrants Warrant #'s Dates Amount Salary & Wages 2017-25 06/02/17 2,053,120.25 Goods & Services 2017-1046 06/07/17 506,298.13 Salary & Wages 2017-26 06/16/17 2,876,533.03 Goods & Services 2017-1048 06/20/17 289,557.29 Goods & Services 2017-1050 06/28/17 731,914.08 Page 1 of 4 Approved 10-10-17 $ 10,542,751.31 Motion to approve the warrant by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 4-0-1 (Lynn Cavicchi abstained / her child on summer payroll) APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Open Session Meeting Minutes of 6-20-17 Motion to approve the minutes by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 5-0 Executive Session Minutes of 6-20-17 Motion to approve the minutes by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 5-0 Open Session Minutes of 7-25-17 Motion to approve the minutes by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 5-0 OLD BUSINESS: Gifts: Teresa Murphy requested that the committee approve $18,500 from Mansfield Youth Lacrosse toward a new lacrosse wall. (Project previously approved. This approval is for the gifting amount.) Motion to approve the gift funds for a lacrosse wall by Jenn Walsh / Linda Fernando Motion Carries 5-0 St Gregory the Theologian church in Mansfield donated approximately 3 backpacks per school. Each new backpack was filled with supplies specific to that school. Teresa thanked the church for their generous donation. Subcommittees: Audit: Committee is currently without a chair. One will be nominated at an upcoming meeting. CIP: Dates have been set for the year. School will present their needs on November 28th. Budget: The budget subcommittee will meet the week of September 12th. Policy: Committee will meet later this week to set priorities for the year and to review MASC proposed changes. NEW BUSINESS: Approval of Unified Track Program at MHS: Teresa introduced Tim Tichacek and Joe Russo. A handout was provided to the committee (attached.) Unified track is designed to provide a competitive sports program for students with disabilities. The unified track team is considered a Page 2 of 4 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, August 29, 2017 Town Hall, Room 3A&B Goods & Services 2017-1052 06/29/17 415,748.61 Salary & Wages 2017- 06/30/17 1,247,730.40 Goods & Services 2017 -NC 06/30/17 2,338.43 Salary & Wages 2017- 7/13/2017 1037296.46 Salary & Wages 2018-1 07/14/17 171,067.90 Salary & Wages 2017 07/27/17 859,830.21 Salary & Wages 2018-2 07/28/17 351,316.52 $ 10,542,751.31 Motion to approve the warrant by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 4-0-1 (Lynn Cavicchi abstained / her child on summer payroll) APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Open Session Meeting Minutes of 6-20-17 Motion to approve the minutes by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 5-0 Executive Session Minutes of 6-20-17 Motion to approve the minutes by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 5-0 Open Session Minutes of 7-25-17 Motion to approve the minutes by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 5-0 OLD BUSINESS: Gifts: Teresa Murphy requested that the committee approve $18,500 from Mansfield Youth Lacrosse toward a new lacrosse wall. (Project previously approved. This approval is for the gifting amount.) Motion to approve the gift funds for a lacrosse wall by Jenn Walsh / Linda Fernando Motion Carries 5-0 St Gregory the Theologian church in Mansfield donated approximately 3 backpacks per school. Each new backpack was filled with supplies specific to that school. Teresa thanked the church for their generous donation. Subcommittees: Audit: Committee is currently without a chair. One will be nominated at an upcoming meeting. CIP: Dates have been set for the year. School will present their needs on November 28th. Budget: The budget subcommittee will meet the week of September 12th. Policy: Committee will meet later this week to set priorities for the year and to review MASC proposed changes. NEW BUSINESS: Approval of Unified Track Program at MHS: Teresa introduced Tim Tichacek and Joe Russo. A handout was provided to the committee (attached.) Unified track is designed to provide a competitive sports program for students with disabilities. The unified track team is considered a Page 2 of 4 Approved 10-10.17 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, August 29, 2017 Town Hall, Room 3A&B MIAA varsity sport for all participants and will abide by MIAA rules. Several schools in the Hockomock League already participate. Students with disabilities are on the same playing field with their peers, competing as part of a team. All events are standard track events although some have modified equipment such as the javelin. All participants will receive a varsity letter. The program fits in well with other initiatives being run at the high school such as Best Buddies and Project teammate. The total estimated cost is $5000 per year some of which will be paid through a Special Olympics grant. Tim's goal is to have this program up and running in the spring of 2018. Questions/comments: Kiera commended Tim for initiating the program. She asked if the student peers (partners) could participate in another spring sport as well. No, this would be the spring varsity sportfor those students. Lynn asked if it was open to all four grades at MHS. Yes. Would this be available to other sports as well? Tim hopes to bring in basketball and perhaps bocce in the future. Jenn thanked Tim and Joe for their efforts. Today the committee will vote for the program. At an upcoming meeting the committee will approve the pro -rated rate. Motion to approve the Unified Track as a new MHS program by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Motion Carries 5-0 Human Resources Job Description: The position was approved in the late spring. Teresa is now bringing forward a job description for the new position. She thanked Linda Fernando for her assistance in drafting the description. No approval required. Policy Removal: MASC staff have found the following policies to be redundant or unnecessary and have removed them from the MASC reference manual (MASC June 2017 Policy Newsletter) H Negotiations (not policy/unnecessary) IHAE Physical Education (included in ADF Wellness policy) JBA Student to Student Harassment (included in JICFB Bullying Prevention) JRA -R Regulations on student records (available on DESE website directly) KEB /KEB-R Complaints about School Personnel (included in other policies) KEC Complaints about Materials (included in KE Public Complaints) Motion to approve the removal of the above policies from our manual by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Motion Carries 5-0 Superintendent Entry Plan: This item will be moved to the first September meeting. Superintendent Goals. Teresa is participating in the three year induction program sponsored by the MA Association of Superintendents and MA Association of School Committees. She provided a high level time line: Aug 29th: First draft of goals; Sept 12: Vote to approve goals; Jan 23: Mid Cycle review. She highlighted 4 goals and then detailed actions and benchmarks (see attached): 1. Effective Entry and Direction Setting 2. Maintaining Momentum during the Transition 3. New Superintendent Induction Program 4. Fair, Effective Classroom Teacher Evaluation School committee asked Teresa to define "within 6 weeks' as referenced in Goal #2. They also requested that she elaborate on the induction program including topics of the sessions and Page 3 of 4 Approved 10-10-17 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, August 29, 2017 Town Hall, Room 3A&B overview of the work/assignments. The goals will be updated as suggested and brought forward at the September 12th meeting for approval. Upcoming Agenda Items. Superintendent entry plan Introduction of new administrators Updated Organizational chart Prorated track fee Citizens Comments: None School Committee New Business: New meeting times. The committee has suggested a change to the meeting process. Last year executive sessions were held at the end of open session. This year, the committee proposes that executive sessions start at 7:00 pm and end at 7:30 pm. Open session will now start at 7:30 pm (even if there is no executive session.) The committee discussed the use of a consent agenda which allows the members to vote on a group of items at once. Teresa Murphy spoke with our attorney for his input. He is not in favor of this process as it tends to overlook some items. Additionally, our minutes and warrant process are already very brief so it would save very little time. The consent agenda will not be used. The committee reviewed the current practice of reading and approving policy in one night. Our policy indicates that we can do this but individual members may seek out a second reading if desired. Current policy gives board flexibility. Members decided to stick with this plan and use a second reading when needed for clarity. Teresa Murphy announced the Boston Magazine school rankings based on expenditures, SAT, AP, class size. Mansfield was ranked 42 out of 125. Kiera O'Neil recognized the passing of long term selectman, George Dentino sending condolences to his family. Documents Referenced: MHS Unified Track Presentation Superintendent Goals Motion to adjourn: At 8:24 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 Page 4 of 4