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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm 10/10/2017Approved 11/7/17 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, October 10, 2017 Town Hall, Room 3A&B An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held at the Town Hall on Tuesday, October 10, 2017. The open meeting session was opened and called to order by Kiera O'Neil at 7:35 pm. Members Present: Others Present: Kiera O'Neil Teresa Murphy, Superintendent of Schools Lynn Cavicchi Michael Connolly, Assistant Superintendent (Teaching/Learning)-.4 Linda Fernando Edward Donoghue, Assistant Superintendent (Finale/Ope;�kior lenn Walsh '3 Lauren Scher m C r--trs 'nom Members Absent: NoneI J :�7 R7 CrT r— � Video Recordine: Dana Hourigan 15 Evan's Circle i 0 � c� n COMMUNICATIONS: School Committee received an invitation to participate ift and/eujud# this year's Halloween Parade. Teresa Murphy will judge and jenn Walsh will walk with pAdern SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT: During the professional development day on October 6th, MHS staff worked with Mansfield Police on the 41, Training (Locate/Lockdown/Leave/Live.) This is the same training that was offered to the public over the summer. Other school staff will participate later in October. TEACHING AND LEARNING REPORT: During the October 6th professional training, staff participated in literacy reviews; RIBAS training: Making your PARA a co -educator; Breakouts by department; CALM recertification; Team and Department goal development; inclusionary practices for special education. The Music and Art departments went offsite for various training opportunities. Michael Connolly thanked the public for allowing staff the time to do this development. He understands the day off is a burden on families. However, these efforts are critical to the work we do. Michael also discussed the current status of the literacy review for the elementary schools. The current licenses (from 2008) are expiring. Last year, a team reviewed 8 different programs which is now narrowed down to 4 programs. The ELA vertical team has gathered information; listened to vendor presentations and are now completing site visits (of schools using these programs.) Michael is very confident in the process and is looking forward to the feedback from the team. Lauren Scher asked if we were obtaining objective feedback(not just vendor sales pitches.) Michael thought that the information we were receiving from current districts is extremely helpful and objective. Lauren asked if we were evaluating cost on both the implementation and ongoing use charges. Yes, we are factoring both short and long term costs. Kiera O'Neil asked if we could pilot a program. Michael Connolly was not sure if that would be feasible. However, he will take that back to the team for consideration. Michael reported on our plans for next year's MCAS testing. The state mandates that we use computer testing for grades 4, 5, 7, and 8 math and ELA and for grades 5 and 8 sciences. We have the option of using it for grades 3 and 6. The district has reviewed and recommended that we move ahead with only what is required by the state. This will give us an opportunity to focus on these tests and do the best we can in preparing. The high school will pilot computer based ELA and Math testing in one classroom. Unfortunately it does mean that one class must take the test twice: on paper for the official score and by computer which will not be scored. In 2019 the grade 10 Page 1 of 4 Approved 11/7/17 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, October 10, 2017 Town Hall, Room 3A&B students will use computer based testing. FINANCE AND OPERATIONS REPORT: Ed Donogue with the help of Debbie Scott, has completed the year end summary report for FY17. This report is a summary of salary and wages; purchases and services and other. Ed has provided a detailed report to the committee. Eventually the information by district will be made available to the public on the DESE webpage . Kiera O'Neil thanked Ed for providing this level of detail. Ed Donoghue presented his budget timeline for FY18. STUDENT ADVISORY COUNCIL: None Kiera O'Neil suggested that we take the Heroes Corner Update out of order. OLD BUSINESS: Heroes Corner Update: As a refresher, this will be a memorial setup in the corner of the football field/track area near the QMS concession stand. The initial proposal was brought forward in May. Recently the MHS Gridiron club has been working on final details. Richard Palanza from the Gridiron club is here this evening to provide an update. There was an original concept and budget back in the spring. He had added some enhancements hoping for additional fundraising. However the funds are not currently available so the project will be completed based on the original design. Perhaps in the future, enhancements can be completed. Rich would like to start this project immediately with the goal of completion by playoff games. Teresa met with the schools to ensure continuedaccess during PE, track and other activities. Linda Fernando inquired about the lighting. There will be lighting on the flag. Lynn Cavicchi asked about ongoing maintenance. The Gridiron club has committed to fund future flags. Kiera asked about the raising and lowering of the flag. Since there is a light on the flag, it does not need to be lowered daily. Motion to accept the Heroes Corner project by Jenn Walsh / Linda Fernando Motion Carries 5-0 Return to standard agenda order. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Open Session Minutes of 8-29-17 Motion to approve the minutes by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Motion Carries 5-0 Open Session Minutes of 9-26-17 Motion to approve the minutes by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Motion Carries 5-0 OLD BUSINESS: Gifts: None Subcommittees: Audit: Next Meeting 10/11/17 CIP: Met earlier this evening to review all proposals. Asking for status on current projects. Budget: A workshop is set for next week. Policy: There will be several changes for the 10/24 meeting. Page 2 of 4 Approved 11/7/17 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, October 10, 2017 Town Hall, Room 3A&B NEW BUSINESS: October 1, 2017 District Enrollment Numbers. Teresa reviewed various statistics for the schools. QMS is under 1000 students for the first time in a very long time which led to the reconstruction of teams. Some schools are slightly below the projected numbers while others are slightly above. There continues to be new registrations at central office. MHS School Wide Rubrics: Michael Connolly introduced the use of Rubrics as recommended to us by NEASC in 2012. MHS created core values and beliefs on learning. These rubrics match our expectations and students can be measured against these standards. Mary Watkins began her presentation by explaining that it is important for us to keep our NEASC accreditation as that plays into college acceptances. The rubric will list every expectation based on a standard within a student's own grade level. Students will be able to see what is expected and can self -evaluate. It is important to note that the rubric is separate from the grade; it does not affect GPA or college transcripts. The benefit to students: The rubrics allow the students to reflect on their learning, understand what they are working toward, ensures that students and staff share the same vision of a proficient score. This first year will serve as a baseline. Going forward, reports will measure growth over time. Reports will be sent home to parents at the end of the year. This is a huge undertaking and it will be a several year rollout. It is important to communicate this information to parents. Tonight was the first step- communication to school committee. MHS will soon hold an open house to discuss the rubrics with parents. A formal letter will be sent home and then ongoing messages will be sent via the newsletter. Lynn Cavicchi asked if there will be consistency across teachers. Mary Watkins said that this has been discussed but MHS is still working toward a plan for this to happen. Lauren Scher asked if students will be able to have conversations with teachers on how to improve. Teachers and students will be working together to understand the rubrics and scores throughout the year. Lauren and Lynn asked about the data. There are no definite answers to the documentation plan. The initial effort was to create and begin implementation of the rubrics. Mary will continue to research best practices for the reporting and storage of data. Sick Bank - MEA: The new MEA contract states that the school committee will designate two people to participate on the sick bank committee. These two people will team with two MEA reps to determine when sick bank will be used. In the old contract, the school committee participated. Teresa recommended that Jocelyn LeMaire (HR Director) and Edward Donoghue (Director of Finance & Operations) represent the district. Motion to approve the HR Director and Director of Finance & Operations as the two district representatives to the sick bank committee by Jenn Walsh / Linda Fernando Discussion Lynn noted that we may need to have the same vote for the special education bus drivers. Motion Carries 5-0 Upcoming Agenda Items: Budget Workshop Work through Operations Calendar Citizens Comments: None School Committee New Business: None Page 3 of 4 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, October 10, 2017 Town Hall, Room 3A&B Documents Referenced: FY17 End of Year Financial Report FY18 Budget Timeline MHS Rubric Presentation Motion to adjourn: At 9:07 p.m., Motion to adjourn by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh. Motion U.C. 5-0 Approved 11/7/17 Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Secretary to the Superintendent & School Committee Page 4 of 4