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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm 02/06/2018Approved 2-27-18 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, February 6, 2018 RECEIVED Town Hall, Room 3ab F10 W'N CLERKS OFFICE An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held in room 3AB of the"ToownlHall'onI 2 Tuesday, February 6, 2018. The open meeting session was opened and called to ord�>(,,1 i FaD O'Neil at 7:02 pm. MASSACHUSETTS Members Present: Administration 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) Jean Walsh Lauren Scher Members Absent: None Video Recording: Dana Hourigan, 15 Evans Circle Communications: None Superintendent's Report: Teresa Murphy read a list of known retirements to -date. The 8 employees served a combined total of 237 years. We wish them well and will see them in the spring when we present the retirees to the school committee. Judy Allen Robinson Music Dennis Cloutier District Custodian Bernadette Conroy District Special Education Robin Kent Robinson Grade 2 Shelley King Robinson Grade 2 James Kirk MHS Special Education Patrick Piccolomini QMS Physical Education Donna Neely Robinson Paraprofessional Ms. Murphy officially introduced Kevin Dumas, the new Town Manager, to the school committee. She sees us continuing with the "one town/one budget" philosophy. Teresa is eager to continue collaborating with Kevin and appreciates the support he is providing to the schools. Kevin Dumas spoke to the committee. He is looking forward to working in partnership with the schools and to interact with our school families. He sees a deep sense of pride in all of the town departments and noted that the schools have a committed partner in him. Kiera O'Neil welcomed Kevin and noted that it was a great time for him to enter the community because there is great trust between the town and school boards. Teresa pointed to a small uptick in Flu reports at the school (both staff and students.) Christine Dooling and the nurses have been monitoring daily. The district has sent out a statement to families regarding the Flu including helpful references. On Wednesday, February 7th between 5 - 11 pm, the regional SWAT team will be performing training exercises at the Jordan/Jackson school. The district will send out a reminder to parents so they are not alarmed by the police presence. Page 1 of 5 Approved 2-27-18 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, February 6, 2018 Town Hall, Room 3ab Assistant Superintendent of Finance & Operations: Edward Donoghue gave a financial update through December 2017. Generally speaking the district is on track. Central Office is showing a negative balance due to outstanding payments that are to be processed. Heating costs are stable and should be improving. The schools and town have just worked together to lock in a lower rate with Columbia Gas. HVAC costs are down since we have reduced the need for outside contractors by better utilizing our existing staff. Contractors are here approximately 3 days per week, down from 5 days per week last year. The Special Education balance is in the negative. Ed anticipates this to balance out as we process circuit breaker reimbursements. Later in the third quarter, we will determine if the district can release the 10% of held funds. Approval of Minutes: Open Session Minutes of 1-9-18 Motion to approve the minutes by Linda Fernando / Lynn Cavicchi Motion Carries 4 - 0 - 1 (Lauren Scher abstained; was absent from meeting) Open Session Minutes of 1-23-18 Motion to approve the minutes by Linda Fernando / Lynn Cavicchi Motion Carries 5 - 0 Old Business: Subcommittees: Audit: No update. CIP: No update. Budget: Met with Brian Eagle and Yogen Chemburkar to introduce Brian as the new FINCOM representative to the school budget efforts. Facilities: Met last week to discuss the facilities organizational chart and to review/update our property rental agreements. Policy: Working on homework policy. New Business: Special Education Director Job Description: It has been some time since the special education director job description has been updated. Modifications have been made to clearly define the role; expand the description to include additional tasks required and to eliminate responsibilities best handled elsewhere. Lynn Cavicchi asked Teresa to explain the difference between the old job title (Director of Pupil Services) with the new. Teresa explained that in the past most districts included responsibilities for transportation; guidance counselors, etc. The role now focuses primarily on special education. The job has been posted; resumes are coming in. After February vacation, the search committee will review resumes and send a list of initial candidates to Teresa. included on the search team are Jocelyn LeMaire (Human Resources); Dawn Low (SEPAL); Linda Fernando (School Committee) along with staff. Motion to approve the new "Director of Special Education" job description by Jenn Walsh / Linda Fernando Motion Carries 5 - 0. Page 2 of 5 Approved 2-27-18 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, February 6, 2018 Town Hall, Room 3ab Field Trip Approvals: Motion to Approve MHS History competition students to College Park, MD (if qualified to compete) by Linda Fernando/ Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 5- 0 Motion to Approve Percussion to Cranston, RI by Linda Fernando/ Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 5- 0 Motion to Approve Color Guard to Cranston, RI by Linda Fernando/ Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 5- 0 Motion to Approve Percussion to Dover, NH by Linda Fernando/ Jean Walsh Motion Carries 5- 0 Motion to Approve MHS Senior All Night Party by Linda Fernando/ Jean Walsh Motion Carries S- 0 School Choice: School Choice is a MA DESE program that allows schools to open up enrollment to out of town students. Each year, the school committee must vote whether or not to be a school choice district. In the past the school committee has voted no. (Mansfield does not accept school choice students; however, Mansfield students can attend other school choice districts.) The committee has asked the district to do an in-depth review of the program. Tonight the district will provide some detail so that the committee can vote at a future meeting. Included in the packet is a summary of the program including school choice districts; the basics of school choice; the steps to be taken and details about our current enrollment. Ed Donoghue has experience working with school choice as many of the Cape Cod communities participate. Teresa reviewed our enrollment trends and noted that we have cut teachers to reflect the declines in elementary school. At the middle school, a team has been cut; staff was reduced or moved to new specials classes. There are still some specials classes that have high roster numbers. Ed pointed out some key items. Mansfield would not provide transportation to school choice students. Any special education costs would be billed back to the original district. This would include any special education bus transportation. Once any student is accepted as school choice, the district must continue to educate that student through graduation. Mansfield can limit school choice to certain grades and to certain numbers. Any requests beyond the number would be handled via lottery. There are 12 students who live in Mansfield who participate in school choice by attending other district communities. Mansfield is responsible for paying the $5000 per student cost to those towns. Money spent on outgoing school choice comes out of the General Town Funds; Revenue from school choice comes directly to the school department. Kiera asked how discipline would work. Ed stated that we cannot identify a student as school choice. In other words, once the student arrives, they are treated exactly like a Mansfield resident. Discipline would be handled the same; we cannot send a student back to their original district. Student address should not be factored in to any decisions except special education. Page 3 of 5 Approved 2-27-18 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, February 6, 2018 Town Hall, Room 3ab Lynn asked if there was any screening process for new students. While registering for school choice, Mansfield can NOT screen or cherry pick students. Kiera asked if anyone knew how Norton has fared with school choice. According to Teresa, Norton has had a positive experience. They had been experiencing significant decline in enrollment. Kiera asked if there were restriction on how the money was spent. Ed indicated that the money should be allocated for the schools impacted. For example if we open up grades 7 and 8 then incoming funds should be allocated to the middle school. Lauren pointed out that it should not be use for non educational items, for example facilities. Kiera noted that sports could be tricky. What is the impact to in -town students, if out of town students take roster spots. Yes, that could happen. Once the student registers, they are considered a Mansfield student. Kiera asked Teresa her thoughts and whether or not there were downfalls to consider. Teresa noted that although our enrollment has declined, the student needs have increased due to social emotional needs; socio economic needs; English language learner needs. Teachers are challenged to meet these needs. We do want to be a welcoming community; however, we want to ensure that we can continue to provide excellent service to all. We have just reached the point where we are recovering from the severe budget cuts 8 — 10 years ago. Enrollment numbers do not tell the whole story and the district will continue to review. Kiera asked if towns can offer school choice to only their staff. Jenn Walsh did not believe this would be allowed per state law. Ed said other districts manage this through collective bargaining rather than school choice. Lauren asked if the state has ever offered a rate increase since it has been stagnant for so long. No rate increases are expected. Teresa suggests that we hold off a vote as long as possible to allow the district to monitor upcoming registrations for the new school year. Lynn Cavicchi pointed out that we would need to hold a public hearing prior to making a final decision. Roland Green Additional Class: Enrollment numbers are increasing (mostly for special education students.) We are proposing an increase to classroom discussion by adding 3 afternoons per week. We will not hire an additional teacher but will expand the hours of a current staff member. A paraprofessional will also receive extra hours to cover the new class. It is possible, that we may need to add additional para hours in the spring. Facilities Department: Page 4 of 5 Approved 2-27-18 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, February 6, 2018 Town Hall, Room 3ab Ed Donoghue explained that the district is in need of a custodial supervisor primarily to manage the second shift custodial staff. Currently 5 custodians work during the day and 17 work the evening shift. By adding this position, Matt Jacques can focus on facilities management. This will not require an additional FTE; A current position would be eliminated. Lauren Scher asked if this model was typical of other districts. Matt Jacques responded that it varies by district. His hope is that by setting up this new position, Mansfield will set clear expectations to the custodial staff. Teresa noted that we had a similar model in the past where we had a custodial supervisor and a facilities supervisor. At that time the two positions were peers; in the new model the custodial supervisor would report to the director of facilities. A motion to approve the job description for the custodial supervisor by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 5 - 0 2018-19 School Calendar., Tonight is the first reading of the 2018-19 proposed calendar. Key points: Professional development is always tricky as half days are difficult for parents but much needed for staff. Teresa is proposing that the Wednesday prior to Thanksgiving be a full day off from school rather than a half day. Kiera asked if it were possible to hold 1/2 day conferences for Robinson and JJ on the same day. The district will look into this. The district will meet with school staff to finalize curriculum nights, conference days and professional development days. Upcoming Agenda Items: 2/13 workshop at 6:00 pm 2/14 meeting with Board of Selectmen New School Committee Business: None Documents Referenced: Special Education Director job description Custodial Supervisor job description School Choice background information 2018-19 draft calendar Motion to adjourn: At 9:02 p.m., Motion to adjourn by Linda Fernando / lenn Walsh Motion U.C. S-0 Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Secretary to the Superintendent & School Committee Page 5 of 5