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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm 03/27/2018Approved 04-10-18 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, March 27, 2018 RECEIVED Town Hall, Room 3ab TWUH CLERKS OFFICE �Qi8 PAY -3 P 2; 28 An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held in room 3 B o the Town Hall on Tuesday, March 27, 2018. The open meeting session was reconvened after e)C0AtkV Fs ign and called to order by Kiera O'Neil at 7:02 pm. M A S S ik C. 1�-I LJ S ET T S Members Present: Administration Present: Kiera O'Neil Teresa Murphy, Superintendent of Schools Lynn Cavicchi Edward Donoghue, Assistant Superintendent (Finance/Operations) Linda Fernando Lauren Scher Members Absent: Jenn Walsh Video Recordine: Dana Hourigan, 15 Evans Circle; Richard Gay, 52 Jake's Way (part of meeting) Communications: None Superintendent's Report: Teresa announced the retirement of Trish Keighley, Speech and Language Therapist at Jordan/Jackson effective the end of this year. Report to continue after other administrative updates. Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations: Edward Donoghue provided an update on water testing results and remedies. Issues were district wide though the bulls of the problems were at Robinson. When results were provided, Teresa Murphy sent a letter to all staff and parents providing them with the issue and what was being done short term. Immediately, any bubbler affected was shut down. At Robinson water fill stations were provided. The facilities department has ordered sample bubblers and will install one at Robinson and one at QMS. Further testing will be done to make sure the issues were with the units and not with the piping. If tests are ok then additional units will be installed. For the short term, the district will add water filling stations at QMS. It should be noted that the water filtration/filling stations at MHS are ok. These have filters which are changed regularly. Lynn Cavicchi asked how the district had notified students. Other than emails to parents and staff, it was unclear how each school announced the information to students. Lynn asked if there were state mandates on testing frequency. Ed Donoghue said that districts must test one building per year on a rotating basis. He will work with Facilities to put a testing plan in place and to report any mediation to the state. The district is responsible for all costs incurred. Student Advisory Committee: Cyrus Bernstein provided an update on events at Mansfield High School. There was a senior field trip to a performance in Othello in Providence. Students enjoyed the show and were very engaged in the performance. On March 22, the students held a calm and respectful walkout in honor of the Parkland, Florida shooting victims. 2018 MCAS testing has started. The MHS Quiz show aired on PBS. Mansfield was one of 16 schools to make it to the television round. Page 1 of 6 Approved 04-10-I8 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, March 27, 2018 Town Hall, Room 3ab Superintendent's Report Continued: Lee Tighe (grade 5) introduced two of her students who created a presentation on Kindness. They have been on a "tour" of the school, presenting to classrooms. Tonight they presented "Kindness - The Word of the Day" to school committee. The students are: Alicenne Gay and Vanessa Petrucci. The girls received high praise from administration and school committee. Teresa Murphy joined the girls and their parents for a photo. Approval of Warrant: Warrants Warrant #'s Dates Amount Salary & Wages 2018-16 02/09/18 1,635,708.02 Goods & Services 2018-1027 02/13/18 424,062.65 Salary & Wages 2018-17 02/24/18 1,659,019.00 Goods & Services 2018-1029 02/27/18 708,687.42 $ 4,427,477.09 Motion to approve the warrant by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Motion Carries 4 - 0 Approval of Minutes: Open Session Minutes from Board of Selectmen Meeting 2-14-18 Motion to approve the minutes by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Motion Carries 4 - 0 Open Session Minutes of 2-27-18 Motion to approve the minutes by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Motion Carries 3 - 0 - 1 (Linda Fernando abstained; was absent from meeting) Executive Session Minutes of 2-27-18 Motion to approve the minutes by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Motion Carries 4 - 0 Old Business: Subcommittees: Audit: No update. CIP: Met on Thursday, March 22. Will continue to meet to finalize CIP prior to Town Meeting. Budget: Attended a meeting with FINCOM on Thursday, March 22. Provided an update on our budget. Facilities: Meeting on Wednesday, March 281h scheduled. Policv: In progress. New Business: 2017-18 School Calendar: Page 2 of 6 Approved 04-10-18 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, March 27, 2018 Town Hall, Room 3ab Teresa presented the district's request to add an early release day on April 27, 2018 in order to make up for the day lost in March due to snow. The district staff missed a critical day of training. Events that had been planned include: Training on new elementary literacy model- At JJ, it would not cost us to pay the vendor for the makeup day. However, staff would need to be realigned and subs would be needed at some cost. At Robinson, the training would have to be moved to next fall at an additional cost $4000. At the High School, they were holding "Ed Camp" with a variety of opportunities for staff. School psychologists were to meet on the new DESE reporting procedures. Teresa feels that we can't work around the current schedule and would be very appreciative of a new half day. She understands the negative impact this would have on parents and students. However, it is critical to our staff success. Lauren Scher asked if this would be an additional half day. No,this will replace the half day lost with a new half day. Kiera O'Neil emphasized the importance of communicating this information to parents, students and staff if approved. Motion to approve April 27, 2018 as a professional development day / early release day by Linda Fernando/Lauren Scher Motion Carries 4 — 0 2018-19 School Calendar: After the approval of the 2018-19 calendar, Roland Green staff requested a change to their conference dates to better align with report cards. Typically, Roland Green conferences were held on the same day as Jordan/Jackson but that schedule will not work next year. Dates proposed were Dec 6 & 7; April 3 &4. Lauren Scher asked if Roland Green could reconsider the dates to align with Robinson. She is concerned with adding half days for parents. Item tabled; no motion. Proposed Reductions to FYI Budget: Ed Donoghue provided an update to the budget planning. The School budget was approved in December. The Finance Committee and John Stanbrook, Town Accountant proposed overall spending cuts to the town budget. In order to meet that request, the district is recommending the following changes to the school budget: 1. Modify Trash Vendor for a savings of $50,000. 2. Move much of the HVAC maintenance to trained internal staff rather than outside contractors for a savings of $100,000. 3. Reduce transportation costs by cutting the number of buses due to lower enrollment for a savings of $115,000. The new proposed budget total is $50,442,599, a $265,000 cut from the original budget proposal. The new budget figure represents a 2.7% increase over the FY18 budget. The modification required a vote by school committee. Motion to approve the revised FY19 budget amount of $50,442,599 by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Motion Carries 4 — 0. Page 3 of 6 Approved 04-10-18 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, March 27, 2018 Town Hall, Room 3ab Kiera thanked everyone for their cooperation. We are fortunate to have been able to work closely with the town and balance the budget early. Lauren Scher reminded everyone that there are still items that did not make the budget. She wants to make sure the district remains focused on trying to get those positions at some point. Teresa agreed, she presented those positions at the last FinCom meeting. Policy: Lynn brought forward policies related to school committee structure (realigning the definition of subcommittees and including descriptions of said committees.) One policy pertains to the opt out language required for student screenings. Code Title Notes Action Motion Motion Vote 1 2 BDE Subcommittees Participation in subcommittees Amend LF LS 4-0 BDE-R Subcommittees Description of subcommittees New LF LS 4-0 BDFB/ Representation No change BDFB-R on External Committees JICG/ Alcohol, Tobacco Revision to align with MASC Amend LF LS 4-0 JICH or Substance recommendations and Christing Abuse by Dooling regarding notification and Students opt out of surves School Committee webpage will be modified to reflect changes in subcommittees. Opt out language must be added to handbooks. Superintendent Teresa Murphy Entry Plan: A new superintendent in a school district is required to complete an Entry Plan. This effort starts upon entry and cumulates with a presentation to School Committee. From there, the superintendent, district and school committee move forward with district goals and school improvement plans. The plan is titled "Entry Plan: Report of Findings Related to the Instructional Core Collaborate to Achieve" Teresa reviewed the district vision statement, which she noted is not well publicized. She would like to make this more visible. The district has had several core beliefs. Teresa would like to see us articulating these core beliefs. As part of the entry plan process, Teresa listened to stakeholders including members of the 2017 graduating class, PAC, MESA, staff, students, parents. She hired new leadership team members including FIR director, Assistant Superintendent of Teaching and Learning, Assistant Superintendent of Finance and Operations, Facilities Director. For each of these, she worked on new job descriptions, reviewed applicants, interviewed and overall learned a lot about what it takes to be a successful school district. She reviewed documents by working closely with policies, job descriptions, playground report, Tighe & Bond recommendations, NEASC report, etc. Finally she collaborated with leadership team members. She has learned a great deal about the talents and skills of our individuals. Teresa summarized her findings into four themes, noting for each strengths and challenges: Teaching & Learning in MPS Strengths- District rankings continue to improve, Efforts to advance S.T.E.M. involving students, teachers, administrators, parents and the community highlighted by the JJ S.T.E.M fair and the G8 Page 4 of 6 Approved 04-10-18 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, March 27, 2018 Town Hall, Room 3ab S.T.E.M. day. Teacher leadership is valued as was shown in the bottom up approach to choosing a new elementary reading program. Challenges- Need shared expectations, becoming difficult to differentiate in classroom due to growing needs, catching up after a decade of low staffing at central office. Social & Emotional Learning Strengths- Many resources and programs available, many new student programs added. Challenges- Increase of students with social, emotional and behavioral issues, need a systemic program PREK -12 Family and Community Partnerships Strengths- Financial generosity, collaboration among town departments, supportive business community, Health and Wellness Council Challenges- Managing the generous donations, social media Resource Allocation Strengths- Campus setting, special education reserve account, free full day kindergarten, new elementary literacy model Challenges- Time, Smaller class sizes requested, aging facilities, academic support, and bridge programs for students out for extended time. Kiera asked if there were any surprises. Teresa noted the number of questions, comments and concerns posed to her regarding social / emotional learning. Linda was very appreciative of her summary and said it was important for everyone to hear. Lauren noted that it would be nice to roll this into 3 - 5 strategic objectives as a multi-year plan. Teresa will review. Lynn pointed out that the state law dictates a 1 year action plan. Lynn also pointed out that it would be good for the district to define social -emotional. It is a term used frequently and broadly. Upcoming Agenda Items: April 10: Next school committee meeting April 12: Joint meeting with Board of Selectmen and Finance Committee. Kiera and Lauren will be absent. April 24: Budget Hearing as part of regular school committee meeting. Public notification in newspapers required. June 19: School Committee meeting to discuss school improvement plans. Kiera is not available. Will look into changing date of meeting. Lynn asked if we would review the dates of the superintendent evaluation cycle. When should the committee be looking at goal setting? New School Committee Business: None Documents Referenced: Kindness Presentation 2017-18 draft calendar 2018-19 draft calendar FY19 Revised Budget numbers Page 5 of 6 Approved 04-10-18 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, March 27, 2018 Town Hall, Room 3ab Superintendent Entry Plan and Presentation Motion to adjourn: At 8:31 p.m., Motion to adjourn by Linda Fernando / Lauren Scher Motion U.C. 4-0 Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Secretary to the Superintendent & School Committee Page 6 of 6