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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm. 06/19/2018Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, June 19, 2 3' V11 Town Hall, Room 3ab 7616 SEP 20 A !a- 55 Approved 9-4-18 RECEIVED CLERKS OFFICE An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held in room Y$ d of[,Hall on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. The open meeting session was called to orifi by'L`yi1 CatIi at 7:02 p.m. Members Present: Administration Present: Lynn Cavicchi acting chair Teresa Murphy, Superintendent of Schools Linda Fernando Michael Connolly, Assistant Superintendent (Teaching/Learning) Lauren Scher Edward Donoghue, Assistant Superintendent (Finance/Operations) Jenn Walsh Members Absent: Kiera O'Neil Video Recordine: None Communications: None Superintendent Report: Our end of year enrollment was down approximately 70 students from the same time last year. Enrollment changes have resulted in the district moving a 4th grade teacher to a 3rd grade classroom. Special education needs at Robinson have increased. We will be adding a new special education classroom to meet the needs of some of our incoming students. The current teacher to student ratio is too high. Kindergarten registration is going well. We show 216 students registered but anticipate summer additions. Teresa spoke the budget subcommittee and expressed her desire to lower kindergarten class sizes. She recommended adding a teacher now so we can prepare. Late retirements will allow us to shift resources. Linda Fernando supported the need for smaller class sizes. Lynn Cavicchi asked if there would be additional cost in adding classrooms. Teresa indicated the materials cost remains the same regardless of the number of class rooms. We do have a classroom and furniture already available for use. Lynn asked if we could move a teacher rather than add. Teresa indicated we have already done that by moving the 4th grade teacher and cutting teams last year at the middle school. Teresa introduced Zachary Abrams as the new Assistant Special Education Director of Secondary Education. Zachary spoke briefly thanking the committee and letting them know he was enthusiastic to get started on July 151. Approval of Minutes: Open Session Minutes of 6-5-18 Motion to approve the minutes by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 4 - 0 Old Business: Committee Updates: Page 1 of 4 Approved 9-4-18 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, June 19, 2018 Town Hall, Room 3ah Audit: No update CIP: No update Budget: No update Facilities: Met last week to discuss the new facilities rental agreement. Policy: No update New Business: Sandy Hook Promise - Anonymous tip hotline. Teresa asked Ken Wright to attend this evening to discuss the new anonymous tip line that we will be adding to our school district. We have already incorporated "Signs of Suicide' to our district and now we are adding the "Say Something" component. Ken Wright spoke about the program. One of the frequent questions in active shooter trainings is "Is there a way to anonymously report an issue of concern?" The "Say Something" effort is rolling out across the country. It will be manned 24/7 by trained crisis counselors. If the tip is life threatening then there will be an immediate call to the police and a Mansfield School Employee (tbd). If it is not life threatening then the Mansfield school staff will receive a text on the following day. There is zero cost to us. The district is working on a Memorandum of Understanding with the vendor prior to implementation. Ken likes the program a lot and feels that it is worth implementing. The vendor indicates to us that with past schools, the call log is very small. Calls are anonymous. However, if there is a false report that requires investigation, we would be able to subpoena the police for call logs. Charges could be filed. Questions regarding privacy, compassion, parental involvement were discussed. Ken referred the committee to the packet of information that discusses all items of implementation and use. Teresa offered to do some additional research if the school committee had concerns. Initially this will be rolled out for grades 6 - 12. Upon use, the district will determine if it will be expanded across the district. Lynn wants to be sure that we coordinate all of our safety/bullying tools in use. The rollout will occur starting in the fall. Assemblies will be held and then additional support may be offered in health class. In addition, Ken would like to see additional lockdown drills. Lauren Scher wants us to make sure we let students know that they can still talk to an adult. Not everything needs to be anonymous. Ken agreed and pointed out that he wants to start some after school accounts related to safety and social emotional well being. Lauren asked if we could roll out prior to parent curriculum nights. Linda Fernando asked if would be able to monitor calls as an evaluation tool. Facilities Rental Agreement: Matt Jacques started by introducing Patrick Lambrecht in the new role of Custodial Supervisor. He will be spending most of his immediate time planning and managing summer projects. Patrick thanked the district for the opportunity. The rental agreement for the upcoming school year was reviewed by the facilities subcommittee. Some of the new additions to the contract are: Better contact information; the creation of a permit Page 2 of 4 Approved 9-4-18 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, June 19, 2018 Town Hall, Room 3ab or acknowledgement back to the requestor to verify the reservation; deposit request for big rentals or for new vendors, the addition of late fees, revised cancelation policy, maintenance fees. Minor corrections were suggested by the committee. The committee will approve pending review by our attorney. Lynn asked if we could move toward an online process in the future. Motion to approve the new Facilities Agreement (as modified) by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 4 - 0 Facilities Update on Summer Projects: Getting the schools ready for day one while working around schedules for CHAMPS, summer school, summer institutes, and teacher setup. • Replace the south side bleachers • Replacement of asphalt and sidewalks at J/J • Sealcoating at QMS and Robinson • Concrete project at MHS • Small capital items at each school • Electrical Panels at MHS (planning for fall) • Water bubbler replacements Facilities Job Descriptions: • HVAC • Custodian • Groundskeeper Motion to approve the new Facilities job descriptions by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 4 - 0 Director of Digital Learning: Michael Connolly spoke of this new position. With Joshua Rapozza's retirement, the district had an opportunity to restructure the position. Michael Connolly researched other school districts and held an exit interview with Joshua for his opinion. After extensive research, Michael is proposing that we hire a Director of Digital Learning which will enable us to move our technology forward in a positive direction. The person will be hired as director with no staff at the beginning. As the district moves forward then other positions will be added as needed. Linda Fernando asked how the job would be posted. Michael suggested that the job be posted school spring, Indeed, MASSCue network and internally. She also appreciated that the role is elevated to director. How do we setup this person to succeed in the new role? Per Mr. Connolly: now a full year position, professional development opportunities, planning to occur over the summer. Lynn Cavicchi is very supportive of this new position. Motion to approve the new Facilities job descriptions by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 4 - 0 Financial Operations Supervisor. Ed Donoghue would like to clarify the role that Deb Scott holds in the business office. By changing ti- - her job description and title, we can better reflect her leadership role. Page 3 of 4 Approved 9-4-18 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, June 19, 2018 Town Hall, Room 3ab Motion to approve the new Financial Operations Supervisor job description by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 4 - 0 MHS Booster Project Updates: Joe Russo discussed the upcoming fundraising efforts and planned projects. A comedy night will be held in September. Money raised from this event will be used to build a new trophy case at MHS. We have run out of room and many things are in storage. It will be nice to have this completed to honor the 50th anniversary of MHS. The bleacher project will also be funded by the MHS boosters. The old bleachers will be removed and new design and structures put in place. Going forward it will be our new "home" side. Lynn Cavicchi asked if we could be more strategic with our gift donations. There should be an overall facilities plan and someone to oversee individual proposals. Efforts can be coordinated and ongoing maintenance needs and costs can be evaluated prior to any installation. Upcoming Agenda Items: Citizens Comments: New School Committee Business: Other- Items not anticipated by the Chair 48 hours prior to this meeting Documents Referenced: "Say Something" anonymous tip hotline Job descriptions Motion to adjourn: At 8:28 p.m., Motion to adjourn the open meeting by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 4 - 0. Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Secretary to the Superintendent & School Committee Page 4 of 4