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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSchool Comm 05/22/2018Approved 06-05-18 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, May 22, 2018 Town Hall, Room 3abRECEIVED Ct-0 F F I C E An Open Meeting of the Mansfield School Committee was held'? pu p3`eiC of the Town Hall on Tuesday, May 22, 2018. The open meeting session was recon vened a er ec ion and called to order by Kiera O'Neil at 7:02 p.m. E I," :;1. r-�- 19, . Members Present: Administration Present: `�`R'>S'Ai i,, -FTT5 Kiera O'Neil Teresa Murphy, Superintendent of Schools Lynn Cavicchi Michael Connolly, Assistant Superintendent (Teaching/Learning) Linda Fernando Lauren Scher Jenn Walsh Members Absent: None Video Recordine: None Communications: None A moment of silence was held to pay respect to the Stoughton High School students who died in a weekend car accident. Superintendent Report: Teresa Murphy announced that Amy Gaudette was chosen as Teacher of the Year by the Mansfield VFW. Amy is a special education teacher at the Qualters Middle School and is well deserving of the honor. As part of our partnership with the Mansfield Council on Aging, one of our 3rd grade classes visited with our seniors sharing stories, artwork and songs. It was a successful day and well received by our Mansfield elders. Approval of Minutes: Open Session Minutes of 5-8-18 Motion to approve the minutes by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 5 - 0 Executive Session Minutes of 5-8-18 Motion to approve the minutes by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 5 - 0 Gifts: We have received two gifts for our CHAMPS Summer Institute. Harbor One, a long time sponsor of our summer program, donated $5000. West Side Benevolent Society donated $1100 to the program. We are very appreciative of these donations. A portion of the money will be used for scholarships. Page 1 of 5 Approved 06-05-18 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, May 22, 2018 Town Hall, Room 3ab Old Business: Committee Updates: Audit: Meeting scheduled for 5/24/18 CIP: No update Budget: Met to discuss end of year spending and prep work for Town Meeting presentation. Facilities: Will meet in June. Policy: No update New Business: Contractfor Teresa Murphy: The committee met in Executive Session to discuss changes to Teresa's contract for year two. The committee agreed on a 2.25% ($4250) increase and will extend the contract by one year to 2021. Jenn Walsh motioned to approve the 2.25% increase and one year extension changes to Teresa Murphy's contract. Linda Fernando seconded. Motion Carries 5 - 0. The committee thanked Teresa for her efforts and accomplishments this year. Teresa thanked the committee for the contract updates. Appointment of Teresa Murphy to RICO 2018-19: Bi -County Collaborative Board requires that participating school districts appoint a representative annually. A motion to appoint Teresa Murphy to the BICO Board for 2018-19 was made by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh. Motion Carries 5 - 0. Student Handbooks: Michael Connolly opened by discussing the process that the district followed in updating handbooks. Recommendations were made by school committee, school councils, administration and staff. Proposed changes were completed by assistant principals and reviewed with Teresa Murphy and Michael Connolly. MHS- Joshua Fogel with Mary Watkins: Joshua walked through a high level list of changes based on policy deletions, policy changes and school recommendations (see proposed change list.) Discussion was held on the discipline language changes. Josh pointed out that MHS is removing language that allows students to appeal short term suspensions (less than 10 days) to match state guidelines. Students and parents still have a voice. However, the incident to consequence timeline is tightened for more effective discipline. Lynn Cavicchi noted that the handbook discipline language is very confusing. It is not clear to the reader what handbook language relates to what state laws. Additionally, district discipline policy does not match the handbooks. She would like to see the district create consistency between the law - district policy - handbooks. Mary noted that this is doable but would take some time. Discussion was held on the dress code. MHS proposed changes to remove stigmas and reduce embarrassment while creating language that could be enforced. Staff will meet one on one with a student to discuss clothing issues to avoid embarrassing the student. The committee was concerned Page 2 of 5 Approved 06-05-I8 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, May 22, 2018 Town Hall, Room 3ab with item #3 (Clothing must be worn to cover the torso, shoulders, and pectoral area; undergarments must not be visible.) Do undergarments include bra straps? Can girls wear shirts with the shoulders cut out? Are tank tops acceptable? Mary Watkins was open to suggestions and flexibility but cautioned that if we are too vague, then it is difficult to enforce. Kiera O'Neil suggested that the sentence be changed to "must be worn to appropriately cover..." Kiera noted that restrictions on coats was removed and questioned whether there would be safety concerns. MHS administration did not feel that safety would be an issue. Students are often cold and others must leave the building for career pathways or Little Hornets so having a coat with them was more of a practical matter. Lynn asked if the tobacco free language matched policy. If not then the policy would need to be updated. This will be reviewed. Lynn noted that for excused absences, the district policy has items that are not currently reflected in the handbook (e.g. weather related and the need for advanced notice.) This will be reviewed. Lynn inquired about nurse dismissals and whether or not they should be considered excused. She explained a couple of scenarios. Teresa noted that this is a complicated process and will take some in depth review before handbooks and policy can be changed. This will be reviewed. Linda Fernando asked if policy designations can be made consistent across the handbook (e.g. use of #) On page 8, the word inline must be in line. Motion to approve the proposed changes to the MHS handbook by Linda Fernando/Jenn Walsh Motion carries S - 0 MHS- David McGovern with Suzanne Ryan: David walked through a high level list of changes based on policy deletions, policy changes and school recommendations (see proposed change list.) Many changes were in line with those made by MHS. A discussion was held on absences. Dave added language to clarify the definition of chronic absences. Lynn Cavicchi found this very helpful and asked if it could be added to the other handbooks. She asked that we compare the information on unexcused absences to policy similar to her question on MHS handbooks. Lauren liked the opening paragraph with definitions but felt it was too wordy. Linda Fernando suggested simple bullet items. Dave noted that the paragraph was originally setup with bullets but school council asked if the wording could duplicate the state mandated letters that are sent home to parents. Language was added for PBIS (Positive Behavior Incentive System.) QMS has modeled their approach after the elementary school and has taken some of this language from their handbook. On page 4, the first bullet item should read "Three universal" rather than "3 universal." Buzz Bucks should be prefaced with an e.g. Discipline changes were made to clarify the process. Language was reviewed with our attorney. Jenn Walsh noted that the high school removed language for appeals but the language remained for QMS. The appeal language remained only for the longterm suspensions (as it did for MHS.) Essentially our discipline language was copied from the high school. Lynn asked if we were now doing in school suspensions. According to Dave, QMS is holding in school suspensions though they are still working through the difficulty of providing enough staff to cover those days. MHS does not Page 3 of 5 Approved 06-05-15 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, May 22, 2018 Town Hall, Room 3ab currently hold in school suspensions. Lynn noted that the discipline for academic misconduct was too vague. She would like to see future handbook changes clarify the definition of"appropriate discipline." Lynn also noted that bus discipline needs to be reviewed so that handbooks, policies and transportation documentations all align. Dress code was discussed. The language is similar to MHS but is tailored for a younger student population. Administration would like to work with students and if needed, parents, on proper dress. The school is trying to avoid embarrassment for students. The administrative team and staff worked together on this language. Lynn appreciated the changes that were made; Linda is glad that stigmas are removed. Motion to approve the proposed changes to the QMS handbook by Linda Fernando/Jenn Walsh Motion carries 5 - 0 Elementary- Tanna Jango with Kerri Sankey and John Nieratko: Tanna presented her changes and noted that she will also include changes based on recommendations she has heard tonight from the committee. Regarding dismissals, Tanna added language to clarify bus drop off for students. Kindergarten students must have an adult present while grade 1 and 2 students do not require an adult for bus drop off. However, students can choose not to get off the bus if an adult is not there. This practice has been in place but was never documented. Tanna has researched other schools and found this to be a common practice. Lauren asked if bus drivers ask the 1st and 2„d graders if they are ok getting off the bus or if it is up to the students to approach the bus driver. Tanna said there was no official rule but that bus drivers and students typically have a good relationship so that the bus drivers have a good sense. Lynn asked if this documentation should go on the paperwork. It was acknowledged that the bus documentation needs to be reviewed for consistency but it wasn't clear whether or not this should be added to paperwork. This will be reviewed. Linda asked if older siblings or neighborhood students (babysitters) could be at pickup. There is no clear answer on this. It will typically be a case by case situation. The Robinson School Council did not have any input. Robinson may have to revisit this in the future. Motion to approve the proposed changes to the Elementary handbook by Linda Fernando/Jenn Walsh Motion carries 5 - 0 Lynn noted that all handbooks must be modified to match directory information at the district level. Michael Connolly noted the summarized meal language wording that will be added to each handbook. This summarized the new policy that was put into place regarding unpaid meal charges. Upcoming Agenda Items: June 5: School improvement Plans, Retirements, Student Activities (disbursement of funds and annual dollar amount limit vote), NEASC, Meeting Schedule for 2018-19 New School Committee Business: None Page 4 of 5 Mansfield School Committee Meeting Minutes for Tuesday, May 22, 2018 Town Hall, Room 3ab Documents Referenced: School Handbook Proposals Unpaid meal charges Approved 06-05-18 Motion to adjourn: At 8:28 p.m., Motion to adjourn the open meeting by Linda Fernando / Jenn Walsh Motion Carries 5 - 0. Respectfully Submitted, Diane Nugent, Secretary to the Superintendent & School Committee Page 5 of 5