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Home My WebLink About2021-01-21 School Committee Minutes HECEIVED Tn ;`JN CLERK ,. Town of Reading Q = Meeting Minutes LUTA. � � t021 t; -s Rn If: ao Board - Committee - Commission - Council: School Committee Date: 2021-01-21 Time: 6:00 PM Building: Location: Address: Session: Open Session Purpose: Open Session Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: Chuck Robinson, John Parks, Tom Wise, Carla Nazzaro and Shawn Brandt Members - Not Present: Erin Gaffen Others Present: Superintendent John Doherty, Assistant Superintendent Chris Kelley, CFO Gail Dowd, Director of Student Services Jen Stys, Human Resourses Director Kerry Meisinger, Director Chris Nelson Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Samantha LaPierre on behalf of the Chair Topics of Discussion: 1. Call to Order Chair Robinson opened the meeting and announced the School Committee was meeting in a virtual setting,fully remote via Zoom,practicing social distancing and in accordance with the Governor's suspension of certain open meeting laws. Chair Robinson announced the meeting would begin with School Committee in open session and then adjourn to the public hearing on the FY22 budget at 7:OOpm to open for public comment,The meeting was being recorded and broadcast live on RCTV. The Chair called attendance: Mr. Robinson—here Dr. Doherty—here Mr. Parks-here Mrs. Dowd—here Mr. Wise—here Mrs. Kelley-here Mrs.Nazzaro—here Dr. Stys—here Mrs.Gaffen—not in attendance Mr.Brandthere Mr. Robinson called open session order at 6:00 p.m.and reviewed the agenda. A. Public Input Mr.Robinson explained that for public comment,please use the live chat feature on the Zoom link which will be posted on the Superintendent's Bing and sent out via Connect Ed prior to the meeting. Page I i In lieu of the live chat,you may send an email in advance of the meeting to schootcommittm(a),reading.kl2.ma.us This email will be included in the next packet. B. Consent Agenda Mr. Robinson asked if the committee wanted any items removed from the consent agenda. Approval of Minutes. (January 14,2021) Mr.Wise moved,motion was seconded,to approve the consent agenda.The roll call vote carried 5-0.Mr.Wise,Mr. Parks,Mrs. Nazaro,Mr.Brandt,and Mr. Robinson. C. Reports There were no staff or student reports School Committee Mrs. Carla NaZZaro reported that the live stream for winter sports is now live.The field house was live as of Tuesday 1/19/21,and the ice rink is coming.RCTV asked if there were any parents willing to film the games in the field house and ice rink.As of now,the cameras are stationary,but RCTV is willing to train any volunteers to use the cameras to move as the action moves.If there are any interested volunteers,please contact Angela at RCTV-angela(aDrctv.com. Mr.Robinson thanked staff and volunteers for all of their hard work,and for their dedication during the superintendent search. Mr.Robinson also thanked Mrs.Chris Kelley and Mrs. Dowd for their updates. D. New Business Additional FY22 Budget Information Dr. Doherty presented the FY22 Superintendent recommended budget presentation. Please see slides. He reports that due to the uncertainty around Fiscal 2022 and the impact it could have on Extended Day enrollment, we needed to reassess the impact to the budgeted offsets. In order to address the current year decreased enrollment and uncertainty in next year's enrollment, we are recommending adjustments be made to the operating budget for fiscal 2022. The adjustments were reviewed with the members of the Central Office Leadership team and were also discussed with our District Leadership Team. Director Nelson discussed positive progress with the program since his hire. Unfortunately,COVID-19 introduced challenges. Initial projects seemed good. However,cohort and phased starts as a response to COV ID-19 impacted the revenues. Dr.Doherty,Assistant Superintendent Kelly,CFO Dowd and Director Nelson had to make tough decisions. They decided to eliminate three staff,reducing the central office staffing from four to one. They also decided they had to shut down the Before School Program and the RISE @ the High School After School program due to low enrollment. They are also examining the After School programs to right size the staff to student ratio with safety in mind. They are optimistic about a return to a full program—both Before Page 1 2 and After School programs for FY22. As of now,they have about 230 families already registered for next year. Assistant Superintendent Mrs. Kelley explained that enrollment numbers impact the overall budget. She is hopeful to be back full-time in the fall,and confident they will be able to continue to provide a successful program. Mrs. Gail Dowd presented the impact on FY21 Budget.She reported that in FY21,there is currently an offset for$175,000 from the Extended Day Revolving Account reflected within the Operating Budget,as well as a$25,000 offset to the Town. She explained that they would be proposing a decrease to the current year offsets at a future school committee meeting as we review and present each Revolving Account. Mrs.Dowd and her team have reviewed the current yew projection and are currently comfortable with being able to absorb the current year request to decrease through savings in other areas due to the savings resulting from staff turnover,regular day transportation savings, substitute savings and expense savings across several areas.Based upon the revised projections provided by Assistant Superintendent Kelley and Director Nelson we should be able to satisfy the offset to the Town,but will work with the Town Manager if the situation changes. Chat Question from Marianne Downing, 12 Heather Drive. "crary idea, could we offer any of these laid off office staff and/or extended day staff, jobs as paras in the high school to staff satellite rooms this would allow them to keep and/or qualifyfor health care benefits, and then maybe ifextended day comes back in the fall, they can get their old jobs back and hopefully we would not need paras to staffsatellite rooms." Mrs.Dowd indicated that those positions were offered to those who had their hours reduced or were laid off. E. FY22 Budget Presentation-Questions Mr.Robinson turned it over to Mrs. Gail Dowd to discuss the School Committee questions for the FY22 budget.Mrs.Dowd reports that all questions and answers were included in the packet for review and she would take any additional questions about the Q&A. Mr.John Parks asked questions about School Rentals with respect to Town camps this coming summer. Mrs.Dowd mentioned this was still on pause. Mrs. Dowd mentioned this is an ongoing dialogue with the Town Manager on fees received from recreation for use of school facilities. Mr.Parks asked to be kept in the loop as we hear more information. Mr.Tom Wise thanked Mrs. Dowd for her in depth responses to the questions. Mr.Robinson thanked Mrs. Dowd and asked Dr.Doherty to start his Winter Hybrid Update. F. Old Business Winter Hybrid Leamine Update Dr. Doherty provided a Winter Hybrid Update: Please see slides.Dr. Doherty gave an update on the cases this week,and the action being taken to keep all students and staff Page 13 safe. Dr. Doherty provided an athletic update-one team was quarantined this week due to a positive case,the Middlesex league continues with a no spectator rule,live-streaming is now available in the Field House,and equipment is being installed at Burbank to begin live streaming in the ice rink. Dr. Doherty gave an update on Pooled Testing.The tentative plan is to test in person students/and staff during in person weeks and follow up testing for positive cases on Fridays.He reported that all athletics and extra-curricular will be required to participate in pooled testing. Dr.Doherty reported that the Flu Vaccine is no longer mandatory for students and staff,and Mrs.Dowd provided a brief update on Covid-19 vaccine distribution. Mr.Wise motioned to recess the regular school committee meeting,and open to public hearing. Mr Wise moved,seconded by Mr.Brandt,to move to the Public Hearing on the FY22 Budget The roll call vote carried 5-0. Mr. Parks,Mrs.Namara,Mr.Wise. Mr.Brandt and Mr.Robinson. G. Public Hearing There were no questions during the public hearing. Mr Wise moved,seconded by Mr.Brandt,to adjourn from the Public Hearing on the FY22 Budget. The roll call vote carried 5-0. Mr.Parks,Mrs.Nmntaro,Mr. Wise Mr. Brandt and Mr. Robinson. Public Hearing adjourned at 7:03 p.m. Dr. Doherty resumed his Winter Hybrid Update 1. Routine Matters a. Bills and Pa roll Warren[S2128 1 1/7/2021 $170,713.03 b. Calendar 2. Information/Correspondence 3. Future Business 4. Adioumment Adioum Mr Wise moved,seconded by Mr. Brandt.to adjourn. The roll call vote carried 5-0. Mr.Parks,Mrs.Nazzaro,Mr.Wise,Mr.Brandt and Mr.Robinson. The meeting adjourned at 7:37 p.m. NOTE: The minutes reflect the order as stated in the posted meeting agenda not the order they occurred during the meeting. Link to meeting video: School Committee 01-21-2021 -YouTube Page 1 4