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Home My WebLink About2021-04-01 School Committee Minutes Oq Town of Reading *RFC-EIVED Meeting Minutes R OAWDING, MA *�'T�9e IM{ORN�k Board - committee - commission - Council: 2021 JON 24 PM 3: 54 School Committee Date: 2021-04-01 Time: 7:00 PM Building: Location: Address: Session: Open Session Purpose: Open Session Version: Final Attendees: Members - Present: Chuck Robinson, Erin Gaffen, John Parks, Tom Wise, Carla Nazzaro and Shawn Brandt Members - Not Present: Others Present: Superintendent John Doherty, CFO Gail Dowd, Director of Student Services Jen Stys, Human Resourses Director Kerry Meisinger 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 Microsoft Teams,practicing social distancing and in accordance with the Governor's suspension of certain open meeting laws. 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 Dr. Stys—here Mrs.Nazzare—here Mrs. Gaffen—here Mr. Brandt—here Mr.Robinson called open session order at 7:00 p.m.and reviewed the agenda. A. Public Input Mr. Robinson explained that for public comment,please use the live chat feature on the Microsoft Teams link which will be posted on the Superintendent's Blog and sent out via Connect Ed prior to the meeting. In lieu of the live chat,you may send an email in advance of the meeting to schoolcommittee(,mading.kl2.ma.us This email will be included in the next packet. Page I 1 B. Consent Agenda Mr.Wise moved,seconded by Mm Nazzaro,to approve the Consent Aeenda. - Approval of Minutes 3-18-2021 The roll call vote carried 6-0.Mr.Parks,Mn.Nazzaro,Mrs.Gaffen,Mr. Brandt, Mr.Wise and Mr.Robinson. C. Reports Student No Report Director of Student Services No Report Assistant Superintendent No Report Human Resources Director No Report Chief Financial Officer No Report Superintendent No Report School Committee Mr. Parks—No Report Mr. Wise—No Report Mr. Brandt—No Report Mrs.Gaffen—No Report Mrs.Nazzaro-No Report Mr.Robinson—No Report D. New Business Birch Meadow Master Plan Presentation Kevin Bohmiller and Jenna Fiorente introduced Mark Novak from Activas. Mark shared his screen and presented the Birch Meadow Master Plan. Mark explained the detailed site analysis that was conducted in order to produce this plan.Activas received community Page 1 2 feedback from a number of stakeholder interviews,focus groups and surveys. They determined four main focus areas the community was looking for.These areas included more lighting, both sports and pedestrian;more passive recreational opportunities ie. walking trails;restrooms/concession buildings and more turf. Mark explained in detail the phasing options which he described as critical,sustainable and visionary. Critical projects are necessary maintenance and safety projects,the projects that were determined as critical included central spine and restrooms,the lacrosse wall,the Imagination Station parking lot,and the stadium. Sustainable projects are strategic changes to park facilities,these projects were determined to be Higgins Farm Conservation area,Birch Meadow Drive,Casten Field,Morton Field,the adventure ropes course,basketball courts little league fields, pickleball courts and administrative/ RISE parking lot.The visionary projects are described as a complete facility renovation which would improve the experience of the overall recreation system in town. Potential first implementation projects have been determined to be the Central Spine walkway and mstrooms/Pavilion.These two projects have been determined as priority because they will improve infrastructure and safety which are the highest priority to the Reading community. Intermunicipal Agreement with Wakefield—POST Program Gail Dowd explained the proposed three-year intermunicipal agreement between the Town of Reading and the Town of Wakefield to continue the Providing Opportunities for Successful Transition(POST)program,a post-secondary program for students with special education needs who are 18-22 years old.Because it is an intermunicipal agreement,the approval process includes votes by the School Committee and Select Board/Town Council from both communities. The POST Program is housed in the Town of Wakefield and provides experiential and educational opportunities in the areas of daily living,employment,community inclusion, recreation, leisure and real-world academic skills in order to promote successful transition to adulthood. The main goal for the program is for young adults to gain the necessary skills to become confident, independem,and integrated members in the Wakefield and Reading communities.The program focuses on the development of vocational and life skills,along with community,recreation and leisure skills. Due to the pandemic,students did not have as many opportunities to go on job sites. In past,job sites have included Lee Kimball in Reading,Melrose-Wakefield Hospital, Beebe Library,The Susan Bmdnick Center for Living,Wingate in Reading,RMS Student Services and RISE preschool. Prior to this year students also take trips into their community. Trips in the past have included a tour of the State House,the McAuliffe- Shepard Discovery Center in Concord,NH and hiking at the Ipswich Wildlife Sanctuary. The goal of these community outings is to work on travel training skills,money and tying community to current events. Students are working on self-advocacy,asking for help when they cannot find an item and purchasing items when they visit stores.The students are also getting together with other 18-22 programs in the area. A highlight for the students and the staff in the past has been the annual Thanksgiving Dinner that is prepared by the students and open to current students,alumni of the program, staff and administrators from both Districts. The program is staffed by employees of the Wakefield Public Schools.The staff includes 2 special education teachers and 4 job coach/paraprofessionals for the 12 students that are currently enrolled.During the 20-21 school year Reading had 2 students attend the program. Page 1 3 The proposed agreement continues to allow greater flexibility in cost share due to quarterly or annual fluctuations in enrollments(See section 4 of agreement).We are also looking at the possibility of trying to get additional communities to participate in the program,which will further reduce overall shared costs. This intermunicipal partnership allows our students to remain local, increase their social networks and access local internships.Merrimac Heights,a comparable program located in Merrimac,MA has a tuition of$84,761 per student for 180 days.The LABB collaborative offers a program in Lexington at a rate of$80,254 per student(this includes the summer program). Our agreement offers a high-quality program for our students as they transition from high school to their postsecondary experience. Mr. Wise moved,seconded by Mr. Parks,to approve the POST Proeram.The motion carried 6-0.Mr.Brandt,Mrs.Gaffen,Mn.Nazzaro.Mr.Parks,Mr.Wise and Mr. Robinson. Vote on Last Day of School Dr. Doherty asked the School Committee to vote on the last day of school based off of the two days this year and 170 student days which would change the date of the last day of school to June 21". Mr.Wise moved,seconded by Mrs. Nazzaro,to approve the last day of school to be June 2P 2021.The motion carried 6-0.Mr.Brandt,Mrs.Gaffen,Mrs.Nazzaro,Mr. Parks,Mr.Wise and Mr.Robinson. Birch Meadow Principal Search Process Dr.Doherty explained the timeline for the Birch Meadow Principal search process. He stated there would be a screening committee consisting of administrators,teachers, school secretary and parents. The position has been posted on wide variety of diversejob sites by HR Director Kerry Meisinger. The deadline to submit applications for this position is April 30,2021 and the fast round of candidate interviews is expected to being on May 6, 2021. Mr.Wise moved,seconded by Mrs.N=aro,to approve the Birch Meadow Principal process as stated in the Superintendents memo to the School Committee dated April 1,2021.The motion carried 6-0. Mr.Brandt,Mrs. Gaffen.Mrs. Nazzaro,Mr.Parks,Mr.Wise and Mr.Robinson. Superintendent Evaluation Chair Robinson discussed the Reading Public Schools Superintendent evaluation summative form which provided an overview of all of the committee members evaluations. Each individual evaluation is public record,they have been included in the packet which is available on the Reading Public Schools website.Chair Robinson provided the overall ratings for each section,and the key aspects that led to these ratings. Mr. Wise moved,seconded by Mr.Brandt,to approve the Superintendent's evaluation.The motion carried 6-0.Mr. Brandt,Mrs. Gaffen,Mrs. Nazzaro,Mr. Wise and Mr.Robinson. E. Old Business Spring In-Person Update Page 1 4 Dr.Doherty provided a spring in-person update. Dr. Doherty provided an update on the number of positive student and staff cases per day in March, as well as total cases as of April 1,2021. He stated that 94.1%of staff are at some stage of the vaccination process. Dr. Doherty gave an update on pool testing. He stated that there have been 798 pools thus far, 10 positive pools and 2 inconclusive.DESE is funding pool testing for the remainder of the school year. Dr. Doherty emphasized the continued mitigation strategies for in person learning.The transition plan for elementary full in person begins next Monday April 5"and secondary full in person will begin Monday April 261h. Dr.Doherty introduced the three finalists for the RMHS principal position and provided background on each of them. He thanked the screening committee for all of their work during the interview process-there were 30 applicants and 11 were interviewed over two days.There will be a staff open microphone session on April 5's at 3:30pm and a community open microphone session on April 5"at 6:OOp.m.Zoom links for these forums will be sent out tomorrow April 2,2021.Virtual site visits will take place on Tuesday April 6,2021 to RMHS which will include meetings with students,department chairs and district leadership.There are four additional job searches currently underway, Assistant Superintendent for Teaching and Learning;Birch Meadow Principal;METCO Director and Parker Middle School Assistant Principal. Dr.Doherty discussed the survey sent out for Extended Day. There was not enough interest for the before school program or Friday afternoons in order to make these options financially viable. A bus survey was sent to Killam,Coolidge and RMHS families.The data is currently under review to see if we can offer additional bus services beyond mandatory bussing. F. Public Comment 1. Routine Matters a. Calendar 2. Information/Comespondence 3. Future Business 4. Adiournment Adjourn Mr. Parks moved,seconded by Mr.Brandt,to adjourn. The roll call vote carried 6- 0.Mr.Parks,Mr. Brandt,Mrs.Gaffen,Mn.Nazzaro.Mr. Wise and Mr. Robinson. The meeting adjourned at 8:54 p.m. NOTE:The minutes reflect the order as stated in the posted meeting agenda not the order they occurred during the meeting. Li tvideo: School Committee 04-01-2021 -YouTube Johq. Doherty, d. . Page 1 5