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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-11-04 School Committee Minutes - DraftNOGq - Town of Reading Meeting Minutes W"A' W,m1 Board - Committee - Commission - Council: School Committee Date: 2021-11-04 Time: 7:00 PM Building: School - Memorial High Location: School Library Address: 62 Oakland Road Session: Open Session Purpose: Open Session Version: Draft Attendees: Members - Present: -RECEIVED TOWN CLERK READING, MA.Y 2022 JAN 3I PH 1:58 Erin Gaffen, Sarah McLaughlin, Tom Wise, Carla Nazzaro, Chuck Robinson and Shawn Brandt Members - Not Present: Others Present: Superintendent Tom Milaschewski, Assistant Superintendent Sarah Hardy, Director of Finance Susan Bottan, Smirtha Srinivasan Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Samantha La Pierre on behalf of the Chair Topics of Discussion: A. Call to Order Chair Wise called open session to order at 7:00p,m. and reviewed the agenda. B. Routine Matters 1. Public Input Mr. Wise called for public comment. 2. Consent Agenda Mr. Brandt moved, second by Mrs. Nazzaro to anurove the consent aeenda. The vote carried 6-0. Mr. Brandt, Mn. Gaffed, Ms. McLauehlin, Mrs. Nazzaro, Mr. Robinson, and Mr. Wise. 3. Reports Smritha Srinivasan stated that fall sports are a coming to a close, teams have been holding senior night over the past few weeks to celebrating their seniors. Drama clubs "Zombie Prom" opening night is approaching. Class officer elections for all gradesjust recently completed which were met with enthusiasm and excitement. Dr. Milaschewski stated the leadership team has been spending full day visit at each school. They have completed their visits at 8 of the 9 schools. Dr. Milaschewski thanked the families, staff, and students for engaging with the team during their visits. He thanked the School Committee for their participation in attending schools Page 1 1 He stated that staffing and substitute staffing has been a challenge- after sharing the need for substitute teachers in his weekly video update, there has been a great response from the community. He thanked the community for stepping up when needed. Dr. Sarah Hardy discussed the first full day staff professional day which was held on Tuesday November 2"d. She stated it was very productive and a great opportunity for staff. The day was focused around "all means all" and how we can improve our skills to meet the needs of all students. Dr. Jen Stys state that she is excited about the work RPS has been doing and thanked all of the great staff at RPS. She thanked Director of Student Services Allison Wright and Literacy Specialist Renee Limaum for all their tireless work behind the scenes since the start of school and through the audit process during Circuit Breaker. Dr. Stys stated that on November 30" at Spm, the third series of Reading in Reading will take place, more information and a Zoom link will be sent out soon. A New SEPAC Board has bene select, Dr. Stys thanked the past board and welcomed the new chair, Kelly Comma. She thanked Nurse Director Mary Giuliana and all the nurses for all of their work with COVID but also with the new vision program Mrs. Susan Bottan stated that over the past two weeks she has been out visiting schools and communicating with staff to get a better understanding of teachers needs in preparation for the budget season. Mrs. Nazzaro stated there was a permanent building committee meeting and a Bylaw Committee meeting on Monday November I". Mrs. Gaffen stated the Policy Subcommittee met on October 8°', they invited Sarah Hardy, Kevin Tracey and Lynne Williams to discuss graduation requirements. The committee met on October 286 to approve the updates. The next meeting with take place on 11/I8 in anticipation of discussing Policy JICH. Mr. Wise stated they met with MSBA on October 186 and MSBA came to Killian on October 2& to conduct a walk through. Ms. McLaughlin stated there was an RCTV had their annual meeting on October 2e, followed by a board meeting to approve the budget. They also announced the 2021 scholarship award winner. Mr. Robinson stated he attended the Coalition meeting last week. Mr. Brandt stated the Finance Committee meeting took place on Wednesday October 20'h. He stated it was the first look at "free cash" and a snapshot of the towns overall budget, and he stated RPS is in a great financial position for FY23. C. Old Business 1.Reading, in Reading Advisory Committee (Continued Discussion & Potential Vote) Mr. Brandt moved, seconded by Mr. Robinson to take from the table the Reading in Reading Advisory Committee. The vote carried 6-0. Mr. Brandt Mrs. Gaffen, Ms. McLaughlin, Mrs. Namaro, Mr. Robinson, and Mr. Wise. Dr. Milaschewski stated there has been a lot of feedback on this topic, he shared some of the input that the leadership team has received from staff and community. Dr. Milaschewski proposed that this committee fall under the administration. Page 1 2 Dr. Hardy and Dr. Stys shared the main goals that have been identified for this committee 1. Act as a communication and planning partner with Administration around statewide initiatives, recent research, available resources, and community presentations. 2. Identify areas of strength as well m areas in need of further improvement and collaboratively investigate additional supports and resources rooted in best practices, such as Crafting Minds Graphic Organizer for Assessment Results, ECORI and Scarborough's Reading Rope. 3. Organize and share helpful information for caregivers and families. 4. Help the community move forward together. Melissa Davis, LongwoodAd Melissa Davis read a prepared statement in favor of the Reading in Reading committee falling under the School Committee. She believes having an advisory committee to the School Committee will allow change to occur in a collaborative and transparent way to include all stakeholders in a timely manner. Carissa Brady, Charles St. Asked what the anticipated outcome of this committee was falling under the administration. She reiterated the fact that this work needed to be done quickly and timely. Tara Giardina, Village St. Asked what training was provided for regular ed teachers in the general ed classroom. Alicia Williams, Marla Ln. Stated she is fearful that having this committee fall under administration may get lost under to other work the leadership team needs to handle to run the district. She would like to see a timeline and plan for making progress. Laura Noonan, Pennsylvania Ave. Stated she is in support of the advisory committee falling under the School Committee. The committee engaged in extensive discussion about where each member believes the advisory committee should report. They discussed the roles and responsibilities of the school committee in regard to subcommittees for learning and teaching and curriculum based topics. Mrs. Nazzaro moved, seconded by Mr. Wise that the School Committee accept the proposal by the Administration and report back to the committee on a regular basis. The vote carried 6-0. Mr. Brandt, Mrs. Gaffen, Ms. McLauehlin, Mrs. Nazzaro, Mr. Robinson and Mr. Wise. Mr. Brandt moved, seconded by Mr. Robinson to table indefinitely topics DI the Reading in _Readine advisory committee. The vote carried 6-0. Mr. Brandt, Mrs. Gaffen, Ms. McLaughlin. Mrs. Nazzaro. Mr. Robinson and Mr. Wise. 2. Policv EBCFA Data Update & Review Dr. Milaschewski presented an update of staff vaccination data. The reported staff vaccination data shows more than 90% of staff in every school building have been fully vaccinated with a district total of 92.79% of staff having been fully vaccinated. Dr. Milaschewski stated that DESE has extended the statewide mask mandate until January 15, 2021. DESE also notes that if a school has student and staff vaccination rates over 80%, then vaccinated individuals in that school would no longer be subject to the state mask requirement. Page 1 3 RMHS is still abiding by our district masking policy- EBCFA Dr. Milaschewski provided context of lifting the mask mandate and explained how students who are unvaccinated would still be required to wear masks. In addition, if RPS were to decide to go against the mask mandate in place by DESE, it could affect time on learning days, and risk losing funding. Mr. Wise provided an update of key data and trends for vaccination status, and case count for Reading, Middlesex County and Massachusetts. The data shows a positive trend in school age vaccinations in both Reading and Boston. A four-week downward trajectory of both case count and average daily incidence rate in Reading and Middlesex County. Statewide, there has been downward trends in both 14 -day case count and hospital admission rates, as well as both ICU admissions and intubations. There has been an upward trend in the number of vaccinated people admitted to the hospital with COVID, plus a slight increase in the % of cluster cases that are taking place in K-12 schools and childcare organizations. Mrs. Nazzaro moved, seconded by Mr. Brandt to reach out to other school committees to advocate to remove the language of vaccinated and unvaccinated student in the off ramp of guidance. Mr. Brandt moved to question. seconded by Mr. Wise. The vote carried 6-0 Mr. Brandt Mrs. Gaffen, Ms. McLaughlin, Mrs. Nazzaro, Mr. Robinson and Mr. Wise The vote carried 2-4. Mr. Wise and Mrs. Nazzaro voted in favor. Mr. Brandt, Mrs. Gaffey Ms. McLaughlin. and Mr. Robinson vote against. 3. ARPA — Full Day Kindergarten Budget Strategy The committee began the discussion on how to handle potential funding for full-day Kindergarten for the FY22-FY23 school year. Mr. Brandt stated that there is an option to position this as a community priority which would lessen impact to the operating budget. The committee agreed that it was important to have information on kindergarten funding prior to kindergarten registration to provide accurate expectations to families while choosing to enroll in half day, or full day kindergarten. D. New Business 1. Discussion on Hybrid Meeting Technology Options Costs and Method of Funding Mr. Brandt moved, seconded by Mr. Robinson to postpone to a future meetin2, a ends item El discussion on hybrid meeting technology options, costs and method of funding. The vote carried 6-0. The vote carried 6-0. Mr. Brandt, Mrs. Gaffen. Ms McLaughlin, Mrs. Nazzaro. Mr. Robinson and Mr. Wise. 2. Policy IKF — Graduation Requirements — Amendment (A) The committee reviewed the amendments made to Policy IKF after being updated by the Policy Subcommittee. Mrs. Gaffen stated that the subcommittee received feedback from Assistant Superintendent Dr. Sarah Hardy, RMHS Principal Kevin Tracey, and RMHS Director of Guidance Lynna Williams during their meeting on October P. The full summary of changes was include in the packet, along with the original Policy IKF, the red -lined version with changes from the Policy Subcommittee, and a final clean version. Page 14 Mr. Brandt moved, seconded by Mr. Robinson to approve the amended policy IKF as presented to the committee via email on October 281s satisfying the 7 -day notice policy. The vote carried 6-0. Mr. Brandt, Mrs. Gagen, Ms. McLaughlin, Mrs. Nazzaro, Mr. Robinson and Mr. Wise. 4. Policy Subcommittee — Full Committee Discussion on Roles & Responsibilities with Respect to Substantive Policy Changes or New Policies Mr. Brandt raised the question of how the committee plans to continue with policy change. He expressed his interest in weighing in on specific policies and having a full committee discussion. The Committee largely agreed that bigger policy discussions could take place in a regular business meeting while providing guidance to the Policy Subcommittee for action. Mr. Brandt formally requested policy EBC "Emergency Plans" be added to a future agenda. E. Adjournment Gagen, Ms. McLaughlin, Mrs. Nazzaro, Mr. Robinson and Mr. Wise. The meeting adjourned at 10:41 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 11-04-2021 - YouTube Thomas ilaschewski, Ed.D. Page 15