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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-01-20 School Committee Minutes - Draftes rR Town of Reading RECEIVED Meeting Minutes TOWN CLERK 0READING, MA.� 'aMonv Board - committee - commission - Council: 2022 .IAN 31 PH 1: $7 School Committee Date: 2022-01-20 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: 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, Assistant Superintendent Jennifer Stys, Director of Finance Susan Bottan, Smritha Srinivasan Minutes Respectfully Submitted By: Samantha LaPierre 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. Mr. Brandt moved, seconded by Mr. Robinson to recess the regular school committee meetine. The vote carried 6-0. Mr. Brandt, Mrs. Gaffen, Ms. McLim hlin Mrs. Nazzaro Mr. Robinson and Mr. Wise. Mr. Wise called for comment on public hearing. Geoffrey Coram, Ridge Rd Thanked the school committee and administration for their time on the budget, and stated it was interesting to see the ways that they have identified and addressed the needs that they have seen in the district. Mr. Brandt moved, seconded by Mrs. Nazzaro to close the FY23 b d et public hearinE. hear'The vote carried 6-0. Mr. Brandt, Mrs. Gaffen, Ms. McLaughlin Mrs Nazzaro Mr. Robinson and Mr. Wise. Page I 1 B. Routine Matters 1. Public Input Mr. Wise called for public comment. There was none 2. Consent Agenda Mr. Brandt moved, second by Mr. Robinson to approve the consent agenda. The vote carried 6-0. Mr. Brandt, Mrs. Gaffen, Ms. McLaughlin, Mrs. Nazzaro, Mr. Robinson, and Mr. Wise. 3. Reverts Smritha Srinivasan stated the quarter closes tomorrow. The junior class was unhappy that their prom was booked to take place at Dave and Busters, with all the feedback the location will be changed. The new laptop distribution began today and will continue tomorrow. The RMHS Mock trail won against Revere yesterday. She stated the Art club will be conducting a new project called the memory project, and all proceeds will go to children in need. Dr. Milaschewski stated that DESE has put out updated testing protocols, and more information will be released next week. Dr. Sarah Hardy stated that 128 students are enrolled in February vacation academy, the team is excited to launch this pilot program. Reading in Reading subcommittee met this week and focused on curating and organizing curriculum materials, professional development materials and other materials for the district. The second subcommittee will meet next week and will focus on supporting families. Dr. Jen Stys stated on February 2°d there will be a virtual presentation about eating disorders from 6-7pm. More info will be sent soon. The first training by Landmark for staff took place today on writing assessments, the next training will be understanding dyslexia will be February P. The next SEPAC meeting is February 8d'. Mrs. Susan Bottan stated the school department has begun its 16 -month energy conservation measures. A variety of upgrades will be installed including LED lighting, system controls to manage the HVAC system from a centralized location, weatherizing the buildings, and changing over to energy efficient motors. Mrs. Nazzaro — No Report Mrs. Gaffen — No Report Mr. Wise stated no one from Select Board has been chosen for the ARPA committee. The Select Board is considering their options and may bring the ARPA committee under themselves instead of the Finance Committee. Ms. McLaughlin stated the RCTV board met meeting to evaluate their space Mr. Robinson — No Report Mr. Brandt — No Report C. New Business Page 1 2 I.Full Dae Kinderearten Option Review Dr. Milaschewski provided a high-level overview of why universal full day kindergarten is important for all students. He stated four main priorities for universal full day kindergarten. 1. Foundational for district improvement which includes supporting social -emotional teaming, bolstering early literacy instruction, increasing access to EL services and improving outcoming for ALL students. 2. Programming/ Outcomes: how full day Kindergarten compares to half day kindergarten 3. Reputation as a top tier district in comparison to other Massachusetts districts 4. Impact on community and families, for example families needing full-day care for young children, tuition payments, half day kindergarten students have less access to services Marianne Downing, Heather Dr. Asked to learn more about academic comparison between half day kindergarten and full day kindergarten students when they enter I" grade. She asked if EL students are considered high needs and can attend full day kindergarten for free. Mr. Wise presented seven models that have been developed for to assess the cost and for future planning. He discussed summaries of each model which included the time finite for each, how tuition would decrease and how funding would be accommodated. More details about each of these models are included in the packet. The committee engaged in extensive conversation about details regarding each plan. Jeanne Borowski, Finance Committee Vice Chair Asked if this would be sustainable for future years, not just next year. Mr. Wise stated that the goal and discussion was centered around enabling sustainability. Geoffrey Coram, Finance Committee, Ridge Rd. Asked about the 64/36 split and how that reconciles with the 50 presented. Marianne Downing, Finance Committee, Heather Dr. Provided feedback about the 64/36 split in response to Dr. Coram. The committee agreed that model I "No change", model 2 "direct costs" and model 3 "6 -year wind down' were off the table, and they would continue to research in consideration to move forward with one of the other 4 presented options. Ed Ross, Finance Committee Chair Stated that the main concern is how to make this sustainable. Jeanne Borawski, Finance Committee Vice Chair Asked what the plan is to fund this in FY24. Would this be a split from the school department budget, the town budget or voter funding through an override. Mr. Wise stated this is the beginning of the discussion. We want to continue to assess all options. However, with the high forecast for New Growth in the next few years, we seem to be at a point where much of this could be supported by New Growth. He mentioned that may include a slight School / Town shift as well, but would need further discussion with the new Town Manager, the Select Board and the Finance Committee, Page 1 3 Mark Zarrow, Finance Committee Free cash generated by the schools has continued to increase over the past few years and asked if that can that be used to help support full day kindergarten. Mr. Wise stated that we have had a trend of returning between $200K and $400K per year. The prior year amount returned was unusual due to the COVID impact and another year we purposefully returned $300K that we previously requested to support Special Education Out of District that we did not need to use. Marianne Downing, Finance Committee, Heather Drive Stated that there has been a continual reference to ABPA funding which not a guarantee and they cannot depend on this funding. She asked to for a better explanation on the options presented that depend on spending the whole revolving account. She asked an estimation on how many EL students the high needs model would include funding for. - Mr. Wise stated that ARPA is one option, but not one we are resting or relying on. He also addressed that the model was built based on increasing trends in the EL population and with inputs of 5, 6, and 7 students for the FY23 through FY25 school years. Jeanne Borowski, Finance Committee Vice Chair Provided an explanation of how the finance committee in collaboration with town staff does the revenue projections for the following years. Dr. Mihuchewski stated that the leadership teams believe the best option is model 5 "3 Year High Needs". Mr. Wise moved, seconded by Mr. Brandt provide guidance to the administrative team to move forward with the 3 -year high needs model for FY23. The vote carried 6-0. Mr. Brandt, Mrs. Gaffen. Ms. McLaughlin, Mrs. Nazzaro, Mr. Robinson and Mr. Wise. Finance Committee adjourned at 9:29p.m. D. Old Business 1. FY23 Budget Discussion Marianne Downing, Heather Drive Stated she did not see where the funding for the 1:1 initiative for RMHS in the FY22 budget. She asked for confirmation of where the money came from for this purchase. She also asked if this large purchase would be needed every 5 years due to life expectancy of devices and what long term financial impact this would have if we needed to replace all at devices once. Mr. Wise and Mr. Brandt answered the one-time funding opportunity and that we are working with the administration on a replacement plan and forecast to maintain the 1:1 initiative into the future. E. Adiourtmen[ Mrs. Gaffen moved, seconded by Mr. Brandt to adjourn. The roll call vote carried 6-0. Mr. Brandt, Mrs. Gaffen, Ms. McLaughlin, Mrs. Namara, Mr. Robinson and Mr. Wise. The meeting adjourned at 9:40p.m. Page 1 4 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 01-20-2022 - YouTube onr s Milaschewski, Ed.D. Page 1 5