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Board - Committee - commission - council: 2421 OCT -4 PM 4:17
School Committee
Date: 2023-09-07 Time: 7:00 PM
Building: School - Memorial High Location: School Library
Address: 62 Oakland Road Session: Open Session
Purpose: Open Session Version: Final
Attendees: Members - Present:
Shawn Brandt, Carla Nazzam, Erin Gaffen, Tom Wise, and Sarah McLaughlin
Members - Not Present:
Charles Robinson
Others Present:
Superintendent Dr. Thomas Milaschewski
Minutes Respecffully Submitted By: Olivia Lejeune on behalf of the chairperson.
Topics of Discussion:
A. Call to Order — Mr. Wise called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. to review the agenda.
B. Public Comment—None
Consent Agenda
1. Minutes (08-24-2023)
2. Friends of RMHS Cheer Donation
3. Pegasus Springs Foundation Sense of Belonging Donation
4. Surplus Property
Warrant Reports
1.08-24-2023
2.08-31-2023
Mrs. Gaffen motioned to approve the consent agenda, seconded by Mr. Brandt, and the
vote passed 5-0.
E. New Business
1. MBTA Communities Presentation & Discussion
Community Development Director, Mr. Andrew MacNichol, and Senior Planner, Ms.
Mary Benedetto, presented on the MBTA Communities Law. The Town of Reading must
reach compliance with the law by December 2024. The ultimate goal is to amend the
zoning in Reading in order to adhere to compliance. Communities that do not comply
with the law will not be eligible for funds from multiple grant programs.
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A survey was conducted over the summer which received over 750 responses. The
survey will help craft what the community wants to see going forward and what
questions can be answered. A top written -in concern was school enrollment and the
impact we could see.
School Committee members asked questions and brought the conversation back to the
impact on the schools. Looking at future enrollment projections will be an important
factor. The committee stressed that pure enrollment isn't as much of a factor as student
need is and they provided examples of how classrooms and other spaces are used for
different programming based on need. They asked if there was a way to partner to try
to determine or forecast needs in alignment with the DESE High Need categories of
students — Multi -Language Learners, Low -Income Learners, and Special Education.
2. RMHS Student Handbook Review & Approval (A)
Interim RMHS Principal, Mrs. Jessica Callanan, provided a memo within the packet that
summarizes the changes to the RMHS student handbook. A document tracking changes
made was also provided in the packet and once approved, Ms. Callanan will correct each
change in the document. Many of the changes are self-explanatory such as language
clean up, grammar, changing names, references, etc.
Mrs. Gaffen motioned to approve the 2023-2024 Reading Memorial High School Student
Handbook, seconded by Mrs. Nazzaro. There are some items not reflective of current
practice and it was noted the School Council will work on this throughout the year. Mrs.
Callanan's goal is to present an updated handbook to the School Committee in June for
approval for the 2024-2025 school year. Mr. Wise reviewed some of the items he
previously reviewed with Mrs. Callanan which she agreed would be corrected before the
Handbook was published. The vote passed 5-0.
C. Personnel
1. Review Draft Superintendent Goals for FY23-24
Dr. Milaschewski reviewed the draft Superintendent Goals as provided in the packet.
Many of the goals are challenging and the measurability of the goals is straightforward
making them easier to measure. With this, it would be helpful for the committee to
consider a rating scale given the specificity of the goals.
E. New Business
3. Meeting Management & Presentation Protocol Discussion
At the end of the last fiscal year, Mr. Brandt and Ms. McLaughlin asked to discuss meeting
management and presentation protocols in a future meeting. Mr. Brandt and Ms.
McLaughlin walked through some of their ideas as ways to improve efficiency such as
written reports, a hard cap on discussions, when to table a discussion for the next
meeting, prioritizing important agenda items, and creating ground rules for presenters
with clear objectives and stringent deadlines for submitting presentations.
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After some discussion, the committee agreed that normally written reports by the
Administration and for Liaison/Sub Committee updates are not preferable as it is nice to
keep the reports more celebratory. Liaison/Sub Committee updates should primarily be
focused on school -related impacts.
B. Reports
1. Superintendent —Dr. Milaschewski thanked the staff for a smooth first week of
school even with the heat.
2. Liaison/Sub-Committee
a. Mrs. Nazzaro—The Killam School Building Committee has submitted the ad
for a request for services for the designer. The ad will hit the central registrar
next Wednesday as scheduled.
b. Mr. Brandt—No Report
c. Ms. McLaughlin—No Report
d. Mrs. Gaffen — No Report
e. Mr. Wise—The Fall Street Faire is this Sunday, September 1011 from 12-5 pm.
Mrs. Gaffen motioned to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Brandt, and the vote passed 5-0.
httos://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KuUCGb9NFGk
Meeting Adjourned 8:27pm
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