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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - SC - 12/02/2015 T CQ%ASSET O Cohasset School Committee Meeting School Committee Minutes Wednesday, December 2, 2015 Cohasset Middle-High School Community Use Room 143 Pond Street Cohasset, MA In Attendance: Jeanne Astino, Chairman Mary McGoldrick Ellen Maher Katie Dugan Barbara Stefan Also in Attendance: Barbara Cataldo, Superintendent Dave DeGennaro, Business Manager Call to Order and Roll Call Chairman Astino called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Roll Call Vote; Barbara Stefan-Present, Katie Dugan-Present,Jeanne Astino-Present, Mary McGoldrick-Present, Ellen Maher-Present. Pledge of Allegiance Recited Invitation to Speak Bianca Bersani-40 Forest Avenue and Amanda Zani-38 Forest Avenue read a prepared statement to the Committee expressing their concern with the current Kindergarten class sizes. Chairman Astino thanked them for their statement and advised them the Committee will address their concerns at an upcoming meeting when it can be put on an agenda. Superintendent's Report Gift-Cohasset Education Foundation Member-Caitlin Appleton presented the Committee with a check for$8855.00 for the High School Robotics and Model UN Programs. Motion by Mrs. McGoldrick to accept the gift of$8855.00 from the CEF for High School Robotics and Model UN Programs, seconded by Mrs. Maher. Roll Call Vote; Barbara Stefan-Aye, Katie Dugan-Aye,Jeanne Astino-Aye, Mary McGoldrick-Aye, Ellen Maher-Aye. National Merit Scholarship High School Principal Carolyn Connolly announced the recipients of the National Merit Scholarships-Julia Stanganelli and Alexandra Lanier. Alexandra Lanier accepted the award and was congratulated by the Committee. Julia Stanganelli was not present. SEPAC-National Inclusive Schools Week-Helane Childs-SEPAC President was present along with Director of Student Services Mary Buchanan. They discussed the upcoming National Inclusive Schools Week which begins December 71". The elementary building principals will be issuing comments to their communities about Inclusiveness. Information can be found on inclusiveschools.org and Mrs. Cataldo will put out a blackboard message. Distractology Mrs. Connolly spoke of the mobile classroom, Distractology 101, that will be at the Cohasset High School next week. Licensed and Permitted drivers will have the opportunity to participate in a driving simulator console to see how distractions can make a difference in being safe. The program is offered at no cost. It will be at the high school from 12/7/15 through 12/11/15 with classes from 7:30 a.m. —3:30 p.m. There is a follow up Q&A for the drivers to take on line after the session. Strategic Plan Mrs. Cataldo discussed where they are with the strategic plan. At the last meeting, in which she and Mrs. McGoldrick participated,they gathered data from the surveys and started disseminating the information. One of the outcomes of the survey was to determine what type of focus groups they would need. They will get all of the data together and come back to the Committee to discuss. The survey closed on 11/20. Mrs. Cataldo is working with Brian Scott to put together an article for the Mariner. Mrs. Dugan asked what the next milestone is. Mrs. Cataldo stated the focus groups should be started in January after the holidays. The survey summary will be shared with the broader community within a week or so. Policy JKAA-Physical Restraint of Students Mrs. Cataldo discussed the new law that every district in the state is required to have regarding physical restraint of students. This law goes into effect in January 2016. Mrs. Cataldo explained the process and forms required to be completed by the schools. Chairman Astino read aloud the policy. Mrs. Cataldo stated all administrators were given the policy at the leadership meeting. She further stated that every teacher has been trained in restraint. The ESP's have not been trained yet and the goal is to have them trained by this month or next. Mrs. Cataldo said they will then train all other employees as it is required by law. Mrs. Cataldo will report back to the Committee when training is completed. Other Updates Mrs. Cataldo advised the Committee that Sgt. Lopes can attend the January 6th meeting for an update. CIO Ron Menard and Deputy DIO Bart Riley are also available as well. Mrs. Cataldo stated she was advised that the Raptor has been purchased and configured and was being installed today at Osgood. She will find out tomorrow if it is complete. The network infrastructure upgrades are scheduled for December. Mrs. Cataldo stated that Capital Budget will be discussing town wide IT at their 12/16 meeting. The School Committee is also meeting that night. Mrs. Cataldo has spoken with Town Manager Chris Senior and asked if Capital Budget could meet on a night when the School Committee is not meeting. As for the digital roll out,there have been conference calls with other districts that utilize Apple IPads, Chromebook and Google Apps which are all now being considered for Cohasset. Pricing is in process. Mrs. Dugan requested that Susan Franklin from Capital Budgets be included in the Lease vs Buy conversation since she has extensive experience in the leasing process. Finance Warrant 16-11S Motion by Mrs. McGoldrick to approve Warrant 16-11S, seconded by Mrs. Dugan. Roll Call Vote; Barbara Stefan-Aye, Katie Dugan-Aye,Jeanne Astino-Aye, Mary McGoldrick-Aye. Mrs. Maher abstained from the vote. School Committee Comments and Communications Policy Updates-Chairman Astino asked Business Manager Dave DeGennaro to explain the student accounts policy (Policy JJF) Mr. DeGennaro explained that each school has two student activity accounts. There is one checking account and one money market account. Fees paid by the students go into the money market account. The money market account is maintained by the Treasurer/Col lector's office.The principals of the schools maintain the checking accounts. All expenses are paid through the checking account. There is a maximum balance that is allowed in the checking account. They are asking for an increase in the checking account limit at the Deer Hill from $8000 to $12,000 due to the costs of field trips and the Circus. Mr. DeGennaro audited the Osgood and Deer Hill accounts in June 2015. Motion by Mrs. McGoldrick to increase the maximum balance limit for the Deer Hill checking account from $8000 to$12,000, seconded by Mrs. Maher. Roll Call Vote; Barbara Stefan-Aye, Katie Dugan- Aye,Jeanne Astino-Aye, Mary McGoldrick-Aye, Ellen Maher-Aye. Mrs. McGoldrick discussed with the Committee ADDA and ADDA/R Policies. These are the Fingerprinting Policy and the CORI Policy. They will be distributed to the Committee and will be discussed at a meeting in January along with other Security Policies. Report of Sub-committees-Mrs. McGoldrick sat in on the Leadership meeting yesterday. She attended the Digital Learning Committee meeting two weeks ago and they are working on the Vision Statement. She also met with Middle/High School PSO before Thanksgiving and they discussed Security updates. Mrs. Dugan spoke about the Master Plan meeting that is scheduled for December 16th which is when the School Committee is meeting. She suggested the Committee appoint a liaison to be involved in the Master Plan process. Chairman Astino has also emailed Chris Senior to see if they can switch meeting to another night. Mrs. Dugan offered to be part of the Master Plan process as a School Committee Member. Mrs. Dugan asked for an update from the security sub-committee on the hot wash. Mrs. Maher stated there is no update yet she is waiting to hear back from Chief Quigley. Mrs. Maher was unable to attend the Middle/High School council meeting but did get an update that they started discussing the budget processes for next year. Mrs. Cataldo mentioned that there isn't a liaison to the Safe Harbor Committee. She attended the meeting and said it was excellent and well attended. The committee is going to start the grant writing process as funds are available. Approval of Minutes Motion by Mrs. McGoldrick to approve the minutes of 11/3/15,seconded by Mrs. Maher and the vote was unanimous(5-0). Motion by Mrs. McGoldrick to approve the minutes of 11/18/15 as amended,seconded by Mrs. Maher and the vote was unanimous(5-0). Follow-up and Updates Mrs. Maher distributed a list of updates. She asked Mr. DeGennaro if they could get an update of the Fall Athletics with a breakdown. He will see if it is ready. Mrs. Maher had a list from the Chairman of Capital Budget with the School items requested. She asked Mr. DeGennaro to look over the list and see if there are other items that belong on the list. Mrs. Dugan asked if the turf replacement can be added in eventually to the list. Mrs. Maher added that CPC Funding may be eligible now that requirements have changed. Chairman Astino asked for a list of the Capital items that the schools have requested. She asked Mrs. Cataldo to forward the list to the Committee. Mrs. Maher stated Mrs. Stefan completed the class size bench marking which she had already forwarded to the Committee. Mrs. Maher asked Mrs. Cataldo if the Community that Cares info can be put up on the school website. Mrs. Cataldo will see if Mr.Torin Sweeney can be available for an update in January. Mrs. Maher asked if parents will have to sign in for the upcoming Concert through the Raptor. Mrs. Cataldo doesn't think they will have parents sign in but she will check with Sgt. Lopes. Mrs. Maher shared an editorial in the Patriot Ledger with the Committee titled The Trophy Generation Goes to College. Executive session—Chairman Astino asked for a motion to go into executive session according to Chapter 39,Section 29 for exception#3 to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining for union and non-union personnel. The Committee will reconvene in open public session for the purpose of adjourning. Mrs. McGoldrick moved the motion and it was seconded by Mrs. Maher. Roll Call Vote; Barbara Stefan-Aye, Katie Dugan-Aye,Jeanne Astino-Aye, Mary McGoldrick-Aye, Ellen Maher-Aye. The Committee went into executive session at 8:45 p.m. The Committee came out of executive session and into open session at 10:50 p.m. Motion by Mrs. McGoldrick to adjourn, seconded by Mrs. Maher. Roll Call Vote;All Aye. The meeting adjourned at 10:51 p.m. List of Documents used at Meeting D-1 SEPAC-National Inclusive Schools Week D-2 Policy JKAA-Physical Restraint of Students G-1 Minutes 11/3/15 &G-2 Minutes 11/18/15