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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - SC - 06/01/2016 QA rt4� COHASSETL Wfy _ �1 Cohasset School Committee Meeting School Committee Minutes Wednesday,June 1, 2016 Cohasset Middle-High School Community Use Room 143 Pond Street Cohasset, MA In Attendance: Jeanne Astino, Chairman Katie Dugan Ellen Maher Barbara Stefan Amanda Zani Also in Attendance: Barbara Cataldo, Superintendent Call to Order and Roll Call Chairman Astino called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm. Roll Call-All present. She requested a motion to enter into Executive Session for purposes of#3 bargaining with union personnel and #2 bargaining with non-union personnel. Mrs. Dugan made the motion, Mrs. Maher seconded, all in favor via roll call. The committee then entered into Executive Session.The committee exited Executive Session at 8:24 pm on a motion by Mrs. Maher, which was seconded by Mrs. Astino. Chairman Astino then called the open meeting to order at 8:28 p.m. Pledge of Allegiance— Recited Invitation to Speak- None Superintendent's Report-Gift Presentation from CEF-Cindy Matheison and Caitlin Appleton presented the School Committee with a check for$30,564. They gave a detailed list of what the money would fund and what funds they would like reallocated. Motion by Mrs. Dugan to accept the gift of$30,564 from Cohasset Education Foundation, seconded by Mrs. Stefan. Roll Call Vote; Barbara Stefan-Aye, Katie Dugan-Aye,Jeanne Astino-Aye, Ellen Maher-Aye,Amanda Zani-Aye. Motion by Mrs. Dugan to re- allocate$7747 as requested by Cohasset Education Foundation, seconded by Mrs.Zani. Roll Call Vote.- Barbara Stefan-Aye, Katie Dugan-Aye,Jeanne Astino-Aye, Ellen Maher-Aye,Amanda Zani-Aye. Osgood School Improvement Plan/Osgood Student-Parent Handbook-Principal Bob LeCount stated the Osgood Parent Handbook speaks for itself. He met with Dr. DeChiara to align formatting as requested last year by the Committee. Mrs. Dugan commented that the new Restraint Policy should be updated in the Handbook. The Committee asked if the staff and faculty pages will be updated. Mr. LeCount stated they would be updated once they have a complete list by September. Mr. LeCount thanked the Osgood 1 School Council for all of their work on the School Improvement Plan. Mrs. Dugan asked Mr. LeCount if he felt the goals were realistic. She stated they seem static. Mr. LeCount stated they are realistic but he will bring goals up at the next school council meeting. Mrs. Stefan asked who determines the benchmarks for DIBELS and Mr. LeCount advised it was the Literacy Team who determined them. Motion by Mrs. Maher to approve the Osgood Handbook and School Improvement Plan,seconded by Mrs.Zani and the vote was unanimous(5-0). Social Media-Assistant Principal of Cohasset Middle School Kerri Sandler was present. She gave an update of her research of social media. She found that most schools do not use Instagram for communication. Facebook is mainly used for communication. She suggested there should be a district feed for Facebook and Twitter so that the same message goes out. At the same time,they should continue to use the other means of communication they currently use such as Blackboard and the website. She would recommend a page for each school as well and the school based leadership team should be responsible for content.The district level pages should be a group effort. Chairman Astino stated each building principal should have administrative rights as well as the central office. The Committee asked Ms. Sandler to start to create pages. Mrs.Zani asked if there would be rules or guidelines on what is appropriate to post. How would "sharing" and "commenting" be monitored? Kindergarten Enrollment Update-Superintendent Cataldo stated there are currently 96 full day and 11 half-day Kindergarten students enrolled. The Committee discussed summer trends. The Committee agreed that 5 full day classes and 1 half day class would work. Mrs. Cataldo will send out a letter to parents regarding tuition and payment schedules. PAX Decision-Mrs. Dugan asked Mrs. Cataldo if they have received references back from other schools about their experience with PAX. Mrs. Cataldo stated they received one reference back which was positive. The Committee had a brief discussion. Motion by Mrs. Dugan to approve working with PAX to facilitate the foreign exchange student,seconded by Mrs. Maher and the vote was unanimous (5-0). Special Education Transportation-Mrs. Cataldo stated she has spoken with North River and they can accommodate all of the district's students. North River would like to keep the monitors for any Cohasset students. Any new monitors will be hired through North River. Interim Business Manager Marge Foster has recommended that Cohasset continue to employ two people as monitors. North River has agreed to pick up and drop off monitors at the students' homes. Speech Service for 2016-17 School Year-Mrs. Cataldo stated Mary Buchanan is proposing that there be a .S position at the Osgood School and 1.0 position at the Cohasset Middle/High School. Maureen Berry would have the 1.0 position and she feels that she can service all students at CMHS. The Principal and Assistant Principals are in agreement that Ms. Berry can meet the needs. There would be no need to hire additional staff. Motion by Mrs. Maher to approve the changes to the Speech Therapy Services, seconded by Mrs. Dugan. Roll Call Vote; Barbara Stefan-Aye, Katie Dugan-Aye,Jeanne Astino-Aye, Ellen Maher-Aye,Amanda Zani-Aye. Strategic Plan: Supt. Cataldo advised that the Leadership Team did not feel the School Committee belonged anywhere on the plan but on page 5. Mrs. Dugan expressed concern that most of the action items were "ticked" in FY 17 and not spread out over the 5-year period. Mrs. Demas advised that that issue has been discussed with Leadership and the "ticks" are really start points and not completion points. Mrs. Dugan felt that press on the Strategic Plan process and results would be good for the district and provide information to the community. Finance-Warrant 16-25S-Motion by Mrs. Stefan to approve Warrant 16-25S,seconded by Mrs.Zani. Roll Call Vote; Barbara Stefan-Aye, Katie Dugan-Aye,Jeanne Astino-Aye,Amanda Zani-Aye. Ellen Maher abstained from the vote. 2 Monthly Update-Mrs. Cataldo stated Mrs. Foster prepared the monthly financial report. There are no budget transfers done as of yet. The reclassification of trash removal expenses has not been done yet. There is no change in the School Lunch deposits because the deposits are processed at the end of the month. Transportation-Update- Mrs. Cataldo stated there are two large transportation bills that are forth coming. Ms. Foster will update the Committee at the next meeting. Mrs. Dugan asked if they can find out about the mileage on the leased buses. She suggested they could balance the mileage by rotating. School Committee Comments and Communication-Reading of Policy ADDA-R DCJIS Model Cori Policy- 2nd Read-The Committee reviewed the policy and had a brief discussion. Motion by Mrs. Maher to approve the ADDA-R DCJIS Model Cori Policy with recommended edits, seconded by Mrs. Zani. Roll Call Vote; Barbara Stefan-Aye, Katie Dugan-Aye,Jeanne Astino-Aye, Ellen Maher-Aye,Amanda Zani- Aye. Reading of Policy ADDA Background Checks-2"d Read- Motion by Mrs. Maher to approve the ADDA Background Check Policy, seconded by Mrs. Zani. Roll Call Vote; Barbara Stefan-Aye, Katie Dugan- Aye,Jeanne Astino-Aye, Ellen Maher-Aye,Amanda Zani-Aye. Discussion of Long Range Planning Working Group-Mrs. Stefan attended the Board of Selectmen's meeting where they discussed a proposed group. She stated the Selectmen seemed in favor of such a group. Advisory will meet next week and discuss. Mrs. Stefan spoke as a resident, not as a SC member. She thinks it is a good idea to have collaborative groups. She encouraged the SC to get involved. Chairman Astino agreed. Mrs. Maher stated this year showed how much more the school committee and town boards worked together,the better the results. Selectman Kevin McCarthy-155 Fair Oaks stated Chris Senior has sent out some ideas of who the group should consist of and how many members. The Board will discuss at the June 14th meeting. Mrs. Maher will send some info along to Mr. Senior after she and Mrs. Dugan meet as a sub-committee. Reports from sub committees of school committee-School Committee Calendar-Mrs. Maher advised the Committee she will put together a SC meeting calendar and will distribute it to the Town Manager and other town boards and committees so hopefully they can schedule their meetings on nights that the SC does not meet. The School Committee received the FY 17 overview agendas for meetings. Mrs. Maher attended the CMHS School Council meeting and they have just about completed the Improvement Plan. Mrs. Dugan stated Safe Harbor Coalition is meeting tomorrow at 6:30 p.m. She received an email from Ron Menard about equipment disposal. Chairman Astino will follow up with Mr. Menard. Mrs. Zani attended the PSO leadership meeting and Osgood PSO meeting. At Leadership they had a post prom discussion which was a success with no incidents. The PSO is working on next year's calendar with the Principals. The Middle School PSO is looking for volunteers. On June 161h there is a SEPAC End of the Year Dinner at the Old Salt House. Chairman Astino attended the Alternative Energy Committee meeting along with Mrs. Zani. They had a presentation on hybrid vehicles. There will be a vehicle in Cohasset on Friday for anyone that is interested in seeing. Mrs. Stefan and Mrs. Zani will continue to review policies. ESP Agreement-Motion by Mrs. Dugan to approve the agreement for the ESP's, seconded by Mrs. Stefan. Roll Call Vote; Barbara Stefan-Aye, Katie Dugan-Aye,Jeanne Astino-Aye,Amanda Zani-Aye. Ellen Maher abstained from the vote. Minutes-Motion by Mrs. Maher to approve the minutes of 5/4/16,seconded by Mrs. Zani and the vote was unanimous(5-0). Follow-up and Updates-The Committee reviewed the list and made edits. Motion by Mrs. Maher to adjourn, seconded by Mrs. Zani and the vote was unanimous(5-0). The meeting adjourned at 11:15 p.m. 3 Documents used at Meeting Osgood School Improvement Plan E-1 Osgood Handbook E-2 Speech Service for 2016/17 E-3 Monthly Finance Update F-1 Transportation Update F-2 Policy ADDA-R DCJIS Model Cori Policy G-1 Policy ADDA Background Checks G-2 Year-Long SC Agenda/SC Calendar G-3 Minutes 5/4/16 H-1 4