Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - SC - 12/21/2016 G A ' (u� • COHA55ETi iVly _ I Cohasset School Committee Meeting School Committee Minutes Wednesday, December 21, 2016 Cohasset Middle-High School Community Use Room 143 Pond Street Cohasset, MA In Attendance: Jeanne Astino, Chairman Ellen Maher Amanda Zani Barbara Stefan Absent: Katie Dugan Also in Attendance: Louise Demas, Superintendent John Tuffy, Business Manager Sue Skeiber, Interim Assistant Superintendent Call to Order and Roll Call Chairman Astino called the meeting to order at 7:00p.m. Roll call Vote; Barbara Stefan—Present, Jeanne Astino—Present, Ellen Maher—Present,Amanda Zani—Present. Pledge of Allegiance—Recited Invitation to Speak- None Approval of Warrant Motion by Mrs. Stefan to approve Warrant 17-12S,seconded by Mrs.Zani. Roll Call Vote; Barbara Stefan-Aye,Jeanne Astino-Aye,Amanda Zani-Aye. Ellen Maher abstained from the vote. Finance Monthly Update—Mr.Tuffy stated that the revolving funds are moving along as expected. The winter sports fees are starting to come in and the second half of kindergarten tuition will start to come in the first of the year. The grant for the Resource Officer has been cut by the State. The district and the town will have to move forward without it. Chairman Astino said they were thinking of contacting the Governor's office to see if the State would be fulfilling the grant to the end of the year. Mr.Tuffy said they did reach out and asked what the effective date was for the cut off and if the State would be reimbursing districts for the position. They have not received a response. There was then a lengthy discussion on the Grant and what will happen going forward. Mr.Tuffy said there is a lot of talk about the State bringing forward a supplemental budget to possibly reinstate some of the cuts. Page 1 of 4 Mr.Tuffy went on to say that things are moving on as to be expected [budget wise],the trash and water budgets will have a deficit. They will also be having some teachers out on leave during the year, but they will work through that. Bus Maintenance Update Mr.Tuffy advised the Committee that during the upcoming school vacation, all of the buses will go in for preventative maintenance and minor repairs. Chairman Astino asked when the next inspections would take place. Mr.Tuffy said that the bus company will reach out to the District to schedule it and that it should be soon. The new van for the lunch program has arrived; it's going to be great for the program. FY 17 Transportation Fees Mr.Tuffy stated that the sub-committee met and is recommending the transportation fee be increased to a flat$200. The fee will need to be paid by June 4t". If the fee is not paid by June 4t", it will increase to $250. If the $250 fee is not paid by September 15`, it will increase to $300.This would be the first increase in quite some time and they hope to never have to collect a fee of$300. The family cap is currently$540.00 and that will remain the same. Chairman Astino said that she had been worried about raising the fee, but a $20 increase is pretty modest and they do have to cover the maintenance and the bus drivers. Mrs. Zani said they need to be very thoughtful about communicating [to the families]. Mr. Tuffy said financial assistance for the transportation fees will still be available. There was then a lengthy conversation about when to get the deadlines out to the parents.They agreed to do so after April vacation. Motion by Mrs. Maher to increase the FY18 transportation fees to$200 if registered by June 4`h. After June 4th the fee will increase to$250. If not paid by September 15Y,the fee will increase to $300. Seconded by Mrs. Stefan. Roll call vote; Barbara Stefan—Aye,Jeanne Astino—Aye, Ellen Maher—Aye,Amanda Zani—Aye. The sub-committee also reviewed the Building Use fee. They recommend to leave it as is for now. They do recommend an addition of a fee for the use of the audio equipment in the auditorium. They are proposing that if you rent the auditorium, and you want sound and lights, a fee should be assessed. There has been some damage in the past when used by inexperienced users. The fee would be an hourly rate to pay either a teacher at$37 an hour or a student at$25 an hour who has experience in using the equipment in order to prevent damage to the equipment. After some discussion, Motion by Mrs.Zani to approve the audiovisual fee of$37 an hour for a teacher or$25 an hour for a student. Seconded by Mrs. Stefan. Roll call vote; Barbara Stefan—Aye,Jeanne Astino—Aye, Ellen Maher— Aye,Amanda Zani—Aye. FY 18 BudHet Process Update Mrs. Demas said that she and Mr.Tuffy have met with all three principals and have looked at personnel. They still have to meet with a few more people and then they are done. They are working to stay inside existing numbers. Mr.Tuffy said that they have asked for the specific budget numbers to be submitted by Friday, December 23rd. This will give them the vacation week to review them. Chairman Astino asked if the Committee will be provided numbers by their next meeting. Mr.Tuffy said they will have some preliminary information for the Committee by then. Page 2 of 4 Superintendent's Report • Pre-K Registration—Mrs. Demas reviewed the Integrated Preschool Registration Timeline. Applications will be available after vacation on January 3, 2017. It's a tight calendar because role models are part of the integrated program and they need to be screened. Chairman Astino said that the format of the timeline was great and asked if a similar one could be created for Kindergarten. • Pre-K and Kindergarten Fees Pre-K- Mrs. Demas is requesting the fees be increased by$200. The increase will almost cover the increase for wages. Motion by Mrs. Maher to increase next year's Pre-K from $2,600 to $2,800 for the four day program. Seconded by Mrs. Stefan. Roll call vote; Barbara Stefan— Aye,Jeanne Astino—Aye, Ellen Maher—Aye,Amanda Zani—Aye. Mr.Tuffy advised that they intentionally did not raise the fees for Lunch Bunch. • Kindergarten—Mrs. Demas is requesting that the fees for the 2017—2018 Full Day Kindergarten also be increased by$200. Motion by Mrs. Maher to increase the 2017-2018 Full Day Kindergarten Fee from $3,000 to$3,200 per year. Seconded by Chairman Astino. Roll call vote; Barbara Stefan—Aye,Jeanne Astino—Aye, Ellen Maher—Aye,Amanda Zani—Aye. Chairman Astino stated that it was important to note that there has not been an increase in years past. This increase will cover the cost for the teacher(s). Mrs. Demas added that the curriculum costs have also increased. Mrs. Stefan said they need to discuss this in the future as costs will continue to rise. Mr.Tuffy added that there is financial aid available and also the free half day program, so there are other options out there. School Committee Comments and Communication • Liaison to Master Plan Committee—Chairman Astino said that the Chairman of the Master Plan Committee has reached out to see who from the School Committee will be the liaison. After some discussion, it was agreed that Chairman Astino will talk to Mrs. Dugan about sitting on this committee. • School Committee Google Training/Use The Committee discussed the various ways this application could be used by the Committee. It would be very helpful when they are working on one document. Then all of the revisions could be seen by everyone instead of having multiple versions. Mrs. Skeiber said the next training could focus on this. Report from Subcommittees of School Committee • Chairman Astino attended the Alternative Energy Committee meeting the previous week and it was very exciting. Three students showed up as student representatives; some underclassmen have also expressed interest. This will allow for continuity into next year. • Mrs. Stefan said that the Deer Hill Council met on December 8th. The goal of the Council is to ensure that all students can achieve their full potential. The Council said that google docs are really helpful. They also discussed curriculums and project based learning. Page 3 of 4 • There was a brief discussion regarding the Town's electric vehicles. Three have been delivered to the Town. Once the charging station is here and the vehicles have been decaled, more information regarding usage etc. will be released. • Mrs. Maher stated that the new Public Records Law comes into effect on January 1ST. The Committee needs to identify a person who will be the main contact for the schools for Public Records Requests. In the past it has been the Superintendent. Chairman Astino said she did not see any reason to change that. The Board agreed that Superintendent Louise Demas would be the Records Access Officer. • Mrs. Zani announced that there will be a SEPAC meeting on January 10th with a meeting topic of "Is it Sensory or Behavior?". It will be 10a.m.—Noon—location TBD. Approval of Minutes—Motion by Mrs. Zani to approve the minutes of November 30,2016 as amended. Seconded by Mrs. Stefan and the vote was unanimous (4-0). Motion by Chairman Astino to approve the minutes of December 7, 2016 as amended. Seconded by Mrs. Maher and the vote was unanimous (4-0). Follow-up and Updates The Committee reviewed and updated Mrs. Maher's list. Chairman Astino asked for a motion to go into executive session for Exemption#2 strategy related to negotiations with nonunion personnel:Superintendent,#3 strategy related to negotiations with union personnel: bus drivers and for security. The Committee will return to open session for the purpose of adjourning. The motion was moved by Mrs. Zani and seconded by Mrs. Stefan. Roll call vote: Barbara Stefan—Aye,Jeanne Astino—Aye, Ellen Maher—Aye,Amanda Zani—Aye. The Committee went into executive session at 8:31PM. Motion by Mrs. Zani to adjourn the executive session at 10:40 p.m., seconded by Mrs.Astino. Roll call vote: Barbara Stefan—Aye,Jeanne Astino—Aye, Ellen Maher—Aye,Amanda Zani—Aye. Motion by Mrs Zani to adjourn the open meeting,seconded by Mrs.Astino. Roll Call Vote; Barbara Stefan—Aye,Jeanne Astino—Aye, Ellen Maher—Aye,Amanda Zani—Aye. The meeting adjourned at 10:41 pm Documents: F-1— Revolving& Grants Summary Fiscal 2017 F-2— FY 2017 Transportation Maintenance Log F-3— Transportation Fees Benchmarking FY 17 G-1— Joseph Osgood School —Integrated Preschool Registration Timeline G-2— Kindergarten Fees 1 - 1 11/30/16 and 12/7/16 Minutes Page 4 of 4