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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - SC - 06/05/2019 �.COFiASSST O O�v ly y7 Cohasset School Committee Meeting School Committee Minutes Wednesday,June 5, 2019 Cohasset Middle-High School Community Use Room 143 Pond Street Cohasset, MA In Attendance: Ellen Maher, Chairman Jennifer Madden Paul Kearney Ashley Colleary Craig MacLellan Also in Attendance: Louise Demas, Superintendent Dr. Patrick Sullivan, Assistant Superintendent Michael MacMillan, Director of Finance & Operations The meeting was called to order at 7 pm. Roll Call- Paul Kearney-Present,Ashley Colleary-Present, Ellen Maher-Present,Jen Madden-Present, Craig MacLellan-Present. Mrs. Maher asked for a motion to enter Executive Session at 7:01 pm for Exemption#3, strategy related to negotiating with union personnel, Food Service Workers and Exemption#2, strategy related to negotiating with non-union personnel, Assistant Superintendent candidate; Motion by Mrs. Colleary, second by Mr. Kearney. Roll Call—Paul Kearney,Aye,Ashely Colleary,Aye, Ellen Maher,Aye, Jen Madden, Aye, Craig MacLellan Aye Chairman Maher called the meeting back to order at 7:45 p.m. The SC already did a roll call vote earlier tonight. Pledge-Recited. Public Comment-Jeanine Perrone-124 Pleasant Street asked about the nurse staffing at the Middle School. She has a child with Type 1 diabetes. The State recommends 1 nurse for every 500 students. There should be a 1.6 nurse at a minimum. Superintendent Demas stated they did discuss this during the budget discussion. It is something they are aware of and will continue to discuss. They have added a closed area for the nurse to be used as a clinic and added a drop box for medication. Chairman Maher advised Ms. Perrone to follow up with her or the Superintendent for updates. 1 Superintendent's Report-CEF Gift-President of CEF Jennifer Ognibene and Cindy Mathieson discussed the gift of$48,700. Mrs. Mathieson stated they have given grants that include $26,750 for Osgood Specialists-215T C Learning Spaces, $2000 for the Osgood Garden Expansion Project, $5000 for the Literacy Home/School Connection through Technology, $770 for Understanding Cultural Proficiency for the district, $630 for WeDo Supplemental Materials for First Lego League, $2500 for the Deer Hill Community Garden, $3000 for Lab Equipment for CHS Genetics and Biotechnology Class, $3000 for Free Voluntary Reading World Language Program, $2100 for Cohasset Carrot Project and $2950 for 3D Printers for Eventual Makers Space. They are excited to be able to help fund these programs. Mrs. Ognibene introduced John Starvish as the incoming President of CEF. Motion by Mr. MacLellan to accept the gift of$48,700 from the CEF for the 10 grants as presented, seconded by Mr. Kearney. Roll Call Vote; Paul Kearney-Aye,Ashley Colleary-Aye, Ellen Maher-Aye,Jennifer Madden-Aye, Craig MacLellan-Aye. CEF Award and MHS Library Commons-Kathy Cerruti advised the Committee that Cohasset was picked from all schools in the state for their fundraising and planning initiatives for the Learning Commons at CMHS. They received the Massachusetts Library Association Award. She is extremely grateful to the CEF and all the volunteers that worked so hard on the fundraising for the Learning Commons. She has noticed a resurgence of kids looking for and wanting books. She showed a presentation of the Learning Commons and how the campaigning and fundraising began. She discussed the current usage of the space, circulation statistics,the volunteer program,the Gale database usage and how they will continue to improve and enhance the Learning Commons. Motion by Mrs. Colleary to change the agenda item and Vote for the Appointment of Assistant Superintendent,seconded by Mr. Kearney and the vote was unanimous(5-0). Vote for Appointment-Assistant Superintendent-Superintendent Demas stated they had a great pool of qualified candidates for the position. There was an extensive search. They have offered the position of Assistant Superintendent to Dr. Leslie Scollins. Superintendent Demas stated Dr. Scollins has extensive teaching experience and was recently the Principal of the Martinson Elementary School in Marshfield. The SC welcomed Dr. Scollins. Motion by Mr. Kearney to approve the appointment of Dr. Leslie Scollins as Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment as amended, seconded by Mrs. Madden. Roll Call Vote; Paul Kearney-Aye,Ashley Colleary-Aye, Ellen Maher-Aye,Jennifer Madden-Aye, Craig MacLellan-Aye. Student Services Update-Director of Student Services Mary Buchanan reviewed the number of students on Special Education services. There are currently 210 students receiving In-District services and 16 students in Out of District. They have not had to increase the staffing this year. She reviewed the district wide positions,the breakdown of students at each of the schools. The Committee had a brief discussion. Deer Hill School Family Handbook-Principal Alex Sullivan stated she is so proud of all of the staff and parents that have worked so hard on the handbook. They reviewed it at length and it really needed updating. The biggest update was including hyperlinks throughout the handbook to make it easier to access information. They will add in the staff directory with the additional staff. Ms. Sullivan reviewed all the changes. 2 Deer Hill School Improvement Plan-Principal Alex Sullivan reviewed the progress of the 2018-19 Improvement Plan and the action steps of the school's three goals. Ms. Sullivan discussed her 2019-20 Deer Hill Improvement Plan and the SMART Goals. The SC had a lengthy discussion. Mr. MacLellan asked if there has been any discussion about foreign languages in the elementary schools. Superintendent Demas stated they have had many conversations about it. She agrees philosophically however, it is difficult to find qualified teachers and there are budget issues. They will continue to discuss and consider. Ms. Sullivan added that having foreign languages through an enrichment program would be a good start. Motion by Mr. MacLellan to approve the 2019-2020 Deer Hill School Improvement Plan as presented, seconded by Mrs. Colleary. Roll Call Vote; Paul Kearney-Aye,Ashley Colleary-Aye, Ellen Maher-Aye,Jennifer Madden-Aye, Craig MacLellan-Aye. Osgood Family Handbook-Principal Lisa Farrell stated she worked with Principal Sullivan on the handbook. They hope to have similar style handbooks. There still needs to be some tweaks. The SC had a brief discussion and suggested some edits including, adding the Skipper Creed, aligning the page numbers in the index, adding allergy information and screenings. They also asked about adding hyperlinks throughout the document as the Deer Hill School did. Osgood School Improvement Plan—Principal Lisa Farrell reviewed last year's elements and the action steps taken. She discussed the 2019-2020 Improvement Plan and goals. Motion by Mrs. Madden to approve the 2019-2020 Osgood School Improvement, seconded by Mr. MacLellan. Roll Call Vote; Paul Kearney-Aye,Ashley Colleary-Aye, Ellen Maher-Aye,Jennifer Madden-Aye, Craig MacLellan-Aye. Enrollment Update-Superintendent Demas reviewed the enrollment. There is not much change, nothing they didn't expect. There was a couple of families that have moved out of town. Finance-Gift-Mr. MacMillan stated they have received a check from Stop &Shop from the A+Awards Program for 2019 for$1745.04. Motion by Mrs. Colleary to accept the donation of$1745.04 from Stop &Shop A+Awards Program, seconded by Mr. Kearney. Roll Call Vote; Paul Kearney-Aye,Ashley Colleary-Aye, Ellen Maher-Aye,Jennifer Madden-Aye, Craig MacLellan-Aye. Monthly Update-Mr. MacMillan stated the reports reflect the months of April and May. Everything is close to where it was last year. They have encumbered more this year than last year. Contracted Services will need a budget transfer probably from Utilities. The School Committee line item is over budget due to legal services. Some of the grants are showing negative balances. They are just waiting for reimbursements. The Revolving Accounts look good. Vehicle Maintenance Update-Mr. MacMillan advised the Committee the new buses are currently being used. There will be some training on the new camera systems. They want to make sure they are not a distraction to the drivers. They should only look at the cameras while the bus it stopped. Use of Facility Application-Mr. MacMillan stated they have a request from the Cohasset Youth Baseball Softball Association to use Deer Hill Field on Wednesday s from June 19-July 24, 2019. Motion by Mr. MacLellan to approve the application for CYBSA for use of the Deer Hill Field on Wednesdays from 6/19/19-7/24/19 as presented, seconded by Mr. Kearney and the vote was unanimous (5-0). 3 Approval of Warrant-Motion by Mr. Kearney to approve Warrant 19-215, seconded by Mr. McLellan. Roll Call Vote; Paul Kearney-Aye, Ellen Maher-Aye,Jennifer Madden-Aye, Craig MacLellan-Aye,Ashley Colleary-Aye. School Committee Comments&Communication-Ratification of the Cafeteria Workers Contract-Motion by Mrs. Madden to approve the Cafeteria Workers Contract from July 1, 2019 through June 30, 2022, seconded by Mr. MacLellan. Roll Call Vote; Paul Kearney-Aye,Ashley Colleary-Aye, Ellen Maher-Aye, Jennifer Madden-Aye, Craig MacLellan-Aye. 2019-2020 School Committee Dates-The Committee reviewed the calendar and made a couple of edits. its. Reports from Sub-Committee & Liaisons-Mrs. Madden stated the Policy Sub-Committee met last week. They have a pretty aggressive agenda scheduled. Mrs. Maher attended the Cohasset Graduation on Saturday, which was amazing. Mr. MacLellan added the ceremony was great. Mr. Scott's speech was inspirational and encouraging. Everyone was cheering, it was great. Mrs. Maher attended the Scholarship Night where students received over$250,000 in scholarships. Mrs. Colleary went to Safe Harbor-Youth Ambassador meeting. It was impressive, vibrant and well attended. They have had Guiding Good Choices workshops that have been well received. There is an Overdose Awareness Vigil coming up in August. Mrs. Colleary attended the Diversity Committee today. They are going to read We Can't Breathe by Jabari Asim over the summer. They are working with the library on programming. It is a great committee. Safe Harbor and Cohasset Police hosted a Sober Tailgate Party. The Police Department has been a fabulous resource. Minutes-There are no minutes ready to be approved. Mr. Kearney will work on them. Motion by Mr. MacLellan to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Kearney and the vote was unanimous (5-0). The meeting adjourned at 11:07 p.m. Documents Used at the Meeting CEF Award E-1 Student Services Update E-2 Deer Hill Improvement Plan E-3 Deer Hill Handbook E-4 Osgood Improvement Plan E-5 Osgood Handbook E-6 Enrollment Update E-7 Stop &Shop Gift F-1 Monthly Update F-2 Vehicle Maintenance F-3 Use of Facilities App F-4 Cafeteria Workers Contract H-1 2019-2020 SC Calendar H-2 4