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HomeMy Public PortalAboutBrewster School Committee -- 2023-09-21 Minutes NAUSET PUBLIC SCHOOLS MEETING MINUTES of the Brewster Elementary School MEETING DATE Monday, September 21,2023 @6:30PM Hybrid Meeting Via Town of Brewster Zoom This meeting took place in a hybrid format pursuant to the law signed by Governor Baker on June 16, 2021' -An Act Extending Certain COVID-19 Measures Adopted During the State of Emergency, which includes an extension, until March 31, 2023, of the remote meeting provisions of his March 12,2020 Executive Order Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law. MEMBER ATTENDANCE: Chair Katie Jacobus,Judi Lech, Carol Jelinek and Sarah Sherman MEMBERS NOT IN ATTENDANCE: Vice Chair Casey Mecca NON-MEMBER ATTENDANCE: Director of Finance and Operations Giovanna Venditti, Stony Brook Principal Keith Gauley,Eddy Elementary School Principal Steven Guditus, Select Board Liaison Karl Hoffman, Finance Committee Liaison Robert Tobias and Steven Cass 1. Call to Order&Declaration of a Quorum,Meetiny_Participation Statement and Recordin� Statement The meeting was called to order at 6:32 pm. 2. Agenda Chanp_e None 3. Citizens Speak- Mr. Cass, an Orleans resident, addressed the meeting regarding his previous position as a coach. 4. Prioritj, Business: a. Administrators' Report Chair Report Welcome back! Chair Jacobus noted that she is seeing a focus on and a need for better communication throughout the community. She noted the importance of the Elementary School Handbook which has a significant amount of information about communication in the schools. Also, she noted,the Town of Brewster is currently engaged in looking at how to improve communication between the Town and the public. Chair Jacobus added that she is aware there is still discussion in the community around the idea of school consolidation. She explained that a feasibility study was completed in January, 2022 by Habeeb and Associates, there was deliberation, site visits and a public forum about consolidation and the more it was looked at, it was clear that neither school was adequate enough to hold the current school population. At a School Committee meeting last October. 2023 the discussion was tabled until the numbers reflected the need to move forward. Chair Jacobus reiterated those facts so that any conversation about consolidation was based on facts. She announced the First Annual Volunteer Fair will be held on Saturday September 30, from loam-Noon,with about 25 different boards and committees in attendance so the public can visit and learn more about what each committee does. Afterwards, there will be a luncheon for the volunteers! The School Committee will also hold a retreat meeting on October 2, 2023, separate from the monthly meeting, with a hope to have the chance for greater discussion and setting of goals. Principals' Report Principal Gauditus reported that there were many students who attended the Summer Academy and Extended School Year Program which was for students who had summer school written into their IEP. This year,K through Grade 5 teachers will be rolling out the Ready Reading and Ready Writing as the ELA curriculum. The teachers continue to receive training on the curriculum this year. There is also a continuation of the iReady Math curriculum and Eddy Ready core values continue this year. The summer reading program was celebrated for kids who read a lot, gift certificates to books stores were awarded. Dignity and belonging values will also continue to be taught in the classrooms. Eddy Elementary has quite a few new staff members including Grade 3 and 4 teachers, a technology teacher, a school psychologist,two education assistants, a registered behavioral technician, and a reading specialist. Currently, there are 270 students enrolled in Eddy Elementary. Principal Gauley noted Stony Brook Elementary School also has 3 new staff members including a new cafeteria manager and educational assistants. In regard to enrollment, there are 233 students at Stony Brook, of which 59 are enrolled in kindergarten. Principal Gauley offered many thanks for the support of the additional kindergarten teacher last year as the kindergarten enrollment does warrant that additional teacher. There were 10 students who moved into Brewster this past summer, while 4 students left the district. Stony Brook enrollment reflects 2 new students in kindergarten, 3 in Grade 2 and 5 students in Grade 1. Stony Brook Elementary will also see a new core values program which is detailed in the monthly report. Those values of`Be Kind, Be Safe and Do Your Best"will focus on expectations and behavior during recess, in the cafeteria and on the school buses for example. Principal Gauditus explained that the new staff position of Registered Behavioral Technician works under the educational assistant contract and has gone through additional training for applied behavioral analysis. She will work in the Sail classroom with students who have significant autism. Superintendent's Report In place of Superintendent Clenchy, Director Venditti gave the Superintendent's report. Director Venditti gave thanks to the 10 and 12-month staff members throughout the school district who gave an extra effort throughout the summer so that all the schools were up and ready for the new school year! Staffing throughout the district continues to be a challenge, as there is a continued need for educational assistants, bus drivers,cafeteria workers and custodians. The budget season has begun with preliminary efforts to review numbers and scenarios. The October 1 student count is highly anticipated and will guide the creation of the new fiscal year budget. The NRHS building project continues to move along at a quick pace as the buildings have been constructed and are ready to be closed in. The new campus continues to take shape! This year the Nauset Public Schools will continue work in three key"buckets" of focus: Wellness,High Quality Instruction and Systems. b. Stony Brook and Eddy ElementarN School Handbook Principal Gauley explained live updates to the Handbook such as staff members name changes occur throughout the year and therefore there is a live link on the school's website that the public can use to stay up to date with changes. The rest of the Handbook remains the status quo from the previous year. Ms. Jelinek referenced the"Bill of Rights"on page 12 and feels the wording should be updated and not be gender specific. Principal Gauley explained that language is specifically for the elementary school level. Principal Gauditus offered a modification of"regardless of our color of skin, our size and our gender identity". Chair Jacobus asked if volunteers are being sought in the schools, as mentioned in the handbook. Principal Gauditus said they are looking for volunteers in the library and those community members who have a passion or expertise in"their real world"experiences that could be shared with the students for educational purposes. All volunteers would be CORI checked before being allowed to be in the schools. _MOTION: Ms.Jelinek made a motion to modify the Brewster Elementary Schools Caregiver/Student Handboo page 12 of the "Bill of Rights"to"all students will be treated fairly regardless of our color of skin our size and our zender identir•" and after the modification accept the Handbook as presented. Ms. Sherman seconded the motion and via roll call vote, all voted in favor. c. Cape Cod Collaborative Transportation MOA Director Venditti explained this is the contract document and MOA for the district wide general education bus transportation. Both have been vetted fully by the District and Collaborative attorneys. This is for a two-year term(starting July 1, 2023)with 3-one-year options to renew. The two-year bus contract coincides with the expiration of the lease of the propane bus contract. At that time,the district will have to decide how to go forward, either with propane buses or research other alternatives fuel options. MOTION: Ms. Sherman made a motion to approve the Cape Cod Collaborative Transportation MOA. Mrs. Lech seconded the motion and via roll call vote all members voted in favor. d. FY23 Final Expenditure Report Director Venditte reviewed the final budget and reported the end balance at Stony Brook was $87,759 and the end balance at Eddy was a negative $82,748. When combining both balances, $5,011 was returned to the Town of Brewster. e. Declare Surplus Principal Gauley reported that these older materials are no longer in use, as they are from the Reading Wonders program, copyright 2014&2017 and are out of date. The materials can be donated to a company who will accept the materials and distribute them to other parts of the world! Book bins for removal of the material are provided by the company at no charge. MOTION: Mrs.Lech made a motion to approve the declaration of surplus as described. Ms. Sherman seconded the motion and via roll call vote, all voted in favor. 5. Reports and Information Cape Cod Collaborative-As reported by Chair Jacobus from Vice Chair Mecca's report: "The Waypoint Academy has moved to Yarmouth from Sandwich and reported their summer program went well with some new staff including a school adjustment counselor. Both Waypoint and the STAR program are short some staff which is leading to some delays in referrals. The bus situation is off to a better start than last year but is still a daily battle. There is a national shortage and we are experiencing that impact as well here. Some bus routes have been consolidated,but they are making it work. All Cape PD Day is scheduled for October 6 at Dennis-Yarmouth High School(some virtual/remote options as well)." PTO Liaison Report-Ms. Sherman, although she was unable to attend the first meeting,noted the annual sale of Mums Fall fundraiser will take place again this year. Meetings are the second Tuesday of the month, and she will be attending the October meeting. Behavioral Health Task Force -Chair Jacobus stated the first meeting is October. Superintendent Evaluation Subcommittee -Mrs. Lech reported that they met yesterday and had a general discussion on the overview process that occurred last year. Superintendent Clenchy will be sending out her updated goals tentatively set for October 13 in preparation for the next meeting on October 18. The Joint School Committee will see the materials on October 25. On May 1, 2024 Superintendent Clenchy will report to the subcommittee her progress on all her goals and on May 23, 2024 the Joint Committee will consider the completed report. Chair Jacobus noted there will not be a full evaluation again for 3 years. (Vice Chair Mecca may be taking on the Superintendent Evaluation Committee, as Mrs. Lech will be taking on the Negotiations Subcommittee and leaving the Evaluation Committee. Chair Jacobus will confirm.) MASC School Committee Handbook Policy Subcommittee-Mrs. Lech reported that the last meeting was on June 5 and the next meeting will be held on October 2,2023. Policies A through H, except for Policy D (fiscal management), have been reviewed. There are an additional 259 policies still to be reviewed by the subcommittee. Chair Jacobus asked Mrs. Lech to clarify with the Policy Subcommittee how many readings are required to be done by the school committees. School Council Report-Both Eddy and Stony Brook councils have not met yet. Chair Jacobus noted that the DEI Task Force is not a subcommittee and will not have a regular liaison report. Central Office Budget Committee -Ms. Sherman said they have not met yet. Transportation Subcommittee -Ms. Jelinek said they have not met yet. Negotiation Subcommittee -Mrs. Lech said they have not met yet. There were no future agenda items requested. 6.Approval of Minutes of June 15, 2023 Mrs. Lech offered a correction to the minutes on page 3, Policy G was reviewed,however Policy D has not yet been reviewed as Director Venditti will assist with that policy. Ms. Jelinek asked that her comment about Policy A&B and her reason to vote in opposition of the policies be included in the minutes as follows: "Ms. Jelinek objected with the idea that this could be a mixed message to students". MOTION: Ms.Jelinek made a motion to approve the minutes as amended. Mrs. Lech seconded the motion and via roll call vote, all vote in favor. MOTION: Ms. Sherman made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:42 Vin. Mrs. Lech seconded the motion and all voted in favor. Respectfully submitted, Amanda V. Lapierre Recording Secretary Documents Reviewed and Available Upon Re uest Principals'Report,Stony Brook and Eddy Elementary School Handbook, Cape Cod Collaborative Transportation MOA,FY23 Final Expenditure Report