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HomeMy Public PortalAboutBrewster School Committee -- 2023-10-19 Minutes NAUSET PUBLIC SCHOOLS MEETING MINUTES of the -- ----- - -- Brewster Elementary School MEETING DATE Thursday, October 19,2023 @ 6:30PM `k- 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, 2025, 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,Vice Chair Casey Mecca, Sarah Sherman and Carol Jelinek; joining remotely Judi Lech NON-MEMBER ATTENDANCE: Superintendent Brooke Clenchy,Director of Finance and Operations Giovanna Venditti, Stony Brook Principal Keith Gauley,Police Chief Health Eldredge and Select Board Liaison Kari Hoffman 1. Call to Order& Declaration of a Ouorum.Meeting Participation Statement and Recording Statement The meeting was called to order at 6:30 pm. 2. Agenda Chan es: None 3. Citizens Speak: None 4. Priority Business: a. Safe U date-Chief Eldredge Chief Eldredge explained that while he cannot give details of the training efforts by his department with the other regional police departments, last year, 75 officers trained at the Nauset High School in single-officer response, lock down, stay in place and evacuations drills. Those same drills have also occurred at the Eddy and Stony Brook Schools. After a question for clarification from Ms. Sherman, Principal Gauley explained the Crisis Go app is only used by staff, Parents Square remains the main communication outlet for parents/caregivers. b. Administrators' Report Chair Report Chair Jacobus indicated three members of the school committee staffed a table at the Brewster Volunteer Day. She thought the event was well attended and very helpful to community members. On October 2, members of the committee held their own retreat meeting. The retreat meeting proved to be time well spent going over basic systems and procedures while also having the opportunity to get to know each other better. The process of the warrant approval was simplified,now only one signature is needed to sign the warrant. Also,meeting packets will now be available for pick-up at the Eddy School,prior to meetings. Brewster School Committee October 19, 2023 11 P a g e Additional professional development will be available for members on Friday, October 27 with an in-person ethics training session from 1 to 2:30pm, offered by Brewster's Town Counsel. Also DEI training will be held virtually on November 2 with Mr. Krownapple. Lastly,a reminder of the fall town meeting happening on November 13 at 6pm. Principals' Report Principal Gauley said that he was proud to report that Principal Guditus is on the Board of Directors for Mass CUE (computer using educators) and he was doing the introductory remarks opening the conference,which is the largest conference of educators in Massachusetts! Principal Gauley also sincerely thanked the teaching staff, as the first part of the year has been difficult and the teachers have worked through these challenges successfully, and the school day is going much better now. There has been a change in screening for Dyslexia; now students K-3 are screened. Parents are notified of the screening and if their child's scores were of concern. The next Professional Development Day will be held on November 9. Principal Gauley and Assistant Superintendent Hughes are developing the curriculum for the day and it is coming along well. Recently, 1 student moved out of the District,bringing the total enrollment in Brewster to 439 students. Principal Gauley explained the Multi-Tiered System of Support(MTSS): Tier 1 -in classroom, all students being taught Tier 2 -students receive additional help, such as seeing a reading specialist Tier 3 -students are identified with the need for special education services, programs and instruction At the upcoming parent-teacher conferences,the iReady results will be shared with the parents and at the Spring meetings, student growth reports will be available. Ms. Hoffman inquired on the status of the playground repairs. Principal Gauley reported that most of the repairs have been done, however two platforms still need to be replaced and the brackets still need to be installed in the swing sets; those parts have been ordered. Superintendent Report Superintendent Clenchy reported that regular meetings with the six area Police Chiefs have begun again. She is very appreciative of the work they do together keeping all of the schools in the district safe. Additionally, a key component to the work with the police departments is the approval of the Memorandums of Understanding(MOU) . Each town's MOU agreement has been signed, allowing for police officers to be and interact in the schools as well as respond to incidents. Staffing continues to be a challenge. The need for bus drivers and custodians is greater than ever before. Brewster School Committee October 19, 2023 2 1 P a g e Group meetings have also begun again with town administrators and town managers. Topics discussed include budget expectations and student populations. c. FY24 Student Enrollment Director Venditti detailed the student enrollment numbers as of the October 1,2023 report of each school in the district. Similar to last year, there is a large number of students leaving the district for charter schools and that has a large impact on the budget. There is hope students will return to Nauset after the construction is complete. Overall,there is a decrease of 92 students attending the district. d. FY24 Expenditure Report The report was deferred until the next meeting. e. FY25 Bud et Timeline Director Venditti detailed the FY25 budget creation timeline. The base of the budget starts with the student enrollment numbers as of October 1. That follows with the towns establishing their target percentage budget increases; generally, between 2.5 and 4%. In November, she and Superintendent Clenchy will review the budget guidelines with school staff including principals. Budget sheets are pre-populated with information such as salaries and fixed costs and sent on to the respective schools and departments. Budgets are reviewed with the school committees in January and February and sent on to the towns' Finance Committees and Select Boards by the end of March for their review, and hopefully, approval. C MASC Conference Attendees/Resolutions/Deleeate Chair Jacobus indicated the votes for the resolutions will take place on the Wednesday of the Conference at 2:30pm. Superintendent Clenchy added that the resolution regarding regional transportation was worthy of support. Also worthy of support is the resolution limiting the MCAS testing,as she thinks there could be something better for the children. MOTION: Ms.Mecca made a motion to approve all eight MASC Resolutions. Ms. Sherman seconded the motion and via roll call vote. all members voted in favor. Mrs. Lech volunteered to be the delegate to vote on the resolutions at the conference. Members will email Chair Jacobus their ability to attend the conference. g. NPS Policy Sections C -H; Approval in Form Mrs. Lech reported that by approving Policy Sections C through H in form only, it will bring the School Committee up to date on what the Subcommittee has forwarded on for approval in form. "Approval in form"means all legal aspects have been brought up to date with DESE and MA G.L. requirements and also with Nauset's own recommendations. MOTION: Ms. Sherman made a motion to approve NPS Policy Sections C through H in form only. Ms.Jelinek seconded the motion and via roll call vote,all members voted in favor. Brewster School Committee October 19, 2023 3 1 P a g e h. Declare Surplus Items of surplus at the Eddy School were detailed in the committee's meeting packet. MOTION: Ms.Jelinek made a motion to approve the surplus declared for the Eddv School. Ms. Sherman seconded the motion and via roll call vote,all members voted in favor. 5. Reports and Information Cape Cod Collaborative-Ms. Mecca reported the Collaborative hosted the"All Cape Development Day',hosting teachers from the Cape and Islands with over 700 teachers attending. There was a wide variety of professional development classes. The shortage of staff continues to be a problem, especially in transportation. PTO Liaison -Ms. Sherman detailed fundraising events that the PTO has held and brainstorming is being done for future events. She also reported the PTO had sponsored an author to come into the schools. Behavioral Health Task Force -Chair Jacobus reported there was a meeting, led by the new Student Services Director Matt Kravitz. He had wide representation from staff at the meeting. There will be more to report from the next meeting in November. Superintendent Evaluation Subcommittee-Mrs. Lech reported they had met on October 18 and the Superintendent presented in written form her goals for the year. At that meeting Superintendent Clenchy also discussed the highlights of all that has been accomplished in a team effort. Going forward, on October 26, the Joint School Committee will hear a brief report from the Superintendent. Chair Jacobus thanked Mrs. Lech for attending the meeting and noted to the other members that someone needs to take over the seat on this committee as Mrs. Lech has a full slate of meetings to attend already. Chair Jacobus said she realizes it is a difficult sub-committee to sit on as there is not a set schedule for the meetings. MASC School Committee Handbook-This topic was included in the agenda erroneously. Policy Subcommittee-Mrs. Lech previously gave an update on the status of the policy review. The next meeting will take place on November 13 and they will move into the review of Policy Section I. She indicated there are 168 more policies to go. School Council Report-There was no meeting. Two representative seats need to be filled, one by a parent(PTO responsibility to fill) and one community member(Principal's responsibility to fill),then a meeting will be scheduled. Eddy School Council Report-Ms. Jelinek said the meeting had very good discussion about what is needed for school and what they would like to focus on. They also started working on the School Improvement Plan. Central Office Budget-Ms. Sherman indicated the first meeting will take place on November 16. Brewster School Committee October 19, 2023 4 1 P a g e MOTION: Ms. Sherman made a motion to approve the minutes of September 21,2023. Ms.Mecca seconded the motion. Via roll call vote,Ms.Mecca abstained from the vote. all others in favor. MOTION: Mrs.Lech made a motion to ad'ourn the meeting at 8:02m. Ms.Mecca seconded the motion and all voted in favor to adjourn. Respectfully Submitted, Amanda V. Lapierre Recording Secretary Documents Reviewed and Available U ion Request Superintendents and Principals Report FY24 Student Enrollment Report Surplus Report Brewster School Committee October 19, 2023 5 P a g e