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HomeMy Public PortalAboutPolicy subcommittee -- 4/2/2014 Minutes UPEEP NAUSET SCHOOLS POLICY SUBCOMMITTEE April 2,2014 Central Administration Building Present for the Committee: Josh Stewart,Ann Crozier,Sue Skidmore,Betsy Pontius,Trish Hill Present for the Administration: Dr.Richard lloffnann,Dr.Ann Caretti Other: James Hardy,MASC and Attorney Nancy Campany from Murphy, Lamere,and Murphy Call to Order Chair Skidmore called the meeting to order at 4:36 p.m. She introduced Jim Hardy,MASC to the committee and announced the Attorney,Nancy Campany was stuck in traffic and arrived at 5:00 p.m. Citizen Sneak None Intra-District Transfer Policv Dr.Ann Caretti presented the committee a new Intra-District Transfer Policy for their review. The intent of the policy is to have special needs students serviced in our district elementary schools. She indicated that students from different towns in the region have been serviced in schools within the region,other than their own town. She further stated that some self-contained classes within(lie district are appropriate for these students instead of having them attend the Collaborative. Dr.Hoffmann stated that this makes perfect sense and that this policy would apply to special needs students only. This has been done a couple of times with permission. Section L of the policy manual addresses this,relations with other schools and the school district. This policy would allow the Administration to develop a partnership tivith the Nauset Region. Dr.Caretti stated that these students are part of the Nauset family. Jim Hardy indicated he will review the wording,codify,and bring it back to the policy subcommittee for review. Allerev Policv Dr.Caretti presented the Management of Life-Threatening Allergies policy from the Nauset nurses. Dr.Caretti indicated that there area lot of students with certain allergies and the nurses felt the need to update our policy. She also stated that this policy clearing states responsibilities by individuals and is very extensive. Jim Hardy indicated that there is no existing policy in place for Nauset. This policy was given to Jim Hardy for coding. Undate on Policv Manual Chair Skidmore indicated that the process was started in October 2012 and tivith the assistance of Jim Hardy,MASC, policies A—L have been review and the manual has been updated. It has been switched to the national codification system using alpha coding instead of numerical. Sections A,C,E, F,K,and L have been completed. Others sections are partially complete and Section B needs to be reviewed once again to make sure the language in the policy reflects legal responsibility of the committee when they are meeting. The subcommittee recessed at 4:57 p.m., waiting f'or the attorney to arrive to reconvene the meeting. The attorney arrived and the meeting reconvened at 5:212 p.m. Review Policv#4214 School Committee and Staff Communication 1 Dr. I toff mann introduced Nancy Canipany of Murphy,Lantcre,and,Murphy,who has been legal counsel for the district for many years. This firer works with the district on school related issues and this is her expertise. Attorney Campany noted that the current policy is identical to the MASC recommended policy. The purpose of tile policy is to provide the district with its contractual relationship with its employees. It does not affect the right of a staff'member to speak and they may express their opinion if it is not related to employment matters, The policy may have been interpreted to inhibit the right of free speech of staff members but that is not what it is intended to do. This has been a policy for many years in many districts across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. It codifies the chain of command. For example,when a family has a problem in the classroom,tile),do not go to the Superintendent,they go to the teacher fist and if not satisfied,to the principal,then to the Superintendent and can be appealed to the School Committee. School Committee members are members of a body and each individual school committee member has no authority or power to make comments to or agreements for the district and this is one of the reasons this policy is in place. This policy eliminates the risk of individual school committee members saying something that aright not be accurate and inight not indicate the committee as a body. You come to the public comment of the meeting and bring concerns. She finrther indicated that the policy does not say you can't conte to a meeting. filo one has been restrained from speaking at the School Committee meetings. Dr.Hoffinann indicated that until very recently every single staff member who wished to speak at a meeting has been recognized and been able to speak freely. Jim Hardy indicated that this policy is identical to NIASC policy. It is the exact policy that was approved by the Joint Committees on February 3,2000. Ann Crozier indicated that in Eastham,the School committee asks for teacher's input and they give their opinion. Tile School Committee frequently asks the teachers questions and tile),answer freely. Trish Hill voiced concerns because it is the NIASC policy it does not need to be the Nauset policy. Towns can vote to not adopt it and craft their own policy. She stated that School Committee members need to communicate with staff and know the issues that are out there. They can listen and staff should be able to come up to a school committee member and tell them about issues so that they can make a decision on programs,policies,etc. Attorney Campany indicated that it is important to understand that without this policy,what you will find is liability to the school district,eventually hearing that someone from the school committee represented something. In order to avoid that danger,the School Committee members should not communicate individually with the staff. She further stated that staff members should not email school committee as the danger is in the reply. In the NIGL,it is a chain of command. School Committee makes employment decisions for the Superintendent. Ed Reform took that power away from the School committee. Hiring is done by the principal and with approval of the Superintendent. Budgeting is a matter for the School Committee. Ed Reform Act empowers the Administration with day-to-day operations. Attorney Campany indicated that if it has to happen it is not a problem with staff members communicating at the meeting. There is going to be an opportunity for public comment. She further stated that the policy is implemented by the School Committee at the meetings. The Chair runs the meeting and can recognize or not recognize anyone that would like to speak at the meeting. Mr Kavanaugh asked if at a meeting people were allowed to guide the decision making, Ile then quoted policy from Brookline,NIA. Jim Hardy indicated that the policy was approved in 1980 and 1984 prior to Ed Reform Act of 1993 and there are not a lot of cases the school Committee involves staff with school committee. Nit.Hardy further stated that having something in place prior to Ed Reform,principals were part of the teachers union. This policy is intended to preserve the authority and right of the principal who is responsible to the Superintendent,who is responsible to the School Committee. The change was very dramatic for school level administration and was a huge conversion process. Chair Skidmore indicated that she called Brookline and asked about their policy. They indicated that they are aware 2 of the policy and that Brookline is in the process of updating their policy manual. They also have a disclaimer on their website that any policy that did conform with current practice were null and void. Attorney Campany indicated that she does not know how Brookline implements their policy. Attorney Campany indicated that the Chair of the Committee handles the meeting. It is up to the Chair to eat]on the citizens. She went onto say the policy does not prohibit staff members from speaking during Citizens Speak. Some of the teachers indicated they did not realize they could speak at a meeting Jim Hardy indicated that the Open,Meeting Law,states you must be recognized by the Chair and you should not be prohibited because you are an employee. You should not discuss anything confidential or anything that would identify a student. Teachers should not bring anything up about collective bargaining. Josh Stewart stated that the school committee needs to be Blear in what the scope of their authority is. I ie also stated that the Brookline Policy is clearly on the side of teachers but puts teachers at risk. He thought the subcommittee should figure out how our policy jives with contract language. Attorney Campany thought a sentence could be added that staff members have a right to participate at the public comment during the meeting and have the same status of any other member of the public. Mr.Galazzi indicated as vice chair of the Regional School Committee his focus is on setting policy and doing accurate budgeting that helps kids learn and to it fiscally responsibly. He would like to find language that doesn't put us at risk but enables flow of data to the school committee as a body. He shared concerns about email and the danger in replying which undermines the superintendent and undermines morale. Ed Rohmer suggested that there be language that states that the staff can speak during open comment portion of the school committee meeting. Attorney Campany indicated at the meeting,the Chair,grants permission for citizens to speak and that the Superintendent is an observer at the school committee meetings without voting privilege. The Chair determines who can and cannot speak. She also stated that staff speaking is not a problem unless it is confidential. If you have personnel information,you can't stand up and violate someone's rights. Everything that applies to the public applies to staff. Jim hardy indicated the reason that everything goes through the Superintendent is to ensure every committee member gets the same information. The Committee has to operate under the Open Meeting Law and that includes electronic communication. Do not reply to email,just acknowledge receipt. Everything is funneled through the Central Office,emails are archived. Josh Stewart stated as a committee we owe it to ourselves and the schools to make sure it is inclusive and formal, not based on a teacher comment or four teachers comments. When we are looking at the budget,the School Committee needs to create a formal process to get information. We could send out a survey. He worries about teachers coming to the committee with concerns and worrying about information coming from a small group. Ile said the School Committee should be asking the questions and reaching out. Don't leave it to the staff members to come to us. He would like safe ways and proper channels to engage the staff. Weare part of a team. Fundraisina Poliev 49326 The fundraising concern was whether or not PTO's and Booster Clubs could fnndraise without vetting through the School Committee. Attorney Campany stated in fact,more and more PTO's and Booster Clubs represent legal organizations and have legal right to do whatever they want,however,tine School Committee is not powerless. Because the School Committee must officially recognize a Parent Organization,that the School Committee can propose restrictions on the Parent Organization, The School Committee has a right to control the grounds and the buildings. The School Committee could prohibit the PTO from using the building. The donations must be accepted through the School Committee. The school committee can reject a donation because it disagrees with ho-kv the money was raised. They may return a gift because it was inappropriate. 3 i i i This is a policy issue and a political issue and it is easier to work things out,have dialog with PTO and Booster clubs. She suggested amending policy to state that any recognized Booster club must comply with regulations including getting permission for doing specific fundraisers, If an organization is recognized,then you have the right to place limitations on that group. The School Committee does not want to be liable for actions that they take as there is a risk of close association. Ann Crozier asked about after school program,ECSC fundraising. She also indicated that the Eastham PTO came to their meeting and gave them a list of their fundraising plans. The School Committee needs to know what is being run. We are talking about long standing policies and we are talking fudge sales. The PTO gives the school committee a list and the school committee votes to approve the list of fundrasiers. Trish Hill indicated she had issues with this policy. Agrees that the Brewster PTO is a separate organization and not sure how the school can tell them what they can or cannot do. Attorney Campany stated that there may be confusion with the public because they think you are affiliated with the Brewster schools. The School Committee can deny access to the PTO to use the schools' name.The School Committee has the authority to oversee Ilse of facilities or acceptance or rejection of funds. Mr. Hardy indicated that the language was put in place in 1998, He indicated the policy subcommittee tried to amend number 4,groups don't do the same fundraiser. This policy has been in place a long time. Nis.Hill felt the policy was for staff and not outside groups. What right does one organization have to say what another organization can or cannot do? If a parent wants to donate]pads to the school,how can you tell them they can't? You may choose not to take the Ipads. Policy is too restrictive. Being informed and giving approval are different concepts. Ms.Pontius thinks the school committee has to decide what the school committee wants it to cover. Do you want to pursue the recognition of parent groups? She indicated the policy needs work. Attorney Campany felt the school committee should not put down a list of criteria....intended to raise$1,000. Make sure that if somone is using your name,you approve the fundraiser. Attorney Campany indicated that the policy did not read well. Come up with something that will cover the school and establish good relationships with people who have spent lots of time and hours raising funds for kids. Mr.Stewart indicated that Orleans has no issues with the existing policy, Tlie committee reviews the list of fundraisers in the fall and it is good to have the global view of fundraising activities. He stated the need for having control over fundraising activities because they claim to be fundraising for the school. He likes seeing the calendar of events, noting it is the same people working on activities all the time. Jim Hardy mentioned how groups have done fundrasiers,received money,and never provided the goods. That is why the policy was created. Chair Skidmore suggested to bring some cohesiveness to this she would like Nir.Hardy to draft another version. Mr.Hardy will do this and Ms.Campany will review it. Resident) Attorney Campany indicated that this is very cut and dry. The School Choice Law states that other than siblings, participation has to be random. Back in 1994 the DESS issued an advisory opinion. The student has no right to continue attendance at school if they move. They can attend at no cost to the family and no cost to the new community. They can still go to the school but parents would pay tuition. The School Committee as a Poliev Makine Bodv Attorney Campany questioned this policy. First and foremost each School Committee can have its own policies. Each School Committee is responsible for their own school. The policy states that a policy should be considered for adoption after two readings. You must be able to vet a policy,except in an emergency situation. 4 Mr.I lardy stated that MASC has a policy that allows you to suspend your policy. Attorney Campany indicated that if a policy is not on the agenda, it cannot be voted. If a committee does not want to accept a policy,it is up to that committee to come up with another version of the policy. Aunroval of minutes On a motion by Betsy Pontius, seconded by Josh Stewart,it was voted unanimously to approve the minutes of October 23,2012,December 11,2012,January 7,2013,January 29,2013,March 28,2013,May 8,2013,September 25,2013,and October 15,2013, Next meeting date: May 23--poll committee members. Section B. Adiournment_ The meeting adjourned at 7:40 p.m. Respectfully submitted, Ann M.TeM 5