HomeMy Public PortalAboutBrewster School Committee -- 2016-06-16 Minutes Brewster School Committee
June 16,2016,2016 -
Brewster Town Hall
Present for the Committee: Jessica Larsen,Dave Telman, Claire Gradone,Marie Enochty,Bob Miller
Present for the Administration: Thomas Conrad, Superintendent,Keith Gauley,Assistant Superintendent, Giovanna
Venditti,Director of Finance&Operations,Barbara Lavoine,Director of Technology, Principal Denise Fronius and
Principal Joanna Hughes
Reorganization
Superintendent Conrad called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. and accepted nominations for Chair.
On a motion by Marie Enochty, seconded by Claire Gradone, it was voted unanimously to appoint David Telman as
Chair of the Brewster School Committee.
Chair Telman accepted nominations for Vice Chair. On a motion by Claire Gradone, seconded by Bob Miller,it was
voted unanimously to appoint Marie Enochty as Vice Chair of the Brewster School Committee.
Ann Tefft was appointed as secretary.
Jessica Larsen was appointed to the position of payroll authorizer and Claire Gradone is the alternate.
Subcommittee appointments are as follows:
Policy—David Telman
Central Office Budget—Claire Gradone
Negotiations—Jessica Larsen
Transportation—Claire Gradone
Health and Wellness—Marie Enochty
Renewable Energy—Bob Miller
Building&Facilities—David Telman
Cape Cod Collaborative—Jessica Larsen
PTA Liaison—Claire Gradone(Jessica Larsen alternate)
School Council Liaison at Eddy—Jessica Larsen
School Council Liaison at Stony—Bob Miller
Union 54 Voting Members—David Telman,Marie Enochty and Claire Gradone(alt: Jessica Larsen,Bob Miller)
Citizens Sneak: None
PRIORITY BUSINESS:
Administrators'Reports
Chair Telman indicated the Principals' reports were included in the packet.The Kindergarten enrollment figure is 73
students.
Chair Telman asked that the Committee email Mr. Gauley if they have any questions on his report.
Superintendent's Report—Superintendent Conrad informed the Committee that the MASC Conference will take place
November 2-5 and if they would like to attend to let Ann know before July 15'b for a substantial discount.
He reviewed the results of the school committee choices relative to the strategic plan which are in line with the
Administrative Teams' choices which is the effectiveness of academic assistance and homework. He will begin to
look at this plan again and will discuss at August meetings.
He reported that he had a meeting with Mike Embury who gave him the history of the situation with the fire station
and the Council on Aging space. Mr. Embury will keep the Superintendent informed of any new situations going
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forward. The Superintendent indicated Mr.Embury's willingness to address the Committee at any time. He met with
the Council on Aging Director and they will decide if they have to more or not but will have to move some employees
of their space in the fall.
The Superintendent reported on his successful trip to the Spanish Immersion Amigos School in Cambridge. He
indicated the Principal was very helpful and the program was not as aggressive as in Millis. Their program works both
ways, English to Spanish and Spanish to English. The Principal is on the Board of Bilingual Education for
Massachusetts so she will be a great resource for Nauset. The team toured all the classrooms and found it to be very
rich. At the Union 54 meeting, he will discuss further.
He also informed the committee that he did not receive any calls on the water issue. He visited both schools this week.
One class is using alternate seating(standing vs. sitting)which is very interesting in kinesthetic learning. He also
mentioned the Middle School is looking into a therapy dog. Members commented on the use of rocking chairs in
schools and therapy dogs at other schools.
Technology Blueprint
Barbara Lavoine and Keith Gauley reviewed the Technology Plan Progress Monitoring K5 Blueprint with the
Committee. Benchmarks goals included: Commitment to a Clear Vision and Implementation Strategies, Technology
integration and literacy,Technology and Professional Development, and Accessibility of Technology. Mr. Gauley
distributed a list of Summer Technology Professional Development. Mr. Gauley indicated that Professional
Development is offered throughout the school year if teachers cannot get into the summer sessions. At the new teacher
orientation day,they will be showing staff members how to use various Nauset programs. Barbara Lavoine indicated
that working with Kathy Lambert at the Brewster Town Hall,both Eddy and Stony Brook will connect to Open Cape,
hopefully in July. This will give the school a significant boost in bandwith and save money on ComCast.
Tuition Update
Giovanna Venditti,Director of Finance and Operations, walked the committee members through the process she will
use to fund two special education students expenses. She distributed a handout entitled Savings Analysis for Stony
Brook Elementary showing the balances in various accounts. The budget balance as of May 18, 2016 was($26,778).
She received an extraordinary relief payment of$61,953 which brought the budget to $35,175. She indicated there
was also savings in utilities and other miscellaneous items which brought the budget balance on May 27, 2016 to
$58,980. Chair Telman indicated he will let the Finance Committee know as this is good news for the Town that the
schools can handle the expenses within their budget.
FY16 Budget Review: Giovanna Venditti,Director of Finance and Operations,reviewed the expenditure reports with
the committee noting variances and balances. The balance for Stony Brook Elementary is $61,327.75 and the balance
for Eddy School is $78,247.55 as of 6/10/2016.
On a motion by Marie Enochty, seconded by Clair Gradone it was voted unanimously to authorize spending at Stony
Brook up to $61,228. Chair Telman asked that the school committee receive a report on how the money was spent.
He also indicated if there was money left after the spending plan; the committee will return it to the Town of Brewster.
Eddy School Improvement Plan
Joanna Hughes presented the Eddy School Improvement Plan to the Committee. Focus areas include: Academic,
School Climate and Parent Community Involvement. Principal Hughes indicated the District is working on X2 parent
portal at the elementary level. She will continue to work on the Eddy website. Ms. Enochty mentioned that the
Science Standards have been approved to include PreK and up. Next year she would like to hear how the schools will
apply the Science. Principal Hughes indicated that was in the plan. Patsy Marchant has done a tremendous amount of
work with the teacher and integrated standards. There has been a lot of work done on this. Ms. Enochty indicated she
would like to hear about the transition from elementary to Middle School to High School and how we are moving
forward on the concept.
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Motion:
On a motion by Marie Enochty, seconded by Claire Gradone, it was voted unanimously to accept the Eddy School
Improvement Plan 2016-201 S.
Reports and Information
Preschool Enrollment was included in the packet.
Cape Cod Collaborative—Jessica Larsen reported that the Business Manager signed a contract with his previous
employer so now they are in the process of looking for a new candidate.
PTO—No report.
School Council—No report.
Policy Subcommittee—No report.
Transportation Subcommittee—Claire Gradone reported that they continue to work with the Cape Cod
Collaborative and are looking at substantial savings in the bus transportation.
Substance Abuse Subcommittee—no report.
Approval of Minutes
On a motion by Claire Gradone, seconded by Jessica Larsen, it was voted unanimously to approve the minutes of May
16, 2016.
Adjournment
On a motion by Jessica Larsen seconded by Marie Enochty, it was voted to adjourn the meeting at 7:06 p.m., subject
to payment of bills.
Respectfully submitted,
Ann M. Tefft,Recording Secretary
Included in the packet: Administrators' reports, FYI Expense Report, Eddy School Improvement Plan, Technology
K5 Blueprint, minutes
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