HomeMy Public PortalAboutBrewster School Committee -- 2016-11-17 Minutes Brewster School Committee ii
November 17,2016
Brewster Town Hall
?resent for the Committee: Jessica Larsen,Dave Telman, Claire Gradone,Bob Miller, and Marie Enochty
•hoPresent for the Administration: Thomas Conrad,Keith Gauley, Giovanna Venditti, Principal Denise Fronius and
Principal Joanna Hughes
Call to Order/Agenda Changes: Chair Telman called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m.
Citizens Speak: Teresa Martin, Executive Director of Lower Cape TV shared information relative to Channel 22 and
invited members to use the facility and equipment for local resources and to highlight the greatness of our schools.
PRIORITY BUSINESS:
Nature Trail—Hal Minis,Brewster Conservation Trust and Charlie McKendre presented plans for the proposed
nature trail. This project is a collaboration between the Brewster Conservation Trust and the Eddy School Science
Program. It is the hope of the partners that the Eddy students will be able to access the property and use it as an
outdoor classroom. They described the property with the vernal pools and variety of different habitats. It was noted
that no pesticides will be sprayed to clear the trails. A letter will of endorsement will be sent to the Board of
Selectmen.
Administrators'Reports
Chair Telman indicated that the Principals' reports were included in the packet. There were no questions for the
Principals and if anyone had any questions on the Assistant Superintendent's report,they were encouraged to email
Mr. Gauley.
Superintendent Conrad reported that Chief Koch was involved in setting up a Table Top Security Drill exercise for the
District. Security is taken very seriously and the District continues to work on different facets of it. This took place
hanks to a grant obtained by Keith Gauley. He thanked Principal Fronius and Principal Hughes for opening their
Schools to the community between November 28 and December 4"'. This provides a great opportunity to have
community members visit the schools and see the teaching and learning in action. The High School and the Middle
School will be inviting the public in as well. He also reported he is working on Parent Forum to discuss various
initiatives with parents, Wellness Policy and Magnet Schools being two of the topics. Brewster's Parent Forum will be
held on November 29th at 5:30 p.m. He also reported that he met with the Recreation Directors from the towns and
they will be moving forward with opening up gyms on Sundays for parents and students. He is working on finalizing
this. He reminded the Committee that the budget process is well underway and he has met with the Principals and
Ms.Venditti. He is meeting with the Town Administrator to review guidelines.
It was suggested that the community week be televised and take advantage of the cable station to do this. The
Superintendent stated that Leah Belliveau is taping and free courses for staff and volunteers to tape videos are being
offered.
The Superintendent concluded his report letting the committee know the Boys' Soccer Team is in the State
Championship game that will be played in Lynn,MA.
FY17 Budget Review
Giovanna Venditti reviewed the expenditure report for Eddy School noting a balance of$135,436. She reviewed the
variances in accounts with the Committee. She also indicated that in FY16 bus mileage was$7.97 per mile and in
FY17 it is$8.23 per mile. The balance at Stony Brook is-$91,777.50. She reviewed the variances with the
Committee and reminded them that circuit breaker funds have yet to be reclassified. The true balance when that
happens will be$108,518.
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Brewster Whitecaps Concession
Sue Murray,Director of Nutrition and Food Services, informed the Committee that the Bayside Skippers are no longer
doing the concession stand at the White Caps games and that Nauset Food Service has taken it over Providing this
service will benefit the cafeterias as proceeds will be deposited into the cafeteria revolving account to purchase
equipment for the cafeterias in Brewster. She reported that in the first year of doing the concession in Orleans,Nauset
Food Service had a$15,000 profit,which included play-off games. This past year in Orleans the profit was$5,000.
(no play-off games)
Claire Gradone thanked Sue Murray for taking on the concession and indicated that the White Caps are delighted to be
supporting the schools. The Superintendent thanked Sue Murray and reminded everyone that 2 '/z years ago it was
hard to imagine that we would get people doing this and money would go back into our cafeteria revolving accounts.
Open Meeting Law
Chair Telman stated there was a great presentation at the Joint Meeting regarding the Open Meeting Law. He wanted
to be sure members understood the law and wanted to be sure Brewster abides by the law. He suggested members of
the committee be careful especially when using social media.
Brainstorming—Action Plan
The Superintendent indicated he met with Jessica Larsen and Claire Gradone about providing further information to
the Committee. He put together a packet for members that included Class Size Guidelines and maps identifying
classrooms that meet the criteria. He asked that the Committee come back to the next meeting prepared to have a
discussion. He reminded them that they have enrollment data from the last meeting. Ms. Enochty thanked him for the
enrollment data,especially in the District. Chair Telman indicated that he is keeping the Selectmen informed.
In both buildings, the Superintendent noted that music,art and tech labs are not identified. Ms. Enochty stated there
are certain guidelines around classroom sizes as they pertain to Kindergarten. In the Eddy School,rooms 1,2, 3 were
identified as Kindergarten Classrooms. Bob Miller thanked the Principals, Superintendent,Jessica and Claire for
working on this. Jessica Larsen suggested taking the enrollment numbers and figuring out how many classes are
needed.
Reports and Information
Preschool Enrollment—Included in the packet. There were no questions.
Cape Cod Collaborative—Jessica Larsen reported that they toured the Upper Cape Tech property as they are looking
to move to a site off the base. There are 70 acres of property where a school could be placed.
PTO—No report.
School Council—Stony Brook—No report.
Eddy—No report.
Policy Subcommittee—Chair Telman reported that the Policy Subcommittee met to review the revisions to the
Wellness Policy. This will be brought to the Joint SC meeting in December.
Transportation Subcommittee—no report.Meeting January 3`d
Substance Abuse Subcommittee—Jessica Larsen reported the Task Force has been working on a student survey for
6-8 graders. They plan on students taking the survey electronically during school. The survey is broad-based and they
are trying to get a sense about some of the patterns.
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Approval of Minutes
On a motion by Marie Enochty, seconded by Jessica Larsen, it was voted unanimously to approve the minutes of
kiwOctober 20 2016. 2016.
Adjournment
On a motion by Jessica Larsen, seconded by Claire Gradone, it was voted to adjourn the meeting at 6:58 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Ann M.Tefft,Recording Secretary
Included in the packet: Administrators'reports,Nature Trail Information,Expenditure Report and minutes. Distributed at the meeting classroom maps and class
size guidelines.
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