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Home My Public Portal About20210111 - Schools - Meeting MinutesHopkinton School Committee Joint Meeting with Select Board and Appropriations Monday, January 11, 2021 Executive Session Public Hearing Session With Regular Session Immediately Following Public Hearing Meeting Remotely via Zoom Live via HCAM ED TV MINUTES I. Ca11 to Order Meeting called to Order by Chair Amanda Fargiano at 7:02 PM. In Attendance: Amanda Fargiano, Chair Meg Tyler, Member Joe Markey, Member Nancy Cavanaugh, Vice Chair Lya Batlle-Rafferty, Member Select Board Members: Mary Jo Lafreniere Amy Ritterbusch Irfan Nasrullah Brian Herr Town Manager: Norman Khumalo Also In Attendance: Dr. Carol Cavanaugh, Superintendent Ms. Jennifer Parson, Assistant Superintendent Ms. Susan Rothermich, Dir. of Finance Appropriations Committee Members: Shahidul Mannan Tim O'Leary II. Executive Session a. To comply with, or act under the authority of, M.G.L. c. 30A, s. 21(a)(3) specific to conducting strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with Hopkinton Teachers' Association, because having the discussion in an open meeting would have a detrimental effect on the School Committee's bargaining position. a. To comply with or act under the authority of, M.G.L. c. 30A, s.21(a)(3) specific to the review of Executive Session Minutes for the meeting of August 11, 2020 and October 29, 2020. VOTED TO RELEASE 4/1/21 2021-01-11 Pg. 1 of 5 Motion to adjourn Executive Session and reconvene into Regular Session by Ms. Tyler, seconded by Mr. Markey at 6:55 PM. III. Pledge of Allegiance IV. Public Hearing: FY22 Budget • Dr. Cavanaugh and Ms. Rothermich presented the FY22 Budget proposal for FY22 for $54,153,911. 6.06% increase over FY21 with level services. Three uncertainties in preparing the budget: 1) the number of students currently enrolled, 2) PPE use is uncertain for next year, which is a tremendous amount of money, and 3) contractual obligations - it is a contract negotiation year with three unions. • The proposed FY22 Budget has an overall increase of 5.8%, with an increase of $2,947,509. The salary increase is 4.2% or $2,145,327 and an expense increase of 1.6% or $802,182. • Staff requests represent 18.6 FTEs or $959,165. Discussion: • Appropriations asked for clarification on reserve fund accounts for the CARES Act and HCA funds. • Denise Randall, Hopkinton resident, requested the District look at hiring a psychologist / counselor for LGBTQ students. She expressed the need for a specific counselor for these students based on specific emotional needs. • Committee Members expressed their support for counseling services for Social Emotional Support in the District. The stress on the students during this pandemic has increased and it is unknown when we return to school full time what the exact needs will be. Questions on space and faculty thresholds for enrollment growth were discussed and. answered for clarification. • Mr. O'Leary updated everyone on these accounts: General Fund Stabilization Fund of has balance of $3.75 M, the Capital Stabilization Fund in General Funds has $325,000 for a toal of $4.1 M: School Stabilization Fund had $2.1M on 6/30/20 and expecting $1.9M by 1/31/20 for a total of $3.9M. For a total of all accounts of $8.2M. • Appropriations and the Select Board left the meeting at 8:09PM. V. Recognitions • Ms. Batlle-Rafferty wanted to thank the School Committee for all of the hard work that they have done during this year, especially Ms. Fargiano and Ms. Cavanaugh, who have spent an enormous amount of time in meetings. • Dr. Cavanaugh thanked the entire staff for the hard work it was a great week last week returning from break. VOTED TO RELEASE 4/1/21 2021-01-11 Pg. 2 of 5 VI. Public Comment VII. Reports A. Superintendent's Report • Dr. Cavanaugh reminded everyone that the flu vaccine due date has been extended to February 28, 2021. • Dr. Cavanaugh provided an update of COVID-19 cases of the past week and to date numbers. Overall, the return to school was successful. Phase II will be starting soon and all of the employees of Hopkinton Schools will receive two doses of the vaccination. Please continue safe health practices to stop the spread. • MCAS update for testing there will be reduced testing in each subject area for grades 3-8. Grade 10 competency determination no change. • The first meeting of the Reopening Planning Team will be held January 20th. B. SC Chair Report a. I have approved Warrant #21-045. The Warrant has been included in your packet. b. I have approved Payroll Warrants S21014 and S2114A. The Payroll Warrants have been included in your packet. C. Liaisons Report Hopkinton Freedom Team - Ms. Batlle-Rafferty - holding two part training, Upstander Training, through True Story Theater, with the first on Feb. 6 from 9:00-11:30am, the second part will be scheduled soon. All town employees, leaders, and committees are invited to participate. D. Office Hours VIII. New Business A. Before & After Care Fee Reduction - Ms. Rothermich For Consideration: The Superintendent recommends the School Committee approve the proposed reduction in Kidsborough's fee for November/December/January/February. Discussion: Due to the pandemic the enrollment is down extremely for Kidsborough. The reduction would be $13,400 for the four months. Ms. Rothermich clarified all questions regarding the agreement with Kidsborough. Motion: Move to approve the reduction of fee for Kidsborough for November -February. Motion by Ms. Tyler, seconded by Ms. Batlle-Rafferty. Roll Call: Amanda Fargiano - Yes Nancy Cavanaugh - Yes Meg Tyler - Yes Joe Markey - Yes VOTED TO RELEASE 4/1/21 2021-01-11 Pg. 3 of 5 Lya Batlle-Rafferty, Yes Vote: Yes: 5, No: 0, Absent: 0, Passed 5-0 B. Superintendent Formative Evaluation: Goals Report • Dr. Cavanaugh provided a summary of her progress on each Benchmark aligned to her Goals for FY21. • Goal 1: Student Achievement Goal: Communication and improving access and achievement for all students is on task. • Goal 2: District Improvement: Development provided by Grant Hightower and Blackprint made substantial progress with faculty, staff and students. This goal has many aspects still being worked on throughout the District and progressing on task. • Goal 3: Professional Practice Goal: Growing communication between families, elected officials with the superintendent is strong, however blog posts are behind. • Goal 4: Student Achievement Goal: Growing cultural awareness and ability to process text has seen progress. New texts have been purchased and testing has started and continues throughout the school year. This Goal is on task and progressing positively. • Goal 5: Address Enrollment Growth: Tracking new enrollment weekly, attending Growth Study Meetings and analyzing DRA's report is on track. However, due to the pandemic, the MSBA SOI timeline will be opening for submission before a decision has been made on the submission from 2020. Enrollment has had significant changes due to the pandemic. • Committee members expressed their desire for reports to be provided in a different manner and possible revisions to goals. Committee members inquired if they can assist in the goals in any way. Goals 1-4 are achievable and on track. Goal #5 will be revised and brought back to the Committee. C. School Committee Annual Report • Ms. Fargiano is working on the SC Annual Report for the Annual Town Report for Annual Town meeting. Committee members will review the report and provide her feedback for submission to the Town for January 29, 2021. IX. Old Business X. Future Agenda Items XI. Items by Consensus The Superintendent recommends the School Committee approve the Items by Consensus as listed below: a. Operating and Other Funds Warrant #21-045 in the amount of $288,713.43. b. Payroll Warrant S21014 in the amount of $1,614,023.07. VOTED TO RELEASE 4/1/21 2021-01-11 Pg. 4 of 5 c. Supplemental Payroll Warrant S2114A in the amount of $1,664.64. Move to approve Items by Consensus by Ms. Cavanaugh, seconded by Ms. Batlle-Rafferty. Roll Call: Amanda Fargiano - Yes Nancy Cavanaugh - Yes Meg Tyler - Yes Joe Markey - Yes Lya Batlle-Rafferty, Yes Vote: Yes: 5, No: 0, Absent: 0, Passed 5-0 XII. Adjournment Move to adjourn by Ms. Tyler, seconded by Ms. Batlle-Rafferty. Roll Call: Amanda Fargiano - Yes Nancy Cavanaugh - Yes Meg Tyler - Yes Joe Markey - Yes Lya Batlle-Rafferty, Yes Vote: Yes: 5, No: 0, Absent: 0, Passed 5-0 Adjourned at 9:06PM Respectfully submitted, Ms. Amanda Fargiano, Chair Ms. Nancy Richards -Cavanaugh, Vice -Chair VOTED TO RELEASE 4/1/21 2021-01-11 Pg. 5 of 5