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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFINAL SC Minutes 2022.06.14.pdf FINAL MINUTES MINUTEMAN REGIONAL VOCATIONAL TECHNICAL SCHOOL DISTRICT SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING June 14, 2022, 6 30 PM Present: Pam Nourse, Chair(Acton) Jeff Stulin,Vice-Chair(Needham) Alice DeLuca, Secretary(Stow) Michael Ruderman(Arlington) Dave O'Connor(Bolton) Judith Crocker(Lexington) Ford Spalding(Dover) Jennifer Leone(Lancaster) Weighted Vote: Weighted Vote present at start of meeting 91 39% Absent Steve Ledoux(Concord) Others Present. Dr Bouquillon,Dr Perreault, George Clement,Rich Ikonen and Julia Pisegna Notes The COVID-19 pandemic continues While not as many people are dying as during the"first wave"in early 2020,the average 7-day Massachusetts caseload on June 14 was 1,444+, 522 people with COVID-19 were m a hospital,44 were in intensive care These minutes reflect the continuing difficulties of operating the school during the pandemic, and particularly the impact on students Some sections of the audio recording of this meeting were difficult to understand. 1. CALL TO ORDER. OPEN SESSION The Chair called the meeting to order at 6 32 p m There were no microphones in the room Although all members of the committee who were participating were present in the room,there was a vote to allow remote participation in case members of the public were to loin remotely ACTION 2022#62 MOTION by Alice DeLuca, seconded by Jennifer Leone Unanimously approved by raised hands VOTE: 8 members in room at time of vote Weighted Vote present 91 39% Weight needed >45 69% Final percentage results of vote• 91 39% 2 PUBLIC COMMENT Dr Bouquillon stated that no public comments have been received 3 CHAIR'S REPORT—Pam Nourse 1 Ms Nourse announced this will be the last School Committee meeting for Dave O'Connor (Bolton) Mr O'Connor has served on the School Committee for 10 years representing Bolton She shared that she has always appreciated the perspective that Mr O'Connor brought as a parent, and a businessman, and while he was not necessarily the member who talked the most,he was always listened to Ms Nourse thanked Mr O'Connor for his many years of service and shared that he will be greatly missed Mr O'Connor shared that it has been a privilege to serve on the School Committee He will always continue to support vocational education He shared that he attended Assabet Vocational School, his wife attended Minuteman,and his father-in-law served on Minuteman's first School Committee He shared that he will miss it, but at this time his personal work commitments are taking him elsewhere He hopes that the new representative has the same passion and support as all the members currently serving He feels the Committee has worked collaboratively with this administration and under the guidance of Dr Bouquillon (Audio was not working after this for a few minutes) Ms Nourse added that Ms Leone will also be leaving the Committee She will continue to be here until her replacement is announced Ms Leone noted that her temporary appointment is subject to approval of the Board of Selectmen She added that she is very sad to go and has enjoyed her time working on the Committee,but she shared that life is getting complicated. She also expressed her commitment to helping her replacement. Ms Nourse replied that when she thinks of a very capable person, Ms Leone is the definition that comes to her mind, and she thanked Ms Leone for her many years of service Ms Nourse announced that this was Dr Bouquillon's last School Committee meeting She recalled the first time she met Dr Bouquillon with the Acton Town Moderator, who wanted her to join the school committee She was so impressed with Dr Bouquillon's vision,his passion,the new building,and his clear dedication to the students As she looked over his accomplishments over his many years of service, she highlighted the new building, district reorganization,academy model,and making Minuteman an award-winning academic institution that has just been phenomenal. She expressed her admiration for Dr. Bouquillon, and she feels so fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with him Committee members presented Dr Bouquillon with a captain's chair Ms Nourse then read a proclamation from the office of the State Senate Be it known that the Massachusetts State Senate hereby extends its congratulations to Dr Edward Bouquillon in recognition of your retirement after 15 years of leadership as Superintendent and your many contributions to Minuteman ' Dr Bouquillon expressed his appreciation for all the support he has received from the School Committee, administrators, staff, teachers, and advisory committee members He shared that it has been an incredible honor and very satisfying He thanked members and shared that he knows that the administrators will continue to support the new Superintendent in whatever way she requests Mr Spalding shared that when he got a call to be the School Committee representative from Dover,he asked what Minuteman was He decided to visit the Superintendent and check Minuteman out During his meeting with Dr Bouquillon,he told him all about vocational education He then mentioned building a new school Mr Spalding noted that he did that at Dover-Sherburn and he would love to do that again And many years later,and after many battles won and the help of many citizens,we have this new building done Mr Spalding shared that it was an honor to work with Dr Bouquillon and an honor to call him his friend 2 Mr Stulin remarked on the loss of Mr O'Connor and Ms Leone and their support, dedication, and hard work to the mission of Minuteman He said they were A-List school committee members who did the required work Mr Stulm added that in 23 years here he has worked with a lot of administrators Dr Bouquillon is a rare commodity with his skills, and it has been a great privilege and honor to see how this work should be done He commented that there are a lot of schools out there that would be a lot better if they had someone with the same qualities Ms DeLuca commented that as an educational improvement hobbyist, service on this committee has been fun because we got done what we wanted to accomplish for the most part The staff followed the energy of Dr Bouquillon, and all the people came together at the right moment to make it all happen, and we got the building So many people had said, "nobody is going to ever do that",but we won She expressed her sincere thanks to Dr Bouquillon Dr Bouquillon was then given a standing ovation Ms Nourse noted that we have been receiving inquiries of interest in Minuteman from potential new districts She has received interest from Sudbury and reiterated that we are aware that Watertown is also exploring She added that she received a response letter this week from the Chair of the School Committee of Watertown which indicated that they are looking at options,including Minuteman. Ms Nourse shared that given that this is an issue that we will probably be ready to deal with in our upcoming meetings, she has asked that Mr Stulin and the Communications, Access, and Admissions group take on the development of cntena for how we would want to look at the issue of bringing in members and to bring that back to the full School Committee for consideration Mr Stulm accepted the challenge, and a meeting of the Communication, Access, and Admissions group has been scheduled They will put together a rubnc of what we want to consider as we contemplate taking on new member towns Ms Crocker shared that she was at a work-related meeting and a member of the Boxborough community said that the selectboard there has started to discuss vocational education and Minuteman Ms Nourse noted that while we are not thinking about a particular community,we should have a conversation about how we want to be thinking about this Dr Bouquillon reminded members that the Regional Agreement is clear with the steps that must be followed Their request to you must be acted upon, and you do not have a choice not to act—the vote must be unanimous, and then it goes back to the towns He commented that while it is good to have a rubnc to understand how to deal with this, based upon the Regional Agreement he suggests we obtain some advice from counsel He also added that the Committee does not want to be perceived as setting up unnecessary obstacles for someone trying to access Minuteman,and reiterated that the Regional Agreement is very clear Mr Stulin added that he sees two important aspects 1)the first is a conversation about the pros and cons of having more financial stability, but on the other hand, that is going to come into their decision as well, and No 2) while we may not be able to dictate the process, we certainly can come up with criteria of whether we are going to recommend we should move forward It will be a combination of what we think is nght and, in this instance, if towns are serious Dr Bouquillon offered one piece of advice there is a clause in the Regional Agreement where they are allowed to take a 4-year ramp-up on capital costs He suggested the Committee not consider that and that joining members pay all their initial capital costs upfront Mr Stulm confirmed that is optional for us 3 Ms Nourse noted that there will be more on this issue in the future For the final item in the Chair's report, Ms Nourse reminded members that our next meeting scheduled for July 19th will be an in-person meeting as it will be Dr Dawson's first meeting as Superintendent This meeting will also be our reorganizational meeting where we will be voting on officers She asked all members to be thinking of this Ms Nourse will be reaching out to all members so that we can begin thinking about officers, and while we typically do not consider subcommittee assignments until September, she did ask members to begin thinking about that process also,particularly since we are losing Mr O'Connor and Ms Leone Ms Nourse also thanked Dr Bouquillon for everything he has done to make the transition as smooth as possible 4 SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT-Dr Edward Bouquillon a School Building Committee Report—Ford Spalding o MSBA Prosect Update Mr Spalding shared that the MSBA project will be closed out in March of 2023 We will be closing out with Gilbane at our July meeting He added that the event held for Dr Bouquillon last evening had representatives from Skanska, Gilbane, and Kaestle Boos and that they have been good friends to all of us and they are committed to Minuteman o Athletic Fields Update Next,Mr Spalding reported on the athletic fields The grass is growing They continue to work on the punch list which should be completed by the July meeting He added that the fields are being used and that there was a staff softball game earlier today o North Outbuilding Prosect Update Mr Spalding reported that the North building is progressmg,and we anticipate having it ready for next fall for the students to begin working on it o East Campus Expansion Project Update Mr Spalding noted that the Memorandum of Understanding(MOU)has been approved Dr Bouquillon confirmed that we have received an executable copy,which both attorneys have agreed on,and he has recently reached out to the Boston Veterinary Clinic for signature He said that the committee has dust recently received what both lawyers agree is an executable copy The next agreement would be the lease agreement He added that they are very open, they do not have any agenda and just want to be a teaching animal hospital o South Campus Expansion Project Update Dr Bouquillon reported on the south campus project which includes the foundation of the south end where we had two foundations built He noted that this space has always been targeted to be a storage garage,which frees up space in landscaping, horticulture, as well as environmental and facilities operations SolaBlock is the company that is going through the final stages of UL(Underwriters Laboratory)approval for their solar masonry units They have provided us a proposal of approximately$30,000 00 to $40,000 00 to be the first purchaser and installer which includes the delivery,all the basic masonry items,as well as the training of our students for installation with the CEO of SolaBlock, who is a mason In full disclosure and transparency, the CEO is the son of Jim Laverty (former Minuteman Principal), and he has had this company for approximately 8-9 years He added that there is a Memorandum of Understanding(MOU)which the attorneys are currently reviewing He is hopeful that this will be a project for the students in the fall SolaBlock is the solar collection device in a cement block It goes into a system which is a battery backup system,behind the meter, and will not impact anything we are doing with PV He added that is a great educational opportunity and noted that we have received grants with them previously for training and training materials 4 5 SCHOOL REPORT—George Clement a School Events o National Honor Society Induction Ceremony—May 24th o Senior Awards Night—June 2"d o Graduation—June 3rd Mr Clement reported that we held our first in-person National Honor Society Induction Ceremony in our new building The event had been held virtually for the past two years It was a wonderful event with 18 students inducted into the National Honor Society, and Dr Bouquillon's granddaughter was one of them We also held an in-person Awards Night for students and parents The event,which included some juniors as well, had 66% of the senior class receiving an award We have already been discussing ways to maximize the space to get more people in next year It was great to see the students smile and see the satisfaction of the parents Mr Clement believes that this class, in particular after all they have been through, is really the most deserving group ever to receive awards and that none of us truly understand or can imagine what it was like being a teenager during COVID the past two years Mr Clement reported that the 2022 graduation ceremony was held with 122 graduates Every semor graduated which is a testament to the hard work that our faculty does in instruction, structure, and expectations He added that next year's class will be even bigger,with 176 students Mr Stulm, who teaches in Newton, added that this has been a very challenging year teaching (COVID, all the changes,etc),and asked Mr Clement to briefly summarize the thought process of the students,where they are,and how they feel about how successful the year was, especially the ones that found it to be the most challenging Mr Clement responded that for the students this year, learning loss is real He added that while we expected that and prepared in terms of making differentiated instruction and adjustments in classes,he feels the biggest challenge for students and teachers has been getting back into those basic routines, changing the expectations of going to another class, and students not having 25 minutes off as they did when they were virtual all day He noted that for some students,that has been a real challenge as they could hide out a little bit in the virtual world,but now they are right back in it He also feels that the journey that we have all been on with wearing facemasks etc He added that we still have students who wear masks,and especially after the uncertainty at the beginning of the year,the fear ramped up again in Christmas and January There was the worry about sports shutting down again and games canceled and then getting to where we are now,with wearing masks optional. He added that he wrote to the faculty recently that it has been a year of transformation,the fear of living with Covid, the year without sports then moving forward to this year and having 14 teams in state tournaments, followed by batting 1,000 with the semor class and every senior graduating He shared that he cannot ask for much more than that based on everything else we have been through He noted that they will continue to work through that learning loss and readjust the standards and expectations for students and that there is no quitting here at Minuteman Mr. Stulin shared that he is very happy to hear what Mr. Clement is saying. Mr Spalding added that if any Committee member has not had the opportunity to watch the Minuteman graduation, it is a wonderful thing to do He asked them to listen to the speeches and how the students talked about their four years at Minuteman and Covid which he found very enlightening In addition to the speeches by administrators, it is well worth watching He noted that while he has been to other graduations at other schools,at Minuteman,every student is appreciated by every student as they walk across the stage He encouraged all members to watch the graduation ceremony which is on YouTube 5 Mr O'Connor shared that it has been good to keep a pulse on the increasing school use of social media, as well as the participation of the students and families commenting on it Previously, he would bnng back a lot of that information to the community, and now he gets the converse,with people interested in feedback from him on what they have read on social media, specifically, "did you see that on social media, Instagram or Facebook"7 People comment that a link brought them back to the Minuteman webpage It is a plus to have children who are alumni and who have friends still in the programs and graduating He acknowledged that the past couple of years have been tough, but the student's positivity, support,networking, and infrastructure scaffolding are solid Alumni and staff support have been phenomenal As the students transition into their new roles, wherever they go,they are better equipped than what he sees within traditional programs and schools This is another reinforcement for him that the school and the staff are doing the right thing Mr Clement gave credit to Mr O'Bnen on the data via social media He added that the silver lining in the Covid expenence is that it brought the use of technology as a 2-way communication tool which is better for checking students' grades and emailmg Having teams meet via Zoom makes it easier to attend, whether it's admissions or running an IEP meeting Our location can be a barrier for people who work and must drive here at specific times Mr Ruderman shared that telecommunication during the pandemic has changed schools, changed the workplace, and changed so many things Mr Ruderman asked if Mr Clement had a sense of how many students applying to colleges got into their first choices Mr Clement shared that that was a loaded question because he can tell us where they are going, where they were accepted, and whether or not they got accepted,but whether they attend their first choice or not is not certain We do a pretty extensive survey to try to capture all that information Mr Clement thanked Mr O'Connor and Ms Leone for their service He shared that he remembers their children being at Minuteman and working with them from the beginning, which now seems like the end of an era He thanked the School Committee members for helping them through the last two years, as he recalled the promise, energy, and hope that the school had upon opening in the fall of 2019, and we moved into cnsis mode ever since (the pandemic began in early 2020) He also thanked Dr Bouquillon for the opportunity to serve in this administration and assured Dr Bouquillon that after meeting Dr Dawson, he can tell already that she is smart and genuinely nice Her passion for education is definitely evident Minuteman has top-level academic faculty and the three words which Mr Clement uses all the time -—confident,caring, and collaborative He shared that Dr Bouquillon left Minuteman in a great position Ms Crocker wished the faculty and administration a restful summer Ms Nourse thanked Mr Clement for his leadership during these difficult years 6 FINANCE COMMITTEE REPORT—Rich Ikonen a Finance Subcommittee Update Mr Ikonen noted the Finance Committee had recently met and reviewed the items on the agenda for approval He detailed Item No 1 which is for the approval of the$650,000 from the certified excess and deficiency(E&D) fund to reduce member town assessments for the FY23 budget VOTE: To authorize $650,000 00 from the certified excess and deficiency fund to reduce member town assessments for the FY23 budget ACTION 2022#63 Moved(Stulin)and seconded(Leone) 6 To authorize $650,000 00 from the certified excess and deficiency fund to reduce member town assessments for the FY23 budget VOTE: 8 members in room at time of vote Weighted Vote present 91 39% Weight needed >45 69% Final percentage results of vote 91 39% Mr Stulin asked if there was any question that this is the correct amount Mr Ikonen confirmed that the amount is correct and that this is the third time that this has been voted on Ms Nourse clarified that we are not voting a different$650,000 00 each time,it is the same $650,000 00 b Approval of Contract for Food Management Services Mr Ikonen presented the contract for food services and shared that a Request for Proposal(RFP)was submitted this year and,unfortunately,we received only one bid Fresh Picks Café came for the walkthrough A survey was sent in late 2021 to students asking them how they felt about their current food services The students were resoundingly upset with the quality and lack of variety Dr Bouquillon asked Mr Ikonen to investigate alternative measures He began to investigate food management service vendors He had experience with this from a previous distnct, so he had some understanding He met with three different vendors and did a walk-through with the two who attended We ended up with one vendor bidding They are currently based out of New Hampshire, and they are making inroads into Massachusetts He added that we are excited about this opportunity for our students The contract has been vetted by both Distnct counsel and the Depailment of Elementary and Secondary Education They will start on July 1 Mr Stulin shared that he is happy to hear that both counsel and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education reviewed the contract because of the level of specificity He asked if Mr Ikonen was disappointed that there was only one vendor interested and if he has trepidation about these people Mr Ikonen shared that he was not disappointed, and he was not surpnsed as his previous distnct only had one bid also He believes there is always trepidation when you have a new type of service for our students and a new type of service for the school He feels good about the people that he is talking to right now One of the employees of Fresh Picks Café is a former Director of Food Services at Minuteman She shared that she would look out for us Some of the current employees also recall working with her in the past Ms DeLuca shared that she read the whole contract and encouraged members to read it as there is a lot of information in there, for example,the details about what happens to ground beef at the end of the year Where is it, and where does it go7 Different government agencies are responsible for inspecting things She believes the source of the complexity is the expectations of the government which goes back to the history of the school lunch program She added that the national school lunch program was instituted to make up for the malnutrition of the troops in World War II The program continues to change each year—requiring less salt,less sugar,more meat,less meat,etc She enjoyed reading this contract very much Ms Crocker shared that she read most of it and that there was a lot of non-contractual talk,and that she enjoyed the historical facts She added that she was impressed that our recent years of expenence come into play because there is a section that talks about the dates that will be reduced due to remote learning She asked if there is any safety net in the contract because of unexpected burdens, such as inflation,and the cost of fuel or gas Mr Ikonen replied that there is not a clear mechanism for that,but they guarantee these numbers for us for this year He would suspect that in year two, they could give us a different story, but nght now, these are the numbers they have given us within the last month Mr Spalding asked how many schools Fresh Picks Café serves 7 Mr Ikonen replied that the list they gave him was 40+,with 5 in Massachusetts Mr Spalding asked about their reference checks and if all the students love their food Mr Ikonen replied that most of the schools in Massachusetts have not had a full year of service due to Covid He reached out to two schools in New Hampshire where they appeared to have for a while and they both replied very positively Mr Spalding asked about the staffing Mr Ikonen shared that they guarantee the appropriate staffing to service 655 students Ms DeLuca asked if they provided a menu Mr Ikonen replied that they did not,but they have a nutritionist ready VOTE: To approve the contract for Food Management Services with Fresh Picks Café ACTION 2022#64 Moved(Stulin)and seconded(Leone) To approve the contract for Food Management Services with Fresh Picks Café VOTE• 8 members in the room at the time of vote Weighted Vote present 91 39% Weight needed. >45 69% Final percentage results of vote 91 39% c Annroval to Pay Prior Year Bill Mr Ikonen presented the Concord Police Department bill from the prior year for a detail at a hockey game in the amount of$317 20 Mr Ruderman added the explanation for the lateness here was similarly unsatisfactory as this happened a year ago-they were looking over their records,and they noticed they had not billed us VOTE: To approve the payment of a prior year bill,as presented ACTION 2022#65 Moved(Stulin)and seconded(Leone) To approve the payment of a prior year bill,as presented VOTE: 8 members in room at time of vote Weighted Vote present 91 39% Weight needed >45 69% Final percentage results of vote 91 39% d List of Monthly Donations Mr Ikonen presented the list of monthly donations ACTION 2022#66 Moved(Leone)and seconded(Crocker) To approve the list of monthly donations, as presented VOTE: 8 members in room at time of vote Weighted Vote present 91 39% Weight needed >45 69% Final percentage results of vote 91 39% 8 Mr Ikonen took a moment to thank Dr Bouquillon He shared that he gave him ajob three years ago,and then Dr Bouquillon came to him a year ago and made him Assistant Superintendent He shared that he was honored and hoped he has lived up to his expectations and thanked Dr Bouquillon for everything 7. COMMITTEE REPORT a Sunenntendent's Negotiations and Evaluation Subcommittee—Jennifer Leone Ms Leone shared that she hopes to have a survey sent out next week and will present it at the next School Committee meeting, followed by submission to the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education She will see it through The evaluation is required by DESE even though the supenntendent is retiring b Transition Taskforce—Ford Spalding Mr Spalding shared that two meetings have been held and the review of Dr Dawson's Entry Plan will be an ongoing activity These are now her meetings where she sets the agenda for the meeting, and we are there to help c Policy Subcommittee—Alice DeLuca Ms DeLuca presented Policy BEDB-C—Consent Agenda—which was discussed at the previous meeting Policies for Review o Consent Agenda Policy BEDB-C VOTE: To approve the Consent Agenda-Policy BEDB-C for second reading,as presented ACTION 2022#67 Moved(Stulin)and seconded(Leone) To approve the Consent Agenda-Policy BEDB-C for second reading, as presented VOTE: 8 members in room at time of vote Weighted Vote present 91 39% Weight needed >45 69% Final percentage results of vote 91 39% This policy will require us to take another vote to enact the policy for this year,at the July meeting o Long-Term OPEB Funding—Policy DLCA Ms DeLuca added that Ms Leone asked whether the $10,000 00 was per new employee VOTE: To approve the amended Long-Term OPEB Funding — Policy DLCA for second reading,as presented ACTION 2022#68 Moved(Leone)and seconded(Crocker) To approve the amended Long-Term OPEB Funding-Policy DLCA for second reading, as presented VOTE• 8 members in room at time of vote Weighted Vote present 91 39% Weight needed >45 69% Final percentage results of vote 91 39% 9 Mr Stulin asked if it is possible in a year in which we were having financial difficulties to vote to amend this policy and take a step back Ms DeLuca deferred that question to the Finance Committee Mr Ruderman confirmed that we are not binding ourselves, and it is the Finance Committee's recommendation to approve this o Use of School Facilities Policy ECBA VOTE. To approve that the Use of School Facilities Policy ECBA be removed from the Policy Manual, as presented ACTION 2022#69 Moved(Leone)and seconded(Crocker) To approve that the Use of School Facilities Policy ECBA be removed from the Policy Manual, as presented VOTE. 8 members in room at time of vote Weighted Vote present 91 39% Weight needed >45 69% Final percentage results of vote 91 39% The School Committee had recently approved a new Use of School Facilities policy KF ECBA is the old coding that we used,and the policy labeled ECBA in the packet needs to be removed as it is no longer in force It is to be replaced by the new policy KF,which is also in the packet KF will remain 9 SECRETARY'S REPORT—Alice DeLuca Approval of Draft Minutes of April 12th 2022 VOTE: To approve the draft minutes of April 12th,2022,as presented Ms DeLuca noted the following two corrections 1) Page 11 —in#7,add the word `dunng' into the first sentence 2) The number sequence was off and should be listed in the correct numeral format of 7- 8-9 Mr Ruderman added that on page 9 of the minutes, he had extolled the history and approach of the BVC which he mistakenly thought stood for Boston Veterinary Chair,which is a branch of the Animal Rescue League, but it stands for Boston Veterinary Clinic which is also located in the south end of Boston but is a different entity Ms DeLuca noted that the minutes will indicate that Mr Ruderman wishes to retract that sentence He was mistaken, they both go by the same acronym ACTION 2022#70 Moved(Leone) and seconded(Crocker) To approve the draft minutes of April 12,2022,as presented VOTE: 8 members in room at time of vote Weighted Vote present 91 39% Weight needed >45 69% Final percentage results of vote 84 24% 10 Dr Bouquillon shared that he had expected to hear more from the Town of Lincoln,but there is no reason for Executive Session 10 ADJOURNMENT ACTION 2022#71 Moved(Stulm)and seconded(Leone) To adjourn VOTE• 8 members in room at time of vote Weighted Vote present 91 39% Weight needed. >45 69% Final percentage results of vote 91 39% Respectfully submitted, Julia Pisegna Alice Deluca District Assistant Secretary 11