HomeMy WebLinkAboutFINAL School Committee Minutes June 8 2021.pdf FINAL
MINUTES
MINUTEMAN REGIONAL VOCATIONAL TECHNICAL SCHOOL DISTRICT
REGULAR SCHOOL COMMITTEE MEETING
JUNE 8, 2021 630PM
VIA REMOTE PARTICIPATION
Present
Pam Nourse, Chair(Acton) Jeff Stulm,Vice-Chair(Needham)
Alice DeLuca, Secretary(Stow) Michael Ruderman(Arlington)
Steve LeDoux(Concord) Ford Spalding(Dover)
Jennifer Leone (Lancaster) Judith Crocker(Lexington)
Absent Dave O'Connor(Bolton)
Weighted Vote Weighted Vote present at start of meeting 92 85%
Others Present Dr Edward Bouquillon,Dr Robert Gerardi,Dr Amy Perreault,George Clement,
Anthony Chiariello,Katie Bouchard,and Julia Pisegna
1 CALL TO ORDER OPEN SESSION
The Chair called the meeting to order at 6 31 p m
2 ADOPTION OF REMOTE PARTICIPATION
VOTE To adopt remote participation by all members of the Minuteman School Committee
pursuant to and in accordance with Sections(2)and(3)of the Executive Order Suspending
Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law made by the Governor of Massachusetts on
March 12,2020, such adoption to be effective until said Executive Order is rescinded or the
Commonwealth's State of Emergency as referenced in said Executive Order,is terminated,
whichever happens first
ACTION 2021 #156
Moved(Leone)and seconded(DeLuca)
To approve remote participation
VOTE 8 members in room at time of vote
Weighted Vote present 92 85%
Weight needed. 46 42>%
Names of towns opposing or abstaming• none
Final percentage results of vote 92 85%
Final status of the vote Unanimous
Roll Call
Pam Nourse(Acton)(Yes)
Michael Ruderman(Arlington)
Steve LeDoux(Concord)(Yes)
Ford Spalding(Dover) (Yes)
Jennifer Leone (Lancaster)(Yes)
Judith Crocker(Lexington)(Yes)
Jeff Stuhn,Vice-Chair(Needham) (Yes)
Alice DeLuca, Secretary(Stow) (Yes)
3 PUBLIC COMMENT
Dr Bouquillon announced that no public comments were received
4. GOOD OF THE ORGANIZATION,Pam Nourse
Committee Chair thanked the administration for a wonderful graduation ceremony While she was out of
town and unable to attend, she heard that it was a great event
Ms Nourse also thanked Mr Clement and his team for the highlights of the Senior Gala event which was
provided in the packet She truly enjoyed reading the details and was happy it turned out to be such a
wonderful event
Mr Stulin noted that one of the graduates will be going to Olin College Dr Bouquillon will forward
information on the Early College program to both Mr Stulin and Mr Spalding
Ms Leone announced that she was reappointed as a School Committee member by Lancaster Committee
members shared that they were very happy that Ms Leone will continue as a member of the Committee
Ms DeLuca attended the VTE Advisory Council meeting on June 7th as a member of the audience
Committee Chair Nourse also reminded Committee members of the upcoming School Committee meeting
scheduled for June 29th, as well as the meeting in July which date has yet to be determined She reminded
members that the July meeting is the annual reorganization meeting where the election of new officers takes
place for anyone interested in a position
5 SUPERINTENDENT'S REPORT
a School Building Committee Update
Mr Spalding presented the School Building Committee report He reported that team is the as-builts and
other close-out documents for the MSBA and the Town of Lincoln The main pnorrty is waiting for the
grass to germinate
b Athletic Fields Proiect Budget
Mr Spalding reported that we are on target for the anticipated completion date for the baseball field of
August 23rd, football field and track date of completion is set for September 13th, and the softball field area
is scheduled for September 27th The work continues mainly on the baseball, football, and track area
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consisting of the drainage and foundation The lights are being installed and footings are being poured
throughout Electncal conduits are being installed and screening of the loam is almost complete
c State Admissions Update
Dr Bouquillon shared that Ms DeLuca attended the VTE Advisory Council meeting yesterday He noted
that the Board of Education is expected to vote next month on the new regulations He remarked that he
had provided members a copy of the letter from MAVA which he signed in support of the revisions in
the language He descnbed it as bureaucratic confusion with the mtent to shift the responsibility and
liability of admissions from the state to the local districts While he does not believe that it will make a
significant difference to Minuteman, it will make a lot of difference in terms of how schools approach
admissions He shared that from his long-term perspective as Superintendent, he had hoped that the
admission process would become more streamlined and more consistent across the state,and he now sees
the opposite of that happening
Ms DeLuca agreed and shared that there was a strong lack of clarity She had several questions, the
answers to which remain unclear and she feels that a lot of people will be testing the waters differently in
every distnct,which causes considerable confusion,unless a strong effort is made to streamline and align
the policy
Dr Bouquillon recognized this does not provide any substantive update,but that is the current update
Ms Nourse asked for a timeline, next steps, and asked whether the comment period was still in place
Ms DeLuca confirmed that the Board of Education will be voting on this matter during the month at the
next meeting
Dr Bouquillon added that at the recent MAVA meeting,it was noted that the guidelines stated a deadline
of August 15th as the date for submission of the admissions policy to the Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education and there is some confusion as to whether they will be able to invoke that
requirement this August We would be submitting with the modifications which were reviewed in the
Communications, Access, and Admissions meeting, so it does not make a lot of difference to us at this
time
Ms DeLuca shared that the biggest surpnse is that they are not going to approve the admissions policies
as in the past, and they will not prescnbe the admissions criteria,but they will have prohibitions against
certain things There will also be a two-prong test for selection criteria, and they are monitoring data
analysis and state quota inquiries to be used to determine if the selected criteria are having the desired
impact There will only be one minimum criterion - the student must have been promoted to the next
grade, the grade that they are seeking to enter, and there will be other selective ways which the district
might choose which are only allowable if more students apply than the number of seats She noted that
with all those considerations together, she believes there is a conflict, and she does not see any answers
coming
d Annual Town Meetmu Update
Dr Bouquillon shared that six towns have passed the budget — Dover, Lexington, Needham, Bolton,
Arlington, and Stow There are three town meetings left, including Concord which is scheduled for June
1 3th
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Mr LeDoux noted that Minuteman is on the consent agenda so hopefully,there will not be any issues and
that the moderator will require ten people to hold any item on the consent, so he believes they are in good
shape
Dr Bouquillon is working with the administrators in Acton on revisions to his recorded presentation,as
well as preparations for the Lancaster meeting in the upcoming weeks He shared that to date,we have a
passed FY22 budget
e MAVA Undate
Dr Bouquillon announced that the new Executive Director of MAVA is Steve Sharek He shared that he
was one of nine members on the interview committee,and the appointment of Mr Sharek was approved by
vote at the Board of Directors meeting
He shared that he is much more optimistic than he was about MAYA coming back to its rightful place of
setting the narrative for high quality career and technical education, having a role in policy advocacy and
development, and being respected in relation to things that the Department of Education is doing
He believes that this, coupled with the opportunity of some of the legislation that is currently in place for
this session which includes the re-establishment of a Commissioner of Occupational Education,he believes
there is a real opportunity for high quality CTE to take its place again because we had lost it and the narrative
has been taken away from us
Mr Stulin passed his congratulations on to Mr Sharek
f Snecial Education Department Update—Dr Amy Perreault
Dr Perreault provided an update on the Special Education Depth lucent and highlighted the trends over the
past several years She pointed out that we hover at 50% special education students which has been very
consistent regardless of the enrollment fluctuations going up and down, as well as for the incoming
freshman class next year
She shared a breakdown of the disability types which indicates the largest being ADHD(Health)and noted
that there has been a steady increase in social/emotional disabilities, especially considering the past year
She noted that we typically have an annual hospitalization rate of 20 students,but this year,there have been
37 students and that the emotional needs of our students continue to increase due the pandemic, and it fits
the trend of what we have seen (Autism 10%, Communication 4 6%, Emotional 20%, Health 31%,
Intellectual 0%,Learning Disability 16%,Neurological 17 5%, Sensory/Deaf/Blind 7%)
The special education team consist of two special education academy leads, eight special education
teachers, three school social workers/adjustment counselors, two school psychologists, four
paraprofessionals, and one speech and language pathologist through contracted services who is almost
fulltime
Dr Perreault shared that we are a full inclusion model so all students have academic and vocational classes
with their peers, 30%of our core academic classes have a full-time co-teacher in the class She identified
the individualized support for academic support class (1 8 ratio), individual counseling, individual speech
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and language, and individual or group social pragmatic work Occasionally there is a need for OT or PT,
but there has not been a need in a few years
Dr Perreault invited questions from the Committee Ms Leone asked with that number of volume of
students on IEP's or special education support,is there some sort of teaching for how to handle the students
in their shops as part of staff continuing education Dr Perreault confirmed that all vocational teachers are
required to take a special education class, as well as the regular education teachers as part of their renewal
for their licensure She also shared that the professional development at the beginning of the school year
included anxiety and depression,and she noted that we continue to make that a priority with our professional
development
Mr Stulm thanked Dr Perreault for her informative overview of the special education department and
requested a copy of her presentation He noted that Newton now has a dog in the nurse's office
Ms Nourse thanked Dr Perreault for her presentation She noted that as one of the public schools with the
largest percentage of students on IEP's, she felt it was important that we understand the types of services
and what trends she is seeing She asked if Dr Perreault has seen an increased need to adjust IEP's or add
services, given Covid and remote teaching
Dr Perreault shared that the referrals for mental health have gone thru the roof and that at every IEP meeting
it is discussed If the case is severe enough,it is put on the gnd There are students going into the hospital,
and coming out of the hospital, with not every one of those students being on an IEP, and now there is a
request for initial evaluations, as well as students on an IEP's for ADHD or a math disability Now they
have an additional second disability for social/emotional, and that is where we are seeing the increase is in
social/emotional
g Letter in Sunnort of Continuation of Remote Meetings
Dr Bouquillon discussed the draft letter prepared by Ms DeLuca relative to the continuation of remote
meetings He has learned from 6-7 other regional school distracts that if we desire to continue with remote
meetings, we need to review the remote meeting policy of the district, as that seems to be the way many
regional school districts are approaching this issue and making a policy where people can participate
remotely He cited North Shore Essex Aggie and Franklin County Technical School as examples
Ms DeLuca shared that in the past, she was opposed to remote participation as there was no technology to
do it, and she had a list of 13 reasons why it would not work After seeing now how effective it is, as well
as greater participation from the public and from those who do not have to drive to their meeting and
younger people with children, and staff, and people without cars, she believes it is worth supporting
She also shared that the Senate is debating a bill that would allow it to continue to Apnl 2022 and
recommends sending a letter to the House and Senate, in addition to all of our legislators, showing our
support for this item She noted that there are some who feel that remote participation is making meetings
too long because the public comment penods are lasting too long due to the increase in public speaking
participation. She believes that is a matter of getting the individual meetings under better control, rather
than a legislative issue, and that we should encourage the legislature to continue the support for the
continuation of remote meetings and also develop our own policy language
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Ms Nourse identified the two parts to this item— 1)does the School Committee support sending a letter to
the legislature in favor of remote meetings since the legislature is currently considering such a bill, and 2)
she referenced the letter on page 10 of their packet and asked if the School Committee supports sending
such a letter as drafted by Ms DeLuca
Mr Stulin shared that supporting the idea of remote participation is fine,but reminded Committee members
that if this approved and we need to create a new policy, the devil will be in the details to create such a
policy, and shared his primary concern would be that there are things that you lose in remote in terms of a
group being cohesive He stated he wants to be very careful when creating the new policy for the reason
of encouraging us to be together whenever possible, as well as having a policy on public comment so that
we are not overwhelmed by that issue
He feels that there may be a number of issues that we have not anticipated at this time, and suggested that
the amount of time required to construct a sound policy would be extensive, and while he agreed with
sending the letter, he believes that creating the nght policy will be time consuming and will take a
considerable of time debating the finer points of the policy when the time comes
Mr Ruderman asked if anyone was aware of another school district drafting a similar policy and offering
it for other schools to follow, comment on,or adapt as their own
Ms DeLuca shared that she contacted Glenn Koocher of the Massachusetts Association of School
Committees and inquired about a draft policy or whether another school that might have one Mr Koocher
was not aware of any He did share that he was working with the legislature on this,but he did not have a
sample policy at this time
Mr Ruderman agreed with Mr Stulin in that there will be a lot of work to do to create a policy that will
suit us,but that remote meetings offer a great advantage given our geographical challenges to foster very
good and valuable participation
There were no edits to the letter as presented
Ms Crocker thanked Ms DeLuca for her time and expertise in getting this work done
VOTE: To approve submitting a letter to the legislators in support of the continuation of
remote meeting, as presented
ACTION 2021 #157
Moved(Crocker)and seconded(Leone),
To approve submitting a letter to the legislators in support of the continuation of remote
meeting, as presented
VOTE 8 members in room at time of vote
Weighted Vote present 92 85%
Weight needed. >46 42%
Names of towns opposing or abstaining
Final percentage results of vote 92 85%
Final status of the vote Unanimous
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Roll Call
Pam Nourse, Chair(Acton) (Yes)
Michael Ruderman(Arlington) (Yes)
Steve LeDoux(Concord)(Yes)
Ford Spalding(Dover) (Yes)
Jennifer Leone (Lancaster)(Yes)
Judith Crocker(Lexington)(Yes)
Jeff Stulin(Needham)(Yes)
Alice DeLuca(Stow) (Yes)
6.PRINCIPAL'S REPORT— George Clement
a Class of 2021 Gradation
Mr Clement shared that 138 students graduated on June 4th at the Lowell Auditorium The ceremony was
put together by a great team of administrators, and he thanked Diane Dempsey, Brian Tildsley, Sara Ard
for her beautiful flowers, Erin Bordeau, Joe Joncas, and the over 20 volunteers for their hard work in
coordinating the event
Each graduate was allowed to bring approximately six guests for the first real event post-Coved He noted
that nght up until the very end when the waiver was received from the Department of Elementary and
Secondary Education, we had to cut three days from their senior experience and shuffle the calendar for
them again, but the students handled it all very gracefully They also had other events, such as the senior
gala,dnve-in movie at school,specialty-themed lunches,banners with their pictures on display just to make
it a good and positive send-off for the graduating class
Mr Clement shared that he will always have regret that they did not get to spend more time with this class
because they were such wonderful kids, and while we cannot get that time back,the graduating seniors did
go off on a good foot!
Mr Stulin thanked and congratulated Mr Clement and the administration and staff for their success in
getting us through this difficult year and that every hour of every day was a new battle.
b Summer School(Academic and CTE)—Katie Bouchard Director of CTE
In Ms Bouchard's absence, Mr Clement shared that summer programing will begin July 12th with four
weeks of summer school He noted that enrollment for this program will begin m earnest this week once
grades close because the academics being offered is credit recovery based, and we will have a better sense
of who needs to make up what class
He shared that the programming is ready One of the new designs for this year is that we are doing one solid
week, Monday thru Friday 8 00 a m to 3 00 p m This allows students to get in there, get it done and get
the credit back We are hopeful that will entice more students to come because they can see the definitive
beginning and end to the program
He did comment that it has been difficult to get faculty on board, and he believes it is a sign of educator
burn-out He shared that if a teacher needs the time,we need them to take the time so that they come back
stronger in the fall,but all slots were filled with Minuteman personnel
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Mr Clement also shared that there will be one week of classes dedicated to social/emotional type of
programming for students if they are interested There is also a program designed for incoming students to
get them orientated with Minuteman, career exploration, meet people and tour the building to get a head
start on the beginning of the year He shared that this is a new model with some experimenting and
innovation,and he looks forward to seeing how it goes
Dr Bouquillon reminded Committee members that the district received over approximately $55,000 in
grant funding to apply towards summer school, and he anticipates other resources will become available
Ms Nourse inquired as to whether enrollment is expected to be higher this year, as opposed to a typical
year Mr Clement stated that he is waiting to see and noted that students are allowed to take up to three
courses,if needed,to get their credit back This is something they have not offered in the past,and he does
not know what the interest level will be He is not sure of the class numbers currently
7 SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS
a Policy Subcommittee—Alice DeLuca
Ms DeLuca shared that she,Dr Perreault,and Ms Crocker continue working on a naming policy at the request
of Dr Bouquillon, as well as Section B She noted that Section B includes important work as it focuses on the
Regional Agreement and By-Laws The section is being re-tooled by the attorneys so that the policies are
consistent
Mr Stulin commented that Section B is the type of section that when it is working,we don't need it But when
something goes a little wrong, you need to look at the legal language of Section B, and that is when we need it
to be accurate He agreed with Ms DeLuca that it is very important work to be done
Ms Nourse thanked the Policy Subcommittee for all their hard work
b Strategic Planning Subcommittee Undate—Ford Svaldznz
Mr Spalding shared that he,Ms Nourse,and Ms DeLuca are working with Kevin Mahoney on the Request for
Proposal (RFP) The RFP for a Superintendent Search Firm has been posted and sent to the appropriate
candidates The due date for responses is June 22'
The Strategic Planning Committee will meet on June 23rd to review the submissions and rank them in accordance
with the cntena for the scope of services and finalists will then be selected On June 28th,the Strategic Planning
Committee will interview the finalists and vote to recommend a search firm to the full School Committee for
their consideration on June 29th
The summer process kick-off will include the appointment of a Minuteman Superintendent Search Committee,
finalization of the Supenntendent profile criteria for success(based off the work of the past two retreats),and an
application document which describes the position, the district, Minuteman mission statement, qualifications
timeline,and process
Mr Spalding noted that this work may require additional meetings of the School Committee and anticipates
beginning the selection process in September
c Finance Committee Retort and Discussion on Transfers Capital Stabilization Fund—Steve LeDoux
Mr Ledoux shared that the Finance Committee will be meeting on June 22'to receive estimates regarding end-
of-the-year surpluses in the district budget and formulate a recommendation for the School Committee on June
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29th as to end-of-year transfers, potentially transferring money in the stabilization fund, as well as possibly
transferring money in to the OPEB Trust with end-of-the-year funds
Dr Bouquillon noted that this is a great opportunity to move forward with the capacity building projects as they
see what the end-of-year numbers look like
d Communication,Access, and Admissions subcommittee—Jeff Stulan
• Review of Admissions Process and Update
Dr Bouquillon had discussed with administrators the possibility of increasing the freshman class by offering all
the students who were on the waiting list from in-district communities admission to Minuteman
After that discussion, he saw three or four impacts and he felt that those could be accommodated, and Mr
Chianello offered admission to all waithsted students from in-district communities To date,we have not heard
from all of them,but we do anticipate and will plan for a freshman class of approximately 210 students
As expected, some students offered admission, both in and out of district, changed their mind in the last few
weeks, and he anticipates some of that to happen between now and the start of school in August as well, but a
lot of work was done to accommodate 60 students more than what the design enrollment is,which equates to a
school size of 690-700 students next year Some of the accommodations,which have been budgeted for and not
an additional expense,included adding more technical assistants in the vocational technical areas,review of the
schedule to make changes in order to maintain smaller class sizes(crucial to maintaining good relationships),as
well as accommodating for the large number of special education students and their IEP requirements,teaching
more classes He said it would be beneficial to review graduation requirements which drive that schedule
Mr Ruderman thanked Dr Bouquillon and the administration for working through the ramifications, and Mr
Stulin and members of the Communication, Access, and Admissions Subcommittee group for allowing him to
drop in on their recent meeting, and for recognizing this important and vital issue. He shared that he looks
forward to seeing where this work will take us in the future
Mr Stulm commented that we cannot admit as many students as apply going forwards,there will be limits and
financial impacts on all of this He shared that the district took a courageous stand this year to increase the class
size before this incident occurred to 200 students,but that comes with potential complications in the future which
may require the member towns to become involved. There could be dollars involved. He also noted that the
question of whether we want to add another member town is a conversation that needs to be had with member
towns due to the large impact it will have on them It would have an impact on the cost per student and the
number of students we can send from the current towns There is no guarantee that we can have a class size this
big looking forward He shared that he believes that it is a goal that is worth pursuing to allow more students in
the district to be able to attend Minuteman
Dr Bouquillon agreed and commented that the next Communications, Access, and Admission meeting will be
important as we continue to manage our success
Ms Nourse thanked Dr Bouquillon and Anthony Chianello and the administration for all their work for coming
up with a solution to admit those students this year,knowing that we cannot just do that every year As we move
forwards we learn how to manage the process,and manage this with our towns so that we are in a better place in
the coming years
Dr Bouquillon will let the Committee know on June 29th what the numbers look like
e Superintendent Negotiations and Evaluation Subcommittee—Jennifer Leone
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Ms Leone shared that the evaluation is due to the State on July 31st and the administration is working on the
Executive Summary and a survey will be ready for the meeting on the 29th She noted that due to the fact that we
have already negotiated the one-year contract extension for Dr Bouquillon,there is no need to vote on any salary
increase that would be required by the end of the fiscal year
9 SECRETARY'S REPORT,Alice DeLuca
a Approval of Draft Minutes of Mav 11,2021
Ms DeLuca said that creating these minutes was like reading Dr Johnson's dictionary and she fully
appreciates everyone who tries to be concise
Ms DeLuca presented the draft minutes of May 11th,2021, for approval
VOTE: To approve the draft minutes of May 11,2021, as presented
ACTION 2021 #158
Moved(Leone)and seconded(Crocker),
To approve the draft minutes of May 11,2021, as presented
VOTE 8 members in room at time of vote
Weighted Vote present 92 85%
Weight needed 46 42>%
Names of towns opposing or abstaining
Final percentage results of vote 92 85%
Final status of the vote Unanimous
Roll Call
Pam Nourse, Chair(Acton) (Yes)
Michael Ruderman(Arlington) (Yes)
Steve LeDoux(Concord)(Yes)
Ford Spalding(Dover) (Yes)
Jennifer Leone (Lancaster)(Yes)
Judith Crocker(Lexington)(Yes)
Jeff Stulin(Needham)(Yes)
Alice DeLuca(Stow) (Yes)
10. ADJOURNMENT
ACTION 2021 #159
Moved(Leone)and seconded(DeLuca),
To adjourn the meeting at 7 38 p m
VOTE 8 members in room at time of vote
Weighted Vote present. 92 85%
Weight needed >46 42%
Names of towns opposing or abstaimng
Final percentage results of vote 92 85%
Final status of the vote Unanimous
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Roll Call
Pam Nourse, Chair(Acton) (Yes)
Michael Ruderman(Arlington) (Yes)
Steve LeDoux(Concord)(Yes)
Ford Spalding(Dover)Yes)
Jennifer Leone (Lancaster)(Yes)
Judith Crocker(Lexington)(Yes)
Jeff Stulm(Needham)(Yes)
Alice DeLuca(Stow) (Yes)
Respectfully submitted,
Julia Pisegna Alice DeLuca
District Assistant Secretary
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