The Regular Meeting of the Brockton School Committee was held this evening in the George M. Romm Little Theatre at Brockton High School, at seven o'clock. These minutes contain a summary of the meeting and list items that were under discussion.
Present: Mr. Minichiello, Vice-Chair; Ms. Asack, Mr. D'Agostino, Mr. Gormley, Mr. Sullivan, Superintendent Smith
Absent: Mayor Carpenter, Ms. Plant, Mrs. Sullivan
Also Present: Executive Team, Tom Burke, Director of Food Services; Natalie Pohl, George School Principal; Karen Watts, Grants Manager; Jane Feroli, Parent Engagement Specialist
Mr. Minichiello called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. followed by a salute to the flag. He announced that Mayor Carpenter was called to a family medical situation and will not be here this evening.
Mr. Minichiello explained the purpose of the Consent Agenda and asked members if there were any requests to remove items for further discussion; he requested to remove Item E, Notification of Personnel Actions.
Mr. D’Agostino moved the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve the following remaining items on the Consent Agenda, the motion was seconded by Ms. Asack.
Voted: to approve the motion, unanimous.
Mr. Minichiello removed Item E to recognize the retirement of school nurse Gail Manos. He said she contributed greatly to the effectiveness of the school department, was a part of the fabric of the Ashfield School and will be greatly missed. Ms. Manos received a round of applause in appreciation for her service.
Mr. Sullivan moved to accept Item E, the motion was seconded by Mr. D’Agostino and the vote was unanimous.
The Superintendent announced that the last Red Apple awards ceremony was held earlier this evening, 25 staff were recognized for going above and beyond. Angelo School – Suzanne O’Connor, Laura Corndell, Amy Rainone, Teresa Daley, Joanne Ritz, Kaitlyn Norwood, Meghan Robbins-Tchulieu, and Lisa Mather; Arnone – Jenn Anderson; Baker – Robert Moore; Barrett Russell – Peggy Longwe; Brookfield – Kristin Davidson; Davis – Erin Medairos; Downey -Martina Herman; George – Lori Fischer; Gilmore – Lisa O’Neil; Hancock – Tanya Lincoln; Kennedy – Susan O’Connell; Raymond School -Kathy Holman; Ashfield -Jennifer Erickson; East – Kristina Sullivan; Plouffe – Maria Lobo-Andrade; North – Olavo Gomes; South – KerriAnn Holt; West – Laurie McCoy; Brockton High – Julianne Sullivan; Teresa Mascarenhas; Adult Learning Center -Leah Flynn; Central – Audrey Brown and Marie Baker (SPED).
Karen Watts introduced Samantha Lawson, the VISTA volunteer who has been working in the grants office with her during the past year. She thanked Samantha for her assistance, together they have trained four resource development teams across the district, Samantha will be leaving in August. She was presented with a certificate of appreciation from the school committee.
The Superintendent invited Mr. Matt Cunningham, Ms. Linda Fargo, Mr. Brian Ferrell-Locke and Mr. Bob Hogan to be recognized for the excellent production of the spring musical 9 to 5, which received nine MET nominations.
The Superintendent recognized Ms. Salome Oliveira, Parents’ Academy Parent of the Year, and thanked her for her commitment to education. Jane Feroli talked about Ms. Oliveira’s involvement in the parents’ academy, at the Gilmore School and working as a substitute teacher in our system while raising four children. Ms. Oliveira also spoke about how she benefited from parents’ academy workshops.
The Superintendent invited Mr. Tom Burke to talk about tonight’s presentation to the Debra Carney Memorial Scholarship fund. Mr. Burke explained that the food service staff have established a fund that they all contribute to every week, at the end of the year the money is given to a charity or charities. This year the department tragically lost a beloved employee, Debra Carney, and tonight they were presenting Debra’s family with a $5,000 check for the scholarship in Debra’s name. The family was pleased to say they will give out four scholarships this year, they hope to do at least the same next year.
The Superintendent concluded recognitions by acknowledging the 2018 administrative interns and called this our “grow-your-own program.”
The Superintendent said she had a conversation with Manthala George, Jr. earlier today informing him of the new global studies program at the George School. He was pleased to hear about the program and plans to visit in the future.
Kellie Jones reported that the bilingual department has been very busy preparing for the opening of the global studies program, lotteries have been held, parents have been contacted, there are wait lists for all three programs. The Amitie launch celebration was attended by almost 300 people and families were very excited. A parent night was held the following evening for Unidos parents and tomorrow evening will be the parent night for the Juntos program. Ms. Jones shared a slideshow and a video.
The Superintendent closed her report with a slide show that highlighted some of the many end-of-the-year events across the district: BHS graduation, school committee student recognition night, parent of the year ceremony, student Day at the Rox, fun run events at several schools and Kennedy Day at the Kennedy School. Also included was a slide of Stoughton High students together with Brockton High students who offered their support after the tragic accident where four Stoughton High School students lost their lives. Stoughton High School’s graduation was held at Marciano Stadium this year while their new school is being built.
The Superintendent gave an update on teacher recalls, she said she has recommended calling back nineteen teachers in addition to the 35 that received slips just to give a cushion, a total of 54 teachers will be recalled as of this point.
None.
The supplemental (in-service) calendar was initially presented to school committee on June 5th and is on the agenda this evening for approval.
Mr. Gormley moved to adopt the 2018-2019 Supplemental Calendar as presented; the motion was seconded by Mr. Sullivan and the vote was unanimous.
The Superintendent asked the committee for a vote to suspend the procedure of appeals and waitlists for middle school student assignments in light of the movement of students resulting from the phasing out of North Middle School, any appeals would have to go to the Deputy Superintendent’s office for a decision. The Superintendent added that any grade 7 and 8 students who move into the North zone next year will be admitted, they will review the situation again next year.
Mr. D’Agostino moved to suspend middle school appeals process and have this handled through the Deputy Superintendent’s office for one year; Ms. Asack seconded the motion.
Voted: to adopt the motion, unanimous.
Mr. Minichiello gave the following report of the finance subcommittee meeting that was held this evening at 6:30 p.m.
The committee was given a presentation from the Superintendent and Mr. Petronio on bringing back 19 currently RIF’d (reduction in force) teaching positions, using approximately $800,000 from FY19 funds, they explained the funding sources (operations $60,000, technology $80,000, facility maintenance $70,000, substitutes $300,000, and contingency $300,0000), basically hedging our bets on state funding. The committee approved the recommendation. The second item discussed and recommended by the committee were the FY19 budget figures of $159,300,000 NET school spending and $11,245,846 non-NET school spending, of which $9,726,924 will come from local funds and $1,518,922 will come from other sources as specified by the finance subcommittee meeting of the school committee.
Mr. Sullivan moved to accept the report as given; the motion was seconded by Mr. D’Agostino and the vote was unanimous.
Voted: to adopt the recommendations, unanimous.
Mr. Sullivan moved to ratify the recommendations as stated in the report; Mr. D’Agostino seconded the motion.
Voted: to adopt the recommendations, unanimous.
Mr. Minichiello congratulated the staff at BHS for an excellent graduation and Dr. Murray on doing a wonderful job as he conducted his first BHS graduation.
Seeing no further business, the meeting adjourned at 8:05 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Kathleen A. Smith, JD
Superintendent/ Secretary
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