School Committee

LOWELL SCHOOL COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Date: September 20, 2017 Time: 6:30PM Location: City Council Chamber, 375 Merrimack Street, 2nd Floor, Lowell, MA 01852 1. SALUTE TO FLAG 2. ROLL CALL On a roll call at 6:36 p.m.; all members were present, namely,: Mayor Kennedy, Ms. Martin, Mr. Descoteaux, Ms. Doherty, Mr. Gendron, Mr. Gignac and Mr. Hoey. 3. SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS 3.I. Introduction Of Rebecca Duda, Family Resource Center Coordinator Jeannine Durkin, Deputy Superintendent for Student Support Services introduced Rebecca Duda to the Committee. Ms. Duda thanked the Committee for this opportunity and is looking forward to serving the families of Lowell. 4. MINUTES 4.I. Minutes Approval of the Minutes of the Regular School Committee Meeting of Wednesday, September 6, 2017 Mr. Hoey made a motion to accept the minutes and to place them on file; seconded by Mr. Gignac. 7 yeas APPROVED 5. PERMISSION TO ENTER 5.I. Permission To Enter: September 20, 2017 Mr. Descoteaux made a motion to approve the Permission to Enter; seconded by Mr. Gignac. 7 yeas APPROVED Lowell Public Schools • 155 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 • http://www.lowell.k12.ma.us  (Page 2 of 6) 6.MEMORIALS 6.I. Memorial - Fadden Linscott Fadden, Sr., father of Kerri DeRosa, Shaughnessy School paraprofessional. 6.II. Memorial - Ruby Cheryl Ruby, a retired Butler and Leblanc School teacher. 6.III. Memorial - Auguste Jayleah Auguste, Lincoln School Student. 7. MOTIONS 7.I.By Robert J. Hoey]: Request the Superintendent provide the Committee with a report on School Nurse staffing levels district-wide. Committee members stated that they feel compensation/competitive wages is an issue. Mr. Hoey made a motion to approve; seconded by Mr. Gignac. 7 yeas APPROVED 7.II. [By Jacqueline Doherty]: Request the Superintendent poll members and schedule an Executive Session within the next two weeks regarding hiring practices around background checks and other personnel matters to ensure policies are clear and being followed appropriately. Ms. Doherty made an amended motion by General Consent to request the Superintendent poll members and schedule a Joint Personnel and Policy Subcommittee within the next two weeks regarding hiring practices around background checks and other personnel matters to ensure policies are clear and being followed appropriately; seconded by Mr. Descoteaux. Ms. Doherty made a motion to refer the amended motion by General Consent to request the Superintendent poll members and schedule a Joint Personnel and Policy Subcommittee within the next two weeks regarding hiring practices around background checks and other personnel matters to ensure policies are clear and being followed appropriately to a Personnel Subcommittee for further discussion; seconded by Mr. Gendron. 7 yeas APPROVED Lowell Public Schools • 155 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 • http://www.lowell.k12.ma.us  (Page 3 of 6) 8.REPORTS OF THE SUPERINTENDENT 8.I. Transportation Update Michael Cassidy, Assistant Business Manager provided the Committee with a memorandum that served as an update on in district student transportation. The report included the contract status, bus passes, fleet update, and central office operations. Ms. Doherty made a motion to accept the following Reports of the Superintendent 8.I through 8.VII as reports of progress; seconded by Ms. Martin. 7 yeas APPROVED 8.II. Food Service at the Career Academy Gary Frisch, Assistant Superintendent for Finance informed the Committee why the participation level at the Career Academy was so much lower than the school wide average. Mr. Frisch stated that the Food Service Manager from Aramark spoke with the Principal at the Career Academy about this issue and the reason was based on the student’s fluid schedules and that many students are not in the building during lunch period. Mr. Gignac asked for more information around what the students were eating for lunch. Ms. Doherty made a motion to accept the following Reports of the Superintendent 8.I through 8.VII as reports of progress; seconded by Ms. Martin. 7 yeas APPROVED 8.III. Catie’s Closet Update Jeannine Durkin, Assistant Superintendent for Student Support Services provided a report to the Committee that gave an update on Catie’s Closet. In June, there were five (5) schools that did not have Catie’s closet in their building: Bailey, Cardinal O’Connell, Moody, Shaughnessy and Washington. Since that time, substantial progress has been made over the summer months relative to closet installations in those schools. At the Bailey School, the merchandise has been ordered and will be stocked during the week of September 18, 2017 and Catie’s Closet will be fully functioning as of September 25, 2017. At the Washington School, Catie’s Closet was completed prior to the first day of school. At the Cardinal O’Connell School, an order was placed in June 2017 and is scheduled for delivery the week of September 18, 2017. At the Shaughnessy School, the shelving and racks were installed and Catie’s Closet will be fully functioning as of September 25, 2017 and at the Bartlett School, Catie’s Closet has been completely rebuilt. Ms. Doherty made a motion to accept the following Reports of the Superintendent 8.I through 8.VII as reports of progress; seconded by Ms. Martin. 7 yeas APPROVED Lowell Public Schools • 155 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 • http://www.lowell.k12.ma.us  (Page 4 of 6) 8.IV. 2017- 2018 Parent Teacher Conference Dr. Salah Khelfaoui, Superintendent of Schools provided the Committee with a report of all scheduled dates for parent/teacher conference sessions for the 2017-2018 school year. Ms. Doherty made a motion for the Committee to receive an update on the parent/teacher conferences around attendance and participation by the end of 2017; seconded by Ms. Martin. 7 yeas APPROVED Ms. Doherty made a motion to accept the following Reports of the Superintendent 8.I through 8.VII as reports of progress; seconded by Ms. Martin. 7 yeas APPROVED 8.V. Title I District Allocations Patricia Guziejka, Title I Director provided a response to a motion from the September 6, 2017 School Committee meeting requesting additional information on the breakdown of Title I funds, breakdown of district reservation and breakdown of total school allocations. The breakdown included the line item, amount, FTE and description. Committee members suggested that this be discussed further at the upcoming Finance Subcommittee meeting. Ms. Doherty made a motion to accept the following Reports of the Superintendent 8.I through 8.VII as reports of progress; seconded by Ms. Martin. 7 yeas APPROVED 8.VI. Finance Subcommittee Questions Gary Frisch, Assistant Superintendent for Finance provided a report that responded to additional questions that were asked at the Finance Subcommittee meeting that was held on August 7, 2017 that reviewed year-end results. Ms. Doherty made a motion to accept the following Reports of the Superintendent 8.I through 8.VII as reports of progress; seconded by Ms. Martin. 7 yeas APPROVED 8.VII. Response to Robert Hoey Motion Of 09/06/17 Regarding Overtime Payments Gary Frisch, Assistant Superintendent for Finance provided the Committee with an overtime report and extra duty pay for clerical and custodial staff for the month of August. Mr. Hoey asked that moving forward he would like to see the names attached to the overtime payments. Ms. Doherty made a motion to accept the following Reports of the Superintendent 8.I through 8.VII as reports of progress; seconded by Ms. Martin. 7 yeas APPROVED Lowell Public Schools • 155 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 • http://www.lowell.k12.ma.us  (Page 5 of 6) 8.VIII. Response to Robert Gignac's Motion of 09/06/17 Regarding Class Sizes District-Wide. Mr. Gignac made a motion to not accept report 8.VIII Regarding Class Size District Wide as a report of progress and would like more information provided to the Committee at the next scheduled Lowell School Committee meeting on October 4, 2017; seconded by Mr. Hoey. 7 yeas APPROVED 9. NEW BUSINESS 9.I. Vote To Accept Grant Award of $ 5,000 To Lincoln School from MACOM Ruben Carmona, Ed.D informed the Committee that the Lincoln School was recently notified that they received a $5,000 grant from MACOM. The purpose of this donation is to strengthen the technology infrastructure at the Lincoln School. Mr. Gendron made a motion to accept the grant funded amount of $5,000 from MACOM; seconded by Mr. Hoey. 7 yeas APPROVED 10. CONVENTION/CONFERENCE REQUESTS 10.I. LHS-Boys' and Girls' Cross Country The LHS Boys' and Girls' Cross Country teams, along with their coaches: Nate Kraft, Tim Patterson, Marybeth Finn and Scott Ouellet, to travel to the Manhattan College Invitation in Yonkers, NY from Friday, October 13 through Saturday, October 14, 2017. The students will be missing one day of school. The cost of $1,250 will be paid by the Athletic Budget, Friends of LHS Track Committee and student athletes. The cost of $100 for substitute teacher will be paid by the LHS Individual School funds. Ms. Martin made a motion to approve the convention/conference request; seconded by Mr. Hoey. 7 yeas APPROVED 11. EXECUTIVE SESSION 11.I. Agenda  Update on Union Contract Negotiations with SEIU and LSAA.  Update on the declaratory judgment on the Committee's authority regarding the siting of the new Lowell High School.  Discussion on Contract for General Legal Counsel. Ms. Martin made a motion to recess at 7:16 p.m. and enter into Executive Session and to adjourn the meeting from Executive Session; seconded by Mr. Gignac. 7 yeas APPROVED Lowell Public Schools • 155 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 • http://www.lowell.k12.ma.us  (Page 6 of 6) 12. ADJOURNMENT Ms. Martin made a motion to recess at 7:16 p.m.; seconded by Mr. Gignac. 7 yeas APPROVED Respectfully submitted, Dr. Salah E. Khelfaoui, Superintendent and Secretary to the Lowell School Committee SEK/mes Lowell Public Schools • 155 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 • http://www.lowell.k12.ma.us