School Committee

LOWELL SCHOOL COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Date: October 7, 2020 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 6:30 p.m., members present were, namely: Ms. Martin, Ms. Clark, Mr. Descoteaux, Mr. Dillon, Ms. Doherty, Mr. Hoey and Mayor Leahy. 3. SPECIAL ORDER OF BUSINESS 3.1. Communication Remote Participation: Members Of The Public May View The Meeting Via LTC And Those Wishing To Speak Regarding A Specific Agenda Item Shall Register To Speak In Advance Of The Meeting By Sending Email To The Superintendent Indicating The Agenda Item And A Phone Number To Call So That You May Be Tele-Conferenced in to the meeting. Email Address Is mpalazzo@Lowell.k12.Ma.us. If No Access To Email You May Contact at 978-674-4324. 4. MINUTES 4.1. Approval of the Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Lowell School Committee of Wednesday, September 16, 2020 Mr. Hoey made a motion to approve and place on file the Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Lowell School Committee of September 16, 2020, the Regular Scheduled Meeting Minutes of the Lowell School Committee of September 16, 2020, two (2) Special Meeting Minutes of September 23, 2020 and the FY21 Budget Hearing of Wednesday, September 29, 2020; seconded by Mr. Dillon. 7 yeas APPROVED 4.2. Approval of the Minutes of the Regularly Scheduled School Committee Meeting of Wednesday, September 16, 2020 Mr. Hoey made a motion to approve and place on file the Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Lowell School Committee of September 16, 2020, the Regular Scheduled Meeting Minutes of the Lowell School Committee of September 16, 2020, two (2) Special Meeting Minutes of September 23, 2020 and the FY21 Budget Hearing of Wednesday, September 29, 2020; seconded by Mr. Dillon. 7 yeas APPROVED Lowell Public Schools • 155 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 • http://www.lowell.k12.ma.us  (Page 2 of 7) 4.3. Approval of the Minutes of the Special Meeting/Executive Session of the Lowell School Committee of Wednesday, September 23, 2020 Mr. Hoey made a motion to approve and place on file the Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Lowell School Committee of September 16, 2020, the Regular Scheduled Meeting Minutes of the Lowell School Committee of September 16, 2020, two (2) Special Meeting Minutes of September 23, 2020 and the FY21 Budget Hearing of Wednesday, September 29, 2020; seconded by Mr. Dillon. 7 yeas APPROVED 4.4. Approval of the Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Lowell School Committee of Wednesday, September 23, 2020 Mr. Hoey made a motion to approve and place on file the Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Lowell School Committee of September 16, 2020, the Regular Scheduled Meeting Minutes of the Lowell School Committee of September 16, 2020, two (2) Special Meeting Minutes of September 23, 2020 and the FY21 Budget Hearing of Wednesday, September 29, 2020; seconded by Mr. Dillon. 7 yeas APPROVED 4.5. Approval of the Minutes of the FY21 Budget Hearing of Wednesday, September 29, 2020. Mr. Hoey made a motion to approve and place on file the Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Lowell School Committee of September 16, 2020, the Regular Scheduled Meeting Minutes of the Lowell School Committee of September 16, 2020, two (2) Special Meeting Minutes of September 23, 2020 and the FY21 Budget Hearing of Wednesday, September 29, 2020; seconded by Mr. Dillon. 7 yeas APPROVED 5. PERMISSION TO ENTER 5.1. Permission to Enter: October 7, 2020 Ms. Martin made a motion to approve the Permission to Enter; seconded by Mr. Descoteaux. 7 yeas APPROVED 5.2. UTL: Ratification of MOA for Teachers/Paraprofessionals related to School Reopening Mr. Hoey made a motion to approve Ratification of the UTL MOA for Teachers/Paraprofessionals related to School Reopening; seconded by Mr. Descoteaux. 5 yeas, 1 nay (Ms. Doherty), 1 present (Mayor Leahy) APPROVED 5.3. LSAA: Ratification of MOA for LSAA related to School Reopening Mr. Hoey made a motion to approve Ratification of the LSAA MOA related to School Reopening; seconded by Mr. Descoteaux. 7 yeas APPROVED Lowell Public Schools • 155 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 • http://www.lowell.k12.ma.us  (Page 3 of 7) 5.4. UTL: Consideration of MOA Related to .5 Special Education Position at the Bartlett School Mr. Dillon made a motion to approve the UTL MOA for a .5 Special Education Position at the Bartlett School; seconded by Ms. Clark. 7 yeas APPROVED 6. MEMORIALS 6.1. Anne “Annie” Mahoney, Former Morey School Teacher 6.2. B. Douglas Townshend, A Retired LHS Choral Director 7. MOTIONS 7.1. [By Jackie Doherty]: Request the Superintendent provide a report on the number of staff and students who have left the STEM Academy since January 2020 including those families who are on the wait list to transfer out of the school. In addition to numbers, the report should include the reasons for those departures based on information collected from confidential exit interviews. No names used in the report—simply identify person by role: parent, teacher, para etc. The report should also include an update on replacement staffing both at the time of school opening and now, indicating whether all classes currently have licensed teachers in place and when that occurred. The following people registered and addressed the Committee regarding the above motion: Kelly Moran Peter Doherty Sopheap Lomax Monica Lundberg Mr. Descoteaux requested and Ms. Doherty agreed to also receive information on what the average is regarding the number of staff and students who have left all of our schools. Ms. Doherty made a motion to approve; seconded by Ms. Martin. 4 yeas, 3 nays (Ms. Clark, Mr. Dillon, Mr. Hoey) APPROVED 7.2. [By Jackie Doherty]: Request the Superintendent develop a plan to share with the committee as to how the district will address new DESE requirement that all in-person students receive flu shots by December 30. Ms. Doherty made a motion to approve; seconded by Mr. Descoteaux. 7 yeas APPROVED 7.3. [By Mayor John Leahy]: Request the Superintendent update the Committee on the Adult Education academic program as well as their physical plant. Mayor Leahy made a motion to approve; seconded by Mr. Hoey. 7 yeas APPROVED Lowell Public Schools • 155 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 • http://www.lowell.k12.ma.us  (Page 4 of 7) 8. REPORTS OF THE SUPERINTENDENT 8.1. COVID-19 Plan for Fall Sports Mr. Lezenski, Lowell High School Athletic Director gave an update to the Committee regarding the COVID-19 Plan for Fall Sports. The update included the following:  Schedule of High School Sports for 2020-2021  COVID-19 Plan for Sports  COVID-19 Data & Impact on Fall Sports Season  Merrimack Valley Conference Contest Day Operations o Screening Procedures o Face Masks/Coverings o Venue Restrictions/Spectator Guidelines  Transportation Mr. Descoteaux made a motion to accept the following Reports of the Superintendent 8.1 through 8.5 as reports of progress; seconded by Mr. Dillon. 7 yeas APPROVED 8.2. Social Emotional Learning; Addressing Our Students SEL Needs Ms. Killinea, Social & Emotional Coordinator gave an update to the Committee regarding Social Emotional Learning: Addressing our Students SEL Needs. The update included the following:  The Devereaux Student Strengths Assessment in Resilience & Preventative Mental Health  SEL Components – Where does the DESSA SEL System differ  Assessment and Progress monitoring DATA - MTSS Mr. Descoteaux made a motion to accept the following Reports of the Superintendent 8.1 through 8.5 as reports of progress; seconded by Mr. Dillon. 7 yeas APPROVED 8.3. 2020/2021 Goals and Key Performance Indicators Ms. Martin made a motion to send agenda item #8.3. 2020/2021 Goals and Key Performance Indicators to the Curriculum Subcommittee; seconded by Ms. Doherty. 7 yeas APPROVED Ms. Doherty made a motion to have a Personnel Subcommittee regarding the Superintendent’s Evaluation; seconded by Mr. Descoteaux. 7 yeas APPROVED 8.4. COVID-19 Data Monitoring Dr. Hall gave the Committee a COVID-19 Data Monitoring update that included the following: Lowell Public Schools • 155 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 • http://www.lowell.k12.ma.us  (Page 5 of 7)  Percent Positivity Rate  Average Dailey Incidence Rate per 100,000  Building Capacity for In-Person Learning Dr. Hall added that the City of Lowell is for the second week in RED and this week’s numbers are 16.3 and 3.57 Mr. Descoteaux made a motion to accept the following Reports of the Superintendent 8.1 through 8.5 as reports of progress; seconded by Mr. Dillon. 7 yeas APPROVED 8.5. Enrollment Report The district enrollment report provided to the Committee showed the breakdown by school and grade through October 2, 2020. Committee members asked about the census and how that relates to state funding. Mr. Descoteaux made a motion to accept the following Reports of the Superintendent 8.1 through 8.5 as reports of progress; seconded by Mr. Dillon. 7 yeas APPROVED 8.6. Home Education Superintendent Boyd recommended that the following parents/guardians be allowed to home educate their child: Mary Jane Flynn 58 13th Street Misty Cheney 460 Beacon Street Lieba Golden-Koulendros 212 Westford Street Danielle and Gary Tatro 109 Van Greenby Road Kerri Sullivan 2 Wachusett Street #4A Patricia Robbins 38 Emery Street Daniel and April Rourke 15 Bridget Lane Tonia Johnson 181 Moore Street Unit 9 Lowell Public Schools • 155 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 • http://www.lowell.k12.ma.us  (Page 6 of 7) Shawna Morel 72 Athens Drive Raelynn Mayberry 100 Massmill Drive Apt. G11 Zulmarie Ortiz 1215 Pawtucket Blvd. Taina Sanchez 430 Rosewood Lane Amanda and Steven Rondeau 2310 Skyline Drive Unit 9 Jamie Dudley 58 Epping Street Yolanda Munoz 170 Crawford Street Ms. Martin made a motion to approve; seconded by Ms. Doherty. 7 yeas APPROVED 9. NEW BUSINESS 9.1. Appointment to the Lowell Telecommunication Board Superintendent Boyd informed the Committee that the School Committee needs to vote to appoint a representative to the Board of Directors of Lowell Telecommunication Corporation to represent the School Committee. Jeffrey Pickette has been invited to be on the Board of Directors of the Lowell Telecommunications Corporation. Mr. Dillon made a motion to appoint Mr. Jeffrey Pickette to the Lowell Telecommunication Board; seconded by Ms. Clark. 7 yeas APPROVED 9.2. Vote to Accept Grant Award of $7,298 from M.A.S.S and Kiss108 Ms. Kearns, Deputy Chief Financial Officer informed the Committee that Lowell Public Schools is in receipt of a donation from Massachusetts Association of School Superintendents (M.A.S.S.) and KISS 108 in the amount of $7,298. KISS 108 and M.A.S.S. partnered with M.A.S.S. to help fill the technology gap in local schools. The district will purchase student technology with the funds. Ms. Clark made a motion to accept and approve the Grant Award of $7,298 from M.A.S.S and Kiss108; seconded by Mr. Dillon. 7 yeas APPROVED Lowell Public Schools • 155 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 • http://www.lowell.k12.ma.us  (Page 7 of 7) 10. ADJOURNMENT Mr. Hoey made a motion to adjourn at 9:03 p.m.; seconded by Mr. Descoteaux. 7 yeas APPROVED Respectfully submitted, Joel D. Boyd, Ed.D., Superintendent and Secretary to the Lowell School Committee JDB/mes Lowell Public Schools • 155 Merrimack Street • Lowell, MA 01852 • http://www.lowell.k12.ma.us