School Committee

Salem School Committee Committee of the Whole Meeting Minutes Monday, December 20, 2021 A Committee of the Whole (COW) meeting of the Salem School Committee was held on Monday, December 20, 2021 at 5:00 pm using the Zoom platform. Members Present: Mayor Kimberley Driscoll, Ms. Mary Manning, Ms. Amanda Campbell, Dr. Kristin Pangallo, Mr. Manny Cruz, Mr. Fleming and Ms. Ana Nuncio Members Absent: None Others in Attendance: Dr. Stephen Zrike Call of Meeting to Order Mayor Driscoll calls the meeting to order at 5:06pm. She notes the committee is meeting to review proposed revisions to Policy 6502 and then move into Executive Session to review a labor issue regarding negotiations. She calls the roll. Mr. Fleming Yes Ms. Manning Yes Dr. Pangallo Yes Ms. Nuncio Yes Mayor Driscoll Yes Amanda Campbell (enters at 5:12pm) Manny Cruz (enters at 5:12pm) Meeting is called to order, 5 members present. Discussion of Proposed Revisions to Policy 6502: Student Advisory Committee Ms. Nuncio provides an overview of the changes made by the policy subcommittee to the draft proposal provided by the equity subcommittee meeting. Ms. Nuncio shares an overview of the conversation had during the Policy Subcommittee Meeting, specific to the scholarship amounts. She notes the full committee being cognizant of the proposal. Noting updates to the withdrawal language as well. She notes having this opportunity for the full committee to weigh in. Ms. Manning requests clarity on calling the Student Advisory Committee a subcommittee of the School Committee noting that it isn’t a subcommittee of the school committee. Ms. Manning shares concern for the monetary product provided to members of the Student Advisory Council in regard to it being compensation. She notes an additional concern being the accumulative total overtime potentially being $2,500. She doesn’t believe it’s entirely clear how the money will be distributed. Ms. Nuncio asks if the chair is not considered one of the officers. Ms. Campbell shares the roles are Chair and four additional officers, so five total. Ms. Campbell references the conversation 12.20.21 School Committee of the Whole (COW) Meeting Minutes Page 1 regarding money and notes the with the size of the budget, the scholarship wouldn’t be a heavy lift even if the Chair were to hold that role for consecutive years and receive the highest scholarship possible to be awarded for holding that role. Ms. Campbell notes having the wording and the process reviewed by counsel with no concerns provided back to the Equity Subcommittee. Mayor Driscoll notes that this is before the COW as the Policy Subcommittee had done some work to the policy and proposal and thought the full committee may want to weigh in on the policy. Mr. Cruz confirms this is the reasoning. He notes the timeline and not having to wait until the next Equity Subcommittee meeting to have this reviewed. He notes making the suggestion to get this on the agenda for the COW to allow the two subcommittees to come together and hammer out details of what’s being put forward. Ms. Manning wanted to make sure Ms. Nuncio had an opportunity to weigh-in on this. Ms. Nuncio notes for the record, being concerned of the use of the word compensation being attached to this policy as we did not want to incentivize or make it seem we were paying for leadership. Ms. Nuncio shares her thought process in alleviating this concern by noting the students are not paid regularly or provided a stipend, but rather receive the scholarship funding upon graduation. Ms. Manning raises that scholarships have a sense of competition. She notes the only person who can get the most scholarship is the Chair of the committee, so calling it a scholarship is misleading, so ultimately they are getting paid to do the job. She recalls last year’s Chair stating if there was no compensation then they did this (the role) for nothing; and she replied that they (the officers) don’t do it for nothing, they do it for experience and growth by working on the committee. She notes the outlook of no money, it’s done for nothing is troubling. She notes the clarification for the allotment of money but calling it a scholarship doesn’t align with the fact that students are being paid for the job they are doing on the SAC. Mr. Cruz raises that we have other groups that have scholarships designated for the particular activity in which the student is participating. The SAC is open to all students as is the ability to run for office for these particular roles. He wants to recognize that there’s a process for becoming an officer and the Chair and it’s not that it’s a closed process, any student could serve. He identifies these roles are a tremendous undertaking as the students are giving up their time, giving back to the district. He notes folks being concerned of the word compensation versus scholarship so he notes the process in which other groups have scholarships as well, noting the SAC is one group that is in direct connection to the school committee. He confirms his support for the proposal. Ms. Manning asks if there are other student activities that have a scholarship automatically attached to them because they are the president of the activity, group, or club. She notes not knowing of any other group where the president of that group will automatically be awarded a scholarship for completing the year in that role. Mr. Cruz notes there are groups in which the scholarship is associated with the program where membership ties to the opportunity to obtain 12.20.21 School Committee of the Whole (COW) Meeting Minutes Page 2 a scholarship. He shares that in regard to tying scholarships to service, you’d have to consider the similar process of equity internships, the United Way, etc. Ms. Manning revisits her questions regarding an activity where one single position is guaranteed a scholarship. Mr. Cruz notes he doesn’t have the information she’s requesting and identifies adults and students receiving stipends for volunteering as advisors on committees and other instances in the district where there is a form of stipend, compensation, or scholarship for the work. Conversation surrounding volunteering and compensation is had between Mr. Crux and Ms. Manning. Ms. Nuncio notes that Ms. Campbell as a comment. Mayor Driscoll asks if Mr. Cruz is done with his statement. He notes that his scholarship received in the past required work in the role as a volunteer and notes we are not on uncharted grounds. Mayor Driscoll calls upon Ms. Campbell who notes scholarships come in varied forms and can’t speak to all the scholarships given by the three high schools in the district. She notes having done research on the proposed scholarship structure and that there are other districts that provide a comparable structure. She notes adults choosing students to be awarded scholarships and in this instance it’s the student body electing those for the positions in which they will receive a scholarship for serving. Ms. Campbell notes there may be disagreement in the philosophy of providing this scholarship for those in these roles but personally she would love to see the scholarship recognizing service for these roles. Mayor Driscoll notes the other agenda item and notes saving the debate surrounding Policy 6502 as the intent for the meeting was to explain the policy and it may not be one there is not unanimous support for but the vote can be taken at a future school committee meeting. She notes her expectation is that this will come forward at a future meeting in the new year and will go through the typical process of vote and three readings. Ms. Manning states that she believes it was on tonight’s agenda to be voted on later on but notes she could be wrong. Mayor Driscoll notes it is not on the regular school committee meeting agenda and therefore cannot be taken up for a vote. Ms. Campbell notes it never made it out of policy. Mayor Driscoll notes it remains in policy and the full committee can think about the how and the why until it goes forward as any other policy would from the subcommittee to the regular committee. Mr. Cruz notes the policy subcommittee made a motion to send to a vote. Ms. Manning and Ms. Nuncio concur. The school committee secretary shares that there may have been confusion regarding the next steps and that the understanding was to preview the policy to the full committee in the COW meeting before submitting for a vote during a regular school committee meeting. Mr. Fleming notes not being able to adopt anything in the COW and if this is for a recommendation for first passage it’s not possible in a COW meeting. He also notes before voting on it, he would like to have a review of the districts that give scholarships to their officers in their SAC, and he would like to know of other school activities that give a scholarship specific to the student serving as an officer. Until having that information he doesn’t want to vote. 12.20.21 School Committee of the Whole (COW) Meeting Minutes Page 3 Mayor Driscoll notes this is still in the policy subcommittee, it will need to go back to the policy subcommittee and be voted out in the traditional process before coming to the full committee. She notes perhaps the policy subcommittee could provide Mr. Fleming with the requested information. Ms. Manning wonders if the Equity Subcommittee could provide that information requested as Ms. Campbell noted having some of that information before. Mayor Driscoll notes that the information could come from wherever. Adjournment Ms. Manning makes a motion to enter the executive session. Mayor Driscoll reviews that the next item on the agenda requires executive session pursuant to Chapter 7, not to reconvene in open session. Mr. Fleming seconded. A roll call vote was taken. Ms. Manning Yes Dr. Pangallo Yes Ms. Nuncio Yes Mr. Cruz Yes Ms. Campbell Yes Mr. Fleming Yes Mayor Driscoll Yes Motion carries 7-0 The committee enters executive session and the public meeting ends at 5:38 p.m. Respectfully submitted by, Jensen Frost Executive Assistant to the Deputy Superintendent 12.20.21 School Committee of the Whole (COW) Meeting Minutes Page 4