Minutes of the
Monson School Committee
Regular Meeting
September 11, 2024
Present: Chair Alison Morgan; Vice-Chair Jamie Murphy; Secretary Karen Nothe-Valley; Committee Member Colleen Flynn; Committee Member Peter Wiggins; Director of Business and Operations Leah Zippin; Superintendent Dr. Cheryl Clarke.
Note: This meeting was video recorded.
Mrs. Morgan called the meeting to order at 7:01 PM.
Ms. Flynn read off the MPS mission and vision statement.
Dr. Clarke announcements and updates:-September 12th: PTSA Fundraiser at Main St Tavern
-September 23rd: Stephen Hill will be speaking at the HS sponsored by the Monson drug free community grant.
-September 25th: Monson High School - Know your school event (formally known as Open House)
-September 26th:GV open house
-October 2nd: first PTSA meeting at 6pm at QH
-October 4th: Community night under the lights girls and boys varsity soccer games
-Dr. Clarke recognized Hannah Murphy as Masslive 2024 Super Seven.
Student Representative report
Julia Royce - ECC
-PK / K open houses August 29th & 30th
-Kindergarten classes got to participate in a class signing.
-Picture day monday September 16th
Mya Bridges - GV
-GV playground project is completed
-Picture day Monday September 16th
-6th grade students will head to Springfield College to tackle the ropes course and tour the facility on September 18th
-Annual PBIS carnival will be held on Friday September 20th
Sophia Galarneau - MHS-Arts reflection contest - See Mr. Pluta for any questions
-More clubs will be starting soon (student council, community service, travel club, etc)
-Fall sports are off to a great start
7/8th grade - MHS
-Butter Braid fundraiser for both 7th & 8th grade
-Halloween dance - October 25th
-7th grade field trip to CT Science center
-8th grade field trip Western New England College tour
-The MHS newsletter will be sent out soon to families and students
Dr. Clarke Updates:
-Welcomes 23 new teachers to the district who took part in two days of PD, met with mentors, and spent some time learning about the district.
-August 27th & 28th all staff returned - 27th Dr. Clarke’s Welcome message.
-August 29th Grades 1-12 returned to classes
-August 29th & 30th PK families toured the ECC and got to meet their teachers.
-Dr. Clarke welcomed Amaya Martinson from the VIP program who will be helping 1-2 hours a day with clerical work.
-LPN Kristen Bajorick, will be attending all home games (last year we had an EMT at all of the games but they have sold their company) Kristen is currently a school nurse in Springfield so she has a great background.
-Safety and security continues to be a big focus for the district. The administrative team, school resource officer and school security will be participating in an upcoming training on Oct. 7th on preparing and ensuring the safety of students and staff.
-Tabletop meeting scheduled with the Monson Police and Monson Fire Department for Monday.
-Dr. Clarke held a parent informational zoom meeting with the public regarding Alice Drills and security measures at MPS.
-Alice drills will be happening this week - letters have been sent home to families/guardians regarding the information and drills.
Mrs. Morgan opens public session @ 7:12 PM
Mrs. Morgan closed public session @ 7:13 PM
Subcommittee and Liaison reports:
-Public involvement at school events - there were questions at the last meeting regarding what is appropriate vs inappropriate for the language of the public involvement policy. Mrs. Murphy read over the revised Public involvement language.
Ms. Flynn makes a motion to approve the second read of the public involvement policy. (Ms. Nothe-Valley seconds)
-Ms. Flynn asked if there were any initial issues with the results being shared with the person who made the complaint because of anonymous complaints (bystander who submitted something anonymous and they wouldn’t be able to follow up with)
-Dr. Clarke stated that they don’t accept anonymous complaints; you have to put your name on it if you want to make it a complaint.
-Dr. Clarke stated that she can reach out to the lawyer, Kim, and can get more information for the school committee. Mrs. Morgan asked Ms. Flynn to forward her concerns to her and she will reach out to the attorney, Kim - and let Dr. Clarke know what the outcome is.
Mrs. Morgan makes a motion to proceed to the third read.
Roll call vote
Mr. Wiggins - Yes
Ms. Nothe-Valley - Yes
Ms. Flynn - Yes
Mrs. Murphy - Yes
Mrs. Morgan - Yes
Motion Carries 5-0
New Business:
-Dr. Clarke welcomed Officer Paul Mayo, our School Resource officer, who is working with Doug Beachall - school security. Officer Mayo introduced himself and talked about the exciting things he’s looking forward to with being the SRO.
Ms. Nothe-Valley asked what his schedule and typical day looks like? Officer Mayo is around for all drop off AM & PM, at all lunches with students, walking around the facilities, part of the crisis team, ensures that school traffic is following the safety precautions with buses and vans, and so much more.
School Updates:
Dr. Trivisonno - ECC:
-PK numbers are huge - early to mid August they were able to add another PK class.
-K senior signing day was awesome!
-Off and running - happy to report that the first day of drop off went smooth
-Picture day coming up
-Young athletes day is the first Friday in Oct in partnership with the Special Olympics and the Special Education department.
GV:
-24 newly enrolled students - only 1 is school choice.
-Thrilled with the playground project and what a game changer it will be for the colder months
-Benchmark testing: students are taking it very serious and with the data collection it gives the teachers a nice insight
-Alice drills went smooth
-New lunch tables outside are a huge hit - for the 5th & 6th graders. These tables were purchased through a grant.
-83 students in grades 4-6 are signed up for band or chorus / when Mrs. Rapacki took over last year the numbers were in the 20’s for band and chorus participation!
-Girls on the run will be beginning shortly! Looking to start up something for the boys in the school - they are thinking of a program for the winter.
Mr. Fontaine - MHS
-Kids are starting school in high spirits
-Hosted the back to school BBQ for students and families / students were able to take pictures with a photo frame that had their graduation year on it (2030)
-First day of school we had “get to know you meetings” to address the usage of lockers this year, the cell phone policy, and discussed the reasons behind the changes - students seem to be adjusting well.
-Appears to not have as many cell phone issues in the classroom
-Attendance at 96% over the first 8 days - about 3% higher than last year
-Clubs are in the process of getting up and running - at least 50% of the student body is involved with some sort of after school program whether it be signed up for a club or participation in sports.
-Will be starting SGTI online, a math program funded by a grant where students can have additional online math tutoring for students in grade 8. All 12 families have accepted the placement of their students with the program - it will run 2 days a week during their advisory session.
-Weekly newsletter will be sent home every Saturday with reminders and what to know for the week ahead.
-Mr. Fontaine is currently working on the 5 year plan for accreditation with NEASC and has created a plan with them to catch up. NEASC has asked MHS to create a vision of graduates along with core values. Mr. Fontaine will be working with school staff and counselors throughout the process. Self reflection will be in about 2 years and a sight visit in about 2 ½ years. Mr. Fontaine will update the school committee throughout the process.
-Mrs. Morgan asked Mr. Fontaine how the “no backpack policy” was going with asking students to put their backpacks in their respective lockers? Mrs. Morgan also inquired that if a student doesn’t make it to class in time with having to come from the 3rd floor to the 1st floor to go to their locker, what happens from there? Mr. Fontaine stated that with the advisory period, they are encouraging students to “plan” out their day. Meaning, if a student has 2 classes in a row that are on the levels above, be sure to grab those items for both of those classes to ensure plenty of transition time between the classes. Mr. Fontaine stated that there will be some grace period for the students to get adjusted with the process, but so far it is moving in the right direction, the students seem to be settling in.
Therapy dog update: Winnie Fontaine
-Dr. Clarke stated that she did receive the paperwork for Winnie and sat down with Erin Fontaine, her handler, who had an entire comprehensive binder with all of the requirements that will be housed at CBO. Mr. Fontaine will take Winnie for half of the day at the HS, and Dr. T will work with having Winnie join some of the students at GV who may be struggling to get to school along with any issues that may arise. Dr. Clarke will be sending home a letter to families letting them know that Winnie will be joining MPS. There are two handlers in the district for Winnie, Mr. Fontaine & Erin Fontaine. If Mr. Fontaine is unable to assist Winnie due to bathroom breaks or any issues that arise, Mrs. Kowalik at the HS, is able to assist with Winnie if needed.
School choice/Enrollment update:The current enrollment is: 829 students / up from last year by 8 students
14 students out of district
66 school choice students / added 6 more spots this year
39 school choiced out
52 at Charter schools / bulk enrollment is at OSV
104 at Pathfinder
5 Parochial school
30 students homeschooled / down by 18 (48 last year)
-Ms. Nothe-Valley inquired about the process of applying for school choice and how many available spots are open per grade, and what actually determines how many open available spots there are. Dr. Clarke will get the current breakdown of what available spots are open for the grades. Ms. Nothe-Valley is worried about the process and how/who approves school choice? Dr. Clarke stated that she tries to fulfill each school choice application, but there are times when no available spots are open for that student in that specific grade - or if that student has a sibling and they are unable to accept both children (due to a spot not being open for the other sibling, etc) - so the siblings aren’t housed in different districts. Dr. Clarke is more than happy to continue the chat with Ms. Nothe-Valley and check out the school choice numbers. Dr. Clarke and the committee discussed how the numbers are based on the class size and teacher size / Ms. Nothe-Valley is asking for more information for next year.
Ms. Flynn suggested that Ms. Nothe-Valley write down her thoughts and notes for when the school choice topic comes up for next year.
Action items:
-All meetings are set up.
-There will be a curriculum meeting setup at the next meeting - with Mrs. Watts.
-Mrs. Morgan let the Committee know that there will be a working meeting - (waiting on confirmation) with Tracy from MASC, that will most likely be held Wednesday, October 30th.
Ms. Flynn asked Dr. Clarke if there were any HR negotiations left in the works or if they were ratified? Dr. Clarke let the committee know that they are currently still being ratified so the Executive will be at the next meeting.
Mrs. Morgan takes a motion to adjourn the meeting at 7:59PM (Second by Ms. Flynn)
Motion Carries 5-0
Documentation for this meeting:
September 11, 2024-Working Meeting Agenda
Distributed at meeting:
Approved by Committee:
________________________________________
Ms. Nothe-Valley, Secretary
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