April 6, 2021
Brockton, Massachusetts
Regular School Committee Meeting
April 6, 2021
Live Stream
The Regular Meeting of the Brockton School Committee was held this evening, at seven o'clock. These minutes contain a summary of the meeting and list items that were under discussion.
Mayor Sullivan, Chair called the meeting to order at 7:16 p.m., followed by a salute to the flag.
Mayor Sullivan read the following information for the record.
Due to the ongoing COVID-19 Pandemic and State of Emergency, on March 12, 2020, Governor Baker issued an Executive Order Temporarily Suspending Certain Provisions of the Open Meeting Law, G.L. c. 30A sec. 20. Pursuant to the Order, public bodies are temporarily relieved from the Open Meeting Law’s requirement that meetings be held in public places, open and physically accessible to the public, so long as measures are taken to ensure public access to the bodies' deliberations "through adequate, alternative means."
This meeting will be held and will be accessible to the public via Brockton Community Access, Brockton Public Schools website, www.bpsma.org, YouTube and Comcast channel 98
The public can access this meeting via this link: www.youtube.TheBrocktonChannels
Mayor Sullivan took a roll call to establish a quorum.
Mayor Sullivan, Chair – yes
Mr. D’Agostino, Vice-Chair – yes
Ms. Asack – yes
Ms. Mendes – yes
Mr. Minichiello – absent
Mr. Rodrigues – yes
Ms. Sullivan – yes
Mr. Sullivan – yes
Also Present: Superintendent Thomas, Executive Team Members, Kim Gibson, BEA President, Richard Bath
Hearing of Visitors None
Mayor Sullivan asked that Dr. Richard Herman is taken out of order this evening, Item IV-A, Report of Superintendent of Schools – Dr. Richard Herman, FACEP Pandemic Consultant COVID-19 Metrics update.
Mr. D’Agostino motioned to take Item IV-A, Report of Superintendent of Schools - Dr. Richard Herman, FACEP Pandemic Consultant – COVID-19 Metrics update out of order, seconded by Mr. Sullivan.
Mayor Sullivan took a roll call vote:
Mayor Sullivan, Chair – yes
Mr. D’Agostino, Vice-Chair – yes
Ms. Asack – yes
Ms. Mendes – yes
Mr. Minichiello – absent
Mr. Rodrigues – yes
Ms. Sullivan – yes
Mr. Sullivan – yes
Mayor Sullivan thanked Dr. Herman for attending the School Committee meeting this evening and turned it over to him.
Dr. Herman thanked Mayor Sullivan and the School Committee members for inviting him to come back and discuss the metrics for the City of Brockton and presented a power point.
COVID-19 Update: City of Brockton (power point)
Metric facts reported as follows:
* On day 389 from March 14, 2020 with a current death toll in the USA of 554,064
* The City of Brockton is reporting 12,894 total cases with 419 deaths and in Red status
* Towns that touch Brockton the majority are in Yellow status
* Brockton children, (<18yrs), with COVID has increased by 171, in the past two weeks
o Children getting COVID is beginning to trend slightly upward
o Children most likely contracting COVID from households
* COVID-19 Vaccination in MA: Eligibility Status
o Phase 1 groups are now eligible
o Phase 2 groups are eligible except individual age 55+ and individuals with
1 certain medical condition will be eligible on 4/5
o Phase 3 will be eligible on 4/19
* Brockton Vaccine Opportunities
o Federal distribution plan: BNHC
o MDPH Targeted Equity Community: BOH clinics
o Mass vaccination site: Gillette Stadium
o Retail pharmacies: CVS, Walgreen’s
o VA Vaccination clinics
Mayor Sullivan thanked Dr. Herman for attending the School Committee meeting and providing a detailed
analysis on the metrics.
Questions/Answers
* Mr. D’Agostino asked is there any reason for this recent uptick?
Dr. Herman responded his sense in the recent uptick is due to the general relaxation of our phasing.
* Ms. Asack asked how long does the vaccine protect you?
Dr. Herman replied, he doesn’t know, and we don’t know in general. Thee vaccines been around for four
months. The six-month follow-up study on some of the original vaccines is done and shows at least six
months of protection.
Consent Agenda
Mayor Sullivan, Chair explained the purpose of the Consent Agenda and asked members if they would like to remove any items for further discussion. Mr. D’Agostino motioned to remove Items B,C and G, seconded by Ms. Sullivan and Mr. Sullivan. Mr. Sullivan motioned to remove Item E, seconded by Ms. Sullivan.
Mayor Sullivan, Chair took a roll call vote to remove items B,C,G and E.
Mayor Sullivan, Chair – yes
Mr. D’Agostino, Vice-Chair – yes
Ms. Asack – yes
Ms. Mendes – yes
Mr. Minichiello – absent
Mr. Rodrigues – yes
Ms. Sullivan – yes
Mr. Sullivan – yes
Voted: to approve the motion, unanimous.
Mr. D’Agostino gave an overview report on Item B, Approval of Minutes of the March 16, 2021, Finance Subcommittee Meeting, discussing the agenda items:
1. FY2022 School Department Budget
2. Other Business
Mr. D’Agostino gave an overview report on Item C, Approval of Minutes of the March 16, 2021, Policy Subcommittee Meeting, discussing the agenda items:
1. DESE Guidance of In-Person Learning and Student Learning Time Requirements
2. Other Business
Mr. D’Agostino gave an overview report on Item G, Approval of Minutes of the March 9, 2021, Finance Subcommittee Meeting, discussing the agenda items:
1. Lease of General Warehouse Space
2. Expenses for moving the Keith School
3. FY2022 School Department Budget
4. Other Business
Mr. D’Agostino motioned to approve Items B, C and G, seconded by Mr. Sullivan.
Mayor Sullivan, Chair took a roll call vote.
Mayor Sullivan, Chair – yes
Mr. D’Agostino, Vice-Chair – yes
Ms. Asack – yes
Ms. Mendes – yes
Mr. Minichiello – absent
Mr. Rodrigues – yes
Ms. Sullivan – yes
Mr. Sullivan – yes
Voted: to approve the motion, unanimous.
Mr. Sullivan gave an overview report on Item E, Approval of Bid Review Subcommittee Meeting Report on March 23, 2021, discussing the agenda items:
A. To accept the report of the Subcommittee as presented.
B. To accept the following bids:
Pest Control Service
School Mail Delivery Service
Food Service Equipment Repair Service
Mr. Sullivan moved to approve Item E-A; To accept the report of the Subcommittee as presented, seconded by Mr. D’Agostino.
Mayor Sullivan, Chair took a roll call vote.
Mayor Sullivan, Chair – yes
Mr. D’Agostino, Vice-Chair – yes
Ms. Asack – yes
Ms. Mendes – yes
Mr. Minichiello – absent
Mr. Rodrigues – yes
Ms. Sullivan – yes
Mr. Sullivan – yes
Voted: to approve the motion, unanimous.
Mr. Sullivan moved to approve Item E-B; To accept the following bids as presented, seconded by
Ms. Sullivan.
Mayor Sullivan, Chair took a roll call vote.
Mayor Sullivan, Chair – yes
Mr. D’Agostino, Vice-Chair – yes
Ms. Asack – yes
Ms. Mendes – yes
Mr. Minichiello – absent
Mr. Rodrigues – yes
Ms. Sullivan – yes
Mr. Sullivan – yes
Voted: to approve the motion, unanimous.
Mr. D’Agostino moved the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve the remainder Consent
Agenda items: A, D, F, H, I and J seconded by Mr. Sullivan.
A. Approval of Minutes: March 16, 2021 Regular School Committee Meeting
D. Approval of The Betty Jean Campbell Memorial Scholarship Fund
F. Approval of Minutes of the March 9, 2021 – Facilities Usage & Planning Subcommittee Meeting
H. Notification of Personnel Appointments: Non-Certified
I. Notification of Personnel Appointments: Certified Personnel
J. Acceptance of Notification of Personnel Actions: Leaves of Absence, Resignations, Retirements
Mayor Sullivan took a roll call vote to approve the remainder Consent Agenda items:
Mayor Sullivan, Chair – yes
Mr. D’Agostino, Vice-Chair – yes
Ms. Asack – yes
Ms. Mendes – yes
Mr. Minichiello – absent
Mr. Rodrigues – yes
Ms. Sullivan – yes
Mr. Sullivan – yes
Voted: to approve the motion, unanimous.
Superintendent’s Report
Report of Students with Disabilities Return
Superintendent Thomas mentioned students with disabilities sub-separate returned in-person yesterday at 100%, and invited Ms. Laurie Mason, Director of Special Education to give a report.
Ms. Mason reported, the staff has worked hard to prepare and make the students comfortable with the procedures of returning to school. Students are thrilled to be back, they are establishing routines and expectations, and transportation is running smoothly.
Ms. Mason mentioned more parents are requesting their child to return in person rather than staying remote and receiving positive feedback.
Superintendent Thomas thanked Ms. Mason, staff, and teachers for the work they’re doing for our students.
Report of 50% Hybrid Return
Superintendent Thomas introduced Ms. June Saba-Maguire, Chief Academic Officer to give an update on the elementary return and he will give an update on Middle Schools, Dr. Clifford Murray, Principal of Brockton High School will give an update.
Ms. Saba-Maguire shared principal’s and our teachers are genuinely excited to see an increasing number of our students returning to school, and describes their schools as coming back to life. Students are excited to return and she was able to see a few videos of them in classrooms interacting with each other and their teachers and their overall excitement is undeniable positive.
We have our families to thank, our teachers and school leaders in doing an incredible job welcoming our students back to school, and move forward despite the fact that we know we’re dealing with the issues related to the virus we’re going to continue to engage in welcoming the kids back to school.
Superintendent Thomas spoke with middle school principals today and pictures of students outside during recess and lunch from Principal Lovell at the Ashfield School. Teachers are doing a tremendous job teaching students at the 50% in-person and online. He visited the Keith Center and saw Principal Burns, teachers and support staff spending time getting students re-engaged and encouraging them to come to school.
Superintendent Thomas introduced Dr. Murray, Principal of Brockton High School to give an update on the 50% return.
Dr. Murray reported there were over one thousand students in attendance today. The staff has done an incredible job in making the students feel welcomed, Chartwells has done a great job expanding the lunch menu, no issues with transportation and our custodians continue to clean the building on a regular schedule.
Superintendent Thomas asked the public to be patient about traffic around schools in the morning and afternoon, less students are on buses and more parents have decided to drive their children to school. He thanked Lt. Vardaro, School Police and Brockton Police for a great job helping with traffic.
STAR Testing Results (power point)
Superintendent Thomas invited Dr. Ethan Cancell, Executive Director of Accountability, to report on the STAR Testing Results.
STAR Testing points of discussion included:
* Participation Rates
o ELA Fall 2020 vs. Winter 2021, there were some gains in many grades
o Math Fall 2020 vs. Winter 2021, were similar in gains, and slightly down in three grades
* Average Unified Scaled Score
o ELA Gain Fall/Winter, grades 3-8 increased in many grades
o ELA Gain Winter/Winter, the district went up 2.8 points
o Math Gain Fall/Winter, the district went up 7.2 points
o Math Gain Winter/Winter, the district had substantial differences
* Average Percentile Rank
o ELA – Fall 2020 ranged from 24.4 up to a 30.4
o ELA – Winter 2021 percentile decreased
o ELA – Winter 2020 to Winter 2021, the decrease is 4 to 8 points
o Math – Fall 2020 to Winter 2021, only 2 percentiles went down, and the others went up
o Math – Winter 2020 to Winter 2021, the percentile decreased
* All Students & Subgroups
o ELA – Fall 2020 to Winter 2021, the percentiles varied
o Math – Fall 2020 to Winter 2021, all grades increased
o Math EL Average – Fall 2020 to Winter 2021, one decreased and the remainder increased
o Math SWD – Fall 2020 to Winter 2021, varied up/down
o EcoDis – Fall 2020 to Winter 2021, one decreased and the remainder increased
o Math EcoDis – Fall 2020 to Winter 2021, all increased
Discussion
Mr. D’Agostino asked for collaboration on here’s where we are now, and what’s the plan.
Superintendent Thomas responded to Mr. D’Agostino’s question. The Student Opportunity Act funding and extra funding from the Federal government will help put things in place such as positions. It’s about intensive remediation with our students that will take 2 to 3 years. It is important for us to look at the data, the research and focus on the weakness and how to improve student by student.
As we build our new strategic plan, this summer and fall will be focused on the achievement gap.
FY22 Budget Update
Mr. Aldo Petronio, Chief Financial Officer updated the committee on the following:
* We’ve begun working on the additional personnel
* We have available funds to add positions
* Discussion on positions most important to add to the budget
* We anticipate the House Budget within the next week as we have the Governor’s budget with a good increase due to the Student Opportunity Act
* We’ll continue our budget process and upon the house number we can put our budget request info to the Mayor for him to complete his budget, and bring it to the City Council
Transportation/Warehouse Lease Update
Mr. Petronio updated the committee on the following.
* The lease is almost completed, both attorneys are ironing out the fine details and we anticipate having it signed soon.
* Once signed we’ll begin to bring equipment to the warehouse and begin the set up
* Job ads are ready to post, drivers, supervisors, etc.
* The buses are underway and making progress
Dr. Cobbs mentioned next Tuesday the committee members are invited to attend the walkthrough of the warehouse. Detailed information will be emailed to the members.
Question/Answer
Mr. D’Agostino asked when do we expect the delivery of the buses and vans?
Mr. Petronio mentioned delivery is expected in late June/July.
Recognition
Superintendent Thomas acknowledged Ms. Elizabeth Nixon and employees from the PepsiCo (Frito Lay) Randolph site in donating $1,011 to the Brockton Public Schools for families in need.
A certificate was presented on behalf of the Brockton School Committee.
Items to Refer to Subcommittee None
Unfinished Business
Mr. D’Agostino discussed the Policy Subcommittee Meeting held on Tuesday, March 16, 2021 Agenda #2 We considered a proposal for Brockton High School students to work at the elementary and middle level.
Mr. D’Agostino read the following into the record.
Superintendent Thomas informed the School Committee that the Department of Education is allowing senior students from Brockton High School, Keith Center, and the Huntington to go down to the elementary and middle schools to help the staff with covering lunches or tutoring. The seniors can do this during the school day. The high school principals are now working to see what students can fit that in their schedules. This would be a paid internship. This can help with staffing during especially lunches and recess. Hopefully it may bring us some students who are interested in teaching as a profession. This would start after April vacation. Superintendent Thomas is asking the school committee to waive the fingerprint requirement of these seniors, who are our students, but would be employees. Superintendent Thomas is asking for these employee fingerprint requirements to be waived because it cost $55 for each senior and the process takes time. These very selective seniors will be CORI’ed, which is a fullest access CORI. These seniors would have to be in good standing and on target to graduate.
Mr. Rodrigues motioned to waive the fingerprint requirement process for Brockton High School(s) seniors that will be tutoring at the elementary and junior high school levels, seconded by Ms. Asack.
Mr. D’Agostino took a roll call:
Mayor Sullivan, Chair – yes
Mr. D’Agostino, Vice-Chair – yes
Ms. Asack – yes
Ms. Mendes – absent
Mr. Minichiello – yes
Mr. Rodrigues – yes
Ms. Sullivan – yes
Mr. Sullivan – yes
Voted: to approve the motion, unanimous
Mr. D’Agostino motioned to approve the Policy Subcommittee as presented, seconded by Mr. Sullivan.
Mayor Sullivan took a roll call vote.
Mayor Sullivan, Chair – yes
Mr. D’Agostino, Vice-Chair – yes
Ms. Asack – yes
Ms. Mendes – yes
Mr. Minichiello – absent
Mr. Rodrigues – yes
Ms. Sullivan – yes
Mr. Sullivan – yes
Voted: to approve the motion, unanimous.
New Business
Mayor Sullivan mentioned the BHS Music Department will have its Virtual Spring Concert on Wednesday, April 7, 2021 at 7:00 p.m. featuring the Repertory Chorus, Concert Band, Concert Choir, and Advanced Concert Band. This will premier on the Brockton Cable Access, Youtube Channel or Go to link: https://youtube.com/user/theBrocktonChannels or Local Cable Access Channel 98.
Mr. D’Agostino read the following notice of intent to apply for the FC647 - 21st Century Learning Communities
grant. The Community Schools of Brockton is applying for three 21st Century grants; Angelo, Arnone and Ashfield school. As part of the grant the application process we need to have our intent announced publicly. This announcement was also placed in the Enterprise on Monday, April 5, 2021.
Please be advised that it is the intent of the Brockton Public Schools to apply for the FY2022: Massachusetts 21st Century Community Learning Centers – Supporting Additional Learning Time Grant (for new sites) FC647 grant for the following sites: Angelo Elementary School, Arnone Elementary School, and the Ashfield Middle School.
As posted on the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education website, “the purpose of this federally funded competitive grant program is to support the implementation of academically enriching programming during Out-of-School Time (OST) and/or Expanded Learning Tine (ELT – a longer school day/year for all students) that helps to close proficiency and opportunity gaps, increases student engagement, and contributes to a well-rounded education.”
Anyone interested in further information is encouraged to call the Community Schools of Brockton Office at 508-580-7595.
Mr. D’Agostino noted Mr. Minichiello’ s absence was due to his COVID-19 vaccination.
Mayor Sullivan announced this Saturday and Sunday vaccinations will be given, please call the Mayor’s office at 508-580-7123 or visit the City website for further information.
Superintendent Thomas announced to families of seniors, we will be going forward with graduation at the scheduled dates. We are going forward with an outdoor graduation at the Rocky Marciano Stadium. We do not have the exact format of graduation currently but we’re hoping to get a close back to normal as possible and follow the guidelines. Each student will be allowed a maximum of six tickets.
June 4th – June 6th is graduation weekend
June 4th – Huntington and Keith School, June 5th – Brockton High School (June 6th – Rain Date)
July 15th – Edison Academy
Superintendent Thomas mentioned the large tent is set up for all our music outdoor activities and thanked the committee for their support. The spring musical will take place outdoors around May, more information will follow.
Executive Session
Mayor Sullivan, informed School Committee members it was confirmed with Superintendent Thomas and legal counsel Executive session was not needed this evening.
Seeing no further business Mr. Sullivan motioned to adjourn, seconded by Ms. Sullivan.
Mayor Sullivan took a roll call vote:
Mayor Sullivan, Chair – yes
Mr. D’Agostino, Vice-Chair – yes
Ms. Asack – yes
Ms. Mendes – yes
Mr. Minichiello – absent
Mr. Rodrigues – yes
Ms. Sullivan – yes
Mr. Sullivan – yes
The meeting adjourned at 9:11 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Michael P. Thomas
Superintendent/Secretary
mdc
Power point: COVID-19 Update: City of Brockton, Winter 2021 STAR
Handout: BHS Virtual Spring Concert Flyer