July 19, 2022

Brockton, Massachusetts     

Regular School Committee Meeting                

July 19, 2022

Live Stream

 

The Regular Meeting of the Brockton School Committee was held this evening in the George M. Romm Little Theatre at Brockton High School, at six o'clock.  These minutes contain a summary of the meeting and list items that were under discussion.

                                       Present:  Mayor Sullivan, Chair Ms. Asack, Vice-Chair, Mrs. Ehlers, Mr. Homer,

                                                      Mrs. Rivas-Mendes, Mr. Rodrigues, Mrs. Sullivan, Mr. Sullivan

                                      

                                       Also Present:  Deputy Superintendent of Teaching and Learning Ms. Wolder,

                                                               Executive Team Members, Mr. Ken Thompson, Director of Facilities

                                      

                                       Absent:  Superintendent Thomas   

 

Mayor Sullivan - Chair, called the meeting to order at 6:07 p.m.                  

Mayor Sullivan - Chair, took a roll call to establish a quorum that was followed by a salute to the flag.

 

Mrs. Sullivan – Here	Mr. Homer – Here	Mrs. Ehlers – Here
Mrs. Rivas-Mendes – Here	Mr. Rodrigues – Here	Ms. Asack, Vice-Chair – Here
Mr. Sullivan – Here		Mayor Sullivan, Chair – Here

                                        

   Hearing of Visitors       There were no hearing of visitors.

   Consent Agenda           Mayor Sullivan explained the purpose of the Consent Agenda and asked members if they would like to remove any items for further discussion. 

Mr. Sullivan moved the Superintendent’s recommendation to approve the Consent Agenda in its entirety, seconded by both Ms. Asack and Mrs. Sullivan.

Voted:  to approve the motion, unanimously.

A.    Approval of Minutes:  June 28, 2022, Special School Committee Meeting

B.    Approval of Minutes:  June 21, 2022, Regular School Committee Meeting

C.    Requests for Authorization to Submit Proposals and Expenditure of Funds:                                                               

1.     Trauma-Informed Services in Schools Grant from SAMHSA ($970,000)

2.     Perkins Equipment & Program Improvement Grant from DESE ($35,000)                                                         

D.    Acceptance of Notification of Personnel Actions

     Leaves of Absence, Resignations, Retirements 

Superintendent’s Report

     COVID-19 Update:  City of Brockton (power point)

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.

  Metric facts reported as follows:

·     Pandemic Day 858 in the City of Brockton, July 19, 2022

·     As of July 19, 2022 The SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic in Brockton:  2 years, 4 months, 6 days

·     New Census Numbers Change the Stats!  The Brockton population was 99,226 and is now 105,643

·     What are we measuring these days?

Ø  Case counts, Percent positivity, Hospitalizations, Deaths, Wastewater

Ø  With new color-coded metric from DPH/COVID-19 command, DESE is issuing additional guidance for selecting a learning model

Ø  Red – average daily cases per 100,000 is greater than 8

Ø  Yellow – average daily cases per 100,000 is between 4-8

Ø  Green – average daily cases per 100,000 is less than 4

Ø  Unshaded – fewer than 5 total cases over the past 14 days

·     City of Brockton COVID-19 Weekly Dashboard as of July 15, 2022– 162 new reported

     cases, 31,157 confirmed cases, 2 deaths, 505 deaths overall, 231 active cases, 14 currently in

     the hospital, 0 ICU, average daily confirmed cases per 100,000 population is 128.7, positive

     test rate is 5.22%, 60.0% are vaccinated (first booster), 17.5% have the second booster.

·     Brockton – New Cases per day – Past 4 months, the number of cases looks like it’s trending

     up over the past few weeks

·     Get a free at-home COVID-19 tests – type in COVID.gov and follow the instructions

·     If you test positive for COVID-19, use a free telehealth consult to see if the Paxlovid pill is

     right for you.

·     COVID:  Brockton Kids – 5,488 Total (through January 17, 2022)

·     COVID:  Brockton Kids – 6,558 Total (through July 16, 2022)

·     Confirmed and Probable cases under 18 – 3,212 girls, 3,289 boys

·     Free COVID-19 vaccines are available for children 6 months+

Ø  Brockton Neighborhood Health Center

Ø  Pediatric Associates of Brockton

Ø  Cedar Hill Pediatrics

Ø  Village Pediatrics

Ø  City of Brockton Board of Health

·     Brockton Weekly Vax Stats as of July 11, 2022

Ø  61.8% have completed a primary series

Ø  29.4% have received a first booster

Ø  10.9% have received a second booster

·     The city website – Brockton.ma.us/covid19 is available to follow the data as it becomes available

Questions/Answers

Ms. Asack asked, out of the positive cases do we know how many were boosted, vaccinated, un-vaccinated?

     Dr. Herman mentioned there is some data about breakthrough cases and he will get the

     information to the members.

Ms. Asack asked, if the BA5 variant not showing up in many of the at-home testing?

Dr. Herman mentioned he has heard the opposite that it is showing up, however new information comes out daily as things change frequently.

Ms. Asack asked, for those who are vaccinated and have a card is there an expiration date?

     There is no expiration date on the card, there may be an expiration on the effectiveness of

     the vaccine.

Mrs. Ehlers asked, what is the recommendation on quarantining and how do you respond?

     Isolation means you’ve tested positive for COVID-19 and you go into isolation, Quarantine

means you’ve been exposed to COVID-19 and you’re staying away to be sure you don’t develop symptoms.

 

Mr. Sullivan thanked Dr. Herman for his presentation.  He asked if the COVID-19 at home kits expire?

Yes, there is an expiration date, however there may be an extension date to the home kit.  A link will be put on the city website to check on the expiration of the at home kits.

 

                                            Mayor Sullivan thanked Dr. Herman for his presentation.

 

                                          Presentation:  Water Filling Stations

Mayor Sullivan introduced Ms. Allyson Perron Drag from the American Heart Association/ Government Relations Director.

Ms. Perron is currently working with Superintendent Thomas, Mr. Ken Thompson, Director of Facilities and the Parent Advisory Committee Group around water filling stations, making sure kids have access to that and Brockton has done a great job prioritizing that within the schools.

 Allyson discussed a potential Water Policy Language to have throughout the district where School administrators can inform and promote this policy to teachers, staff, parents, and students, including providing information in student and employee handbooks and making the policy accessible on the school website.

                                       Questions/Answers

Mrs. Rivas-Mendes asked for clarification on approved water bottles (line #6) in the handout.

This policy is just a recommendation and draft and can be changed. It is up to Brockton on what the language needs to be for water bottles, the goal is to make sure kids are able to bring a water bottle and be able to fill them.

 Mayor Sullivan asked what is the cost of a water bottle?

It can range from a dollar to five dollars, a number of schools that have partnered have looked into sponsorship.

  Mayor Sullivan suggest looking into this and if we can, we should subsidize as it’s the right thing to do.

Mr. Sullivan asked if the filling stations are filtered and cooled?

Mr. Thompson responded, yes, a filter is built in the unit and lasts approximately one year, there is also a light indicator on each unit and the custodians monitor them on a daily basis.

 He mentioned there are 140 stations installed in the district. (that work began in 2017)

   Mayor Sullivan asked what is the cost for each unit?

 Each unit cost approximately $1,165 we are able to keep the cost down as most of the work is done in-house.

Ms. Asack asked do we have this system at the stadium?

The Athletic Director has a water drinking system for the students.

Mr. Rodrigues asked if each system has a meter that keeps track of how much water is being used?

Yes, every time that it is utilized it registers so we can track how much it’s being used.

 Mr. Sullivan asked if this policy is in place?

Mayor Sullivan mentioned we will work with Attorney Sarah Spatafore and/or Attorney Peter Mello and come back at a later date to ratify.

 

Items to Refer to             Mr. Sullivan requested the Facilities Subcommittee members to take a tour of the May Center.

  Subcommittee              

After discussion Mr. Sullivan will work with Mrs. Campbell to coordinate a date and time with Dr. Cobbs and include all school committee members in the email.

Mr. Rodrigues requested a Safety, Security, Transportation Subcommittee to be held on Tuesday, August 23, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. to discuss the opening of the 2022-2023 school year, and change the Regular School Committee meeting to 7:00 p.m.

Mr. Rodrigues motioned to move the August 23, 2022 Regular School Committee meeting from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. on order for us to conduct a Public Safety and Transportation meeting at 6:00 p.m.  Seconded by Ms. Asack.                                            

                                                                                    Vote:  5-yes, 2-no, the motion carries.

 

  Unfinished                      BPS Student/Parent Handbooks 2022-2023 (Action Requested)

  Business                        The BPS Student/Parent Handbooks 2022-2023 were previously vetted, there were no questions

                                       or additional comments on this matter.

Mrs. Rivas-Mendes motioned to accept the BPS Student/Parent Handbooks 2022-2023.  Seconded by Mrs. Sullivan.

The motion passed unanimously.

                                      

                                       Discussion and Potential Vote:  Bid Review Subcommittee Meeting – 7-19-22

                                       Mr. Sullivan gave a verbal report from the Bid Review Subcommittee meeting held earlier this evening.  Two motions were made, both came out on the stalemate.

                                      

 Discussion and Potential Vote:  Regarding the Tuesday, October 4, 2022 School Committee

                                       Meeting date change to Tuesday, October 11, 2022.

   Mayor Sullivan discussed the changing of the School Committee meeting date from Tuesday, October 4, 2022 to Tuesday, October 11, 2022 as Yom Kippur is an observed holiday.

 

Mr. Sullivan motioned to approve regarding the Tuesday, October 4, 2022 School Committee

  Meeting date change to Tuesday, October 11, 2022.  Seconded by Mrs. Sullivan.

The motion passed unanimously.

       Discussion and Potential Vote:  Regarding the Tuesday, October 18, 2022 School Committee

                                       Meeting date change to Tuesday, October 25, 2022.

 Mayor Sullivan mentioned relative to the change in the October School Committee Meeting dates it is recommended to change the Tuesday, October 18, 2022 to Tuesday, October 25, 2022.

 Mrs. Sullivan motioned to approve regarding the Tuesday, October 18, 2022 School Committee meeting date change to Tuesday, October 25, 2022.  Seconded by Mr. Homer.

The motion passed unanimously.

New Business                  Ms. Sharon Wolder, Deputy Superintendent of Teaching and Learning acknowledged the Edison Graduation last Thursday, July 14, 2022, and the mayor as the keynote speaker who gave an encouraging speech to 167 of the 220 graduate students that attended.  She also mentioned this was Mrs. Christina DeNovais first graduation as Principal and her message to her students about the importance of Edison, having a different pathway for older students new to the country for students who just need something different because they’re working. 

Mayor Sullivan thanked Deputy Superintendent Wolder, Deputy Superintendent Cobbs, School Committee members in attending the graduation ceremony at the Marciano Stadium. Ms. Asack mentioned Cradle to Crayons is scheduled to deliver 2,500 backpacks the first week in August, volunteers are welcome to coordinate, and the plan is to distribute them from Brockton High School.  Ms. Asack thanked Cradle to Crayons for their partnership and the increase in the number of backpacks that are filled with school supplies for our students.                    

Seeing no further business,

Mrs. Rivas-Mendes motioned to adjourn, seconded by Mr. Sullivan.

                                         The motion carried.

                                       The meeting adjourned at 7:17 p.m.

                                        

          Respectfully submitted,

                            

                                       

          Michael P. Thomas

          Superintendent/Secretary 

 

          PowerPoint:  COVID-19 Update-City of Brockton

          Handout:  Water Policy Language

                                

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