TOWN OF GRAFTON

GRAFTON PUBLIC SCHOOLS30 PROVIDENCE ROAD

GRAFTON, MASSACHUSETTS 01519

508 839-5421

MINUTES

SCHOOL COMMITTEE

February 9,2021

Zoom Online Meeting

7:00 p.m.

RECEI VEnT

2021HAR15 PH 2:26

Members Present:

Student Representatives:

Also Present:

Laura Often, Chair

Jennifer Connelly, Vice Chair

Amy Marr, Clerk arrived at 7:10 pm

Liz Spinney, Member

Rahul Rathi, Member

James Dewar

Annabelle Webber

James Cummings, Superintendent of Schools

Tracey Cab, Assistant Superintendent of Schools

Kristen Gasper, Director of Human Resources

Anita Patel, Director of Finance

1. Call to Order: At 7:00 p.m., Laura Often read the following statement:

Good evening and welcome to the February 9th Graflon School Committee meeting. Pursuant to

Governor Bake,' v March 12, 2020 Order Suspending Certain Provisions ofthe Open Meeting

Law, G.L. c. 30.4, §18, and the Governor v March 15, 2020 Order imposing strict limitations on

tile number ofpeople that may gather in one place, this meeting ofthe Grafton School

C'o,nmittee is being conducted via remote participation. No in-person attendance ofmembers of

the public will be permitted, but every effort will be made to ensure that the public can

adequately access the proceedings as providedfor in the Order A reminder that persons who

would like to listen to this meeting while in progress nu' do so kv visiting the zoom linkfound on

the Grfton Public School website. We will need to take attendance and announce all the

committee members and school officials on the calL We iv ill have a roll call votefor all votes.

Member introductions: Laura Often, Chair; Jennifer Connelly, Vice Chair; Liz Spinney, Member;

Rahul Rathi, Member; James Cummings, Superintendent; Tracey Cab, Asst. Superintendent;

Kristen Gasper, Director of Human Resources; Anita Patel, Director of Finance; Annabelle

Webber, Student Representative; James Dewar, Student Representative; James Pignataro,

Principal at OHS; Sharon Buckley, Director of Counseling Department at OHS. Public Comment

is currently suspended. Our Q&A is openfor questions only. We will not be sharing comments

during our meeting. Our meetings are a timefor us to work together and communicate to the

Grafton Public Schools

School Committee Meeting Minutes

public school district plans, policy and updates. We ask our viewers at hone to continue the

same decorum they would use during an in person meeting. We ask that you holdyour questions

until after the committee has had time to discuss and ask our own questions as our quest/oils may

be many ofyour own. To make sure we can get to as niany questions as possible we will have our

clerk Amy Marr monitor questions. We will allow one question and onefollow up per person

during our meeting. Any questions that we can't get to we will post on our website following the

meeting. We retain the right to ask anyone to leave who is unable to act appropriately. We invite

you to reach out to us via our school email accotints or on our GPS Budget/Coronavirus

facebookpage.

2. General Business:

A. GHS Program of Studies: Jim Pignataro thanked the OHS team for the hard work in

putting together the program of studies.

Changes:

* Removal of class rank

* Course content changes to reflect alignment with new standards and best practice

* Identification of diploma of distinction

* Grafton High School Seal of Biliteracy

* Student support Program / Transition Program SSP/TR

* Community Partnerships

* Affiliation with QCC/Early College High School Offerings

Sharon Buckley noted that by adding SSP/TR to the Program of Studies, it provided

some legitimacy. This population is increasing based on SEL needs etc.

New Courses /Adiustments

* Math - AP Calc BC has been an independent study but is becoming an in person class

* Social Studies - World History CP, Honors for Grade 9, Social Movement & Cultural

Change CP for Grades 9-12

* Counseling Curriculum- targeted by grade level, classroom and group delivery, alignment

with DESE MA Model 3.0

* Business/Computer - Add GPS weight to the following: Introduction to Business,

Personal Finance, Entrepreneurship, Sport Management, Computer Science II Honors

and Marketing. Accounting I CP for grades 10-12

Senior Internship - Seniors will be able to explore areas of interest, potential academic

fields and possible career pathways. Student responsibilities will be to attend senior

internship workshops series, fulfill all academic and co-curricula commitments, fulfill 25

hours internship for 6 weeks, and participate in the Senior Internship Showcase. This

began in 2019-2020 but was interrupted due to COVID.

Diplomas of Distinction: Provide students with suggested scope of study in 3 specific

career/college areas, work with teachers and counselors to build a college and academic

plan MyCAP, specific course completion and portfolio, framing specific pathways of

2 Orafton Public Schools

School Committee Meeting Minutes

study or concentrations. STEAM is the 1st class to be awarded this year, 5 students

qualified. Creative Arts! Communication and Business have been added. The Seal of

Biliteracy is achieved by taking a national exam. Three students met the criteria last year.

Liz Spinney asked when the work begins with students on the My Cap program. It begins

freshman year but some programs can start in middle school. GHS is slowly rolling out

the new programming with the hope to expand. Liz Spinney asks about students

participating in Senior Internship and balancing classwork. OHS will work with students

if they have a demanding 4th quarter. Internship hours will be reduced if they have an AP

course. If students are preparing for end of year performances in chorus/band, they will

also make adjustments. Liz Spinney asked about the pathways/concentrations and how to

balance to ensure students are well rounded as they graduate? There are some specifics

that are not in the program of studies. This is a program where if a student chooses a path

and then decides to change, they will not be penalized. Laura Often asks if someone is a

sophomore or junior, could they jump into the program at that time? Yes, they can

declare a concentration. They would meet with their counselor and parents to discuss the

coursework and identify the courses to be tracked if they wished.

Early College High School: Successful completion of these courses will provide students

with three college credits per course and 5 OHS credits with AP weight per course. QCC

Early College courses are transferable to most public and private colleges and universities

throughout New England and beyond. Early College High School course offerings

include Business Law, English 101 and 102, Pre-Calculus, and Principles of

Macroeconomics. Cost of each semester-long course is $250. There are 64 students

enrolled, all received As and Bs and one Ct This is different from Dual Enrollment.

Jennifer Connelly liked the changes to the GPA weighting. Why does Calculus BC at

QCC have different credit levels than that one at OHS? The QCC and OHS are offered as

a year long and semester based, respectively. Is there a way to offer financial help to

families that want to participate in Early College Courses? There is nothing in place but

OHS will explore how to make that happen. Jennifer remarked that she doesn't want to

hold anyone back based on financials. Rahul Rathi asked when students can start taking

early college courses? This is offered in their junior year. It is being piloted this year so

they are waiting to see how students adjust to the new rigor before offering to lower

grades. There are also QCC requirements to meet for enrollment. Laura Often asked if

you take English 101, does that replace the high school English class requirement. Yes.

Is Social movement and Cultural Change a Social Studies class or an elective? It is an

elective. Are there thoughts about reintroducing Oterm? Yes, definitely have it on the

books for next year. Liz Spinney asked what 0 term involves. 0-Term is designed to

work with students in non-traditional ways in place of traditional assessments. Project

based learning and students got to forge relationships with teachers and students that they

might otherwise not be involved with. Feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

Community Question: C. Miller asked if there were any new QCC offerings next year?

There may be some new courses in the Spring but OHS wants to be very thoughtful and

3 Grafton Public Schools

School Committee Meeting Minutes

methodical in the way they roll this out. PreCalc will be offered and maybe

Manufacturing and Psychology at some point. Several comments from the community

expressing appreciation for the hard work and innovative thinking.

Liz Spinney made a motion to approve the 202 1-2022 Program of Studies as presented.

Jennifer Connelly seconded the motion. By roll call vote, Laura Often, aye; Jennifer

Connelly, aye; Liz Spinney, aye; Rahul Rathi, aye. Motion carried 4-0.

B. OHS Update: Jim Pignataro praised the teachers for their hard work. OHS maintained

level of course offerings as in prior years, expanded course offering for upperclassman

ECHS, adjusted Bell Schedule to maximize in-person meetings and in 2021, added

academic pathways and diplomas of distinction. At OHS, students are 76% in hybrid,

18% full remote, 6% full in person. Programming changes were highlighted during the

earlier presentation. Co-Curricular Activities like Social Justice Coalition students and

faculty. Stars Program, Kindness Matters, DECA, Mind Matters Team Shine Initiative,

and Bon Voyage have continued. Soccer, field hockey, golf, cross country, basketball and

a fall play were completed. Currently working on doing something outdoors using the

bleachers and turf field to have a live performance in May. Kevin Anderson has put

together live streaming for the athletics with lots of positive feedback. Class spirit weeks

and community service events happened as well. An outdoor graduation is being

planned. In counseling department news, there were 94 college virtual visits offered

through Naviance with 62 seniors registered to visit. 43 students participated in QCC

Instant Decision Days and all were accepted. MEFA Financial Aid Night / BVEF

Webinar, 9th grade Webinar, Junior College Planning Meeting and Counselor Visit to BV

EdHub are upcoming. The strength of the OHS community is the students and families,

faculty and staff. They have been phenomenal this year.

Liz Spinney asked how the directionals in the hallways are working. James Dewar says it

took a while to get used to but it seems normal now. Jennifer Connelly thanked OHS for

all that they have with academics and co-curricular activities. Rahul Rathi asked if

students in the Early College program attend with other high school students or with

college students too. They are with high school students. Liz Spinney asked if there are

enough substitute teachers. Some days are more challenging than others.

C. District Update:

COVID: Status is trending in the right direction, Letters that are sent out are required by

law - sent to the entire district when a positive case occurs. Some districts are moving

away from the letters and simply updating the dashboard. Vaccinations have begun but

Grafton has no information for when that will happen for them. There is a DESE call this

week and hopefully there wilt be an update. The district has been waiting for

transportation guidelines that will lessen the restrictions on buses for spacing etc. The

nursing staff, led by Jackie Davis, has been doing phenomenal work.

4 Grafton Public Schools

School Committee Meeting Minutes

KI RETtJRN: returning on February 8th, about 60 students will still remain in RLA.

Thank you to SGES and NGES for making it happen. Shifted hybrid staff to in person

and opened new classrooms.

KQ: Kristen Gasper's new title will be Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources

and Operations. The job description will be revised to encompass 575 employees,

contracts, benefits, payroll, schedules, hiring process, advertising, legal issues, evaluation

system, perfonnance, building operation program assessment and improvement. Her

value to the district is immeasurable. Once the job description has been updated, Dr.

Cummings will bring it to the SC. Congratulations to Kristen.

PLANNING: There is an increased desire to return to in-person. The challenge is the

coordination of shift to in-person learning with space limitations and changes in

distancing requirements.

SNOW DAYS: GPS model is built to maximize in-person leaning, looking at remote as

an option. The challenges: Planning time/reality, Cohort C, devices, connectivity,

childcare and remote assistance. The key is to offer quality and be meaningful to all.

Jennifer Connelly thanked Dr. Cummings for addressing the snow days, Can the COVID

letter be weekly? Dr. Cummings will try that. Is it true that the district can't go past June

25th for the last day of school? This is a rumor. Districts must go to 180 days 170 this

year. Districts want to avoid going into July because it is a new fiscal year and it is

messy. Instead of going into July, some districts will explore Saturdays, April break, go

an extra hour each day. Right now, the last day is June 23. Amy Marr said that tracking

that date is always a challenge for parents and suggests parents move it on their Google

calendar every snow day. Can it be added to the Superintendent's Newsletter or on the

website. Dr. Cummings will look into it. Laura Often asked if makeup days are tracked

by Cohort. Dr. Cummings will look into it. Laura Often congratulated Kristen Gasper for

the long overdue promotion and echoed Dr. Cummings appreciation of the nursing staff.

3. Future Agenda Planning: The budget hearing will begin at 6:30 in two weeks. There will

be a special education update. Liz Spinney asked if there will be a fee discussion on an upcoming

agenda. Transportation fees are built into the budget but not athletic fees, Fees were suspended

for this academic year so the fees are still in place for August 2021. The athletic director will set

the fees. If there will be sports in the Fall with fees, the assessments will need to begin in early

summer. Liz Spinney would like to discuss this on a future agenda closer to the summer.

4. Approval of Minutes: Jennifer Connelly made a motion to approve the 1/12/21 minutes.

Amy Marr seconded, By roll call vote, Laura Often, aye; Jennifer Connelly, aye; Liz Spinney,

aye; Amy Marr. aye; Rahul Rathi, aye. Motion carried 5-0. Jennifer Connelly made a motion to

approve the 1/26/21 minutes. Amy Marr seconded. Amy Marr had 3 amendments to the minutes.

Jennifer Connelly amended her motion to approve the 1/26121 minutes with the amendments. By

roll call vote, Laura Often, aye; Jennifer Connelly, aye; Liz Spinney, aye; Amy Marr, aye; Rahul

Rathi, aye. Motion carried 5-0.

5. Financial Report:

A. FY22 Budget- There is an amended FY22 budget number -$39,707,473 +290,000.

5 Grafton Public Schools

School Committee Meeting Minutes

The unknowns are: COVID timing, impact, enrollment, staffing needs, funding grants,

school choice, fees, additional federal/state funding, student needs for 2021-2022. Now

through 2/23, GPS will be updating the budget book. On February 23, SC will hold the

budget hearing and vote vote is cii total number, not allocations, On March 24, SC will

review FY22 budget with the Finance Committee. In March/April/May, the state budget

will be finalized and in May/June. Grafton will hold Town Meeting.

COVID FY22 Budget Assumptions

* Level funded Chapter 70 funding

* Reduction in town funding

* No additional COVID monies

* Minimal reduction to federal grant amounts

* Reduced need for technology hardware purchasing

* Elimination on spacing restrictions in 2021-2022 school year

* All in person in 202 1-2022 school year

* No significant programming/ space changes for 2021-2022

* No carryover of coy id related positions

* Stable special education I OOD rates

Budget Summary - 3 additional positions in FY22 math, literacy, counseling,contractual

increases across five bargaining units, zero additional paraprofessionals, projected

enrollment will be locked in for preliminary budget and staffing and supplies funding not

yet defined. The variables include town budget/state funding, entitlement grants, special

education costs and staffing needs/costs. This budget represents the best thinking while

leaving flexibility to shift as needed. 01'S Budget amount for FY22 = $39,707,473. The

School Committee will be voting to approve this preliminary FY22 budget as a bottom

line number, not on how the funds are to be utilized. The budget hearing will be prior to

the next regular meeting on 2/23/21. The SC will be asked to vote on the FY22 budget in

the regular session. Amy Man asked about students who left the district to pursue an

online school or another education option. Is there a time frame for them to come back to

the district? Dr. Cummings will send out a survey to those families, How do you project

what kindergarten enrollment will be? 01'S looks at the prior three years and combines it

with the NESDEC enrollment projections for kindergarten. Did we receive money from

the ADA grant proposal? No, we did not receive the grant funding. The Disability

Commission was very helpful in putting the grants together and they will resubmit when

it is open again. Liz Spinney asked what led to the change in what the district needed

from the town. The FY22 technology budget can be reduced by almost $300,000 because

it is allocated for hardware that was purchased this year with COVID monies to meet the

needs of remote learning. Dr. Cummings and Anita Patel are working on what the actual

number will be in terms of a reduction from the technology budget. The SRO salary

needs to be discussed with the incoming TA. Liz Spinney thinks knowing those numbers

will be critical as they finalize the budget. Liz Spinney asked what Dr. Cummings meant

when he said "we can't put everything back but we can put a lot back." This was in

reference to the initial reductions that were on the table prior to getting additional funding

from the town. Liz Spinney asked how we got to the point where we are no longer

6 Grafton Public Schools

School Committee Meeting Minutes

budgeting for the GMS HVAC project? That project must be done in conjunction with

the town. That project is on hold until the new TA conies on board. If it would go

through this year, do we have it accounted for? That is out of a different pot of money --

it is from capital funding and not captured in the district budget.

B. Warrant -Amy Marr made a motion to approve Warrant #33 dated 2/11/2021 for

$433,854.02. Jennifer Connelly seconded the motion. By roll call vote, Laura Often, aye;

Jennifer Connelly, aye; Liz Spinney, aye; Amy Marr, aye; Rahul Rathi, aye. Motion

carried 5-0.

6. Policy:

CR1- Evaluation of the Superintendent- The committee reviewed the MASC version of this

policy and edited GPS policy. The policy includes a proposed schedule. Jennifer Connelly made

a motion to accept CBI Evaluation of the Superintendent as a second reading. Amy Man

seconded the motion. By roll call vote, Laura Often, aye; Jennifer Connelly, aye; Liz Spinney,

aye; Amy Marr, aye; Rahul Rathi, aye. Motion carried 5-0.

7. Member Reports: Amy Marr reported that the GSC presented the benchmarking report to

the Select Board. The report will be on the town website soon. GSC is stalled right now because

they don't want to bother school districts right now. She is working on the annual report for the

town. She attended MASC training on how to be a good chair and is attending an equity

symposium tomorrow. Liz Spinney is attending the 70 minutes on Chapter 70 lunch training

tomorrow, finished her charting the course training and attended the How to be a Good Chair

training. Laura Often was a presenter at the How to be a Good Chair training.

8. Correspondence: n/a

9. Executive Session: n/a

10. Adjournment: Amy Marr made a motion to adjourn. Liz Spinney seconded the motion.

By roll call vote, Laura Often, aye; Jennifer Connelly, aye; Liz Spinney, aye; Amy Marr. aye;

Rahul Rathi, aye. Motion carried 5-0. Meeting adjourned at 9:35 pm.

Respectfully submitted,

Debne Marlette

Recording Secretary

7 Orafton Public Schools

School Committee Meeting Minutes