Minutes
Quincy, MASSACHUSETTS – September 30, 2020
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Regular Meeting of the Quincy School Committee
Special Meeting
Vice Chair Presiding
A meeting of the Quincy School Committee was held on Wednesday, September 30, 2020 at 7:00 p.m at Quincy High School. Superintendent Kevin Mulvey called the roll and present were Mayor Thomas Koch, Mr. Paul Bregoli, Mr. Doug Gutro, Mrs. Kathryn Hubley, Mrs. Emily Lebo, Mr. Frank Santoro, and Mr. Anthony Andronico, Vice Chair.
Also present were: Superintendent Kevin Mulvey, Assistant Superintenden
Erin Perkins, Ms. Allison Cox, Mr. Michael Draicchio, Mr. James Mullaney,
Ms. Maura Papile, Ms. Madeline Roy, Mr. Keith Segalla, Mr. Robert Shaw,
Mr. Lawrence Taglieri; Health Commissioner Ruth Jones; and
Ms. Laura Owens, Clerk.
Mr. Santoro asked if there is any change to Open Meeting law that would allow for
in-person participation for community members. Mr. Andronico said not yet as
the Governor’s Order on public meetings is still in force.
Superintendent Mulvey recognized the following former Quincy Public Schools
employees who have recently passed away: Mary Bozian, 19 years as a Special
Education teacher and Guidance Counselor at Atlantic and Broad Meadows; Jean
Doherty, 38 years as a teacher at the Hunting, Massachusetts Fields, Beechwood
Knoll, and Parker Elementary Schools; Carol Evans, a bus driver for 35 years;
Margaret McHugh, a bus driver for 30 years; Richard Ramsdell, 28 years as an Art
Teacher and Coordinator of Arts & Humanities; and Robert Trott, 30 years as a
teacher at Quincy Vocational Technical High School.
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Approval of Minutes
Mrs. Hubley made a motion to approve the minutes of the Special Meeting
Minutes for September 2, 2020 and September 9, 2020; the Executive Session
Minutes for September 2, 2020 and September 9, 2020; and the Policy
Subcommittee Meeting Minutes for September 2, 2020 and September 9, 2020.
Mr. Bregoli seconded the motion and on a voice vote, the ayes have it.
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Open Forum
For Open Forum, six letters were submitted in support of returning to full-time
in-person learning from Alison Rosenthal, Katie Ollman, Kristin Campbell, Sean
Glennon, Amy Kelley, and Jim Ferrara.
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Superintendent’s
Report
Superintendent Kevin Mulvey opened the Superintendent’s Report with Health
Commissioner Ruth Jones presentation of updated COVID-19 metrics, two weeks
of data from September 16 through September 29. With a daily average of
confirmed cases at 4.14 over the two weeks, the City of Quincy has moved into the
yellow. Several of the Quincy Public School students that are positive cases are
remote students, others were hybrid. so school-based contact tracing was done
and notifications to families and staff. Commissioner Jones said that PCR-based
testing is considered the most reliable and she has been discussing with the
Mayor and Superintendent that this be the policy for the city. The antigen-based
test gives fast results, but has not been as reliable. (A student was positive on an
antigen test this week but negative on the subsequent PCR test.)
Mr. Gutro asked about relationships between cases, Commissioner Jones said
these are community spread, sometimes within a household. None are school-based transmissions. Mr. Gutro said the complete picture provided by the metrics
is very helpful, there are no cases among QPS staff currently.
Mr. Bregoli said that Governor Baker has publicly said that communities in the
white, green, and yellow are in good shape in terms of getting back to school.
Commissioner Jones agreed that this change should not affect the current plans
about returning Grades 4-12 hybrid. The mix of metrics shows where the cases
are happening and all are factors in making appropriate decisions. There was no
transmission from the positive cases who are attending school.
Mrs. Lebo asked about the positive cases that were in school. Commissioner
Jones agreed that the 6-foot distancing was important, the other students in the
classroom did not have to quarantine as all were wearing masks and sitting far
enough apart. Mrs. Lebo thanked the staff, it is not easy to enforce the guidelines.
Mr. Bregoli asked for clarification because the guidelines for dining out have been
expanded to allow for 10 people to sit at a table. Commissioner Jones said that
dining out is a smaller circle of transmission, these are people who are together in
different phases of their life, often family groups. In a classroom setting, where
students and staff are all from different households, the six-foot distance is
important.
Mr. Bregoli asked about moving to the 3-foot distance, Commissioner Jones does
not advocate changing this metric at this time.
Mrs. Lebo said that the choice to go out to dinner is made by adults and very
different from School Committee making the decision for students to be in school
full time.
Mr. Andronico asked Commissioner Jones to confirm that she agrees with the
current path that School Committee has put into place and she does.
Superintendent Mulvey continued his report with an update on Quincy Public
Schools Preliminary Enrollment, 9,698 students with 65 registrations still in
process. 1,381 students are enrolled in the Virtual School, 51% of Kindergarten
through Grade 3 students.
2,500 Chromebooks arrived at the Coddington Building on Monday, thanks to the
assistance of DESE Commissioner Jeffrey Riley and Associate Commissioner
Russell Johnston. Thanks to Executive Director Keith Segalla, the entire IT staff,
and many Coddington Staff members, 1,300 have been distributed in the last two
days. Distribution will continue this week, with 600 requests outstanding. The
next shipment of Chromebooks will arrive on Monday, October 12.
Mr. Bregoli asked for clarification, families who have not yet requested to borrow
Chromebooks can go to the Quincy Public Schools website and fill out the form
found under Technology Links.
Superintendent Mulvey then presented an update from the Quincy
School~Community Partnership: 3500 backpacks filled with school supplies were
distributed to all schools; PPE donations include 500 face shields, 100,000 face
masks, and PPE care packages; and technology donations have been received
from Quincy College and Quincy Credit Union.
Superintendent Mulvey concluded his report by noting that Governor Baker
recognized Quincy Public Schools at last Thursday’s press briefing. Yesterday,
Superintendent Mulvey and Assistant Superintendent Perkins presented to the
State Board of Education on the Special Education summer program initiatives.
Mr. Andronico said that he was glad to see the hard work of the Quincy Public
Schools team recognized by the state level, the governor confirmed his support of
the Quincy Public Schools model.
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Old Business
High School Hybrid
Learning Model
Superintendent Mulvey introduced the high school principals who will be
reviewing the final version of the hybrid plan for high schools. Based on
discussions with the Re-Entry Task Force, the proposed re-entry date for Grades
4-12 would shift to Thursday, October 15 with cohort B beginning hybrid
learning. Principal Shaw reviewed that this plan returns to the model first
presented in August with hybrid students having a mix of synchronous learning in
person and online.
Mrs. Lebo thanked the high school principals for their efforts, wants to be sure
that the public knows that Quincy Public Schools is required to offer a full remote
model and that the two high schools have differing levels of student interest in
hybrid vs. remote. Mrs. Lebo reiterated that there will be changes in teacher
assignments no matter if students remain remote or enter the hybrid model.
Mayor Koch asked about attendance and engagement. Mr. Taglieri and Mr. Shaw
said the attendance is excellent, students are initially required to have their
cameras on but not necessarily for the whole period. Mr. Taglieri said that
teachers use breakout groups for student interactions. Mr. Shaw said that
teachers Professional Development encouraged them to add interactive elements,
polls and questions to be answered.
Mr. Gutro asked about average class sizes, in a normal in-person model, 22-24 is
the average class size also for remote learners. For hybrid, there will be 7-10
students in a class. Mr. Gutro asked about remote students watching/
participating in a class that is taking place in person. Mr. Shaw said that teaching
remotely and teaching in person are different, it would be difficult to adapt to
doing both at the same time, especially the logistics of managing the technical
aspects.
Mrs. Lebo said that additional technology would be needed for cameras that allow
staff to move around within the classroom and what works for college students is
less likely to be successful at other grade levels, teachers have not been trained,
and this may require negotiation. Mrs. Lebo asked for clarification, full remote
students are fully synchronous and hybrid students are not.
Mr. Bregoli suggested that technical issues would interfere with teachers’ ability
to teach in person and remotely at the same time.
Mayor Koch echoed Mrs. Lebo and Mr. Bregoli’s thoughts, the principals have
worked very hard on these plans, agrees that there are technology issues and
School Committee needs to adopt the plan so scheduling can be completed.
Mr. Santoro agreed that this would be very difficult for teachers.
Mr. Gutro asked if the plan could be revisited for the 2nd semester, but Mr. Taglieri
said this is the plan until in-person learning is able to resume.
Mr. Andronico asked for clarification, the QPS Fall 2020 Re-Opening Task Force
reviewed the plan yesterday and the majority are in favor of the plan.
Mayor Koch made a motion to approve the high school hybrid plan, seconded by
Mrs. Hubley.
On the motion, Mrs. Lebo noted that the re-entry date is now October 15 for
Grades 4-12.
On a roll call vote, the ayes have it, 7-0.
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Old Business
Chairman’s Report
Mayor Koch thanked Commissioner Jones, Quincy is still below the state average
for new positive cases. Mayor Koch noted that he is creating models for next
year’s budget, all departments could be looking at challenges fiscally.
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New Business
MASC General Meeting
Delegate
Mrs. Hubley announced that on November 7, the Massachusetts Association of
School Committees General Meeting will be held virtually. The MASC Resolutions
to be reviewed at a subsequent meeting.
Mr. Gutro made a motion for Mrs. Hubley to serve as the Quincy School
Committee Delegate to the MASC General Meeting. The motion was second by Mr.
Bregoli.
On the motion, Mrs. Lebo mentioned there is a Professional Development on
Cultural Relevancy that she would like to participate in. Ms. Owens will follow up
about registration.
On a voice vote, the ayes have it.
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Communications
Mr. Andronico announced that upcoming School Committee Meetings will be held
on October 14 and October 28, 2020 all at 6:30 pm.
A Budget & Finance Subcommittee Meeting is scheduled for October 14, 2020 at
6:00 pm.
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Executive Session
Mrs. Lebo made a motion for School Committee to enter into Executive Session for
the purpose of contract negotiations at 8:45 pm. Mr. Bregoli seconded the motion
and on a roll call vote, the ayes have it, 7-0.
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Adjournment
As School Committee will not return to the Regular Meeting from Executive
Session, the meeting was adjourned at 8:45 pm.
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