Chair Stacey Raffi called the remote School Committee meeting to order at 7:04 PM on Thursday evening, October 29. Interim Superintendent Dr. Susan Kustka updated the Committee concerning Holliston Public Schools during the COVID 19 pandemic.
Dr. Kustka provides a weekly electronic update to members of the school community on Fridays. She reviewed for the Committee the following points:
- All 4 virtual Open Houses were well attended by parents/guardians;
- Requests to change a child’s learning model (i.e., in-person, remote, hybrid) for the next term must be received by building administrators no later than November 9, (Each school will communicate to parents how requests will be received.)
- Sports are going well; however, the next level of sports is not certain, as situations change quickly;
- From October 16 – October 29, HPS reported 13 COVID cases. Dr. Kustka has noticed an uptick in numbers following each weekend. Holliston has been in the “red” zone for 3 weeks in a row;
- The Family Reopening Feedback Survey data (collected from 10/15-10/29) is available online:
https://sites.google.com/a/holliston.k12.ma.us/holliston-schools/fall-reopening/survey-results
- Dr. Kustkas is working on a staff survey;
- An additional survey is being developed to survey students about items similar to those used for the Family Survey;
- Dr. Kustka has been working with Dan MacLeod, Director of Technology and Digital Learning to create a COVID Dashboard for HPS. This will be updated and shared weekly. See Website: https://datastudio.google.com/u/0/reporting/d6039d6a-06ea-4e55-a487-3d47966e383d/page/RTUmB
In speaking about communicating with the public, Chair Raffi explained that SC members do not monitor the Facebook live feed from HCAT. The public is encouraged to address questions and comments via email. (See SC website for individual email addresses: http://www.holliston.k12.ma.us/home/school-committee)
The School Committee voted to approve a leave of absence for a staff member. The SC Newsletter was approved as amended and will be sent to school families shortly.
Chair Raffi approved a School Bill of $66,848.19 and an Activities Replenishment of $5805. and payroll.
The next meeting of the School Committee will be Thursday, November 12, at 7 PM. The meeting was adjourned at 8:33 PM, to be followed by Executive Session for the purpose of bargaining with non-union employees.