MASC’s 76th annual meeting was held at the Cape Cod Resort and Conference Center in Hyannis on Saturday, November 6, convening at 9:00am. A total of 100 delegates representing school districts across the state were registered and participated in the deliberations of the meeting, both in-person and via zoom conference capability.
The meeting was led by MASC President Ellen Holmes (Ashburnham Westminster Reg.). The Association’s Financial Report was presented by Secretary-Treasurer Mildred Lefebvre (Holyoke). Immediate Past President Deborah Davis (Northeast Metro Voc. Tech.) presided over the board elections in her role as Chair of the Nominating Committee. President-Elect Andrea Wadsworth (Lee), who chaired the Resolutions Committee, introduced the nine resolutions that were considered and voted on by the delegates.
Following is a summary of actions taken on the resolutions and on the voting of Life Members and the incoming Board of Directors.
Approved for Life Membership were: Barbara Davis (Holbrook), Denise Hurst (Springfield), and Patricia Meuse (Shawsheen Reg. Voc. Tech.).
Elected to the 2022 MASC Board of Directors were: as President-Elect, Stacey Rizzo (Revere); as Vice President, Mildred Lefebvre (Holyoke); as Secretary-Treasurer, Jason Fraser (Silver Lake Reg. and Plympton). Andrea Wadsworth (Lee), who is the 2020 President-Elect, becomes President on January 1, 2022. Current President Ellen Holmes becomes Immediate Past President at the same time.
Following are the actions taken on the nine proposed resolutions:
In the interest of expediting discussion and allowing more time for resolutions of a more controversial nature, a special procedural action was adopted that allowed delegates to vote on resolutions considered non-controversial as a group. Each resolution was presented and delegates identified those resolutions that they wished “held” for further discussion. Those resolutions not held, were voted and approved as a single slate.
The three resolutions that were voted and approved as a group are listed below. The full text of the resolutions is printed in the Delegate Manual and posted on the MASC website.
- Resolution 3: Full Funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
- Resolution 6: Alternatives to MCAS
- Resolution 7: School Committees in Receivership
The resolutions listed above were approved by a majority of the delegates (two votes opposing).
Following are the actions taken on the remaining six resolutions that the delegates held for in-depth discussion.
Resolution 1: Dedicated Funding for School-Based Clinics and Services
(submitted by the Framingham School Committee)
BE IT RESOLVED that MASC support proposals that would establish dedicated funding for school-based physical health and mental health. clinics and services.
The resolution passed, as presented, on a vote of 94-2.
Resolution 2: Addressing the Homework Gap and Wireless Access
(submitted by the MASC Board of Directors)
BE IT RESOLVED that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees file for and support legislation which seeks to provide free broadband internet to all K-12 students in Massachusetts.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that MASC support Federal initiatives and legislation to improve national high speed broadband internet infrastructure, expansion the FCCs E-rate Program to include homes of K-12 students, or any other steps to expand free access to reliable high speed broadband to the students of our nation.
An amendment was proposed by the delegate from Somerset to revise the language in the final sentence to “preK-12†students.
The resolution passed, as amended on a unanimous vote, with one abstention.
Resolution 4: Mandatory Recess in Public Schools
(Submitted by the MASC Board of Directors)
BE IT RESOLVED that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees support legislation (current bills: S.383, H.695) calling for at least 20 minutes of uninterrupted, supervised, safe, and unstructured free-play recess per day which cannot be excluded from structured learning time requirements and may not increase the total number of hours required in the school year for Massachusetts elementary school students.
The resolution was approved as presented on a vote of 96-2.
Resolution 5: Zero-Tolerance Policies
(Submitted by the MASC Board of Directors)
BE IT RESOLVED t the Massachusetts Association of School Committees call upon the Legislature to enact or amend legislation (current bills: S.344, H.664) to encourage the use of restorative, therapeutic and educational approaches to incidents whenever possible over the use of “zero-tolerance†policies in order to provide students the best chance to remain in the public school systems of the Commonwealth.
An amendment was proposed by the delegate from Northampton to revise the language so as to read: “. . . whenever possible disavow the the use of “zero-tolerance†policies in order to provide students the best chance to remain in the public school systems of the Commonwealth.
The proposed amendment failed on a vote of 24 (in favor) with 72 (opposed).
The resolution passed as proposed on a vote of 95-5.
Resolution 8: Federal Funding for Electrical Infrastructure and School Buses
(Submitted by the MASC Board of Directors)
BE IT RESOLVED that MASC petition Congress to appropriate $30 billion dollars for improving the electrical supply infrastructure, and providing electric buses and charging stations.
An amendment was proposed by the delegate from Pittsfield to revise the language so as to add the word “school†between the words “electric†and “buses†in the final sentence.
The amendment was approved on a vote of 82-9.
The resolution was approved, as amended, on a vote of 71-21.
Resolution 9: Prohibit the Use of Native American Mascots
(Submitted by the MASC Board of Directors)
BE IT RESOLVED that the Massachusetts Association of School Committees support legislation calling for regulations prohibiting public schools from using an athletic team name, logo, or mascot which names, refers to, represents, or is associated with Native Americans, including aspects of Native American cultures and specific Native American tribes.
The resolution was approved, as presented, on a vote of 82-9.
Following concluding remarks from President Homes and incoming President Wadsworth, the assembly adjourned at 10:45am.