All right, so we are finally back from executive session. Thank you everyone for your patience. Um, members of the public who wish to watch our meeting online may use Actant TV's YouTube channel found at the top of the agenda. This meeting is being recorded and will be posted on Actant TV's website at actctantv.org.
All right. So, um we have completed executive session and we're ready to do some fun stuff. Um because we get to talk about the vision of a graduate, the visual version, the design, and get to hear from our artist.
So, um who's talking here first? So now I have to remember what I said. Okay. All right. Um so this is going to be um not so interesting for the people in the room, but probably for the people at home it sounds like new information. Um but we have Nihal here from our high school who's one of our sophomores at
the school. And um just for a little background information for everyone at home, we spent uh the better part of last school year uh working on our vision of a graduate. And we had thousands of community participants um in participating in the development of the knowledge and skills and competencies that we want Actton Boxboro
students to achieve from preK through 12th grade and beyond while they're while they're at AB. Um, and this year we launched an artwork competition for our students to think about how we could visually represent that into the community and Nihal, of all the artwork
submitted, yours was chosen to be the final version of that. Um, and I know that was an iterative process and went back and forth between you and Dr. Abrams multiple times and different members of our committee. Um, and we're just so excited to have you here tonight and thank you uh, and congratulate you
on being the artist selected for that. Uh we also want to do a little bit of unveiling of some posters that we have based on your artwork um that are actually going to be in all of the classrooms in our district next year when students return to school. Um and
so we can show that to you know obviously you your family but also the school committee. Um but this concept of the design of the circle was really something that you brought to light. Um and we just want to thank you for that. I don't know if you want to share a little bit about your thinking about
that. I we can put you on the spot or you can just decline the option. >> Um well, thank you. I feel honored. >> There you go. >> Thank you. I feel honored. Um I like circles, so I chose a circle,
too. >> Yeah. Thank you. >> That's fantastic. We We all like circles and that is our logo, too. So, thank you. Um, I think one of the things that I would share with you and, you know, to everyone at home is this is really the foundational cornerstone of what we're
trying to do for students from here into the future. And so for you to be a part of that is just so fantastic and we are honored to have you here tonight. So we have a little certificate u from Chair Campbell and I that we'd like to share with you and then we'll have maybe your family come up for some photos. Okay.
>> All right. So this is for you. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> [applause] >> All right, we'll we'll do some photos. >> Yeah, there we go. All right, does look great. So, we are moving into
public participation. And before we get going here, I just want to highlight that um we received a request from a community member to have an accommodation to have an email read into the record. And we kind of wrestled with what to do with that. um we had a member volunteer to do so, but we realized that
that could kind of end up snowballing in a way that might not feel good. We could have a lot of people asking us to read things into the record. Um and it might also carry a different weight if a school committee member is actually reading it. So, we kind of wrestled with what to do with
it. And in the end, we landed where we did with um something that we did earlier when we had a committee member who was actually unable to attend an important meeting and wanted to share some thoughts. And so we have uh copies of that document brought to the meeting. It's all the school committee members have seen it. It's on our table and it
will go into the minutes as a matter of public record. Um kind of like what we did with the uh public comments that we had for both elementary budget task force and um AB forward. So um yep, we've done that. And so that means that now per school committee policy beedh
members of the public are invited to speak for up to three minutes. Public participation will only take time at this take place at this time during our meeting. Speakers must be recognized by the chair before speaking and the committee does not typically respond to comments during public participation. Do we have anybody who'd like to come
speak? My audience is shaking their heads at me. So, uh I guess that means we get to move on. And so we have um we have some great guests here. You're all almost like practically standing in formation. This is you you you've done that really well. Um I feel like we should bring
some more chairs up so that uh so you can come and join us. Um so we have our school resource officers that are with us both from Actton and Boxboro and they're going to come and give us an update. That's something that we do every year um per our memorandum of
agreement and it's just really a good chance for us to actually get to talk because most of the time you're busy doing your thing and we're busy doing our thing but we're all working towards the same goal which is taking care of our students. So welcome. And I think Peter is uh pulling up
slides for us here. Do you want to do introductions while we're waiting? >> There we go. >> You can just sit next. >> Okay. >> Hello everybody. I'm uh Detective Rotella. First name is AJ. I am
primarily in the high school and the junior high. Uh Detective Monica Richie next to me as well. She is in our elementary schools and also at the Colber school and the Victor school. I don't know if you guys want to chime in, but >> I'm Sergeant Phil Gath, Boxboro Police.
I'm in charge of our SRO's in Boxboro. >> Morinoso, Boxboro Police. Uh been in for about two years now. >> And the chief's also joined us in um Lieutenant Scott Krug as well, who oversees um our unit.
Um as [clears throat] a as he said, I've been on for 10 years now. uh going on who going on year five in the schools. So, um I feel like uh I'm getting there, right? I'm getting used to it now. Um and Monica just started.
She started back in January. So, she's [clears throat] getting her feet wet and no better time than here tonight. Right. [clears throat] Going right into it. All right. So, we're just going to cover do a quick uh PowerPoint here. So, what is an SRO? A school resource officer is a career law
enforcement officer with sworn authority deployed in the community oriented policing assigned by the Actton Police Department and the Boxboro Police Department to collaborate with the schools. Um [clears throat] so as an SRO right we want to be visible
in the schools as a law enforcement figure but we are also you know an admin resource as well as student resource. Uh we like to cons consider ourselves as a member of the faculty um and we like to just be the resource for the community. So it's outside of the school in school
um throughout the summers. It's not just you know Monday through Friday during the school day. Um, and I highlight at the bottom that we are not replacement to school security and we're not disciplinary. So, we don't have, you know, the right to give somebody detention or we're not sending kids back to class. That's not our role. We're
we're uh we like to make that clear because some people aren't sure of it, right? Um, our mission ultimately is to, you know, to bridge that gap between police officers and young people. Um, I know when I was a kid, you know, the whole reason I even wanted to become a school
resource officer was because my mentor growing up was my school resource officer. He was also my football coach. Um, and I was in middle school at the time and I kind of just looked up to him always. Um, and I, you know, I was with him for three solid years. He always looked out for me, made sure I was doing
the right thing, making sure I was mentoring the kids that were younger than me. Um, and it kind of stuck with me forever and that's kind of how I fell into this position. Um, ultimately as an SRO, right, we're trying to improve the safety of the building and the environment and we're also trying to educate [clears throat] the kids on on
what's going on in the world, what's coming up, whether it's social media, right? There's right now social media has taken such a a jump and skyrocket and stuff that we see a lot of stuff online. So, we're trying to educate them on that. We're trying to increase positive attitudes towards law enforcement. U, we like to show that,
you know, we're not just somebody behind a badge. We're we're normal people, too. Um, [clears throat] we like to teach the value of our legal system, promote, uh, respect for people, property. Um, we deal with a lot of stuff outside of school where people, you know, like to do ding-dong ditch or something and we
like to educate them on like, hey, I get it. We were a kid once as well, but it's somebody else's personal property. Um, we like to engage with all the students, all the activities, we go to, you know, any event, dances, uh, we attend sporting events, anything like that. And [snorts] ultimately we want to reduce
the juvenile delinquency by helping them you know formulate that awareness of the rules and the authority and then ultimately just break down the stereotype of police in our day and age >> Monica. Yeah. Go ahead. >> All right.
So to become an SRO um it is required it's a national standard that you need to complete a 40hour training and then in the state of Massachusetts through post it's required that we complete u 16 hours of an annual training and what that training consists of is basically
juvenile law updates um kind of like what AJ was talking about there's been an uptick with issues involving social media and mental health issues um with the youth so we're more like specialized in our training compared to like a traditional police officer, right? We're
going to be more advanced with our skills involving crisis intervention, deescalation. We're an excellent tool for mental health resources. We have a clinician with us that most of the time will respond to us any calls related to mental health. Um, so I know the font's a little small there, but basically
that's kind of um a summary of most of the trainings that we have to attend just to be kind of a well-rounded police officer in the schools. Another thing in this role is that we're out there in the community. Kind of like what AJ was saying, we're trying to
bridge that gap uh between law enforcement and the community. So, um, one thing that we recently just worked was coffee with a cop at New York Bagel Factory. And we got to meet a lot of people and their families. And I think when people see us out there in the community, they understand that we're
there to help. And unfortunately, most of the time, people only see police officers during a time of crisis. So, I think this is huge to kind of be out there, know that we're there to help. And when we have a more of a presence out there in the community and the schools, we bridge that gap so people know that they can come to us for
whatever needs they may have. So, that's kind of like a summary of the type of events that we attend to. And for the statistics, um, on the right side in that box is last year's statistics that we, um, that we were tracking and that was for all the
schools combined. Um, this year I broke them down into the junior high and the high school and then the elementary school, the Colberg school, and the Victor because we were keeping our own independent logs of what we were doing on a daily basis. And this is kind of what we came up with. Um, I'm happy to read through all of them if
you'd like or we can just glance over them, but the the numbers are are pretty much in line with what they were last year. They're not too far off in pretty much all the categories. Um, except for the last one where you see school resource, how I put an asterct there. We we were asked to, you know, document
more times that we were visiting schools, doing meetings, and drills like that where last year we weren't documenting that as a school resource call. So, that's why those numbers are higher. um compared to the 80 last year. But again, those are just we go to crisis meetings now. We're on like the crisis meeting team with the school
staff. Uh we we do fire drills, Alice drills, um 911 hang-ups count for that where you know your Apple Watch might accidentally call 911 and we show up and just confirm that it was actually an accident. So that's why those numbers are a little bit higher this year. But
ultimately the uh the numbers are pretty consistent um for last year to this year. we weren't tracking them prior to that. So, uh, we will continue to do so and continue to show you that growth as we go. And, um, if you have any questions about any of those categories,
I'm happy to answer those as well. >> Do um, do we want to see both presentations then talk or do you want to go one by one? >> One by one. >> One by one. Okay. So, um, looks like we have some questions. Adam, >> uh thank you so much for the presentation. Um I just want to comment
that uh one of the concerns we had when we initially began the program or re restarted the program was making sure that we were collecting sort of accurate um data with good fidelity. And it's really wonderful to see the advancement in that um just over these two years from combined statist statistics with
sort of less detail to the more detail that you have now and and the places where you're serving. And so uh I just wanted to call that out and appreciate that. I think it's really helpful from a transparency standpoint. And then I think as we start to look at those that data year over year over year, it'll be great to see sort of where the trends
are moving. So, thank you >> Glenn. >> Thank you for this. And um also thank you for directing uh vehicle and foot traffic during the uh walk against suicide. Um I'm not sure which one of you I fist bumped, but it was you.
>> That was me. Yep. >> That's right. [laughter] Okay. So, thank you for that. I having you having law enforcement presence there just showing like we have your back. You mental we care about your mental health. That's a good thing. Uh three questions. Um
>> Glenn, I'm not sure you get three questions. Pick the most important one, please. >> Okay. He he he prioritized in real time. Can you talk about the distinction between something that warrants
filing a report with a a kid either having some behavioral issue versus just like being able to be like, "Hey buddy, don't do that." Like that that distinction like if that makes sense. Just like when when is a when is it something just appropriate for just
like a very quick little tap on the shoulder versus like we got to we got to file a report? So, so for us, typically we don't respond to those types of calls unless there is a report involved. Um, and when there's a report involved, we just
document that on our end and it's on our in-house system. It doesn't go out to anywhere. Um, that's just for our records to know like, okay, we can look back and say we had this last time or this is a reoccurring event, right? Um, if we're on campus and something happens
and it's minor like that, like somebody swears in the hallway, we can say, "Hey, hey, you know, keep it down." like be respectful, right? That wouldn't warrant a report. Um, but if the school calls us and they say, "We need you to meet with a student and a family member or we got, you know, somebody erratically driving
in the parking lot." And we respond, we will document that just so it's on our record so we know if it it's a continued behavior that we might have to phone a parent or something like that. And typically, we will um get the parents permission before even speaking to that student. Uh, and we work collaboratively
with the staff members at the school in order to figure out how we're going to approach that. >> Thank you, >> Andy. I >> I just wanted to point out because I don't I don't know the definition of that, the restorative justice piece. Can you just talk through that a little bit for me? Do you mind? >> Yeah, no problem. Um, so restorative
justice is a is an avenue that we're allowed to go down if a So for the Do you know what ding-dong ditch is? So, we had an incident where students were ding-dong ditching at a house in town and it was 2 or 3 in the morning and we were getting 911 calls because it was
scaring the person living in the house. Um, when we go there and we they ended up breaking the door of the house and we were able to instead of, you know, going through the court system, we're able to seek this restorative justice which is actually like it's a different entity
that it's a group of people. We sit down in a circle. We basically, you know, go over the rights and wrongs with it. We make the students um do community service instead of going through the court system. We're trying ultimately to keep these kids out of the court system. So, it's a great avenue for us to use
that. Um and and again, it could be a variety of different things to go there. Uh we usually have to request for them to review the report and say, "Is this the type of case that you're willing to take?" Um and that ultimately just as a restorative justice, it's a community service. And then we have them sit in a
circle and we'll ask the victim if they want to come and sit in that circle and they'll get that apology face to face. And it kind of just makes those those kids learn from their lesson more than just going to a court system standing in front of a judge and getting a piece of paper and walking out. >> Loose.
>> Um, and I'm going to ask the same thing with box as well. Uh is there anything that you can suggest that we as a school committee could do to either better support you or you know enhance the supports whether it's a specific part of
theou that you know maybe you're feeling could be a little bit tweaked especially now that you've been in this role for a few years. I know agent renoso detective renoso I don't know what the thing is officer Renoso um has also been you know for a couple of years now. So now you have a, you know, a little bit
more time under your belt. Is there anything that um, you know, any suggestions that you have that we could do to further support you? >> I think I think the biggest thing would be just a a designated area within the school to have that I could be on campus
more. I I mean, I'm not asking to be there 24/7. I'm not asking to have a a desk in the the front lobby when you walk in and see me. But I did have an office in the back by the the gym that used to be the old security office and there's cameras in there for the parking
lots and stuff and um that was mine for about a year and then now it's I think it's a storage unit now. Um but just being able to be on campus is very beneficial for you know first off to build that gap with the kids and have a rapport and see me on a daily basis so
they don't just think a cop showing up at their school, right? if they can see me on a daily basis, um it'll just make them more comfortable hopefully, right? Um and that's the ultimate goal. I think that school staff would also appreciate it instead of having to call me and wait, you know, whatever time it is for me just to drive down there where I
could be readily accessible. Um and just, you know, we've had a couple fights in school this year where luckily once I was actually already at the school for something else and I was able to break it up where school staff members aren't comfortable getting in between something like that. So, um, not
like that's obviously a more severe incident, but at the same time, just being there and having that resource for them to say instead of giving me a call on the phone, they just come stop in by the office when they're walking down the hallway, walk past it or on their free time. Um, I just think a designated area
would really help in all aspects of the SRO position really because right now we're responding from the station and you know it's it's only 2 three minutes down the road but that's a lot of time sometimes for some people. So, >> thank you. All right, team Boxboro,
you're up. Now I'll start I guess. Good afternoon everyone. For those that haven't met me yet, uh my name is Jose Renoso. Uh I make it easy for people people. I go by Ray. Um like I said earlier, I've been in for about two years since I got hired
in Boxboro. Also before I move forward, congratulation to the smart girl that did the post that was great. look like professionally done. Um this is pretty smart my idea the way it looks and I actually like it myself. Um so in this PowerPoint it's going to be
short about five slides. It's going to be few things of kind of statistics but they have more than us because they're bigger region than us. So it's going to be fewer data you might see in the slides in a second. Um Sergeant Gath has been an officer for
about 16 years now. Um myself in total about 5 years. So you have a 20 years as experience of law enforcement. Some of the topics uh that we take for uh training includes juvenile laws, child assistance, emotional intelligence and mental health is big one right now. Not
just us but throughout the country. Um I just attended to the uh sexual assault class back in March which mean kind of involve initiative response rec recognizing s of abuse and neglect of a child. on school if we see any anything of this teacher tell us about it we
cannot go and meet the kid sorry the child or we get like I said before we need the parents consent also let them know what's happening uh investigating child physical and sexual abuse uh any type of abuse we investigate it uh we have a team approach resource uh team
approach resources potential of evidence of uh incorporation of collecting evidence or anything like that interviewing the child or I'm not going to say victim or you're going to say the how the witnesses, it could be the teachers, could be friends, family, and
any legal issues involved from there. Uh, senator, I'm able to connect with a lot of kids, not just during school, but I carry stickers with me, and every time I see a kid could be five years old, they see a cruise that they get all happy about it. I stop my cruise, I get out like, "Hey, I have something for
you." And I just that you can see the face smiling. Especially now that summer time is getting better out there. Um I do crosswalk a lot of time when I do dayshift because my shift I mainly 3 to 11s and uh overnights. Some of you might see me there. I don't know. I see a lot
of cars going back and forth all the time. Um I guess I pass stickers uh m kids all the time and uh I like to introduce all the members of the department to those kids so they not just familiar with my face also the other department's faces as well.
Uh so during uh last during the fall we had a Alice training with all the teachers at the school. Um myself and the chief um taught Alice which is alert lock down inform and counter and evacuate. Um, I think it was a great program with all the teachers, um, kind
of with everything what's going on nowadays, the climate. Uh, I think it's very important for staff to learn this and to teach the kids this as well. Um, it was very productive day. Lots of questioning. It was it was amazing. Um,
back to Ray's slide from before. Um, our role is a little bit different than Actton. We we're on we also do patrol shifts as well. So, while we're on patrol, um, you know, I try to tell Ry and, you know, future officer Stillman to go by the school and say hello to the
kids. Uh, Officer Stillman used to go there and eat lunch with the kids, which was a huge, huge thing. Um, go out and play recess. Uh, also during the summertime, Flower Camp, huge, uh, try to go down there and talk to the kids. Huge uh, interaction, very positive uh,
with them uh, establishing that gap. Um and also we have our other patrol officers as well uh that are not school resource officers to go to those camps or if if you are working a day shift um to go there and and visit the school. Um my schedule right now I'm on a midnight
3 to 11 split so I can't not at the school you'll probably see me at the crosswalk across the kids. Um but any interaction that we have with them is positive. Uh that's where the beauty of Boxboro is a very small town. are very close-knit and uh we love establishing
that relationship with them. So, community events as I said uh Flower Camp uh I think that's huge. Um we had Winterfest during the the winter time. Uh the United Unified Games, summer recreation, fall fest was a big one. Um
we include K9 Kota. Uh, Officer Breie comes along and uh, that's a huge huge impact with the kids. The kids love the dog. Um, Diwali festival, trunk or treat was a huge uh, success. The tree lighting and the touch of truck. All
those events are are great. Um, and again, it's a good interaction with obvious the citizens, but when the kids come out, uh, they love it. Go ahead. As you can see here the uh year
statistics for us is very small. Uh so I got I believe the the drill trainings I need to take a class to be certified as well to teach them out to uh the faculty and other people. This coach faculty is faculty is going to be two uh that was involved with myself with the principal
and it was on the ch juvenile and the parents. I think community events we have four SR training uh this is only two because we had to be reset uh take two days class to still uh certify as a through post. So this year we had to do
the online because they didn't have an inerson class. I believe they moving back to inerson training. Uh so I believe next next time >> and then if you kiss at the bottom arrest citation core referrals do we not there to charge any mind of anything
that might be. So we just let the school handle it any disciplinary action they might take. If this is a crim criminal matter they might call us to any suggestions and then if we have an answer we might go up to a supervisor and then go from there.
Awesome. Any questions? >> Hillary, >> hi. I just want to say thank you as a Boxboro and Blanchard parent. I do see you every day as I drop my kids off from school. Um, I've seen you at Fall Fest
playing football with the kids. I've seen you on the first day of school high-fiving as the kids got out of the car and the bus. So, I just want to say thank you. Um, and I do want I have one question. Um, you mentioned the police dogs. Um, are those part of I know he
the dogs have their separate handler, but are those part of your program or are they completely separate um entity? >> It's completely separate. >> Okay. Adam, >> just a quick note of thanks for having
you at the uh crosswalk when kids are coming to school and we're very grateful for the state for and putting in a crosswalk light at the crosswalk that very few people use. So glad to have you guys there to help us at the more active crosswalk. >> Thank you, Glenn.
>> Thank you for this. And just one thing I wanted to ask. Um, you mentioned that having a sport a SRO officer that was a sports coach was really impactful to you. Um, are any of you co sports coaches? That'd probably be that'd be great.
So, the SRO um that I actually took a spot recently, he was promoted to sergeant. He You said sports coach, correct? Yeah, he he's actually the he's the golf coach for the I I believe it's the boys and the girls team. Um and it's
also he's also coached hockey in the past as well. Um unfortunately for me, I just had a child of my own, so I'm kind of busy after school hours right now, but it's always been on my radar to start coaching. I played, you know, a bunch of sports growing up, so it's definitely something I would want to get into. But as the first few years being
in the position, I was kind of just more focused on the day-to-day. Um, and then hopefully eventually work myself into that. >> I think you'd be a great coach, >> Liz. >> Uh, and I would still pose my same question. Uh, you know, do you have any
suggestions on how we as a school committee can further support you also noting that you guys, uh, don't have junior high and high school children. It's just the elementary. But I >> mean, I think it's, uh, important to work together as a team. Um, I know
we're very separate, but uh I was talking to AJ last week after our meeting with the superintendent. Um, I like to see a little bit more with us. Um, cross information. Um, maybe go into the schools with them every once in a while, just kind of walk around, get to learn,
um, all the because a lot of Boxboro kids will be going to the middle school and the high school. So, I think it's very important to keep this relationship um, with them and, uh, make it stronger. So, >> thank you so much for being here to give
this presentation. You know, when I first came on the committee three years ago, the talk about an SRO's role and what our community envisioned there was a hot topic and it was something we were pretty stressed out about. And you know, to Adam's point, you have you have brought back exactly what we're asking
for. We're having a good conversation here. And you think about how important that is to build now because if there's ever a moment where things get really nuts, we want to have that relationship already established so that we can all cooperate. And I know you have that with everybody that you work with in the
schools. But it's really important that we get to have this chance to talk to each other once a year, too. And so we really appreciate you being here. Um, any final thoughts from anyone? >> Thank you. >> Peter, >> I just want to take an opportunity.
Thank you for all you're doing. Um I also want to ch thank both of our chiefs. U we have in interim chiefs, Chief Shik from Boxboro as well as Lieutenant Krug who also came to support. Um you know we have a tremendous amount of support from the police in both Actton and Boxro for all
that the schools do and just so you know please from all of our staff thank you for all that you're doing. All right. So, we are on to talking about our superintendent search and I'm going to pass these out. If you can take one
and pass them on down. Um, and somebody please pass one back to um, Andrew actually to make sure that Got it. >> Okay. Um, I didn't mess any language up here. So, as we're moving forward with our superintendent search, we've selected uh, the firm that we're going
to work with and next step is to figure out which members of the school committee um, are going to help with the next steps forward. And a couple of things that I just want to clarify. um first of all that the um the the search
subcommittee is not the same as the screening committee. So the screening committee is going to be the big group where we pull in members of the community etc to be involved in screening candidates. This is just our standing subcommittee that's going to be doing all the work with the screening committee and will be part of the
screening committee. Um so I really appreciate everybody who volunteered um kind of looking at balance of towns of um where we are in our different journeys on the school committee and um you know trying to
bring different perspectives into this as well. Um, so you've got in front of you a a memo suggesting um Adam as chair and members Lisa and Jake and then um Andrew Shen in the liaison and the heavy lifting role with all of the logistics and then a charge trying to make this
very clear that it is um not the screening committee, it is the overarching body that then reports back to um to the school committee. And so what that means for the rest of us is we are still all responsible for interviewing finalists and we are all
going to be responsible for raising our hands for whatever pieces we can help out with site visits and forums and all of those final things that happen. So nobody is off the hook for doing hard work here. It's just these are these are the people that are going to be doing a lot of the organizing and getting things
going. So any discussion Glenn. >> So this is good. Um I think perhaps similar to how we had uh a really good document about AI guidelines sort of
guiding principles even if it's literally just one page sort of like guiding principles of what you're looking what we're hoping to look for which can be a living document and get revised about these are the kind of things we're looking for in a superintendent like leadership being
able to um discern and navigate conflict and being media savvy too like >> that that's the next step. We have to have the subcommittee first but yes that is that is the next step. >> Okay. >> I would entertain a motion.
I move to appoint the school committee members to the superintendent search committee as listed. Second. >> All right. Moved by Liz, seconded by Lisa. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Any abstensions?
>> All right. Thank you. Get to work, Adam. Yes, ma'am. >> All right. So, now we are on to the superintendent's annual summitive review. Your favorite part of every year. >> Um, so this is something that we get to
do annually. There is a desi rubric that helps us figure out um how we look at our superintendent's performance and you know what what our superintendent is supposed to be accomplishing, what the outcomes were. Um it is focused on the
what and the why rather than the how. Um so we're not looking at the details of the implementation but what were the results. This is one of those wonderful things in that it is the only educator evaluation that is performed in public. In fact, I'm not sure if any of us have
had educa have had evaluations performed in public. Um, I'm sure this is a truly wonderful experience. Um, and you've got 11 people rating you. Um so my role in this was to pull together everybody's
individual um uh rating documents and then pull out the themes and um the outcomes and the future focus and put them into a narrative. So that's what I'm about to read. I'm pleased to present a summary of the
performance evaluations for Superintendent Peter Light. 10 of 11 members of the school committee submitted an evaluation using the DESIE superintendent evaluation rubric which provides a consistent framework for assessing progress towards district goals and performance across four standards of practice. In support of
this process, Superintendent Light provided the committee with updates, evidence, and reflections on the year's work. This document summarizes the themes reflected across the committee's individual evaluations. The superintendent evaluation process is uniquely complex, involving feedback
from individual school committee members, each bringing distinct perspectives and priorities and occurring in a fully public setting. Unlike typical professional evaluations, this process requires sustained transparency, resilience, and composure under broad scrutiny. This year's
evaluation reflects a transition point as the district concluded the implementation period of its 2021 2026 strategic plan while simultaneously developing the next 5-year plan AB forward including its mission, vision, theory of action, priorities, and
measurable goals. This work took place in the context of sustained fiscal constraint and long-term planning challenges. As part of this transition, the district also undertook significant structural planning to support long-term financial and educational sustainability.
This included planning for the closure of one elementary school and the reorganization of the remaining five while maintaining uninterrupted teaching and learning across all eight schools in the district. The committee recognized that the work undertaken during this evaluation cycle will shape the district
for years to come and required a level of leadership, planning, and organizational coordination rarely demanded of public school superintendent. Throughout this work, Superintendent Light was responsible for advancing system level redesign while ensuring
day-to-day stability for students, staff, and families across the district. This required balance balancing long-term strategic change with the immediate operations of a large complex district in active transition.
Within that context, we commend Superintendent Light for his professionalism, openness, and steady focus on strong instruction, stable operations, and the well-being of students, staff, and families. Superintendent Light sustained strong instructional leadership during this
year with particular strength in data-informed decision-making. Committee members highlighted the district's consistent use of tools and research including MTSS thought exchange, DMG breakthrough teams, handover research, and NESD data to identify student needs,
monitor progress, and improve instruction for current and future students. Members also cited his ability to hire and empower strong instructional leaders, resulting in continued progress in curriculum alignment, literacy initiatives, instructional coaching, and consistent instructional practices
across schools despite the demands of the AB forward process. He advanced the district's commitment to equitable and inclusive learning by ensuring analysis of student subgroup data and adjustment of supports as needed. members suggested a future opportunity to strengthen measurable connections between
instructional initiatives, professional learning, and student outcomes as part of the AB forward strategic plan. A majority of the committee rated his instructional leadership as exemplary. Standard two, management and operations. Superintendent Light demonstrated strong
management and operational leadership with continued strength in fiscal systems. Committee members highlighted transparent communication about budget challenges, careful fiscal stewardship and long-term planning, including the development of a balanced fiscal year budget of $122.6 million, a long-range
planning model, and leadership throughout the AB forward restructuring process. Members also cited his ability to empower an effective leadership team that maintained organizational continuity and ensured effective district operations while planning for significant future change. In addition,
respondents noted his commitment to safe and supported learning environments through expanded mental health supports, strong compliance with state requirements, and steady professional leadership under public scrutiny while identifying continued opportunities to monitor staff well-being and strengthen workforce diversity efforts. Half the
committee rated Superintendent Light's management and operations as exemplary. Standard three, family and commi community engagement. Superintendent Light demonstrated strong family and community engagement throughout the AB Forward strategic planning and reorganization process.
Committee members highlighted the unprecedented scale of outreach, including community forums, focus groups, surveys, bi-weekly webinars, hundreds of direct responses to families, ongoing website updates, and the introduction of a district podcast that helped humanize the experience of
educating students even while navigating significant district level change. Respondents also cited efforts to address community concerns through operational decisions and student supports, including expanded mental health resources, transition planning, educator-guided classroom placements,
and ongoing communication designed to keep families informed and engaged throughout implementation. At the same time, some members noted that while communication was extensive and transparent, portions of the community that opposed the final direction continued to feel unheard, highlighting the important of importance of continued
trust building and cohesion during implementation. Half the committee rated his performance in family and community engagement as exemplary. Standard four, professional culture. Superintendent Light demonstrated exemplary leadership in fostering a strong professional culture with
particular strength in communication, shared vision, and commitment to high standards. Committee members consistently highlighted his professionalism, composure, and steady leadership, noting his ability to maintain trust, dignity, and organizational focus despite intense public scrutiny and criticism.
Respondents cited the success of vision of a graduate initiative, now a foundational element of the district's strategic direction, as well as continued progress in culturally responsive practices, collaborative professional learning, and district-wide alignment. A strong majority of the committee rated his performance and
professional culture as exemplary. overall comments. Committee members consistently cited Superintendent Light's steady professional leadership during one of the most consequential periods in district history, including AB forward strategic planning, ongoing financial pressures, and significant
organizational transition. Respondents highlighted his transparency, composure, strategic thinking, and unwavering commitment to student, staff, and the broader community, noting his ability to maintain district operations and instructional focus while leading difficult and often emotional public
conversations. Members also recognized the discipline, care, and long-term vision he brought to developing systems and structures designed to support the district well beyond his tenure. Importantly, members noted that even after announcing his decision to pursue a new leadership
opportunity overseas following the 2026 2027 school year, Superintendent Light has remained fully invested in the district's future. Throughout this transition period, he has continued to lead with energy, integrity, and a deep sense of responsibility to ensure that
the strategic direction, operational systems, and leadership structures now being implemented will position Actton Boxro for long-term success under future leadership. Continued attention to strengthening stakeholder trust, measurable outcomes, and community cohesion will remain important during
the next phase of implementation and stabilization. Majority of the committee rated Mr. Light's overall performance as exemplary. On behalf of the school committee, I would like to express sincere gratitude to Superintendent Peter Light for his
leadership, professionalism, and unwavering commitments to the student, staff, and families of Actton Boxboro. He has led the district through necessary and difficult change with steadiness, courage, and care. We're grateful for his continued
dedication as he enters his final year with the district and we look forward to working together to ensure a strong and successful transition for the next chapter of Actton Boxboro's future comments. ments.
>> I move to accept the annual summitive review for Superintendent Peter Light dated June 11th, 2026 as presented. >> Second. >> Second. >> Moved by Liz and very closely seconded by Adam. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed?
>> Any abstensions? >> All right, that stands. you know, I I just want to recognize what a challenging year this last year was. Um, and I always appreciate, you know, a lot of the thoughtful feedback that you included in evaluations and
things like that. Um, you know, I just want to make sure that we also fully recognize all of the staff across the district who have done all of the work on a day-to-day basis with our students, with our families, um, and have made sure that despite all of the challenges
that are going on kind of at the structural level of the district and the funding every day that our students come to school, they're the ones in the classrooms and in our schools and in our nurs's office and on the buses and cleaning up after students um, who make sure that kids experience and families
experience in our schools are really stellar. Um we are so fortunate to have just an an outstanding school district here. It's certainly been my privilege to be here. Um and that is all in thanks to our staff and that includes all of our leaders across the district um who I
know have just given countless hours to to all of the work that's done throughout the year. So um big shout out to them. Thank you so much and very much appreciated. >> Thank you, Peter. Glenn,
>> it's been a privilege. [laughter] >> I know he's still here. >> Okay, you Tori gave me a look like wrapping up Len, [laughter] but I mean like really like this was not an easy year. And I often think about I mean
like I I won an election. I'm technically a politician, I suppose. And I just think like what what would Peter like be doing? That's some and then that informs my thinking a lot. And just energy, integrity, a deep sense of responsibility, cultivating stakeholder trust, and unwavering commitment to family, staff, and students, steadiness,
courage, and care. A+ from me. >> Thank you, Glenn. And now we're going to move to the next favorite part, which is the discussion of the superintendent's fiscal year 27 salary. I will entertain a motion.
That would be you, Adam. >> Yeah. I move to set the superintendent's salary at $263,171 cents, an increase of 2.5% for fiscal year 27. >> Second. >> All right, that was moved by Adam and
seconded by Lisa. Is there any further discussion? All right. In that case, all in favor? >> Any opposed? Any abstensions? All right, that passes.
Are there any further motions we would like to uh make? Adam, >> I move that the school committee authorize the superintendent to receive a one-time payment from the district in lie of up to five unused vacation days
acrewed during the fiscal year 2026. >> Second, >> any such payment shall be calculated based on the superintendent's perdem uh rate in accordance with the terms of his employment agreement and shall be made no later than the close of fiscal year 2026.
>> Second. That was moved by Adam and seconded by Jake. Um little bit of context here. We just had a really busy year with AB Ford and we have um throughout the district a number of a number of people that just didn't have
the opportunity to take vacation. Um Peter, do you want to talk about how you've been taking care of people before we go on to dealing with this? Yeah, I think um you know there's there's a number of staff across the district, particularly administrators who are on full-ar contracts um and so they they
don't have a school year. They're working working all year and they get vacation days similar to in the private sector. And so what we did this year recognizing we have a number of staff who have many un unused vacation days.
I will say a number of years ago, probably four or five years ago, one of the processes that I put into place was to put a cap on the number of days that could be rolled over from one year to the next in order to limit any future liability to the district in terms of vacation buyout at the end of someone's
contract. Um, and so what we have done this year, recognizing there's an extraordinary year, is for people who have a large number of unused vacation days, allowed them the opportunity to buy out up to five of them now, so that they're not losing 10, 12 days, things
like that. So, >> and when we found out about this, this was something that we felt was appropriate for you as well, but that's something that really has to come from us. You So, um, any further discussion? All right. All in favor?
>> I. >> Any opposed? >> We're voting, Liz. [laughter] >> Thank you. Any abstensions? All right, that passes. Thank you. >> All right, so that brings us to
subcommittee and member reports. Um >> um we are continuing in negotiations with the ABA. We had our last session yesterday and um we continue to make some progress and at this point obviously given the end of the year the association has to um meet with their
bargaining group to decide sort of um how to how to move forward with with the current offer and and we had some discussion as well in our executive session. So, um, hopefully something to report in the near future. >> Thank you. Um, I know it's been a week
since we last did that. Does anybody have liaison reports or anything? Adam, >> I just have a brief update from the Boxboro Select Board. They reorganized and Bob Stemple is the chair of the select board in Boxboro now with Sam Anderson as the clerk. Uh, I will also note that Kristen Hillberg decided that
she loved coming and sitting at our meeting so much that she volunteered to be our liaison for next year as well. Thank you. Anything else? All right. Wow. That lands us at the consent agenda. Here we go.
Items on the consent agenda do not usually require discussion and are approved with one vote unless any member would like to hold an item for discussion and a separate vote. I'll read each item and if a member would like it held, please say hold. Members do not have to have attended a meeting to vote on the minutes. Item A, approval
of ABRSC workshop meeting minutes from 51426. Item B, approval of ABRSC firm screening subcommittee meet subcommittee meeting minutes from 5226. Item C, donation of grant funds from
ABRPso, $4,716.25 to RJ Gray Junior High for the end ofear field trips. All right. Given that no items were held, is there a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented?
>> I move to uh >> just say so moved. >> Seconded with gratitude for the donation. >> That was moved by Lisa, seconded by Liz with gratitude. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Any abstensions?
Awesome. Thank you. Um, so before I hand this to Peter for comments on the FYI, I just want to remind everyone. So we are on we have our workshop next week. What's due tomorrow? >> Self assessment. >> Thank you. Yes. So self assessment, no
matter how long you've been on the committee, please share some candid remarks because this gives um Alicia, our facilitator, some idea of how to help us spend our time productively. and we will um work on updating protocols and thinking a little bit about next
year. >> Peter, >> um couple of things for you. Um first, just a preview of there's a couple of business items we're going to need to tend to in the next meeting. Um the most important of that we anticipate being anou with the town of Actton to allow
them to use part of the Conan school building um next year to um offset the town hall renovations that they have coming. Um that will reduce our costs as a school district because they'll be assuming a proportional share of the utilities. Um so that will result
in some savings. I would guess hundred plus thousand dollars somewhere in that range. So significant enough to to be useful. Um, you know, I will also say, um, our community education department is actually working on a plan to expand,
um, access to extended day programming. Um, and right now is trying to finalize a plan to be able to use Conet 5 days a week for extended day programming. Uh, which will be a significant benefit to our students. And we've been working with the high school. Um, as you know, we hired a robotics teacher. We
transitioned from a math science teacher and we hired a robotics teacher this year. Um we already have interest from about 50 students to do a robotics club in addition to the coursework during the day. So it's been wildly popular already. Um we're likely to large one use one of the large spaces in Conanit
to set up the competition field um for the robotics program as well. So um you know we want to make sure that that continues to have good educational benefit to us even if we're not using it as a a fully functioning school building. So that continues to be the case. I will also share kind of on a non
business thing um in terms of school committee business. You know, we are doing some fence installation at a couple of our schools and I know at the boardwalk campus um we've received some feedback from community members um particularly around worries that we're going to restrict community access in that area and I want to just guarantee
everyone we are not restricting community access to that. Um we will have some gates that people can open and close freely. We're not putting locks on them, but we have um experienced um an increase in all of our campuses on something called student elopment, which
is essentially if a student kind of takes off running um from campus because they're disregulated. Um but the educational term is alopment. Um we have seen an increase in that. Uh we've actually had, you know, some students climb fences, things like that. Um just disregulated kids. That is kind of the
nature of schools right now. And we've heard that from our educators over the years. Um, and you know, a lot of our administrators and kind of some of our special ed staff came to us and said they needed some method to kind of slow students down um to make sure that they were being kept safe. So, we are
installing some fencing around a couple of our schools around Parker Damon, particularly going into the woods. We had some students get into the woods and kind of access some like water pipes and things like that that we need to protect from. Um, as well, we will have gates. We're not restricting any community
access. Um, there are some very large poles there. We're actually making a change once we saw the height of those poles. I've actually requested that any fencing now that gets put in be kept at a 4 foot minimum. Um, and not some of the six or eight foot fencing that you you might traditionally see just to keep
it more in line with what we do traditionally on our campuses. >> Andrew, >> just excuse me. Sorry [clears throat] about that. Sorry to have that on the phone. Uh, two questions about this. I know that the fencing came in today and that I know we all got a lot of feedback about it. neighbors didn't know about
it. Some of the fencing poles seem to be set up in places that are currently common areas for the children um particularly around the small amphitheater in the back of boardwalk. Um and that's one piece and I know we're talking about having lower pieces. I don't know if we not only allowed for entrance niggress to the area but also
were uh kind of cognizant of where the placement was with regard to where kids are. The other piece of it that has me a little bit more concerned is that um there's a wetlands protocol bylaws here in the city that um define what is allowed close to the waterways. And I
know that the area that the fences are going up in may also impede some of the wildlife from be able to go back and forth. They don't necessarily know to use the gates. They need to get through the fences. And I don't know if we were able to get the approvals necessary by those who give approval to be able to ensure that this was taken care of
before, you know, ground was broken mostly because it's the first time we've heard about this. >> Yep. And I believe that our facilities department went through the building department, but I will absolutely double check that tomorrow morning. >> Thank you. >> Oh, one more question, Liz. Um, just as
a nice thing, so I just wanted to reflect on the robotics um, teacher and the robotics program that you mentioned before I got elected to this position. I remember meeting with you and you specifically talking about how, you know, to be sort of more in competition with Minute Man, having like a robotics
program similar to what they were doing at the time and be able to bring that fully in-house. And I just wanted to um acknowledge that and name that that this is in service of something that you were talking to me about four years ago before I was even on this committee. >> Yeah. And just one real quick clarification, our goal is not to
replace any programming Minute Man does. Um they, you know, run a fantastic vocational program and they have a program for robotics. Um we also believe that students who want to attend our kind of comprehensive high school need an opportunity to study things like
robotics as well. We're not developing a career technical education pathway like what Minute Man has, but we do want to make sure that we're offering programming that makes sure that our ST steam program stays modern and relevant to kids. >> Adam, >> I just want to highlight the amazing
reports from both the food services and our annual decarbonization report and the FYI. Um it's amazing what our food services team does, the number of meals they serve, the uh just the support they provide to the community as a whole. And um we get asked regularly by the resource force, which is a student club,
about how we're making progress towards our goals on decarbonization. This report is an amazing report. Uh and I'm just very pleased for the work that gets done that we don't necessarily have time to receive full reports on. >> Yeah. And just again, just as we shout out to staff, huge shout out to Kirsten
Nelson, um who's our food services director, and all of her team. Um it's amazing the work that they do. And as you, you know, spend more time on school committee, you'll get to hear a little bit more about some of the work. Um, but, you know, farm-to-table opportunities for students, lots of variety, particularly as students get
older into high school and really thinking about the different cultures in the district and making sure food is responsive to dietary needs, but cultural needs as well. Um, and then on the sustainability side, I want to give a huge shout out to Kate Crosby. She's worked for our school district for a long time. She is really a unicorn in
many ways in the state. um in that you know there are not a lot of districts that have that role and she has returned and I can actually fairly say millions and millions of dollars to this community that we would not otherwise have. Um I think probably the the
easiest thing to point to is the IRS tax credit we received from the geothermal wells where we received I think it was a $2.9 million check from the IRS um as a rebate for those geothermals. We would not have known about that if we didn't have the position nor would we have had the capacity to pursue it. So, thank you
to Kate Crosby. >> In other words, the FYI is good reading. You should read it if you haven't read it already. All right. Before I entertain that motion, what are we doing before the end of the day tomorrow? >> Evaluations. >> Good. All right. I'll entertain a motion to adjurnn.
>> Move to adjurnn. Second. >> All right. Moved by Liz, seconded by Lisa. All in favor? >> Any opposed? Any abstensions? Great. Have a good night. Thank you. Look at everybody through it. >> But then I had to call up
Yep.