good afternoon ladies and gentlemen I'm going to open up the uh February 11th uh school committee meeting I appreciate everyone bearing with our uh time changes here we have a lot of uh commitments from school committee
members with different events that their students and children are involved in um and I appreciate everybody's patience with us moving this agenda along as we had to tonight we're going to take um several things out of order
because of time constraints with uh members that have obligations as well um at this time I'll ask everyone to rise and pledge allegiance it's right there oh and it's back there I pledge allegiance to the flag of
the United States of America and to the Republic for which stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty TR strong introduction of members Carrie got Blackstone maana milbo Tara scobby
Blackstone Tara L milbo aan Keith Blackstone J spaga Director of Finance and operations Jill pagalan superintendent director of student services Maya G Duo president Jason def FAL superintendent welcome all and we'll
move on to consens consent consent agenda a excuse me uh first thing is warrant I'll take a motion to approve the warrants so motion made by Tara second second by Carrie any further discussion all those in favor
signify by saying I I any oppos the eyes have it uh approve minutes from January 9th 2024 so motion made by Carrie second second by Tara any for the discussion all those in favor signify by
saying I I I any oppos yeah uh next is to approve the budget Workshop minutes from 12225 12725 and 2325 so motion made by Tara second seconded by carrye any further
discussion all those in favor signify by saying I all any oppos the eyes have it let the record reflect Mr D has joined us uh we're going to just take a couple of things out of order to
start oh I apologize I shuted it off uh the update from a student representative I very apologi to come up so sprinkling tickets for grades nine and 10 or 8th through 10 now I'm sorry we have our eighth graders now are on sale at
lunches and that springling dance will be on March 7th as far as B basketball goes both girls and boys basketball teams will be playing in the Clark tournament that is starting this week for spring Sports registration is now open for grades 6 through 12 who want to
register for any Spring sport whether that be softball track baseball our National orang Society is planning and preparing their bowls for the annual empty bowl dinner lots of kids were after school and in Miss Robertson's art room during treasure
time firing up and painting their bowls the class of 202 five our senior class is planning and preparing for the annual Mr BMR show so hit every year highly recommend I mean to see that our student council is preparing for the annual state conference in hyanis this year we
have 10 students going to hyanis on March 5th through 7th for that conference and they are attending this trip to collaborate from with students from across the state and I am also running for a state position in henus this year I'm very honored to be able to
be running for the position of masc secretary and we've been working on campaign stuff and delegations AP students have been taking and preparing for mock exams AP Chemistry had a mock exam last week and AP Literature and AP Language and
Composition had their mock exams today course recommendations for next year will begin this week with student selection to follow students are starting to find out what courses are available to them next year new course offerings and other schedule intricacies
that will follow next year thank you thank you thank you very much well thank you WEP over the SC movie um agenda item a uh promising practices in education
Jamie Maurice speak yes thank you uh good evening everybody good to see everyone here uh we are excited tonight to recognize and honor one of our own um each year each of these school districts in Blackstone Valley um take some time
to reflect upon what really sound instructional practice looks like and uh to reflect deeply on the impact that our teachers staff members have on our students and we are challenged with selecting one individual each year that
we want to uh lift and recognize across all the Blackson Valley for their tireless effort in dedication to our students in our school community and I'm very pleased to share that this year uh the recipient of the Blackson Valley promising practices award for uh
blackone milville Regional School District was Miss Jamie Maurice So Jamie if you want to come for um Jamie you want to just take a quick second I know I'm putting you on the spot but just share a little bit about your uh lesson that you presented to the those to the entire Blackstone
Valley sure it was on um era analysis I'm sorry I want have back back to anyone it was on era analysis so taking a word problem the students worked in groups to analyze the problem try and find the era within their group then they um came up and presented their
problem to the class they were kind of like the leaders in learning and then they allowed um the other groups to try and find the ERA amongst themselves while they circulated the room and kind led the discussions when within each of the individual groups and then they all
took turns doing that within within the lesson great they so share that and Jamie shared that with all of the U recipients at our breakfast I think it was in October November so again congratulations and I you got a certificate in some flowers if
you quick picture oh I'm going to go around with smash okay I'll stand right here sorry I'm so sorry to all guys okay thank you sorry you guys no you're f photos
thank you I'm I'm very humbled and very for um the recognition and for the strong leadership I receive in the district um for all the colleagues I work with and for all the children even trust me so thank you on next we're going to go down to uh
to vote and approve the use of the choice program superintendent yes uh we are uh lucky this evening to have a few very important folks with us I'm going to ask that our school resource off officers Joe nimic and Scott gou join us up front but along with Billy beers who is the
founder and CEO of the choices program uh one of the things that uh we have been doing here is working diligently to find ways to help our students who are struggling the most and so uh we have another uh kind of pathway that we'd
like to discuss this evening um with the hopes of approving the use of the choices program for our students who are uh most at risk and so with that I'll turn it over to you uh Mr beers to talk a little bit about the opportunities that await our kids excellent thank you very much um I appreciate the
opportunity to be here and and uh to meet with everyone um I'd like to if I could I'll just give kind of a quick 10,000 foot overview of what it is that we do and why we do it um so I was one of these kids that um gets coined as
Behavioral or uh addicted and substance um I grew up in New York um my my dad died when I was 9 years old from alcoholism and I was the one that found him and from the age of N9 until the age of 29 um I fell in every hole that these
kids are falling in and um I'm 23 years in recovery myself um I spent a lot of time in Corporate America and then got remarried when I got remarried I happened to marry a board certified behavior analyst and I got to watch how um she worked with kids that were
non-verbal and unable to communicate back and forth and I watched her t teach them how to communicate and it kind of sunk in and I said well I've got all this recovery behind me and now that we're starting this Agency for ABA let's take a look at some of the kids that I
used to be like and so we started doing a lot of research we started going out we met with all the recovery high schools throughout the state um I met with all the principls throughout um the state that run the recovery highs I met with um a lot of different school districts and I started to get the
knowledge that we needed as far as what are the these kids going through what's happening with these kids in school what's what's causing suspensions um and so we started a program that was started out in the uh Beverly area called the P program and
the P program stands for positive alternative to student suspension and primarily what we're doing is we are for any kids that get suspended for non-violent reasons so if a kid is suspended for substance for tardiness uh for no shows um and they they get a
suspension rather than that kid going home or coming to a Saturday Breakfast Club type detention we have the students come to us and we represent 22 districts throughout Worcester County and so the student will come to us on day one of the suspension and on day one they're
giving five different assessments and so what we're doing is we're looking at them from a clinical lens we're trying to find out based on the suspension why that happened and what's going on behind the scenes so after those five assessments are done um
the uh Pass Program continues on and it runs from 9:00 a.m. to 2: pm. every single day and um within that time frame we give uh two groups one is a clinical run group one is social emotional or psychoed um within that 9 to2 time frame
um in addition to that they have two hours of of academic time in a classroom with a teacher and um that time is spent using the work that the district provides us with that we know the kit has to keep up with and so we have uh we have a full-blown teacher and tutor um
they'll sit with the kids they'll make sure that the academics are complete um during that whole process if it's a 5-day suspension um they'll meet with a clinician at least once they'll do at least three check-ins with a clinician for 15 minutes at a time and the goal is
to try to um assess and analyze what took place what happened what are the triggers but then the important part for us is when we do the transition back to the District we give you a full-blown safety plan so that we don't need to suspend that child again we don't need
to add more trauma if it is clinical by nature and so what that means is you simply call choices we come we pick that kiddo back up and we bring him back to choices and we settle them down whether it's for a day or three days or five days whatever it takes um our goal is to
be a support mechanism um for the district and my goal personally is to last year alone with past we caught 76 kids under the age of 15 that had trauma starting at the age of five had never seen a clinician and were suspended
multiple times so as as this past program has been rolling out through the wor Community what we're finding is it's a great catchet for safety we're catching these kids with trauma we're allowing them to see what a clinician what's like allowing them to see what choices has to offer in a very dulled
down calm environment and so our Center is based in in Worcester right now at 108 Grove Street and um we run at least 10 kids a day depending upon the week some weeks are heavier than others and um but at the end of the day the
important part for us is really that transition back because we don't want kids to stop what they start we want them to finish their education but we want to catch the trauma we want to kind of capture what's going on and assist the district in helping that student progress into adulthood properly
um in addition to just the past program we also have um an APG which stands for an alternative peer group alternative peer groups were formed back in Texas about 15 years ago primarily it's fun and recovery so for kids that are addicted kids that are dealing with substance issues kids that are hitting
these carts in school um they come to the afternoon program in the afternoon program we have another two groups we run a clinical group we also run another social emotional psycho Ed group for that population but there's more activities in the afternoon so a lot of the kids that came in for pass because
they got suspended wanted to show up for the fun stuff afterwards so we actually have kids with us um from 9:00 a.m. till 7:00 at night some of these kids don't want to go home and so um in the APG we do all sorts of fun stuff like we go for
hikes we you know we go um to beaches we go to um Parks we we do a whole slew of things we have a very robust summer program that all of our kids come back for which is really cool um but the the goal at choices really is to um to
provide access to care for the populations that we serve and so when dealing with communities in towns Blackstone Oxbridge milville we want to be here we want to be present for you and so we are um from a clinical perspective we're rolling out clinicians and we're rolling out some case
management to this area in this region in particular to help offset some of the chaos that's going on and um um in return what we're doing is we're trying to Loop in and become inclusive with districts so that we can help with the alternative programming in any way shape or form that's going to assist the
district right um I also sit on a lot of uh opard crisis boards throughout the state um and a lot of the districts are putting down line items on their opioid crisis funds that they don't need to um and overspending is going to happen and so we're we're we're trying to work in
inclusively with that as well within the communities and municipalities so we really are geared in um with the adolescence we only take care of adolescence um so our age range goes from 12 to 18 um we do cover e8th grade
um with pass and um we definitely cover eighth grade with um diversion and apj so the last program that um I can mention real quickly is we did win the diversion grant for Wester County um two years ago it's a five-year Grant so we're going into our third year
um we have 97 kids in our diversion program and that's 93 more than anybody else in this in the country so we're working on a deflection model versus a diversion model which allows us to keep the kids away from courts so when school districts have to file things like craws
on kids for not showing up to school we have 90 days to turn that craw around so that that that craw doesn't turn into a legal document so that that child who can't get to school on time because of their depr depressed or anxious or addicted um they no longer have to add
trauma to their case and we can work right through that with DCF and probation in the courts so we really are um attempting to to handle the population differently than ever before we're not redoing anything that's been done before because it didn't work and
um I think the key for choices is all of our staff at choices um are afflicted personally with the disease concept so we get it we understand where these kids are um and once they come in we love them until they can love themselves and once they do they don't want to leave
and so um so we have a lot of good fun exciting stuff happening in Worcester and there's no reason why we can't become inclusive in Blackstone and and and help out as much as possible here so I'm grateful for the opportunity to come in and um and that the resource officers
are very important as well with what we're doing because these gentlemen are feet on the street these are the gentlemen that hear what's going on in the hallways they can see what's going on they can talk to these kids on a one-on-one level um and so choices is trying to really gear up and and partner
with um school resource officers and different departments so that we don't have to leave any kid behind you know it's almost like the Marines for me we don't leave anybody behind um so if you know if the district does have challenging adolescence um challenging
situations going on with adolescence uh today we have a lot of resources that we'd like to offer um and try to help as much as we possibly can so I think that could probably give you the 10,000 foot overview I was thring
for I'm happy to answer any questions and kind of go from there and I don't know if you guys want to add anything or I don't have anything else s Joy us because they actually brought the idea forward uh to Jill and
I and uh Jill myself and two school resource officers actually went and visited the Billy and his team had an opportunity to take a tour um and then Jill fowas and Mr duch Keith du also went up and had a chance to to to the facility meet with the staff get a
really good sense of the programming what kind of that data day would look like for those students who would be removed from school for again those non-violent offenses uh we do have a um kind of a cluster of students that are wrestling with some addiction issues uh at the high school that I think this could be a really helpful resource
course um one of the things the school committee Might Recall at the evaluation cycle the end of last year evaluation cycle for me we had some discussions around you know we put a lot of Provisions in place around uh vaping and some of the you know substance issues what is the next step we can take to
help address some of these uh some of these issues and this was one that came forward as a as a really good opportunity so we wanted to bring up before the committee tonight um for a discussion and see if you have any questions for Billy and I just have one question question um once the process starts you know a suggestion a student
is suggested to the program how does it work with parents getting the input if they're accepting of it how's that process so we have there's two different takes that have to happen one is from the district and one is from the parent and so both take kind of a different route but the goal is to get them to
meet in the middle and have the parents come on the first day so that we can introduce ourselves we can meet with the parents they can see where the kids's going to be um and they can see what we're doing um we have a total open door policy so any parents or anybody that wants to come through for a tour is
always welcome um so yeah that's um the other one other point just to to point out as well where um choices is also a big part of the Oxbridge um opioid crisis team and so we're working diligently with Chief monoy um and that
whole team on a monthly basis um and these towns all fall into that and so one of the things that choices did right away was we went out and we kind of created this abatement process that the the state's looking for and the federal government's looking for so there are
multiple towns joining forces to combine their opioid money and once that money is combined Oxbridge could be the fiscal determinator so they'll manage the money it's no impact to taxpayers and because of the route that um Chief monoy was
taking we actually submitted a grant to double the um opioid funds that are available so we're waiting right now to hear back on the rise Grant which is a matching grant for 150,000 which would give this town and these communities a total of $300,000 to
use towards opioid crisis so there's um a financial uptick too that we're we're hoping that we can get from the state yes really is there like a long-term support for these kids like if they you know there's ended that 3 days whatever and then they're not suspended
again but is there follow up with those kids then absolutely so from a a clinical perspective what we'll do is um we're not a 45-day assessment we did try to get we actually applied for the grant with BS they told us we were a year ahead of them so we didn't get the
45-day assessment but in all actuality that's what we really need um because we need to show the state that we can take in a child then we can assess within 45 days and make the appropriate referral because what's happening now is these are ending up in collaboratives and they're lost for years and so that has
to stop and we're working on that um but we have kids that come in for a 10day suspension go back to school 3 weeks later there's another hiccup they come back for another 10 days so we can always from a clinical perspective we can work independently based on Case by
case um but our goal is to be there for these adolescence all the way through adulthood so once they transition into adulthood we have a transfer program with G recovery that we work Jack um is uh one of my my mentors and so
he handles a lot of the young adult population once they outgrow choices so we do continue on with them and and we do have a young adult uh outpatient program for anyone up to the age of 28 any other questions so all the adult young adults they're all
together in this program so so we yeah so young adults are they're in the mornings and it's out creation only so a young adult means anybody from 19 to 28 and so and the reason for having a young adult population is because a lot of our kids have young adults for parents um a
lot of the kids and families that we work with are in the Worster housing authority and some of these parents have five or six kids they're single parents there's domestic violence so um yeah we're we're looking at everything so the 12 you said it goes
down to 12 years old and then up to 21 yeah so 12 to 18 is the primary core um so past program is 12 to 18 the APG is also 12 to 18 um and then the outpatient for young adults is only in the mornings
from 9: to 11: so we keep it separate so that they're only in and out uh but we we have four different cohorts that we're working with right now so we keep our eighth graders separate from our high schoolers we make sure that everybody is doing their own thing within their Cod cohort um we have
18,000 ft uh on Grove Street so we're fortunate with that we we can move kids around and make sure they're they're safe how does this look at so what's the plan on the school side you know we said
we have a a group of at risk like maybe that's I'll ask my question too say if someone is suspended today are they referred to you by the district is that how that yeah it depends what they infraction is but so let's say there's a situation where a
student is under the influence of THC or something um yes instead of just suspending the kid for three days out of school uh there is a removal from school the kid is out of school for you know three days but instead of sitting at home you know doing whatever we would make a referral to the Past uh program
through the choices program uh Miss Fus Mr duch would work with the family family would do the intake we would do the intake on our end and the student would end up going there for 3 days there is transportation from uh the choices program and the cost right now I believe is $90 a day per student and as
the committee might be aware we have a healthc care Grant of about 100,000 that was the total amount Jill is working on filing an amendment so that we can use that Grant to pay for this but uh we can't file the uh partner agreement until the committee approves it so once
that's done tonight uh we would look for authorization through the healthcare Grant to pay for the uh for the students to attend so that student would go for the three days um return there's a there's actually a second meeting where members of if I remember this correctly
Billy members of your clinical team meet with our clinical team and that student transitions back if the student has another issue with substances we can send the student back and then you actually have it um at choices a tiered system or you would increase your
support there's also an applied Behavior Analysis like an ABA uh side to to your work as well where you actually can go into the home and do some clinical work with the families if necessary is that right absolutely yeah that's the yeah so the inhome Behavior Services um we offer
we do um quite a few homes in Wester County um we have 53 clinicians that are on the um inhome Behavior side and so what that looks like is if a student is struggling with school or behavioral issues um and they need help in home we can send in a team and that team will go
into the home and it's a short period it's 3 months Max and it's not for the Adolescent specifically it's for the family it's to help the family organize the Adolescent better to get that adolescent up and moving so if we have some for instance a kid can't get up in
the morning to get to school we can send bcbas out into the home in the morning so that we can shake the kid up wake them up and get them on a plan and start the process so the inhome behavior piece is is always a good option we also have outpatient services for adolescent and
young adults we do a lot of group therapies we do um some parenting resources at at the center um monthly but um and we're adding programs kind of weekly at this stage um there the uptick
and kids is quite a quite a bit lot of kids out here so schools are was the level that going sh what like their Catalyst that's going to put the suit into the so it first time offender or you know when does that when does the kick in this this
program I was going to say we have students who we have other supports that are in place for our students in school but we are seeing students who are multiple offenders you know it depends on what it is too you know what I mean we have what is do we have an idea what
the structure would be to put a student in into the because it sounds like it sounds like a great program it does so they're currently working with drill and ke there's currently 10 to 12 students that would this would probably be a very good for right now that we've had multiple offenses of you know vaping and
THC or alcohol those kinds of things that we want to refer specifically for some of the addiction work we're also really well connected with UMass Chan medical school and so we have um our own Believe It or Not pediatrician mat providers for kids that
are addicted and um we're working diligently with UMass right now they've they've approve the building for us to go in with UMass on for a true blue PHP environment for adolescent and substance abuse so they're um they're really looking at this hard and um a lot of
what we're we're seeing in our Center we're trying to have the the medical field see what we're doing as well because um even the doctors are kind of lost with some of this stuff we don't understand you know what it means for a kid to be vaping um you know THC that's
not real THC it's um all these dab pens that you see floating around the school those are um it's fake it's Delta eight it's not um it's not THC and there's most likely fentanyl or Morphin in these carts we collected 174 carts over the past year
and a half and we're having um UMass do all the toxicology and then we're presenting at the AMA board and walam um this summer so um we're really keyed in on what is going on with the kids what is it that they're ingesting and why um and how they're getting it as well is a
is a you know that's a job all at any other questions and U Mr superintendent what is the um we we uh the motion would be to adopt or to allow the yes District to enter
into an agreement with choices yes yep we do an mou with them if anybody's interested in making a motion I'll make a motion I'll make a motion to vote to approve the use of the choice
program second motion by Tara s seconded by terara L any further discussion all in favor signify by saying I I any oppos the eyes have it thank you thank you very much for what you do thank you gentlemen chill than
Scott thank you everyone your day um just going to try to take care of a couple yeah you want to start taking off some of yeah just a Qui stuff you know the class 2025 school scholarship yes this is the annual scholarship that the
school committee uh Awards to for the copy of it Awards to one of our graduating seniors I do have a copy of it here we go and the amount of uh $500 it's the
same um scholarship that they give each year so we just need uh to approve that so we can give it to the um recipient yes to the guidance office and they'll s the recipient motion to approve the 2025 scholarship come motion by tarff second
by carrier Chuck any further discussion all those in favor secet five saying I by I it's unanimous uh we'll touch on these BMR Spain field trip second chaperon cost Matt I think
you asked for the what that cost would be and that cost is $ 5,342 yes are we so I I understand your concern was the for the amount of children there was only one sha room the safety of of the students going and not
having another sha room I have one for the four of them typically this would be a second one for four of them and that would be cost for the uh for the district to send the second chapter if the Comm another teacher yeah
St that staff member may not be a teacher and we partner up with another District on this yes yeah we hav't been assigned to them yet but yeah you know all you don't know no not yet which the tour company puts us with another school that's also low in
numbers and those that other school in our school will communicate I'm sure yeah would you mind kicking this off to the next agenda to see what those numbers are when's the trip April April vacation to yeah it's just finding somebody that will you know I'm sure
somebody would love to go to Europe for a week but Jason I'm sorry you have four from BMR it'll deal with another District that has the low numbers of a to chap that's right one from BMR and then one from the other School
District Two from the other District my concern concern is that we weren't going to know who that was until possibly right before we are going and we have one one chapon for our for students should anything happen to that
chapon our students are now in you know with people they don't know rather than have someone that they're familiar with um and it's just better off to have two adults with you know students in general I mean my idea is
we haven't done International Tripp in since before Co I think Canada was the last one we went lreal or something it was a while ago usually the numbers are larger too this is a an unusually expensive trip
because it's uh Spain and France well we have a tremendous amount of Volunteers in the audience and he wants to go to Europe for a week this would be fed that's a good question though how will the chaperon Choice be chosen if it is approved for a
second chaperon we work in the high schol democratically either pull it on a a hat or rock a or and and that all go we'd have to find it through one of our budget lines yeah wait to hear it I'll make a motion
to approve the uh bmrs Spain field trip second chaperon cost of $534 motion made by Matt we have a second a second by Tara any further discussion all those in F all those in favor signify by saying i
i two three four any oppose I Nate you and okay that is four to two all right let the contest begin is Jill in charge of the contest yes I recommend that she probably
shouldn't be because she's already picked the winner over there okay so I'm moving to action items for the purpose of time so um we have two quick field trip requests um one for the Rhode Island second grades to Rhode
Island second grades for The Stadium Theater I guess and one for uh to Connecticut fourth grade for mytic Mystic Aquarium sove motion made by tower on the field trips I have a question the um show for Stadium Theater I'm just
curious or you could have suck in you could have this is this this it's t loone in the morning thank you are you interested in Shing in that what okay a motion in a second on the
field trips uh all those in favor signify by saying I I any oppose uh the eyes have it we then jump back up to public forum uh anyone wishing to address the school
committee this evening you have three minutes at the podium and before we get started I will ask how many people intend on addressing this schol committee by a show of hands 1 two 3 four was it just four one do it again
okay maybe one two three four there was no hands over there right okay I'm sorry uh please sayate your name and your and feel free to speak thank you I'm Becca schnorbus I'm here to talk
about the sex ed curriculum that was approved last December first of all I'd like to thank the school committee and Dr DeFalco for reading the email I sent about how this sexed program is grooming children for abuse rather than protecting them from it it was a long email I appreciate you guys reading it
tonight I'll be addressing other concerns I believe Dr DeFalco and the school staff understood that revising the curriculum to meet the new standards would cause conflict and they did their best to handle things carefully I want to acknowledge this effort and applaud them for making it an off in rather than
a opt out program however I'm disappointed that when this came before the school committee for approval the committee members who wanted more time to read through and discuss what was put forth were dismissed and outvoted now you have all had more time to review the
curriculum and hear from citizens I urge the committee to make a better choice if no change is made know that the community is watching your vote tonight will impact upcoming elections for years to come I personally have reviewed the
materials being used for second to 7eventh grade and this program is revolting under lesson plans for K through 2 and a lesson titled respect young children are taught that they can choose their gender in the lesson making
smart choices sixth and seventh grade students are given sexual scenarios to act out in groups and show how they would make good decisions during a sexual encounter there is no reason or excuse to expose minor children to this type of overtly
sexual material on top of the content itself the program discriminates against families of Faith the motto of our district is where everyone is welcome and belongs yet much of the material in these lessons is offensive and
intolerant to anyone who holds to a Conservative Christian Muslim or Jewish worldview this curriculum teaches the very opposite of what many faith-driven families believe some argue that it's not the school's job to teach religion and that is true but it is also not the
school's job to teach children ideas that undermine the values they are being taught at home parents are told that they can opt their child out of these lessons I have gone a step further a couple years ago I removed my children from the school district entirely many
parents in our community don't have that option for them opt out is not sufficient kids talk the controversial ideas taught in the lessons will show up in other subject areas these teachings permeate School culture it creates expectations
and sets standards that not all students approve of the opt out is not enough as of now if a child of Faith refused to conform to this ideology and held to the religious beliefs taught at home they would face significant
consequences in your schools this has already happened in other districts and it's resulted in lawsuits I encourage you guys to do the right thing protect students and protect our town by rejecting this curriculum thank you than you
I am here today to ask the school committee to resend the new sex act curriculum exposing children to sexual content at a young age can have long lasting effects on their mental and emotional development it is essential to address the concern over who is
promoting sexual agendas to children under the age of 18 it is unacceptable for individuals organizations to introduce young students to inappropriate and explicit sexual content this raises questions about the
motives and intentions of those who advocate for such education in the new sex curriculum approved by this committee Planned Parenthood is presented as a resource to fifth graders this is alarming plann Parenthood or any other organization
with a specific agenda should never be trusted with shaping the sexual education of young individuals parents should be the primary source of information and guidance for children when it comes to understanding their bodies and sexuality followed by doctors and therapists of
the parents choosing pointing the pointing children towards activist organizations that promote sexual activity gender confusion and abortions to Elementary schoolers undermines a parent ability to protect and guide
their child it jeopardizes the child's safety and is incredibly irresponsible teaching fifth graders to access PL Parenthood and providing them a link where they can learn how to get free birth control and
watch videos called how can I tell if my partner has an orgasm or how do I stop ejaculating too fast is only one of the many problems in this curriculum while the minority May advocate for this type of sexual education in schools that does not reflect the beliefs of the majority
in our community just because a few individuals may support these initiatives does not mean that the Community agrees with or endorses such practices thankfully even though desie recommends these standards we are not
legally required to adopt them we as a community must fully understand and consider the implications and consequences of normalizing sexual content and educational settings you as a school committee have a duty to act as
our representatives and you must intervene to protect our CH children in conclusion we must prioritize the well-being and proper development of children by advocating for responsible and appropriate sexual education pract practices the newly
approved curriculum is not responsible or appropriate parents doctors and therapists should be the primary resource of information for young individuals not the school organizations with Progressive political agendas should not have a role in shaping the
sexual education of children it is crucial to protect the innocent and mental health of young minds by promoting ethical and age appropriate education on sexuality let us ensure that our Educational Systems uphold the values and standards that Safeguard the
well-being of our children vote today to resend the new curriculum good evening Gino leas uh I apologize UPF front for not making eye contact I I'm trying to be respectful at time so I wrote a lot of this down all right so let me just stop
by going back to December 12th in the school committee on meeting the following of statements questions answers directly from that meeting these are not going to be my words these are directly from the decision makers that were at the meeting and the educator task with coming up at the curriculum
and ultimately passing the curriculum desie approved desie approved desie approved mandatory mandatory mandatory desie framework it wasn't our decision we end the curriculum with having the kids explore trusted websites as it
pertains to the fifth grade level for our nine and 10 year olds we were mandated to put this into the curriculum and we will roll it into other lessons that we have question posed by a Committee Member at the younger levels we are adding more gender
stereotypes into the curriculum is that new yes question was it necessary interrupted by a second Committee Member I mean who came up with this idea interrupted by a third Committee Member it was mandated to teach well yeah just
framework we were just following this wasn't our decision question just want to be clear but it is a top IC that you guys are mandated to put into these lessons correct yes yes yes not one yes
three yeses are there any repercussions to not following the Desi framework I don't know what how what would come of that we would have to report it during that discussion the member is interrupted with this is on an action
item and that needs a vote tonight and then finally we need for them to teach before the end of the quarter so let's put that aside now let's explore the trusted websites and I hope tonight we can answer who came up
with these trusted websites that that's that I would love to know that being said saying their websites would imply their multiple websites with different views or alternatives to what's being
taught within this curriculum but that's not what this is and mind you this is what the fifth grade our nine and 10 year olds are getting planed Parenthood amaze.org they are their managing partner is advocates
for youth advocates for youth is partnered with Clan Parenthood that's one ideology that's one view sold as multiple trusted websites so let's be
clear these websites all connected to one another they share the same ideology and similar agendas when it comes to social issues this was not clearly articulated at the December meeting and if this was known it was and it was intentionally not
articulated then it was presented in bad facei when it comes to not following Desi framework or recommend recommended guidelines of reporting it and not knowing what could happen as a result was concerning the reason it's so concerned is because nothing would
happen you don't have to follow desie you don't right we know this right yet the answer provided in that December meeting promoted Fair unknowns the possibility something might happen and
to be quite hon honest the answer if it was intentionally given in that manner when you knew you would not be uh any issue would become of it that's misleading and in bad faith 48 hours to
review uh 276 plus pages of curriculum research trusted websites research other websites that are linked to The Trusted websites which I've looked and there are plenty we talk about it all the time kids go on Tik Tok they shouldn't be on this they shouldn't be on this they're
on to stuff that they shouldn't be looking at yet the websites we direct them to have plenty of links to go down the rabbit hole same thing with the me click on one video there's 70 other propaganda type videos at the hands of
these children and review these videos linked to the to the to those videos somehow take a well-informed vote so all that should have been done in 48 hours but in the statement at December's meeting actions needed vote must take place again this statement although accurate
because it is an action item it was made to if it was made to intentionally push a vote for forward that is in bad face the statement we need something for them to teach before the end of the quarter if this statement was made to show
urgency that somehow the Educators wouldn't have something to teach then again if intentional and stated to mislead others into a v that is in bad faith uh the question posed in DEC meeting mandated into uh in the meeting
that was this mandated to be put into the lessons yes yes yes again this answer if intentionally given would be in bad faith so what happened did just so many people get wrong uh get this wrong or were they
misinformed I don't know or is it someone or a group of folks driving the agenda to push this ideology and their views on social issues onto our children so let's just switch gr quickly careers in the health field research and salaries and credentials to enter the
nursing and physical therapy field and Etc environmental health and Hazards and how that affects your health Fitness how Fitness and physical activity benefits your body learning the muscle groups exercises that help those muscle groups safety while out in the sun or in the
way creating a personal fitness plan what does all those things have in common those topics it's the Alternative Learning if you opt out that's what you will learn about
right none of it has active teaching none of it is divisive and it could have been taught to meet the end of quarter dilemma that we heard about which was they wouldn't have nothing to teach because we
know they meet the Desi framework and guidelines every single thing I just said meets that so in which the statement we need something for them to teach was referring to which in turn would have allowed more time to review all this you guys could have had more than
the 48 hours which some committee asked asked for and finally most importantly there'd be no opt in or opt out for this type of curriculum which brings me to my final points why didn't we make the alternative curriculum the actual
curriculum and send out a letter to the parents letting them opt in and out of learning about health care and how to take care of your bodies and take care of your muscles and eat healthy and create Fitness plans let's be
honest if we did that 100% of the parents would say why am I getting this out without leather plus I would venture to say 100% of the parents would opt in furthermore the current curriculum I personally believe that was passed would be a great a great elective class for
kids and a compromise without being divisive my best yes is the opt out of the current curriculum that has passed is probably low and some will Proclaim and convince others they made the right vote that this is somehow a victory or
buyin by the parents of this community or communities but we know that just like the committee members couldn't digest this in 48 hours and somehow parents at home were going to do all that work and make an informed
decision really excuse use those numbers if they knew and watch the videos I've watched and did the research I've done those numbers would be different again back to the theme of intentional if this was a thought in
anyone's mind that parents would just sign off and not take the time to research all of this will mission accomplish and take your Victory lap I guess praying on the fact that parents are busy and they trust our schools to do the right things is a means to an end
to pass a curriculum based on an ideology and social views some may support to close there was Alternative Learning available before the end of the quarter there would be no repercussions for not following Desi guidelines this
was not mandatory there was no rush to act at the December meeting we could have allowed more than 48 hours for committee members to review that something that is so divisive and comprehensive as this we could have pushed it to January to allow for a
proper wellth out vote we could have been truthful and upfront not give political answers but rather have real talk in place of some being deceptive and misleading others to achieve the outcome they desire again who is driving the
agenda based on everything I have spoken about I feel this process was a fraud to this community there is a lack of respect for parents and an ideology amongst some to replace the parent all together and push their views onto our children to make statements and get so
many things wrong only means you've got them all right you have achieved what you've set out to do there is no coincidence that some of the most brilliant folks in our community and those we depend on the most to Sarah in the right direction
just simply misspoke repeatedly but your actions coming up as you reconsider this curriculum and this me will tell the real story I can only hope that everything I said will be proven as fiction and that you all just needed more time to really investigate
the curriculum and are ready to move forward with a well-informed vote on the matter and look for ways to unite a community rather than divide one and I want to go off script really quick and say
look there are people with two different mindsets but there's always Comming around and we can always find it doesn't have to be extreme here it doesn't have to be extreme here but the underlining facts side at the end of the day we are
in no place to judge anyone it doesn't matter what you Proclaim you are gender wise it doesn't matter what your home life is none of it matters we should be growing our kids up to respect everyone and that's the message we should be sharing in schools every single day
regardless of the curriculum we do not have to divide kids and separate kids in school and pass curriculums that are divisive all around this country we are a smaller town we can do things we can
work together to really find the common ground and I I I hope and I really pray that we all put feelings aside and what's best for this community thank you is there anyone else that would like to
address the committee under public forum okay thank you all for speaking uh next on the agenda is the vote to reconsider uh approval of the self excuse me Health insect education standards and
materials um so this was a request by a member of the school committee uh to be put on the agenda um the the vote I will take a vote to see if the committee is interested in
reconsidering um the vote that was taken taken on December 12th if that vote passes then we would discuss how that um then it would go to another vote on
what um what what what we would do with that curriculum whether make amendments leave it alone or um oh what have you so with that um I
will take a motion to reconsider the health and sex education standards and materials Tara by Tara seconded uh by Matt any discussion all those in favor signify
saying I I I any oppose he it's unanimous now we're going to move to the curriculum that was voted on on um December 12th and what is the pleasure of or or
discussion on that on that Curriculum by committee numbers um so Mr chair uh if I could um doing more research than what I you know the curse researches and the cursy um you
know research that I did prior to the uh TW December 12th meeting um a lot of stuff has come to uh to like uh much like the folks in the audience have mentioned is there's rabbit holes that that we we go down uh the materials that
are provided to the students especially at the fifth grade uh level where there are 9 10 years old just getting into you know possibly using social media and uh whatnot um when these
trusted websites come up and you're you're in YouTube and all that I agree with what some of the sentiments we heard tonight were the suggested um videos after that and I I sus this out
by utilizing my own child who's a fifth grader uh using his phone um and searching this stuff what comes up after is jaring it's really concerning um there was and I mean no way to be crass
uh but one of the um next videos and maybe it's something I need to talk to my son about um but and we do have these conversations often um but it was to use you know instructions on using certain sexual
devices okay that's strange so I tried this out on a different on a different family members uh phone um this person was not happy that I was doing it but I had to use the scientific method and again not the same video but a similar
video came up uh as so again very concerning that we have fifth graders 10 9 10 11 year olds who have who are being not just have access to it they always have access to this but based on this framework and what
they're being told to do they're going to actively go and do this they could go actively go and do this with without parental permission uh it's up to the parents obviously to be teaching their kids and having this conversation that's the first
step couple of the other things as I'm as I was uncovering this is the k through2 um curriculum um I printed a lot of this out so kindergarten through two um some of the curriculum is to
correctly identify at least three body parts of the female namely the nipples vulva and anus uh there's also cartoon-like um images that they that can be shown this doesn't mean that the teachers are going to use this this is actual this is just part of the um the
curriculum that's offered through um uh advocates for youth um it instructs this teacher to make Post-its each one labeled with vulva nipples an his shoulder foot and belly button um and
place them near the uh locations on the um cartoon image um for parents that maybe have opted their child in I understand we have the numbers of the opt in and opt out um were they privy to this did they did they have this would
they did they go through this information um I don't know it's their it's their call um but it's just it really is for the committee to understand if you haven't looked through this if you haven't gone down these rabbit holes
it's it's a lot it's a lot for kids and it does it is political ideology that drives us we I don't believe as one Committee Member that it's just not necessary at this point for this school
for the for these children to have this we can get this information to the kids as parents if that's what the parent wants to give to the child as far as information the government does not have we're the government the school is the government we do not have
to do this for for the parents all right yes they have the opt out but and they opt in and all that but I mean if you if you take a look at some of this stuff it really is
graphic um and divisive so you know it's it's telling children that as young as first grade um you know they're separating them based on
what their what the ideology might be and what do you believe and it's really it's it's just kind of it's creepy it's creepy what they're doing um I have no problem with what people want to do in their home and what people want to you know teach their own children and that's
fine but as a school district as a government structure as a public school system I just don't think it's necessary for us to be approved in this so I don't know if I have if we if I
have this right so allow me to to misspeak but do we have the ability to separate this out by grade level and vote on this separately if it's if it's if the motion is made we set the curriculum
so I point how how intricate do we get in the like strand by strand so just to what Matt was just referencing so we're not doing that material at kindergarten in first grade and it would be really clear for anybody watching this because I think words are incredibly important
yeah and I think words are incredibly important in this conversation we're using terms like rabbit hole and we're talking about videos that are connected to the videos that are in our curriculum so I think those are really really important things to discuss and I think we should talk about those things but I
also want to be very clear to our families that are listening that the the rabbit hole conversation and the videos connected to our curriculum that's not what we were putting forward as curriculum you're talking about you you watch a you know you go to a website or you click on a link and then it's the thing that comes up next right so I
think that's a really valid point and I think that's something to be explored but I want to be clear that when our Educators put these things together that that was not at all the intent was to show the the you know three video clicks later what that what that exploration
was going to do it was the primary material as the source I don't disagree with that but unfortunately we all know you know kids when they get onto these things it's just next video up and next video up so understand as unintentional
as it would be it still is going to uh could potentially happen um the only other thing I'll add to this is the the and the overall is is the the victimhood that it that it promotes um and I just don't know if if
this curriculum as it's as i' I've read and I honestly in the time that since the last meeting till now or you know the 12th and that whenever it was that I've been looking at this I I feel like I haven't even scratch the surface on what a lot of
this is getting to but um I just get this overall feeling of on on no matter what it just promotes a feeling of victimhood and that's just like this like it's like downtrod and like you know you'll never you know you'll never be good enough and it's like you know there a lot of
victimhood just keep coming back back to that word victimhood so so um that's all I have to say typically um are you with were just a par are you a parent or a member of the
public I apologize element I'm sorry president of the elementary PTO to parent president okay um minut you got two minutes if you want to
time till come to the table thank you um I appreciate the time and I appr R we're all here because we our children and we care a lot about them my name is Renee Christie um I know that these are hot button um discussions and I think it's coming from
a very privileged point of view that uh 9 10 or 11y old hasn't already been exposed to these sorts of um experiences or that a kindergarten first or second grader may not know inappropriate touch versus appropriate touch so I think in
terms very respectfully Matt in terms of victimhood these are are very fragile vulnerable humans that may not have the guidance at home that is only getting the information from the schools looking
at um different genders or gender fluidity and different um non-traditional uh relationships those individuals are at a very high risk for self harm as well as a very high risk of
being injured by their peers um and I just ask everyone here that's a parent would you be willing to take that risk and say one in 10 is of the population that is getting attacked um and would you be willing to to allow your child to
be the victim and think I can't even talk to my teachers that I'm questioning my gender or my two parents that are the same sex um that I can't even have a conversation with my my own teachers and I'm
getting bullied or I'm getting harassed by students that don't understand that are honestly getting rhetoric from people that I would hope that my students can my um personal kids can be strong enough to be kind to the
individuals that are here um because I don't think that they're hearing kindness I don't think that they're being open and I think um it's really unfortunate and I think this is really important that you really think a lot about it and we're a small community
we're a pretty isolated community and um it's concerning so thank you for your time I appreciate it I just want to clarify one thing no I I got it from here thanks uh at no time would this whatever decision would
prevent a student from talking to the teacher or the counselor or of any issue whether we have this curriculum or not they do not even know that they're able to have that discussion they may not even recognize I want to made it clear the
school district would not ever um and I have faith in the teachers in the school district that if there was an issue and they know their students well they would address them in the in the staff so true I I just want to make that clear can I again we'll make it
real quick yeah you can do it right from yeah you're fine so I know that your rules to allow this speaking but again I think this goes back like there these catch words about being privileged right and again we're taking and we're assuming that the vast
majority of parents in Black St and milville don't give two shits about their kids that's the minority the majority of the folks have a real indepth understanding of what their
children need that's the majority I'm not I'm speaking okay so this goes I'm not going to sit here and get gelated by you okay okay and and and the timing that you step forward in
be to sway the vote of these people is typical tactics okay at the end of the day we're talking about nine and 10 yearold kids who we are talking about gender identity gender stereotypes we're
talking about searching these videos and going to plann Parenthood and everything else else in general that these kids don't even know what it means now I'll finish with
this to say my kid knows what things mean at 10 years old and 9 years old they may have heard the word right but as a parent if my kid came home and said to me hey Johnny's got two
daddies that's weird i' say mind your business respect that family and knock it off and I think the vast majority of the parents in this town would do the same we don't need to be lectured and told we're privileged in this town or
anywhere and told we're going to know what's better for your kid in the classroom okay at some point you can't just broad brush every parent as they're not engaged that's irresponsible I take offense to
it a lot of people take offense to that thank you that's it so we're going to get back to the Comm that is separated no two seconds two seconds everybody why can't we just compromise that this isn't taught until middle school or high school this has no place in elementary
that is a that is a compromise in my eyes I think that's fair fair to everyone involved you get it just later on down the road that's all I have to say all right so we'll get that's the end of public um engagement on this um Matt you've spoken any other Committee Member
wish to add to this Chuck how does that curriculum help our students in there uh get better grades and increase our test scores and it's so divisive um I think we
should um go to the alternative method for now and sort things out we need more time uh to review this and so what's the I I don't think that uh we should move forward I think
we should reject that culum Mr J yes thank yes are we able to I know we've this is our reconsidering of it but are we able to table this and get a list of which strands are actually taught within the
Frameworks and then look through those piece by piece is that we can do whatever the committee I have can we see the links in those curriculums when I looked through it but
yeah that's yeah Jo I think it's it's flawed and where it came from you know uh I think we need to just drop in stop fresh with coming up with something new I don't know why no it's Fizz let's
stick to the basics and why we um especially in the elementary schools we don't need to teach these expose these kids I we're not privileged let see okay I was asked to put a motion to
reconsider uh on the agenda what is the alternative what's the motion for the alternative I'll make a motion the alternative um uh health and health education um as
the main health education I don't know how to word it so basically I want to make a motion to you know utilize the alternative um curriculum as the um as a replacement for the um advocates
for youth uh sex ed curriculum I'll second all right there's a motion in ciruit Mr superintendent how do you understand that motion how that would affect what I what I understand is that Matt has made a motion to eliminate the current help curriculum and replace
it with the alternative lessons is that right do I have that correct so all the work around just so I have a clear like gender identity sexual orientation different types of families you know foster care two moms
grandparents raising it all that gets put out and is replaced with whatever the alternative is for that grade level do I have that straight this is important I want to make sure if that happens we do we're
doing can Mar can we sus this out a little bit and maybe add in that the know flip can I ask a question flip it you know what would be really helpful and and maybe and I actually think this whole conversation is very helpful uh for a lot of different reasons and I and I
would like to take a moment as the individual who was in charge of the education of all 1500 kids in this school system nobody wants to put anyone In Harm's Way I want to say that UPF front and nobody nobody wants to lead through any process whether it's the
Educators in the class who are were putting these materials together or presenting the materials in front of the committee to have it thought or assumed or be treated like their integrity was being called into question
and that the honesty behind the process they were using and the why behind the decision- making was devious or mischievous in any way that's heartful to our Educators I assume some of that because of the seat I sit in so superintendant
get that hit constantly whether it's a snow day call or whether it's something with curriculum decision right so fair enough but I do not want the Educators in the classroom to be viewed that way at all because they did work very hard to try to put something together that made a
lot of sense with standards that some of them were kind of wrestling with and trying to figure out that's why we didn't teach some of these things in kindergarten in first grade I think it needs be said because I think people are forgetting those things and that's why we push them to second grade fifth grade eighth grade and we tried our best to to
move those more intense um standards to the highest grade span allowable within the Department of Education framework want be really clear about that um what would be really helpful for me and Matt you and I have had this
conversation before if there are key pieces of the of the standards that are of most concern to people and it sounds like there might be getting some of that feedback and looking to see what's possible there because I don't agree that that we
should be eliminating all of this and I will tell you why because you have children in a second grade classroom that that that are being raised by their grandparent that are in foster care that do have two mothers that have a mom and
a stepdad etc etc and I don't think that those kids should feel marginalized and any way shape or form because they do not have a mom and a dad the traditional family at home so I am going to fight for those kids because I think they matter but I also think that everyone in this room thinks they matter too and I
agree with you about that meeting in the middle and kind of figureing out how to do this in a way that makes sense and I will say to you 100% that is what the Educators tried to do in this process they truly did and I do not want them victimized in this so if we can try to
find a way to address what the main concerns are without marginalizing our kids families the same kids and families that we love and we fight for daily you're the the irony here is you're fighting for them and so are we we're all fighting the same fight but we're looking at it from different
perspectives I read all the stuff that people post and it's a Foss and it causes problems and it's divisive and it's not necessary if we're going to work together let's work together let's really do it so getting some feedback on what those issues are would be would be
really helpful so that we can put together a a program that makes sense for all in our community all because that second grader who sting in that classroom deserves to be respected too so that would be helpful to hear
though I'm just gonna no I'm GNA just no I'm going to stop right there what's what's what do you want we've heard we we we we hear everybody one question quick can you curriculum with the parents do a
committee put table again do a committee and include parents to work on a on an a curriculum that we're okay with that you're okay with that gets our point across that gets your point across I was a second grader with two moms I get it okay I do we got your question can we do
that include the parents we are we we are the we are the school committee there are nomination papers are open until Tuesday so that's how unfortunately that's how it works but we we are engaging with the parents we're engaging with the parents this evening
we engage with the parents uh December uh when we when you came in to visit us a meeting or so ago and this is a response to th those engagements so it's um and I don't
think I hope not but I don't think I think we all want what's best for the students and and again when you had mentioned um what part of the what part of the curriculum and two moms Two Dads grandparents this and that like
that's the reality like kids should be understand that that's reality what's going on I think some of the other things um so what so are what are concerning so what are we looking to accomplish here so we can you
can put a halt on these things until a subcommittee of the school committee meets up has made a motion no other motion can be made correct Matt did make a motion you so nothing else can be made so the motion was to use the alternative the alternative continue with that Moe I didn't I don't think I
finished my motion okay well you did Chuck seconded it but so go ahead no that was the alternative you want to use the alternative curriculum in place of the current curriculum and and and
because that motion is on the floor I'll I'll I'll leave that motion there and so so we should discuss that right so now the superintendent gave a list of what that then excludes I'd like to hear that list again no you're gonna make
me well it's it's everything except what the alternative activities are so is everything around family Dynamics gender identity sexual orientation it's all it's it's good Touch Bad Touch it's everything that's included if I'm understanding getting that correct
that's T this is my motion so he's got a motion on the table can we motion can I add to your motion we can we'll discuss it so tell us what you thinking on Matt's motion what if we what if we motion to move
forward to the alternative right now while we look into what was put in place a little bit more in depth I guess I want to say and but the alternative is just like alternative it's not even what the
previous health and wellness curriculum were it's just completely so it's getting rid of everything yes so why I feel like we if we were we accepted it as a whole now Mount wants to reject it as a whole but we're still not finding that common ground because there are lessons Within These Frameworks that I
think we all agree should should and could be taught correct I may this is the opportunity where we get that that parent and school you know member committee together that way we can look at this from a you know I know person
I'm not comfortable rejecting the entire thing but I would prefer to table that until we can look through it more Peace by piece but I can't motion that because there's already a motion
on and withw emotion and then start over again and Chuck was withw a second that does that P I'm saying on that it does to table it and then
like where table does do we move forward with the existing curriculum until we find an alternative so that's that's where my concern lies is that we you know because the opt-in opt out is still there and I
can I just I just want to you did address me on the on that in what we did speak about and I just want to back you up on the it was the teachers that the policy is um is an opt out it's
not an all opt-in uh it and just to give the teachers the the credit where credits do is they implemented the um permission slip which in effect gives it gives you an opt in so I will give credit what
credits do is and and you know it was the teachers that did that so um do I want the do I do I want a different less politically motivated but you know someone we can
find in the middle yes um I don't have a different motion to okay put it Mr superintendant 2 8th 9th and 10th grade is this has already been complete correct yes uh grades two what
was approved already has been complete that Health curriculum's done those in the fifth grade were just getting the permissions remember that's where we pushed the that grade span those standards up to grade five so fifth what's left Mary
fives five six and seven five six is a the six is where the new health curriculum is most yeah but I think I don't think it's mostly fifth grade that you you're wanting to look at and they have they're
not starting till March so right now this current curriculum these already pretty much they're halfway done okay 9 of 10 because they go by semester they are finished for this semester like
this time but they'll go yeah they'll go again the op in opt out numbers is that a both the upin is going to be ey because they review it all the
curriculums so it's it's a false number 72 yes grade 2 72 yes 28 no grade 6 5 3 yes 10 no grade 8 32 yes 5 No 9 and 10 38 yes 4 no so not the whole student body did not
get their perion slips so all right so here we are we have so the next it doesn't kick off till March the fifth grve yeah and
so we had are there any classes between now and March like and the other grades like second grade is halfway done second grade is halfway third right eth ninth and 10th are done they're pretty oh you just
explain yeah they're pretty for this semester remember because it's only a couple of lessons so it's not it's not like it's only a couple like grade two only has like four or five five yeah
there one four or five so how long requests 10 and 10 15 minutes 15 minutes 20 minutes was long so 20 minutes St and split oh you got a motion the second on the floor um would you like to amend
that motion to I wouldn't to amend it to so what's that I I don't know what to amend it to to be very completely honest I well we like we we just have the kids do their fiz classes like they would without the sex
education stuff let them do it for now so we can just straighten out get our act together right let's just at this moment standard always been for in with a Health and Wellness standard it's the same
Frameworks so with to our previous curriculum just going back to the old curriculum at this time until we can merge a new you're saying in he's saying the alternative but you're saying go back to our previous right their original Health lessons in the meantime
with that be a balance not knowing not having those materials in front of me yeah it's a little um difficult to um to know can the school determine
what's neutral at this point and teach the kid let them continue while we straighten it out but I think what I think what you're asking Chuck what I'm hearing terara saying is table the new um
standards for now have some type of a working group and bring them back to the committee to review and discuss is that what I will resend my Mo y sh you're going to resend your second I resend was
Matt thank you that's what I've been try that's what Matt did you just make a motion to table the existing Health curriculum and till we have a sub a subgroup represented to the committee is
that you're asking is that was that what Matt's motion was not exist in you right so up said not ex like the full existing the new pieces the new pieces just just the just the new standards is what is what ask table and new standards for the
time being until they can look be looked into with a a committee of parents and Educators and committee okay there's a motion can we get a second I second that okay any discussion do we need another
motion after this to decide what the current what to teach in the meantime no we just eliminated we have yes it's all yeah need a motion it'll just not eliminating tables with that motion look into the because I know comments were
made tonight that we don't have to follow desie Frameworks can we also be looking into that as well alter not this this what you're saying well I just like a ruling for good po education what happens if we just say
what do we do if we're not doing oh we don't you're de yeah no otherwise we we uh if we were mandated to do it we wouldn't have to vote on it yeah I'm very clear about that and they won't find us and they
won't cut our funding because for public schools so yeah but do you have follow up with an opinion from Kelly on that it would for the record it would be important yes so part of further discussion on this motion like secondary current day is the
halfway through with L and we're going to stop they're going to change a lessons right yeah we I I had just said that they can just stop no that's not un I mean I know it's a lot of like lessons are planned ahead so
I just had one thought to um or maybe a question do we know of any other districts that are looking at this as well like any other surrounding towns or are they just approving they're teaching they're not approving it they're just teaching and they're not even get so all of this is
because we're doing this right just to our community who's paying attention when swag under that's slightly was because you look over at adbar right because I've actually done some research right so you look over at some of these other school
they're not adop in this because they know they don't have to so that's that's you you going to tell all the truths okay so it sounds like it's prrac it was in in fors out forms is there going to be a
communication of how this proceeds for I just going to address that all right no perfect thank you um so there's still a motion in a second on the floor and your in your motion it was administrators school committee members
and parents I want to make sure be clear that there's an opportunity for fair representation of all parents and anybody who you know and and the parents uh who have different beliefs will have to work you know for that common ground
and and I think that's what's important I think I I will give credit to the Administration I'll give credit to the parents and I'll give credit to the school committee members because I believe it's been the the discussion of this has been very
public and very transparent and we've gotten to hear from from all all sides of the coin on this one and and there has been misinformation on both sides and I
looked at a a a a post of a parents group from a few days ago who um essentially blame the superintendent and the administration for not not posting the meeting properly and this that and
the other thing I almost responded and I didn't because it is the responsibility of the school committee we are the ones elected by the by the people to set the curriculum we set the AG I set the agenda so there was nothing we've been and and the school committee members and
two of them are probably ready to go to a basketball game right now it's been you know we don't just have school committee meetings we have subcommittees we have also we're all on different committees and um many of them still have you know students children in the school and so and I do appreciate it takes a
lot of Courage for all to speak up um and and it's not easy so I appreciate everybody's input and this is how we learn and we will hopefully start to close that Gap close that
divide and start to uh focus on uh on you know um the education and and fair treatment of all the students of the district so with that being said there's a motion in a second on the floor all those in favor signify by saying I I any
oppose the eyes have it as unanimous thank you now with that being said is there anything else we didn't get done I want to to get done a car you're leaving Chuck you're here for a few more I can stretch it up I have to leave in in like
10 minutes myself all right so we're going to take some so msba update can we kick that off to the next meeting all right so we're going to put that off to the next meeting um use of excess and deficiency fund for opep is 50,000 that we put in from the end every year
anybody have any question on that I'll take a motion to approve the 50,000 from E and the OPB did I still Yes y second all right motion made by Chuck second and by Carrie any further discussion all those in favor signify by saying I I um
next on the agenda is to appoint Chief cesing procurement officer a Director of Finance this is a standard um appointment Joe has received his mcpo mcppo and he's uh waiting for our authorization to be in charge of
dispersing the big from the district starting with picking a chaperon for $5,300 to go to Spain motion made by Carrie seconded by Tara any further discussion all those in favor secondy by saying I I the eyes
have it um under the report of the superintendent we have to vote for the fund use of funding February vacation extracurricular act opportunity yes we just want to run a uh February camp uh for students who are looking to do some
extra uh academic work but also extra Sports uh physical fitness team work sportsmanship do some intermurals uh we are looking for Tuesday Wednesday Thursday program with Transportation 8:30 to 11:30 um at a total of
$2,895 and Joe um we've already discussed those funding of that where we can find that any discussion do I have a motion to approve motion by Carrie second second by Chuck any further discussion all those in
favor signify by saying I the eyes have it great and the next item uh is to uh approve the instructional assessment assistant Mentor uh position as you know we've working with our um unfc uh staff
to create a job description so we'll have a lead Mentor in each building as part of our retention strategy to keep working with our instructional assistant to keep them grow um and the stien amount is $750 a year uh for each would have one in each
building and it was ratified by Unit C already so that's great news they're very excited about the extra uh mentorship and Joe has already down the C the budget we found it motion to approve Theo
St Wish by carrye second by Matt any further discussion alls in favor signify by saying hi I before we get to the business office uh is I see a scout in the audience are you here on your
um for your community service I mean Community come on up go you you you here for that too come on up a great night to be here introduce yourself you're getting two badges for
us sitting through tonight hello I'm Kevin Bur my brother Benjamin Burgess we're both a triple and Blackstone I'm instructor he's a den Chief we're here tonight for our communication M badges we're here to take seven key points or more write them
down and then after we're going to take them to our either our Sy scout master scoutm and then or him to then get our communication miror badge that badge is one of our ego
required Merit badges kind of in its name it specializes in Communications and giving speeches about a month and a half ago we went up in R Island College I then got the me and B got the opportunity to do the badge and we then
we then presented multiple speeches and business ideas as real life scenarios I'm currently a star Scout I think coming to here is benefiting me in about 2 months I can earn life Scout which then I can start working on my e
project I've been starting to begin the planning steps for my egole project right now I've been talking to Mrs Remco Mr calano and some other leaders from the troops to get different ideas but right now my main idea is to do it with
a school the Frederick CET School very good and then front of you guys the communication merit badge I need to uh list seven key points are you reading on this
paper awes so you let your brother do all the Talking for about one year when I'm coming up on my third year follow your brother's lead right well I didn't think I bet you didn't think you going to get called up well you did a heck of a job those
Communications SKS are Shar as attack nice job boy thanks all right business office Joe let's go right to the uh action required stuff which is the budget journal
entries uh these are just the same budget journal entries I've made you can see there only a couple here that are affect the function code uh and I put in the description what they're for that's Mo to approve the budget by
second second by carrye any further discussion all those in favor signify by saying I lies unanimous um the next action item is the uh Wi-Fi access point purchase I'll do this real quick uh as you know the district's been working to update their
um network wireless network infrastructure part of that is replacing these Wi-Fi access points uh fortunately the this is on the state contracts we're able to do this through combis which we can do a bidding process right through comis that bid should close on the 20th
so we'll be able to get uh good pricing whatever the best pricing we can find um from from that bid we'll obviously select the the vendor that's the best for the district not necessarily cheapest but the one that provid us the best service uh it's about
$144,000 I'm looking to uh fund this through the the miscellaneous revolving fund balance that's remaining and a small portion out of the rental of classroom fund so there's no impact to our general fund for this purchase so I'm looking for approval just to do that to fund it in that
manner so motion by Tara second by Matt any further discussion all those in favor signify by saying I any opposed the eyes have itation Pathways planning Grant yes as Mrs FAS is about to to sneak out the
back uh do you want to do a quick two second this is actually a really good a very good news we're very excited about being stage hi everyone I know there is no side door over there next time I'll sit better um we um have received a
$155,000 planning Grant um we are and they gave us money before they gave us a designation don't ask me why but they did so we've uh officially put in the um designation for environmental and Lifey pathway once we get that then this may
will be able to apply for up to like $75,000 if the money is is great um and uh we're really looking forward to revamping that and having um having opportunities with that and uh connections with internships um we're
meeting with the zoo um in a yeah later this week we're meeting with the zoo and we met with qcc on Monday um so we've got some really you had help in the Chamber of Commerce yeah uh that's Friday yep Friday to so we got a lot going on so once they say
yes then get ready oh thank you very much thanks Jill so you a motion to accept the Innovation Pathways planning grant for $155,000 made by motion made by Matt second second by Tara L any further
discussion all those in favor signify by saying I I it's unanimous um um the Personnel report gets filed um the expenditure report we've already proved the uh you good Joe are you good y good the only other question
I I request I have is the use of facilities request there's one for March 2nd and it's pretty standard if the other one can wait if it needs to to the next school Comm because that's not until June and so we what about the Char these charging station and the lights we can give an update yeah we if you want
to get the it's just ongoing basic both of them they're in the process of putting propos together for for each of yeah we should talk about the another controversial stre the charging station I'm back to
gas I'm back to gas oh no I can't public comment is done no I don't I don't even want to talk Dan come on let's go can I motion to approve both facility requests as War yeah they're they're both oh Joe is going to handle that Scott you can go home we're
done so a motion to approve a motion to approve facilities request as presented by Carrie second by Tara any further discussion all those in favor signifi by saying I the eyes have
it we we just got the F Le's update right that's it everything else you can it's in your packet anything major at this uh um cyle one failed so I got some D we I coming in you you just bring an industrial
group ever had facility that does not mention the word industrial burner in four years will be able to do that I hope fingers crossed for the next agenda we will put on the msba updates that's what we
skipped tonight uh Joe will bring us right up to speed with the personnel report expenses a report in the audit the single audit report other than that does anybody have any good and Welfare I thank everybody for being here tonight rearranging the schedule I thank
the parents the administrators the teachers and everyone involved in in in taking a deep interest in our Student Success and thank for the presenters from choices as well as of congratulations once again to Jamie
Maurice for her outstanding efforts with that I'll take a motion to adjourn actually made by Matt seconded by Tara all those in favor signify by saying I I