She didn't want to be Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I would now call to order the June 10th meeting of the Bridgewater Raino Regional School Committee. Uh to my right I am Miss Conrad Labberto, Mrs. King, and M. Mr. Dupont. To my left I am
Superintendent Powers, Miss Hoy Thomas, Mr. Matthew Selenas, Mr. Dan Guthro. Uh, also in attendance tonight are members of our central office team, including uh, current assistant superintendent uh, Miss Barry and incoming uh, assistant
superintendent, Miss Watson. Um, with that will stand for the pledge of >> allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice
for all. >> Before we move on to our next item, just like to call for a moment of silence uh from Mrs. is Maria Burke, a former former language teacher at our high school who recently passed away. Thank you. Uh we will now move on to
item number three, public comment. School committee welcomes information, concerns, and opinions from those attending the meeting. To give those those wishing to comment a fair opportunity to speak to ensure compliance with open meeting law and other legal obligations and avoid disrupting the meeting, the committee
will not engage with the speaker or with one another in deliberation on comments as they are presented during comment period. At its discretion, the committee may schedule issues raised by the speaker for deliberation at a few at a future meeting. We will now open public
comment for 12 minutes per policy. Anyone who wishes to speak is asked to provide their name and the town they reside in and keep their comments to three minutes in length. We will now open public comment. Good evening. Sam Balgarden, 60 Short
Street in Bridgewater. [clears throat] First of all, I'm happy to be surrounded by track and field shirts. That's a good thing. It's been a while since I spoke to the school committee. Over the years, I've been here lots going back 25, 30 years. always standing up for quality
physical education, adequate time for physical education, recess and movement. Tonight, I'm here actually to share the good news about the Bridgewater Rain Youth Onem Road Race. This was the fourth year that we've had this race [clears throat]
and I'm modeling the kid shirt that we got this year. So, um I just wanted to give you a little bit of history because I've been around Bridgewater for 45 years or so. This race started in 1980 at Bernell School as a Bernell school
only race. Some of you may not even know where Bernell is or what it was, but it was an elementary school part of the college and I spent the first part of my time in Bridgewater there. Then it became a Bridgewater uh K to6 race. Then it became a Bridgewater K to8 race and
then it stopped during the pandemic and it came back [clears throat] four years ago as a Bridgewater Rain onem event to include all the kids in the district. One of the uh important things in bringing it back was uh getting to know Dan Lamore.
Many of you know him. He's a parent of three children in the district and he also owns a race timing country called North [clears throat] Northeast Race Management and he was willing to do all the timing registrations etc. And once I got to know Dan and at the time his kids were not even in school yet and I said
to myself I've got him for 10 more years by the time his kids get through 8th grade. So that was a good a good meeting and enabled the race to move along smoothly. So, I need to thank Dan and his wife Lauren who helped organize the event along with their timer do all
things kind of person Nikki Higgins. But [clears throat] I also want to make sure that I let you know that a lot of people are involved in pulling this off and I want to make sure I don't miss anybody. Um, first of all, thank you to Superintendent Powers and the facilities
folks who give us the opportunity to use this building as our headquarters for the race. It gives us a very safe course with no traffic and it's just been a great boon to the event. [clears throat] In terms of this t-shirt I'm wearing, this is the first year we gave out shirts and we owe that both to Dan's
company, Movement Realy, as well as my running club, the Colonial Road Runners, uh Bridgewater Sports Stone, Bridgewater Pediatrics, and Grants Rental. They were the major sponsors that gave us enough money to to get the shirts. And we also offer the race free of charge to the
kids. Among the helpers that we've had, members of my club, Colonial Road Runners, Frank Nelson, who's been here every year, Dennis Gallagher, your state rep, who's also a Colonial Road Runner, Eric Melon, a local Bridgewater folk folks, and Jimmy Dupont was not here
this year because, as you know, he's moving slowly. Um, let me just move on quickly. I don't want to go over my time here. There were some parents and teachers from the district. Corey Alves, Michelle Sullley, teachers Dave Glazer, Megan Lackey, Rebecca Pinkerton, Lauren
Picanzi, Kelly Rigo, Lorie Cullen, and a local resident, Jim Slavven, who puts in about four hours. Cole Bridges, who graduated two years ago, comes back and runs at the end of the race. He's my tail runner. Jack and Ryan Alves, who are both Brsents, and Katana Soulie.
Bridgewater track coach Chris Bridgewater State University Christine Clober um and nurse Claire Grennan who always comes in case we get bruised knees. We had none this year, thank goodness. So I just wanted to make sure that you folks were aware of all the people that come
together to make this work and I appreciate the help and look forward to continuing. Thank you. Thank you. [applause] ANYONE [applause] else for public comment? We'll close public comment at 7:08 p.m.
Moving on to number three, the consent agenda. I'll take a motion. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion by Miss King, second miss by Miss Conrad Labarto. Any discussion on the consent agenda? All in favor? I
>> We'll now move on to correspondence and recognition. Uh this past month, the district received a few emails. One regarding the tennis courts uh at the high school. Uh this is an issue we did discuss at length last year regarding the tennis courts and really trying to preserve uh the courts so they are for
student use and that we can keep them in good condition. As we noted last year, we had some damage to the track when we opened it up for for the public's use. It really is added significant cost to the district. We all of our community members at the courts at the middle school are open. We've also had correspondence from our special
education uh families and CPAC members regarding uh the new restraints and regulations uh that are in place. Uh and we will be looking at those policies shortly for the subcommittee. Um moving on now and I'll pass it over to uh Superintendent Powers for two
recognitions. Thank you, Mr. Lo. Good evening, everybody, all those in attendance, administrative staff, and most importantly, our students that are here this evening. Uh we do have a few individuals this evening to recognize. Uh it does give me great pleasure to start with. Miss uh Miss Michelle Senna.
Uh Menna, obviously uh your dedication to the district is goes above and beyond and it's truly appreciated. Uh my 11 years in the district, you've always been active. uh when your kids are younger and all the way up through high school. Something tells me this might not be the end. Uh but you know I I know
obviously you have a child graduating and so you you know do some uh well-deserved rest. Uh but I know on behalf of school committee on behalf of the entire district uh you've been a fierce advocate for the students for the music program both at the middle school and high school level and our music
program continues to survive and thrive because of you and obviously your uh colleagues and other parents like you. uh and we just wanted to take this opportunity as you are graduating in in a sense uh to to recognize you publicly and thank you for all you do. So I do have a certificate before you if you'd
like to come down [applause] [applause] [applause] Anybody [applause] from the committee before I move on? >> Mr. Lo, could I say something? >> Certainly. >> Um, as I think the most senior other
than Mr. Dupont on the school committee, I just want to say thank you to Miss Senna for being here. Even the years when we had to cut the music program, you never stopped advocating and coming to public comment and emailing us and you did not get discouraged. And when I
came on, I was like, we're going to add music. We're going to add foreign language. We have not done that. But I'm still here for people like you that keep advocating for your students. So, please continue everyone doing that because we need people like you that are
advocating. So, thank you. >> [applause] >> Uh, next to recognize is Miss Claire Brennan. Uh, as you have heard, Miss Brennan is our nurse leader for the district. Um, and I think you know, Mr. Bombgarten, your your introduction was a perfect segue. Um, Miss Brennan does give up her time on the weekend uh for
our students, not because she has to, uh, but because she's willing to do that. Uh, and that just says, uh, all that you need to know about Claire. Um she volunteers in the fall to organize a blood drive. Again, giving up her own time to do that for the benefit of Children's Hospital and and uh pediatric
cancer uh and as well as our students. But on a daily basis, uh Claire obviously manages our our nursing department, our health services department. And certainly uh there's nothing that she won't tackle. Uh Claire and I really started to work closely together during COVID a time uh we both want to forget, but I don't think we
will anytime soon. Uh and and just what really struck out to you know stuck out to me was Cla's commitment to the students health and wellness of the school community but also the community at large. Um I I know she recently submitted her annual health report to
the school committee and it was noted by several school committee members uh what a well done report it was how comprehensive it was and just so impressed by the efforts that you lead on a daily basis with all of our nursing staff. I think um you know again working elbow to elbow during some very difficult times. All of our nurses go
above and beyond uh but that's because of your leadership cla you set the expectation for them. You model that uh practice every day. And so on behalf of school committee we just wanted to provide you this letter of recognition. So please come on up. [applause] >> [applause]
>> I can talk to you. >> Thank you all. I just want to express my appreciation to the support of the district. It's um makes it much easier to meet the students health and wellness needs with the support through the administration and the school committee
for all of it. the physical and mental health initiatives that we accomplish. I I'm fortunate to work with such support and the um skill and knowledge set of my department. I work with some pretty highc caliber nurses. So, we're
fortunate. Thank you all. [applause] [applause] Uh next on the list of recognition is our unified sports team. Uh we have members of our unified sports team as well as our two coaches, Miss Prevalar and Miss Boscher. I invite you both to come down to the podium for a minute. Uh
as you know, we started a unified sports program last year. Uh we started in the winter and then expanded in the spring and then this year we had a full year program. Uh and obviously uh the enrollment had continues to grow. We're so fortunate. We have a core group of of students that participate on a seasonal
basis. They keep coming back. Uh we're just very excited about the state of the program. It's obviously in its infancy stages. Uh but it wouldn't continue to grow and be supported if it weren't for our two coaches. So I would invite you both down, maybe give a little uh overview. I know we had quite an accomplishment this spring. Every single
one of our athletes on the unified sports uh spring track team qualified for the state meet. Um and you know that's obviously quite an accomplishment that we had every single athlete qualify because that's not the case for all teams. And so we were super excited. We wanted to be able to uh welcome them
here tonight to recognize their efforts. Uh but I'll start with our two coaches. [applause] [applause] Hi everyone. Thank you for having us tonight. My name is Laura Prevalar and this is Coch. We're the coaches of the unified sports teams. Um, we have here Jake and Mark.
>> Hi, >> Avery and Madison who all competed in states this year. Um, our our states, we competed against around 70 schools around entire Massachusetts. Um, we had some big accomplishments. They worked really hard this season and we're really
proud of all of them. Um, one of our athletes who's not here, Andrew Rose, um, placed seventh in the entire state for the 100 meter dash. Um we have a four by 100 relay team that ended up placing sixth in the entire state and Mark was one of um the members on that
relay team. [applause] [applause] Thank you again. Nice job guys. Um Avery also placed it states they do it two different ways. Some events are like heats of 12 and they give the top six submetals. Um and then they did combine all the heats together
to you know for placement in the states. So they lots of kids placed and then we had the amazing job of a few kids who actually placed in states there or thousands of athletes and partners there. So it was quite an accomplishment. Um looking forward for
our program we have four of the students here of our athletes. We have about 15. We're looking to grow. Um, our next hope, fingers crossed, is that we get to host the basketball jamboree here, which brings about a dozen schools and it's like a tournament style. Um, last year
we had a famous Patriot player that came that was really cool that was over at Derby High School. So, we have put in for that and we hope that we can welcome all those schools here. Um, we also have a local gym helping us um along with Special Olympics to start a program for them over the summer, couple of times a week. We hope that Special Olympics will
fund that startup and we can keep the kids sort of active over the summer. So, those are our goals for the future and we're just really excited that we're able to offer unified sports for everyone. This program gives everyone regardless of their ability a chance to be a part of a team and learn all the different skills that come with being on
a team. Um, it really helps VR become a more inclusive and welcome environment for everyone. And we're really proud to stand behind this and have these great kids on our team. We're really happy to be here tonight and to celebrate all the accomplishments that they've made over the last year and a half of this
program. Um, and hopefully you guys can come out in the fall and see us play basketball. >> Yes, >> you might see Jake hit a couple of threes. [applause] [applause] Congratulations. >> Great job. What a awesome way to end
recognition. We are complete. So, thank you. >> Thank you. Congratulations to all the unified athletes on their accomplishments and thank you to the dedication. >> Before moving on to uh number six, I'm going to I'll take a motion to take item
7B out of order and it is a part of the superintendent report. >> So, move second. >> All in favor? >> I any >> All right. Then we'll move on into administrative reports with superintendent powers. >> I'm back. I obviously didn't uh look
ahead and think that through. Uh yes, I just wanted to provide a quick update and then uh make some introductions. So obviously we're wrapping up the school year. As you know, we get out on Tuesday the 23rd of June. Uh obviously uh that is approaching rather quickly. Uh we
still have some time left but our kindergarten preschool students get out next Monday that allows us a few days to actually conduct preschool and kindergarten screening for the following year. Um obviously we have some po uh positions posted as you know we are doing some hiring for next year uh
replacing some of our retirees and then obviously through the budget and through the gift from Rainham we were able to add some additional positions. So Miss Healey our director of human resources has worked uh to get those posted. Our principles are starting to interview. They're in that process right now and so we'll have some new hires uh relatively
soon and we'll obviously continue that throughout the summer if we have any uh you know late resignations or um retirements but we don't anticipate any future ones at this time but we're very excited about that. Um, but I did obviously want to just uh inform school
committee the town of Bridgewwater uh through Senator Driscoll's office did receive some fair share uh uh earmarks for FY26 totals about $320,000. Town of Bridgewwater had submitted several items but three specific to the schools. And so it's for capital
upgrades. Uh as you know those earmarked funds uh that we've received in the past were for capital upgrades. So that money will go to enhancing safety and security as well as uh working on water filtration systems. Uh so that's something that Mr. Shance, Mr. Chalker and I will be uh working on as soon as
Bridgewater receives those funds. But I did want to just share that with you. Um in addition, I I wanted to provide a couple quick updates on hiring and then get to our introductions. Uh as you know, we've been searching for a new director of business services. Uh we have concluded those interviews. uh we
are um basically uh soon to announce our candidate just allowing that person uh some time to notify uh their current employer. Um so I I won't uh you know be premature tonight and announcing anyone but we have uh an agreement. Uh we are
ready to announce that person. So hopefully by the end of the week we'll be able to get that information to you. Very excited about that. Um tonight we do have Mr. Shawn McNiff uh with us. Uh Mr. Mcniff is our new high school principal. Uh so I wanted to take a moment to introduce him uh and uh ask him to come down. Uh Mr. Mcniff is
coming to us from the Spencer East Brookfield public schools uh where he currently serves as a middle school principal and prior to that um his most recent experience was in New Bedford at both New Bedford High School as a principal as well as at one of their I think their largest middle school um in
the city of New Bedford. So we're very excited. Obviously went through an extensive process as I had shared with you uh and Mr. McNiff emerged as uh the leading candidate. We're very fortunate and excited to have him join us. Uh so I'll ask you to come on down. >> I was a little concerned when people saw
that I was here but left before I was able to talk but [laughter] not an issue. So super excited to get started. I'll be brief. Uh I've had some great opportunities to be in district at the school, meet students, uh families, staff. I've been so impressed with what
I saw. Have opportunities to go through classrooms. So, uh, as someone who's really committed to education, uh, and students, it's great to see that you already have that level of commitment in your district and, uh, just being able to join this team that is really focused
on what is best for students. So, I look forward to opportunities to get to know the community better as I come on full-time, uh, July 1st and looking really uh, to the opening of school and, uh, meeting with students. So, thank you so much for having me. I appreciate
being here tonight. Thank you. >> [applause] >> I also appreciate school committee uh taking out of order the appointment of the interim director of student services. Uh as you know we had a recent resignation uh and we had to look no further than uh internally and Mr. uh
Miss Christa Sylvane who is currently one of our special education administrators. Um she and I had a discussion and uh I asked her to serve as interim and she was more than willing uh which is great. Uh she has experience as a director of student services herself at Old Colony Regional
Vocational High School. Uh prior to that uh she worked in the Mansville public schools as a special education middle uh I'm sorry, special education administrator and preschool director. Prior to that, she was a special education teacher, but she's been been with us for three years now. Uh we're excited about what the next year brings.
Uh she's already really hit the ground running and and uh inserted herself and started to make decisions for the future. So we're excited. Unfortunately, just uh schedule-wise, she wasn't able to be here this evening. She does plan to come to our July meeting where she uh will be able to introduce herself, but u just uh for as a formality, we need to
make that uh approval. >> So, with that, thank you, Superintendent Powers. Uh I'll take a motion on the recommendation of the superintendent to appoint Chris Elaine as the interim director of student services. >> So, moved. Second.
>> Uh motion by Miss Ky Lento, second by Miss King. Any discussion >> question Thomas >> with with it being an interim position is the plan to post for external hires over the summer or >> uh so I think what we'll do is we'll
look to uh next school year uh we'll start uh Miss Sain has agreed to serve in that capacity for next school year. Um we will kind of revisit uh you know in the late winter early spring uh kind of where her comfort levels at and and how things are going. Uh but yes, our
plan would be to uh post that position next school year. >> And we feel just, you know, timing right now, we want to make sure we're attracting the the best candidate. I think we have a great one right now. >> Any other discussion?
>> Okay. All in favor? >> Any opposed? Uh and and lastly, I just wanted to take this opportunity uh because this uh one likely will be her last meeting, but just for you as well, uh to thank Mrs. Barry. Uh obviously uh it's been an amazing four years. Uh it's not the
first time I I've shared with you that she and I have had the opportunity to work together. Uh hopefully it will not be the last. Um but it just it it I've been able to be successful in this position because of her and her support and dedication. And so I just wanted to say thank you. I appreciate everything
you've done for me and that you'll continue to do for me. So, it's been a pleasure to work with you. [applause] >> Thank you, Assistant Superintendent Barry. We wish you the best uh in your future endeavors and you will undoubtedly miss, but hopefully it won't be for too long. >> I agree. Thank you very much.
>> All right. With that, we're going to move on to Miss King with the budget subcommittee report. >> Thank you. On Monday, June 1st, 2026, the budget subcommittee met at 5:45 in the superintendent's conference room. In attendance were Mr. Fitz Gibbons, Miss Hoy Thomas, Superintendent Powers, Miss
Babalola, director of business services, assistant superintendent Barry, Miss Healey, HR director, Miss Watson, the BRRHS principal, Mrs. McDougall, our recording secretary, and myself. At that time, we approve the budget subcommittee
meeting minutes of May 19th, 2026. Um Mr. Powers gave a staffing update for the fiscal year of 2027 um which he had alluded to earlier. Um those positions have been posted following some internal um movement.
Um and more to come in July once we have some um interviews etc on that. Um the next item that we discussed and voted on were stabilization transfers. As we have done annually at the end of
each fiscal year, Miss Babalola recommended the following endofear stabilization transfers. They will be four separate votes and a total of $320,000 and are contingent upon sufficient endofear funds. With these transfers, Miss Babalola indicated we will remain
on track with our endofear projections for the endofear balance of END. Um the first amount recommended was a transfer of $50,000 from the fiscal year 2026 budget to the stabilization fund.
The current balance of that fund before this transfer is $45,74422. Um we the school committee had created this stabilization fund several years ago. This account was created to save funds for the end of life projects. Um
specifically when we started the project at the high school um the track and tennis courts. Um so every year we have been putting money into that account um with this $45,000 balance just for planning purposes. The those the turf field probably will be about a 10-year
pro life. So, we just want to make sure we have funds so we're not um all of a sudden having to replace that or do repairs and not have those funds um just to save that. So, that is what that stabilization um is for. Um so, I would
make a motion to authorize the director of business services to transfer $50,000 from the fiscal year 2026 budget to deposit into the district's stabilization fund pending sufficient endofear funds. that Mr. Chairman,
>> second by Mr. Guthro. Any any discussion? >> All in favor? >> Any opposed? Motion passes. >> Okay. Um the second transfer is a $10,000 transfer from fiscal 26 budget
and to the OPED pension fund. The current balance of that fund it before transfer is $122,242.71. Um I would make a motion to authorize the director of business services to transfer $10,000 from the fisc year 26
budget to deposit into the district's open I'm sorry other post-employment benefits oped fund pending sufficient endofear funds. >> Motion made by Miss King. Second. Second by Mr. Guthro. Any discussion?
>> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Motion passes. >> Okay. Um the third transfer is a transfer of $10,000 from the fiscical year 26 budget and to the unfunded liability fund. The current fund balance
for that before transfer is $115,761.14. Um, I would make a motion to authorize the Director of Business Services to transfer $10,000 from the fiscal 26 budget to deposit into the district's unfunded liability fund pending sufficient endofear funds.
>> Second by Mr. Guthro. Any discussion? All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Motion passes 70. Thank you, M. >> Um, the fourth transfer is a transfer of
$250,000 from the fisc year 26 budget into the IT stabilization fund. The current balance of the IT stabilization fund is $617,1724. The purpose of this fund that was created several years ago is to support
the ongoing purchase of Chromebooks um to sustain the district's one-to-one program. Um we do usually have money in the line item for it Chromebooks, but this was removed um with this upcoming budget year. Um so this fund would move
into the stabilization to fund the onetoone program that we use every year. Um, with that, I would make a motion to authorize the director of business services to transfer $250,000 from the fisc year 26 budget to deposit into the district's IT stabilization
fund pending sufficient end ofear funds. >> Motion by Miss King. Second. >> Second by Mr. Gothro. Any discussion? >> All in favor? I. >> Any opposed? Motion passes. >> Thank you. Um the next item that we
discussed were athletic fees. Um we reviewed the the athletic fees for fiscal 27 again following our budget subcommittee meeting last month as well as discussion and questions at the May school committee meeting. Uh we reviewed the revenue and expense numbers comparing the last two fiscal years as
well as athlete participation. Fiscal year 24 to2, the fee was $360 per athlete per year with a family cap of $720 per school. For fiscal year 25 to 26 this current year, we raised the fee
to $600 per athlete per sport with no family cap. Um we did drop participation as a result from 382 athletes to 275 this year due mostly to financial burden. The fees are used to offset the
athletic budget. It should not be a sustaining program um for athletics, but it is used to somewhat offset um the budget such as rental fees, um coach fees, stipens, etc. Um the lower fee was
recommended by superintendent powers to help offset this budget um but also make it affordable for more student athletes to participate. The budget subcommittee um reviewed the revenue collected, the number of athletes and cost constraints for the program and at and discussed
what price point could the fee be lowered to with still offsetting the budget but also being affordable for more students. After much discussion, review, and debate, the budget subcommittee recommended and voting on reducing the fee to $495 per athlete per
sport with no family cap from middle and high school. This is a 17.5% decrease in the fee, but with the same amount of athletes would only reduce the revenue by $45,000 for the next budget. Um, however, we anticipate gaining more
athletes if we reduce the price. Um, and then we will revisit the fees again next year to see what the revenue and expenses and participation is as well. Um, do you want to me to put a motion on the floor and then we can discuss? Okay.
Um, I would make a motion to amend the athletic fees to $495 per student per sport with no family cap for middle school and high school for the fiscal 2627. I'm sorry, for the 2627 school year. >> Motion by Miss King. Second.
>> Second for discussion. Mr. Chairman, >> second by Mr. Dupont. >> Um, [clears throat] Mr. Chairman, through you to uh members of the budget committee as well as the superintendent. I I read the uh minutes that they supplied of their meeting and and there
were [clears throat] a number of things that stuck out to me and some of them have been uh covered by Mrs. King and her report so far began with the topic of user fees was revisited from a prior meeting group looked at athletic revenue
numbers comparing this year to last year. And I I followed up on the report on that and and I I see the numbers. And then it goes on to say last year the athletics fee was 360 with the family cap. This year, the cost of athletics was raised and the family cap was
removed due to the lower than requested budget funding, followed by the statement that Mrs. King made that participation dropped 382 to 275, which would be 107 participants, 28%. Um,
and this the following line was the telling one that I just wanted to focus on for discussion purposes with the committee as a whole as well as the budget committee. Students have said that due to the increases in fees, it is no longer financially feasible for them to play multiple seasons. And of course,
then it follows with the user fees were designed to help offset the annual 800,000 athletic budget, not to create a self-sustaining program. I was very pleased to see that statement in there, Rachel. Thank you for that. Superintendent P reiterated participation is down because they
simply can't afford the higher fees without a family cap. Now [clears throat] in looking at this and thinking about it and this is mostly questions maybe for perhaps for consideration u following tonight's meeting by the budget committee as well as the committee as a whole and the administration. I my [clears throat]
first question it was it said participation dropped due to the increase in fees and I would ask a question and I think mostly just to put it out there for discussion and thought and an ongoing consideration is it is it is the ability to pay in any way
considered uh and to that end could a student potentially be eligible for a waiver either in part uh you know a reduced rate or an individual sport or from the gross amount of the total participation that that student has
spread out over the course of a given school year or their four years at Bridgewater reign and and I can forward this to the budget committee, Mr. Chairman, you know, in writing so that it could be formally considered by them because I'm not sure if that entered into their thinking, Rachel, and I don't want to put anybody on the spot now, but
that was a thought that occurred to me. I just wanted to get for the record. >> So, um, just to respond to that, Mr. Lo, um there are a number of students that can apply for waivers um and those are held those are dealt with through the athletics office, but we do have students on waivers um prior years as
well as this year. And I know um specifically this year, I'm a high school mom of a daughter who played sports. Um I know that the coaches did advocate to that to their athletes that if you cannot pay and you want to apply for the waiver, please do so. So, it was the coaches did tell their athletes that
to try and make sure that they were applying if if it was a financial hardship. >> Oh, thank you very much. >> It is a financial hardship. $600 for a three sport athlete. For myself, we did not do three sports because of that. So, >> well, thank you, Rachel. And let me just follow up with that one, Mr. Chairman.
The next question I sort of wanted to ask for discussion purposes. Is the total expense for a specific sport in any way considered as part of how much a student fee is to participate? Because you know in and I'm saying that I'm
probably pretty sure that hockey is probably the most expensive one overall. Uh and and yet and I don't want to say the rest of them are free, but they're probably far less. And I wonder that if there was any sort of system of analyzing how much it might cost to p to
participate in a specific sport. >> Yeah. >> Uh great question, Mr. Dupont. Yes, that has definitely been looked at. Mr. Okonnell, uh our athletic director, uh has looked at several different sliding scales that other school districts use and they do it actually uh by sport. Um
I know in discussion last year with budget sub um last year it was thought that for this year we we wouldn't look at something like that. We would you know address it evenly across all sports. Uh but yes we do have some of that information for future uh to make some revisions that there are some
sports to your point that are just more costly than than others. And so that is something that we will definitely continue to look at throughout the school year and make that recommendation going forward. >> Thank you Mr. superintendent because I I I gather this is something that I I would suspect has probably been discussed. I wasn't sure where the
administration or the athletic department was in relation to that, but I would hope they would pursue that. I just want to sort of state for the record, you know, uh that I'm concerned that we're creating a tiered system of participation that there are groups of students who are choosing not to
participate because of the cost. and and one of the last acts I had in my previous tour of duty on the school committee in 1996 was to oppose the imposition of user fees for athletics. We don't charge by the class. We don't
charge a student to take an extra English class. And and as I understood it, athletics was part of the school day. And uh I know where the budget is in place now and the considerations have been going forward. I would hope that we
could possibly look at somehow uh addressing these and if not outright eliminating them. I know you can't print money, Ryan, but uh hey, you know, I can always hope. Uh and I ju just ask if we should really be considering as a committee using student participation in
something that is part of the school day as a revenue source because we're sort of creating a paytoplay. >> It is not it is not a part of the school day. As you know all teams are are try out right based and not just solely participation. So it's not a guaranteed thing for every student. The school day itself is guaranteed for every students
with our instructional minutes that we have to provide by the state. So it is as you know students choose to participate much like they do for clubs and then everything else. So those are outside the school day for students and it's not a guarantee for all which we know though are instructional minutes that's a non-negotiable.
>> Thank you for that m Mr. chairman and you know I would respectfully disagree to an extent but I understand Mike that technically that that is the definition but I would like to think that what Bri is offering is you know bellto bell as well as in front of it
and on the other side of it. Uh last thing I just want to make is a point of question perhaps to the superintendent. Uh would more revenue from chapter 70 chapter 71 of the circuit breaker be enough to cancel these athletic fees? I know we've uh talked about underfunding
over the years. There's no need to answer this tonight, but going forward, we should know these things in order to butress our request for legislative action on those matters. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. >> Thank you, M. Mr. I just I'm sorry. Um a
question for Mr. um Powers and I may or might not know the answer, but I just I think this goes to like one sport pain more than another. Um, curling powers are they're this is the fee that parents, caregivers pay the
district. But when sports are in session, some teams actually pay more out of pocket when they're in session. Like kids maybe be fronting $10, $20 for h ice time for indoor time and that kind
of thing that is not counted here. um that because all the teams also do fundraising for a whole lot of different things that's as outside of actually these fees if that's >> correct. Yes. So that that is that is true. Um I not to my knowledge anyone's
fronting money during this season if that's happening with certainly something I thank you for bringing it to my attention. I know preseason a lot of the captains will organize uh activities. Um I can say for like lacrosse they'll go to the dome um and they'll collect money to rent the dome per se, but that's through the captain's
you know practice per se. Um in terms of fundraising, each team does fund raise typically is for equipment that uh is outside of the what has been budgeted. It could be for a certain uniform. I know many of our teams um during breast
cancer awareness month will wear some type of pink combination on the uniforms they may fund raise for that. Um they fundra for you know [clears throat] could be warm-ups that they want to all purchase that they all look alike. Um so
there are definitely fundraising fundraisers that take place but it typically is to help offset those above and beyond costs. Um, that's not to say that, you know, there aren't everyday costs that might be um covered by
fundraising, but things that maybe are we're not aware of or coaches haven't asked for. I know Mr. Okonnell, anything that has been requested, he certainly builds into his budget to make sure that each team has the equipment they need uh to be able to run for that season. But coaches certainly go above and beyond and and look for additional video
equipment, um, uh, practice equipment, um, even things on game day. But yes, so there is definitely fundraising that happens outside of that. >> Mr. Sus, um, [clears throat] so I I think just speaking to um, like Mr.
Dupont said, the tiered system. It as a parent or a freshman athlete, it was really challenging for me this year to have conversations with, you know, a lot of other students and parents of, well, we can't do that second sport or that third sport. um particularly I know track and
field in the spring was something that was really hit hard because of that um you know and for my son it was actually as Miss Connor Lorente just brought up the thought of having to fund raise um more this year and so I think a hard part so one part not to get off track so
one aspect is if there's some way for the school department to really monitor that um there was one situation that students were not allowed to leave without getting fundraising commits from a practice. Um I was actually there that
night. Um and that really struck a kind of nerve with me. I'm like they can't leave without getting money. Um so and I think that created a shared systems of have and have nots because the kids that raised more money got more gear. Um so how do we write really equal that
playing field for all students? Um and so then I bring up with that you know looking at you know how to make that fundraising aligned and maybe uniform with the different sports. Um another aspect with the um
money aspect is you know really looking at can we bring back that cap so that you know students will actually be able to afford a second sport or eliminate these fees all in all. Um, but you know, those are my big challenges looking at
no cap and looking at that additional substantial fundraising burden that a lot of our students felt. So, I just wanted to add that to the discussion. >> Mr. to go from >> um I think it's it's obviously disappointing to have to have such high
athletic fees, but I think while we all can agree that athletics are a vital part of a vibrant school community, uh we have very real challenges making work from bell to bell and properly staffing
a school. So, it's hard to spend so much time uh for me to be debating athletic fees. I wish we didn't have to have them. Um, we're in a position where we unfortunately need them. Um, because every, you know, again, while the goal
is not to have a self- sustaining athletic program, we do have to find ways to offset costs. Um, and, you know, I I would just point out again, while athletics are very, very important, I I wish we'd spent a fraction of the time that we spent discussing athletic fees talking about music program, music fees,
arts fees, arts fundraising. Um, right. It's again, these are all things. It's not an either or. It shouldn't be an either or. I'm not saying because of one we shouldn't have the other or they should have to compete. But the fact of the matter is, again, I will continue to bring this up whenever we talk about athletic fees. There's no fifth grade
music program in Raino. That has a devastating impact on the arts for years and years forward. Those kids are now a year behind their peers and others. When we talk about getting to high school, those kids have a year or less experience when they go to do competitive marching band or things like that. um those kids are also fundraising for
for different things. So um it's unfortunate. It's nice to see that we're able to bring this down. I think it's responsible to bring it down because the high fee did impact turnout and I think uh while it should be studied more and we should try to maybe again because athletic fees were probably going to be
around for a while unfortunately we should try to figure out uh a fair and equable way to to distribute them between higher and lower cost sports. Uh but in the interim I think this is a great compromise. It's going to continue to make sure that we continue to offer vibrant sports programming while also
making sure we can still do what we need to do in the building budget-wise from from Bel. >> Thank you, Mr. Gro. Uh, and just to end off on that this last piece one, uh, to remind everybody along those same lines, we still have extremely high class size, right? And our primary responsibility is
educating students, right? Between the bells of each day, our goal is to give our students the highest education possible. Sports is an Uh sports is a thing that I I participated in high school and I value right and it was a motivator for a lot of kids to come into school to to be
engaged. But our priority is to make sure that that we're creating uh students that are ready for postsecary success whether sports are a part that or not. Uh with that we have a motion on the table made by Miss King and a second by Mr. Dupont. Uh all in favor.
>> Any opposed? I motion passes 7 to one. Please note for the minutes as well Mr. It's given to join the meeting at 7:46. >> Question. >> Y >> can I just question Mr. Superintendent Powers is um when will this be updated
because some of us are already paying fees >> because some sports have already tried out and made the team. >> So I the cheerleading team uh I believe right now is the only one that has had tryyous. I know Mr. Okonnell was talking to Mr. Soalante about not having any of
the uh athletes pay just yet that they they shouldn't be paying until the fall. Um obviously because we wanted to make sure that everybody had made the team and is still going to participate. But Mr. Once we now that this is official, Mr. Okonnell will get that updated uh ASAP and get that information out to the families. >> Okay. Because I don't I'll just say your
mom, we weren't notified. >> Okay. >> I mean I good feedback though. Thank you. >> We weren't notified of the change in fees. So >> I appreciate that. Definitely. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, next on the budget agenda was the Skoolie Mitchell telecommunications
contract. Um, last year we discussed Skoolie Mitchell, uh, which Superintendent Powers had retained to review some of our vendor contracts for cost savings. If such cost savings are found, Skoolie Mitchell's fee is 50% of the savings for a period of three years.
Schoolie Mitchell recently conducted a review of the district's telecommunications contract and discovered multiple phone lines that can be cancelled that are duplicative and/or no longer in use. This would result in a cost savings of $6,000 per year to the district. Schoolie Mitchell's contract
is 50% of those savings for a period of three years. So approximately $3,000 um per year. And then once the three years is over, that cost savings is fully to the district. Um, so I would make a motion to authorize the
superintendent to enter into an agreement with Schoolie Mitchell to allow payment of 50% of the cost savings for the three years subsequent to Skoolie Mitchell's cost savings analysis on the district's telecommunications. >> Motion made by Miss King. Second.
>> Seconded by Mr. Guthro. Any discussion? All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Motion passes unanimously. >> Mr. Chairman, under [clears throat] uh school committee reports, if I could just uh make a brief report that is the uh
appointed by you as chair as the legislative leazison, I've had a conversation with a very productive conversation with Senator Duner specifically about the issues of next year's state budget regarding chapter 70 and chapter 71. She was keenly aware of
them and and I commended her to that. Her chief of staff was there and he promised to uh always keep us informed and things. I have reached out to Senator Driscoll as well and his office is get contacting me to set up a meeting and Dennis Gallagher is tired of talking
to me but still does. >> Um I do have one other item to note. Um we do have an LED lighting project that Mr. Chaka is um working on right now. He advised us regarding the LED project um regarding up upgrading the lighting at
the Bridgewater schools. So the Bridgewater um I'm sorry, Williams Intermediate School, the EOM school and the high school. Um since Bridgewwater is a green community, National Grid could finance a loan to the district that would be repaid from the energy
savings. The district to apply and complete the program is October 31st. So this is a tight deadline. Um, so he is working on this project and putting this out to bid and he's going to update us to vote on this at the next school committee meeting in July. So no action
was taken at budget sub, but that is coming on the next agenda regarding that. Um, and then we have a budget subcommittee meeting scheduled for Monday, July 13th at 5:45 p.m. Um, and that concludes my budget sub report.
>> Thank you, M. Uh we'll now move on to uh number seven, new business. And uh the first item up on that is the superintendent's evaluation. Uh being that I was the chair of the long-term planning subcommittee and then moved into uh the role of chair. Uh this is a pretty fluid
process especially from my end really kind of leading up to the process for the superintendent's evaluation establishing goals. Um now to the uh conduction of the evaluation. Um to talk a little bit about the process again, uh each individual member uh was provided
with an evaluation rubric in which they filled out and gave their own feedback to the superintendent on his goals as well as on the standards. Um in terms of my process, I really uh reviewed each member's evaluation uh of the superintendent. uh really kind
of looked to uh kind of get an average of scores in each area uh to ensure we were getting to a point of consensus for each uh standard and goal. Uh and looking in that also then for any area in which a member may have noted it
needs improvement for the superintendent or excuse me an unsatisfactory uh we did provide that feedback in the comment section for them. there were some consistent themes throughout which we'll get to in a moment as we go through the evaluation itself. Um, in
terms of looking at the superintendent's goals uh in terms of his professional uh practice goal, there was consensus that the uh superintendent made significant progress on this goal area. In terms of the student learning goals, um there was consensus that the uh superintendent
made some progress in this area. Um, and I want to just really kind of uh commend the superintendent uh this level of transparency on this. Um, he noted that, you know, this may have been an over ambitious goal given that we had a new director of student services. Um, and to tackle this goal, we'll be there so many other elements to be addressed with the
new uh director of student services. Um, that this may be more of a long-term purpose. Um, we look to really carry this goal on into another year as well. In terms of the district improvement goal, there's consensus that the superintendent had met this goal. Um really looking at this there was a high
level of agreement of the committee across the goals um and really moving forward uh we look forward to you know in introducing some new goals for this next school year in terms of uh assessment on standards. Um the superintendent was uh rated as
proficient uh through all standards. Um in looking at uh excuse me uh standard number one as I go through here just give me one second. Uh superintendent was uh rated as
proficient across all of the uh standards of number one. The uh committee did give some feedback in this area um in terms of looking at addressing student learning. Um also working with the new director of student
uh services for opportunities for growth. Um there was also other pieces of looking and kind of expanding uh meeting students instructional needs uh in the classroom also learning various learning styles. um really kind of
making sure that we're moving our our level of instruction forward across the district. In terms of uh standard number two, um right here we have uh want to note out that the uh committee did find
uh for was excuse me just looking for one called out. Oh, excuse me. Uh for um the human capital indicator, uh we did put uh he exceeded on this goal, but he was also for the most part proficient across all um there
was some feedback on this piece as well. Um excuse me, I'm sorry, that was fiscal systems in which he exceeded. Um, and that was really due to the work throughout the school year of collaborating with both towns as well as both finance departments uh to really be able to come to a consensus on the budget um and really be able being able
to meet the needs of our students uh with the budget that has been presented this year. Uh we had one member who did note um really looking at uh uh areas of retention especially in terms of student services. As we all know we've had high turnover in terms of our director of
student services over the past couple years. Um that also uh one member noted that uh the need to develop a stronger finance team which present information in a timely and concise manner and also again stabilizing the student services department. In terms of standard number three uh the superintendent was rated as
proficient across the board. Uh feedback on this portion was really looking to uh expanding communication and meeting uh with a wider group of families. Uh in terms of feedback um as well uh
other piece uh was also just again working more collaboratively and intensely with families and students for our most v vulnerable high needs population. It's clear there's a need to develop stronger relationships with families and students um with special needs to help them be heard and understood. Um this was a consistent
theme uh definitely across uh standards two and three. looking at now at standard three again it was rated as uh proficient and then moving into standard four uh again the
superintendent was proficient across the board um in the comments from uh some of our members here there's always been a strong uh sense of professional culture in most schools that I I've been in direct role modeling and encouragement of all staff to take ownership of this can be a shift of exemplary in some
areas of this domain Also in terms of commitment to high standards uh currently there is a significant difference between certain teachers cohorts and schools uh implementing a form of continuous feedback observation and development is important for the district to move forward. Also at the high school level giving recent uh continuous cuts of
staff and class option reduction. There needs to be increased leadership focusing on a commitment to high standards. Many students are in multiple uh studies and large classes. Working with the strategic uh college and career program leadership to help can help to deliver this commitment to high
standards that is at times lacking in the district. Uh at the high school level, this should not just be about top performers. Students need more push and have different learning styles uh need to be captured and needed amazing opportunities. This all starts with district leadership, professional
culture. Uh culture is the most important characteristic of the district. Mr. powers uh proficiently moving forward this year, but he cannot lose focus on this. Um so overall, as we noted, uh the superintendent was proficient across all standards. I now want to open it up to comment on the
members. Any comments or questions for myself and the superintendent before we take a motion? >> Can I just make a comment for next year's um chair? I forget who it is. It's Matt or Dan. >> Mr.
>> Um, I think it would be good. >> I think filling these out sometimes can be very confusing, especially if you're new. You're like, "What am I doing here?" Um, and sometimes it's not clear and I don't think the form is self-explanatory. Some even though they try to make it be, it's not
self-explanatory. I think um just making sure again and I may have done it wrong too is um I think some of the times historically we used to do just a couple focus indicators and fill all those two out and not all of them. So I think just
being clear what focus indicators we're looking at versus all of them I think it would be helpful to think about that. >> Uh thank you miss comto I agree with you on that. I do think we could u look into
some training for members. I think the evaluation process is definitely complicated for those who do not have to do this on a yearly basis. Um this is you know a very different type of task. I think some guidance and u some training on it would definitely be
beneficial for all. Um you know I think we'll look into that for the future. Mr. Dupont. >> Uh thank you Mr. Chairman. Uh just by way of comment uh as a new member uh I was required to attend the MASC uh session for new members and
[clears throat] uh they spent I would say the bulk of the the session conducting a run through of the superintendent evaluation and I would highly recommend that by whatever means we consult with them because I think they've got materials uh Mr.
chairman, that might be helpful to us in this process going forward and it might even be shared with the public because it was very informational to me that we the superintendent evaluation in my previous tenure was you did a good job. Here's your contract and I gather uh it's a little more detailed and this is
by statute I believe Mr. Chairman >> correct thank you Mr. >> Mr. Chairman is M King and Mr. was given correct me probably three or four years in the old training. >> Yeah. >> Um MAC came in in day one and it was
helpful I think to kind of go through and understand again what the goals should look like smart goals non smart goals that kind of thing. Um one year, two year, three year type goals. Um I can't remember exactly when we did it but it was I think
>> it's been a few years. >> Something we can absolutely prioritize in the first quarter as we kick off the new school year. probably earlier when we can work with the chair and and Judy to schedule probably something earlier in the year as well because right as we develop goals, report our goals, track goals, it
will only help us understand them and be able to hold all of ourselves and bars accountable. Um so great suggestion. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Governor. [clears throat] With that, I'll take a motion to approve the superintendent summit of evaluation report for the 2526 school year as
presented and read into the record. >> So moved. >> Seconded by Miss King, second by Miss White Thomas. Any further discussion? >> Mr. Chairman, Atlanta abstained from this vote in as much as I was not part of the committee or the superintendent's performance over the past year.
>> Thank you, Mr. D. Any other discussion? Hearing none, I will uh take a vote. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Abstain, Mr. Chairman. >> Thank you, Mr. Dup. Motion passes 70.
With that, I'm going to pass it over to Miss Conrato for uh number C. Um at this point I will um entertain a motion to approve the general ledgers dated May 28 2026.
>> So moved >> second by Miss second by Miss Thomas. All those in favor. >> Any opposed? Motion passes. Next. Is there any other business? Thank you, Merto. Uh, we're going to
open up public comment again for a period of 12 minutes per policy BH. Anyone for public comment? Seeing none, we will close public comment at 8:04 p.m. Uh, last but not least, uh, we have announcements. Uh,
the last day of school is June 23rd and it will be a half day. Uh, do any other members have any other announcements? >> Mr. Chairman, >> Miss K. >> Um, I do want to announce the new student school committee advisory board for the 2627 school year. Um, Miss
Marissa Cabraw, Miss Sydney Smexen, and Mr. Jackson Cogshaw will be returning with Marissa and Sydney as the co-chairs. And we they have added um by a vote of the high school Caleb Tan Cece and Harry Cologne to make their five members. So we will start again in
September when we come back to school. >> Thank you. Any other announcements? >> All right. With that, I'll take a motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Second. >> Motion by Miss King, second by Miss Hoy Thomas. All in favor?
>> I. >> Any opposed? Meetings adjourned