Regional High School Lecture Hall. Please note we are live-streaming on the YouTube channel and the recording will be available on the YouTube channel following our meeting. Please rise and join us for the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge 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. Thank you. I would like to introduce our school committee members and admin in attendance this evening for the regular school committee meeting. On my left,
Mr. Fitzgibbons, Mr. Goffredo, Ms. Hoye-Thomas, Mrs. Davenport, and Superintendent Powers. On my right, Ms. Tijani-Sissay, Mr. Salinas, Ms. Conrad-Leverentz, and Vice Chair Roche, and I'm Rachel King, School Committee Chair. We also We also have in
attendance Assistant Superintendent Barry, Mrs. McDuff our recording secretary, and other members of the admin team. Um first, I will open up public comment. The School Committee welcomes information, concerns, and opinions from those attending our meeting. In order to
give those wishing an opportunity to speak and ensure compliance with open meeting law and other legal obligations and avoid disruption of the meeting, the committee will not engage with the speaker or one another and deliberation on comments as they are presented during comment periods. At its discretion, the committee may schedule issues raised by
speakers for deliberation at a future meeting. To reiterate, this is a time for members of the public to voice comments and concerns regarding agenda items, and the committee is not able to respond at this time. If you would like a personal response, please email the committee or Superintendent Powers directly following
the meeting. The chair will now open up public comment for period of 12 minutes per policy BEDH and would ask anyone who wishes to speak to please approach the podium, provide your name and address, and please limit your comments to 3 minutes. So, I will now open up public
comment at 7:02 p.m. Do we have any members of the public that would wish to speak right now? And we do have another public comment period at the end of the meeting as well. I'm seeing none, I will close public comment at 7:02 p.m. as well.
Uh first, we have correspondence and recognition. Uh we have community emails. Uh Mrs. Licciardello, on behalf of the secretarial union, did follow up her public comment from last meeting uh with a copy of her statement, which she provided to us. Uh we received an email
from a special education parent and a follow-up email. Um we were CC'd on an email from the BREA to the [clears throat] Bridgewater Town Council regarding the budget um and we did receive some emails from the Town Council president regarding further information and documentation from CLA
regarding that report. Next on the agenda um this evening is actually Mrs. Davenport's last School Committee meeting before the election on April 25th, 2026 as she's not running for re-election at this time. I just want to extend my sincere appreciation for her
service these last 3 years of her term on School Committee. Mrs. Davenport served on many subcommittees during her time on School Committee in addition to serving as Vice Chair as well. So, thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you've done for this community and for the School Committee and our students and staff. And we would
like to present you with this certificate commemorating your years of service. >> [applause] [applause] >> Do we have any members that would like to say anything? Mr. Fitzgibbons. >> if I may. Yes. Hold on. All right, I I'm usually not
quiet, so Um no, I I I first met Ms. Davenport when she was running. I believe you had an opponent, didn't you, Ms. Davenport? I I think so, yeah. Uh but it quickly became apparent that you were a very committed very serious
candidate uh who understood finances very well, who understood the needs of children very well. And um that impressed me a lot. And in your 3 years of service
um you've done nothing but prove my first instincts correct that you did know both and I've been very proud to serve with you and uh this is not goodbye, it's farewell.
You're welcome back anytime you want. Thank you. Thank you. Does anyone else have anything? I just want to again say thank you. I know we've had lots of meetings where you might take a disagreeing opinion from some of us, and I'm proud of that
that you have always stood for what you believe in. We are eight people here with different opinions, so we appreciate that, and I know you're so active in the community, so I hope you continue to do that as well. So, thank you. Ms. King, if I may, just I again on behalf of the district and as a
superintendent, I just want to thank Ms. Davenport for her support. I I think, you know what Mr. Fitzgibbons said uh hit the nail on the head. You were running it for the right reasons, you ran for School Committee for the right reasons, and you served for the right reasons, and you know, on behalf of the district, we appreciate that and uh wish you all the
best. Thanks, everyone. I don't have a speech or anything, but I thank you. All right. Um recognition. Um so, we do have a couple of recognition items. Um on March 26th, 2026, Athletic Director William O'Connell I'm sorry, yeah,
William O'Connell was recognized by the NIAAA as a certified athletic administrator. To earn this distinction, Director O'Connell demonstrated the highest level of knowledge and expertise in the field of interscholastic athletic administration. The voluntary certification process included a
thorough evaluation of the candidate's background, experience, and professional contributions, as well as a rigorous comprehensive exam. So, congratulations to him as well, and I just wanted to make sure we mention that. So, thank you, and make sure if you see him, let him know.
Um also, a special thank you to our maintenance and facilities department along with the Bridgewater Veterans Agent and town volunteers for the fabulous job they did on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial um at the Odana He Middle School. Um it looks great, and that was a great um teamwork um getting
that done. So, thank you as well to your team. Um I do have a few passings that I do want to mention and have a moment of silence for. Um Teresa Medeiros of Raynham has recently passed away. She was a Lucini bus driver for Raynham schools for over 30 years. Um also,
Stephen Donahue served on School Committee for 7 years and brought Youth Across to Raynham. He was very involved in the community and pivotal in building of this new high school. So, if we have a moment of silence for both of those. Thank you. Ms. King, I have unfortunately some
additional uh sad news to share. Uh former Mitchell Elementary School teacher Karen Yamalovich uh recently passed away after a brief illness. Uh so again, I think, you know, if everybody could just join in uh you know, keeping her family in in their thoughts. Um I know uh her services are
coming up, and certainly it's been a difficult time for the Mitchell staff. Certainly spent a lot of time with her, but just wanted to share that. Thank you. And our thoughts are with uh her family as well. Um next, we have the [clears throat] consent agenda. Um I will entertain a
motion to approve the consent agenda with the exclusion of the Phi Psi donation due to its a delay in processing of that check as presented, which includes the minutes dated March 18th, 2026 and March 25th, 2026, approval of payroll warrants dated March
19th, 2026 and April 2nd, 2026, personnel report, declaration of surplus, acceptance of gifts for St. Hubert in $500 to Mrs. Pittis preschool, $500 from the Black Hound Black Bod Giving Fund to George Mitchell
Elementary School for grief counseling supplies, and Open SciEd Massachusetts Teacher Leader Network grants in the amount of $150 to Odana He Middle School and $300 to Raynham Middle School. So moved. Second. Motion made by Mr. Roche,
second made by Mr. Fitzgibbons. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. Motion passes, and that other check will be back on next um agenda next month. Um next, we have educational reports. Um I would welcome um Ms. Tijani-Sissay to
the stand. Good evening, everyone. Tonight, I'll be reporting on the meeting the School Committee Advisory Board had held with Representative Dennis Gallagher in the last two meets the BR track team has hosted. At our last morning meeting on Thursday, April 9th, 2026, we met with
Representative Gallagher in the BR Guidance Suite. We spoke to him about ways to advocate for our current budget to the towns, the difference between state and district-wide budget cycles, and his insight on what the state legislators or does he should review within Chapter 70 or 71's formulas.
We also discussed the potential bell-to-bell cell phone ban that may be implemented across the state in the future, and how that might look depending on the school, such as using Yondr pouches and wall pouches. Schools across the Commonwealth have been struggling to get the funding they need, and it was helpful to hear
legislative perspective on what we can do to advocate for our district and the events that are occurring at the State House regarding education funding. Additionally, on Friday, April 3rd and April 10th, the Trojans Track and Field team held their first two home meets of the season. Martha's Vineyard, New Bedford, and
Oliver Ames competed against us on the 3rd, and Bishop Feehan, Whitman-Hanson, and New Bedford competed against us on the 10th. We had a large turnout consisting of supportive family and friends. This Friday, we'll be competing at the Whaler Invitational at New Bedford High School.
Good luck to all of the athletes. Thank you for your time, and I now welcome Sophia King to the podium. >> Did you beat New Bedford? We did. Great job. I know the coach. Hello and good evening, Madam Chairperson, School Committee, and Superintendent Powers. Today, I will be
reporting on the Mass Day on the Hill and TJ Squared. On March 30th, the student school advis- My goodness. The student advisory board, Mr. Hoy, Mrs. King, and I all went to the Mass Day on the Hill at the State House in Boston. It was an insightful and enlightening day. We were welcomed
to the presentation on many issues that school committees around Massachusetts faced, such as rural schools needing more funding and many working to get transportation costs reimbursed up to if not more than 75% of the total budget reserved for transportation. We also learned a lot about more issues
that I wasn't personally aware of. We used many of these points, bills, and facts in our meetings with Senator Donahue and Senator Driscoll. We spoke with them to bring awareness about the budget and cuts that we face both this past year, current year, and upcoming year. It was a great experience that helped us
to both learn how to speak confidently with those who represent us and learn to advocate for ourselves. Of course, as always, however, I think the food might have stolen the show. Um I'm also thrilled to announce that tomorrow morning, bright and early, with an emphasis on the early,
TJ Squared will be leaving to go to the New England District Championships in Springfield. We were one of 100 teams to qualify New England, and we're so proud of what our team has accomplished and can't wait to see just how far we soar. Our drive team left after school today with our robot Artemis, hence the
soaring. Um it was named after the Artemis 2. And our team will be staying there until Saturday with hopes of making it all the way to finals, which would hopefully qualify us for Houston. So, lots of vacation time for me. Thank you, and I now welcome Cindy Smak to the stand.
Good evening, everyone. Tonight, I'll be reporting on the recent activities that BR's Math Honor Society, Mu Alpha Theta, have been working on. Our last chapter meeting worked toward uh splitting the large club into three separate groups that are working toward three different fundraisers. One section of the club is working out the details of Pi Day, where
students will be able to purchase tickets to pie one of three Elbo math teachers during lunch. Another section is working on compiling and raising awareness for a raffle basket fundraiser that students can also participate in. The last section is working toward generating enough ideas to hopefully launch a math month at the school, which
would entail saying fun facts or math challenges over the announcements in the morning. In addition to this, National Honor Society, more commonly known as NHS, has distributed acceptances and denials to the club on Friday, April 10th, based on the metrics of leadership, character, respect, and the ability to hold great
school attendance at at least a 4.0 grade point uh sorry, grade point average. It is with great pride that I say that I and fellow Student School Committee Advisory member Marissa Cabral have both been accepted into NHS. And speaking of Marissa Cabral, she was unfortunately um unable to attend
tonight, so I will be reading her report. She wanted to report on what the next few weeks will look like for our Advanced Placement students. For the past year, these students have worked tremendously hard to cover college-level coursework to hopefully score high on the exams in early May. Students have worked toward hours of reading for
classes like AP Literature and AP US History and difficult concepts in classes like AP Calculus and AP Physics. Most of the exams will have a portion multiple choice questions and either a few essays or open response questions. After the exams, students can look forward to reading books for fun like The Great Gatsby in AP Lang or watching
movies like Forrest Gump in AP US History. Of course, there will still be some learning in these classes, preparing juniors and sophomores for the classes they will take next year, but AP students won't have to take a final exam like accelerated academic classes have to. She wishes good luck to all AP students and to do their best. Thank you
for your time, and I now welcome Jackson Colshell to the podium. Good evening. Tonight, I'll be reporting on the or on the art exhibit the art club is currently creating. Currently, the art club is creating an exhibit for the Attleboro Art Museum. This exhibit is meant to show the major breakthroughs
art has gone through throughout its history and the revolutionary art movements. The exhibit is broken up into five art styles movements, with the styles being Renaissance, Impressionism, Cubism, Surrealism, and Pop Art. Each of the members of the club
are broken up into each of the styles and will each create their own piece based on each of the styles. The styles will include a portrait of a prominent artist with that within that movement, and any each piece piece will include a 2D and 3D element. The exhibit will be
installed on May 7th, and the reception night is Wednesday, May 13th from 6:30 to 8:00. Thank you, and that concludes the Student School Committee Advisory Board's monthly report. Thank you. Um just to follow up on that, um as the student um committee members stated, on March 30th, 2026, we attended
the MASC Day on the Hill, where there were morning sessions, um and then we did have meetings with Senator Donahue and Senator Driscoll. Um we also met Representative Gallagher for a morning um breakfast um the week after that. Um so, I just do want to thank Senators Driscoll and Donahue and Representative
Gallagher for meeting with us, and I just want to highlight how impressed I was with the students. They really took the lead with those meetings, um just kind of letting them know the challenges that our district is facing, um how they can best advocate, um and also a very
pointed question of does that actually work if they get if Senator Donahue gets emails like that, um does it make any impact with them? And she said it absolutely does. Continue to advocate, continue to email, continue to build those relationships. So, I was really proud of the students for asking
questions, being engaged, um and taking the lead on those meetings as well. Um and I'm sure Mr. Hoy as well, I know you were very proud of them as well. Um Additionally, I just want to note, next month at our May meeting, um will be the last meeting of the school year
for the student advisory group, and we will also wish our two seniors goodbye at that time. Um the student advisory committee will also be voting in two new members to join them in the fall, and the results of that election will be announced by um the school at the school committee meeting in June.
Um and good luck to TJ. So, thank you for their uh student report. Um next, we have Report of the Superintendent. >> [clears throat] >> Uh Mrs. King, members of the School Committee, members of the audience, uh thank you. I did want to provide a few
brief updates uh this evening. Uh the first being uh I'm sure you've seen the House Ways and Means uh Committee release their budget today. Um just some highlights to share with you. Uh there are, you know, elements of of potential good news for us. Um
and obviously, this is uh none of these numbers are final. Uh as you know, it now needs to be debated within the House before it's sent to the Senate, and then obviously, goes through a similar process there before it's sent to the uh final committee uh for review and then recommendation to the
governor. So, where we are a ways away, uh but the Ways and Means budget did increase the minimum per pupil rate to $160. In the governor's budget, it's actually $75, so this will, you know, directly impact our Chapter 70
funding. Uh they haven't released updated cherry sheets, uh so we don't necessarily have a a full total amount how that would increase, uh but obviously, uh you know, you can uh assume going from $75 per student up to $160 per student will have a significant difference. Uh again, early
numbers, uh so I I I don't want to get our our hopes up, but uh it it's certainly better than going down. Uh and then regional transportation uh was increased to 92% in the House Ways and Means budget, and that's up from 87% uh in the governor's budget. So, again,
another glimmer of hope, uh and you know, hopefully as this uh goes through the Senate, we see similar type numbers, uh and then we'll have a better sense of what that really may end up being as it gets sent back to the governor later on this this year. So again, just wanted to
share that because you may have seen that. Um again, another piece of good news. This we did receive our most recent unemployment bill for the month for the month of March. The total charges were roughly $6,200 in change.
Which if you remember, you know, back in the fall when I was reporting out the month of October, we had $93,000 worth of $93,000 plus worth of unemployment charges. So we are making significant progress there. Obviously, we have less and less people on unemployment at this
point in the year, but we still have 3 months remaining. We did So to date, we've spent for a little over 400,000. We have budgeted approximately 560,000 for the year. So obviously, we we we do have you know, funds available for the next 3
months. I don't anticipate us going back to you know, the $90,000 per month given just that we're coming up at the end of the year. Most people are coming off unemployment at this point. But you know, again, some good news there. Just wanted to share that. I also in your packet did provide you a
copy of the DESE integrated monitoring review report. You know, we will be sharing more information on this, but we'll be getting this out to our families as well. Just wanted to kind of give a quick overview and then walk you through the report and some of the sections just to bring it to your attention.
Obviously, the And you may have heard of you know, tiered focused monitoring. It's really the department's monitoring oversight. They have kind of renamed it now and it's referred to as integrated monitoring. So they conduct an integrated monitoring review.
It happens every 3 years. They break those 3-year reviews into different components so they're not always reviewing the same items. They refer to them as group A and then group B. We recently had a group B review conducted this past full year which you know,
consisted of on-site visits, document review. They spoke They extended outreach to families via survey, spoke to some families, spoke to staff members, administration and such. But group B focuses on licensure and
professional development, parent student and community engagement including compliance with the child find requirements, facilities and classroom observations, oversight and IEP implementation, time on learning, and then equal access.
Pleased to report and again, I'll I'll share this information. You have it in front of you. That the review did focus on 29 standards in both the special education and civil rights area. Of those 29 standards, we received a rating of implemented
on 26 of those standards. A rating of implemented means the requirement for that standard was met. Those other three standards, we were rated as partially implemented. And again, a rating of partially implemented means that we did have many elements of the requirement. However, we were
missing one or several aspects of that. So the three areas and I'll share these as we go through them. Then they all fell somewhat in what they refer to as the civil rights area. So CR7B which is physical education. That can be
found on page 12, but I'll explain more as we get into the report. CR10B which is the bullying intervention and training. That's on page 13 of the report. And CR17 were the restraint procedures training.
That's on page 14. Just to kind of share some information about those. Just so you're aware, you know, we do have to produce a corrective action plan back to the state. And that corrective action plan stays open until we you know, essentially
meet the requirements set forth in the regulations. But for physical education and you know, if you've had a child at the high school, you were aware of this. We have not been able to offer physical education all 4 years at the high school. Unfortunately, that has been a requirement. It's just not something
we've been able to do because of staffing. However, because that is part of the review, we obviously were cited for that. So that is something that we are going to have to fix only because this will remain a citing until we
correct this. So they they can't really close out this review until we have met this requirement. So we're working with the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education right now to review this particular section of what that may look like. How often do we have to offer it? Can athletics factor
into that participation in athletics? So those are things that we're working through right now. But obviously, to offer PE in all four grades, as you can imagine, would require additional staffing. DESE is well aware of our staffing challenges. However,
that doesn't necessarily excuse us from meeting the time on learning requirement in physical education. So that is something that we do need to address. And and I did you know, Ms. Watson and Ms. Barry and I have been you know, talking about this and discussing ways that we can meet this requirement and
we'll continue to do so and you know, make this part of our corrective action plan. What DESE did say is you know, if this is something that may take more than a year, they will leave this section of the review open until we meet the section, but it will remain open. But they are understanding that it may not happen. We
may not be able to make corrections you know, say for September and for next school year. But we just have to indicate that in our corrective action plan. So again, we'll be working on that. And you know, I want to thank Ms. Barry too while I'm I'm mentioning her just for taking the lead on this. I know it was not easy. There's a lot of
requirements around this, but she did an amazing job of getting this. Obviously, having 29 elements and really having 26 implemented and three partially implemented I think speaks you know, highly to the work that Ms. Barry has done and
obviously, the practices and procedures we have in place. The next one is CR10B which is the bullying intervention and prevention. Again, you can see here in your packet, it gives you the you know, legal standard and what needs to be included.
There were elements of the training that needed to be part of that that we did not have. Obviously, we do an annual training as part of our back to school training, but there were certain elements of our training that were not present. And so that was something that the department
you know, asked us to go back and revise our training. So we did actually partner with the MARC Center out of Bridgewater State. And they're helping us with that. This was a finding because again, we weren't going to have all of our staff staff trained by the end of the year. We
have half of our staff trained now and the other half is going to be trained in the fall. So again, it was a citing, but it's not that we're not doing it. It's just that we won't have it complete prior to this. And then the last one as I mentioned I'm
sorry. was CR17A. And the criterion title is use of physical restraint on any student enrolled in a publicly funded education program. The elements there, obviously, we have the training requirements that we do. Any staff member that may be
involved in restraint does go through. We were previously a CPI district. Now we're moving over to Safety Care. But really what the elements there that we were missing as part of that training we had to include elements on really preventing student violence,
self-injurious behavior, and suicide. And so our training was you know, really focusing on the staff in terms of de-escalation. And then if you know, restraint was necessary, our training didn't really focus on those areas. So again, we will go back and revise that to make sure that those
main areas are included in our training. But that is you know, again, I think pretty significant you know, to to say that we have those three partially implemented. There was just you know, minor elements that we want to include, but important elements. I don't want to diminish that. But you
know, I I will submit a corrective action plan to the state relatively soon and that'll be something that we'll continue to work on implementing next year. Happy to answer any questions on that if you have any before I get to my last one. Ms. Fitzgibbons?
I'm lost. Go ahead. No, you go first. You go first. Ms. Thomas, thank you. My question is just about the CR17A1. When you're submitting that corrective action plan, is that something that's collaborated Who's collaborating with you? And is special education involved
in that process? >> Yes, special education is is obviously that that last one kind of straddles both civil rights and special education where that falls under. So yes, Ms. Barry, myself, and Dr. DeAngelo are
collaborating on that. Thank you. Ms. Fitzgibbons? Yeah. Mr. Powers, I don't need an answer to this. I I just want to make an observation if you will.
I'm driving down I'm driving up toward Braintree on Route 24, right? All my All my vehicle is up to date, inspected. I've got my my tags on. I've got my registration. I have insurance on my
vehicle. I just drive like a Massachusetts driver. And I switch in and out of lanes without using my blinker. And I drive above the posted speed limit.
And and the and the and and the state trooper behind me pulls me over and says, "Do you know why I pulled you over?" And obviously, I say no, because I wanted him to tell me why. But, he, you know, he says, "Well, you were going too fast and you were moving
between lanes without signaling." I said I said, "Don't don't worry, officer. Don't worry. I'll submit a corrective action plan to to the state police headquarters, and we'll be good. We have to comply with the law. That's
my opinion. If it costs money, it costs money, and unfortunately, it's going to have to come from somewhere. >> [applause] >> Thank you. Thank you. Any other questions on this? Mr. Loesch. Did they give a specific timeline for responses in the corrective action
plans? I believe it's the beginning of May we have to submit the corrective action plan, and then obviously, we have to indicate when we plan to implement this. Obviously, for September, we're looking at, you know, the last two PE, they know
that it we obviously have to show demonstrate that we're making progress this September, but we may not actually have it complete during next school year. Okay, and I just I assume we're taking into to account the new restraint regulation thing. Yes, exactly.
Yeah, and that was something that DESE also said in terms of, you know, they're actually very supportive in giving us model guidance for us to use, model language to use, but that was something that they pointed out and said, you know, we're going to have model language for districts. So, in terms of making any type of significant changes right
now, you know, obviously, we have the updated regulations, but they they typically have model language that we can, you know, include in the corrective action plan. That they're going to be providing that to us. Thank you. This is Conrad Leverentz. Question for you, Mr. Powers, is
I know this has come up over the past few years, and I don't know what happened 5 10 years ago. Um The PE at the high school, I'm sorry. I mean, I'm not concerned about these other things, but they're they what is here in the document seem like training pieces
on these other two items, but this PE at the high school is like hard to me. I'm just curious what other districts cuz I don't think other districts are providing 4 years. May- maybe I'm wrong. I don't know. I'm just curious what other districts are doing around this, cuz I know this is a state law.
That's why the 4 years. Uh so, I I I do think, you know, some districts and some high schools offer a very robust health and physical education program where they have multiple staff members in that department, and it's not just your typical PE. They're offering wellness classes. You know, they build CrossFit gyms in
the high school. I mean, they're they're really doing creative things. Uh and then obviously, as I stated, health and wellness as well. But, to your point, we also did get the feedback from DESE that not every high school is able to offer this, and so that some high schools uh
you know, do look at alternatives, such as participation in, you know, some of the extracurriculars, and could that be counted as as matching the requirement. So, that's something that we're working through right now. There is, you know, specific language in the regulations
about they have to have PE. And then there's also some guidance around participation in those extracurriculars may count towards it. It just wouldn't count towards the time on learning requirement. So, it could count for part of it, but not to meet the full part of
it. But, there is some flexibility. So, I do think that's eventually probably where we'll have to go, unless again, we get a windfall of funds and can bring on a, you know, robust PE staff at the high school. I think, you know, we can try to make incremental changes if we can add
additional staff to help the the the strain, but I do think we're going to look at can we offer some type of alternative to that requirement. Thank you, Mr. Powers. Yeah. My last uh uh
update is as you know, I made the announcement that I recommended Ms. Angela Watson as the next assistant superintendent. Pleased to share with you this evening that news publicly and to the the general public.
As you know, we we launched a pretty thorough process search process. We had over 30 applicants for the position. We brought in approximately 10 applicants for first round of interviews, and then two finalists were identified. Both of those finalists spent
approximately half a day in the district going through more interviews, and then site visits, walking classrooms with interview committee. And you know, thankfully, very pleased that Ms. Angela Watson was the chosen
finalist, and that when she and I had the discussion about the position, and I offered it to her, she accepted, which is great news. So, we're very excited. But, you know, as you know, Ms. Watson has spent her entire career here at Bridgewater-Raynham. She has served multiple roles as a
teacher, as an administrator, assistant principal, principal of both what what was the Bridgewater Middle School, and for the last 17 years up at the high school. I think her institutional knowledge, her knowledge of, you know, the the BR
way, the BR community, the people within the community, it's going to serve her well and and makes her an ideal candidate for this position. So, I am excited to recommend her to you tonight for your approval of of that appointment.
Thank you, Mr. Powers. As we know, procedurally, we do have to vote to approve this recommendation by from Mr. Powers as part of the school committee. So, I will entertain a motion upon recommendation of the superintendent. I will entertain a motion to appoint Angela Watson as
assistant superintendent as of July 1st, 2026. So moved. >> Second. Second. Motion made by Mr. Loesch, seconded by Mrs. Conrad Leverentz. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed?
I just want to say congratulations, Ms. Watson. As a parent of a current high school student and a parent of an incoming high school student, ninth grader coming up, I am saddened that you will not be there. But, I am very excited to see what you
will do in the central office and to work more closely with the school committee. So, congratulations. Thank you very much. >> [applause] [applause] >> And you know, it's obviously perfect timing that we were able to make this appointment as soon as we did. Just
allows Ms. Watson to spend as much time as possible with Ms. Barry and myself over the next few months just transitioning into this role. Ms. Watson and I have been going out to all the schools this week. We've gone to Raynham Middle School, the Mitchell Elementary School. Today was the O'Donnell Hugh
Middle School, and tomorrow we're going to Williams, Merrill, and La Liberty. Thankfully, she doesn't need a tour of the high school as she knows it already. Not that she doesn't know these other buildings, but, you know, when you're there for a specific purpose or maybe a meeting, you don't get to see all the nooks and crannies, and so we're spending time doing that today and
this week and and meeting all the the students and staff. So, it's been it's been great. So, very much looking forward to working with her and continuing to work with Ms. Barry for the next couple months, and something tells me in the future as well. So, that'll be great. That concludes my report. Happy to answer any questions.
Ms. Hoy Thomas. Hi, thanks. I just wanted to ask about leadership continuity at the high school. I think some members of the public have asked me what the plan is there, and if you could touch on it. Sure. Yeah, actually, that I should have mentioned that. I'm sorry. Thank you for the reminder, Ms. Hoy Thomas. Yes, we have posted for the high
school position. We've had it advertised. It is open through the end of April vacation. We find we always get a fairly good response if the search is tied to some type of vacation period. Just allows people to kind of step away from their daily jobs, take a breath, and say, "Okay, let me
get all my documentation together and actually submit it." So, we're we're, you know, we're hopeful we'll get some more. We've already had a few come in, which has been great. We did send a survey out to high school families, survey out to high school staff, and then we also sent a survey out to high
school students. Just asking them for some feedback about what they would like to see, you know, what qualities, characteristics that are important to them. So, we're gathering that feedback now. We actually asked, you know, if there's an interview question you'd like to ask. So, we'll be able to compile that. And then, you know, we'll form a
search committee as well. We've already started talking about that. We've had some faculty and staff already volunteered to serve on that. And we're, you know, putting together I'm sure we'll have some type of student component, and obviously, a family component to to that search as well. We tentatively have interviews scheduled
for after April vacation, you know, starting maybe that week or the second week, depending on the applicant pool and everyone's schedule, but that is what we hope, you know, get through that first round in a in a week or two, and then obviously, identify some finalists from there, and you know, ask them to to
spend some time here in our district, and you know, potentially spend time in their district if they're not internal. And, you know, go from there. Our hope obviously is to have somebody on board by the end of the year again to be able to allow some transition time with with Ms. Watson.
Hope that answers your question. Thank you, Mr. All right, thank you. Next, we have budget subcommittee report. On April 6th, 2026, the budget subcommittee met at 5:30 p.m. in the superintendent's conference room. In attendance were vice chair Loesch, Ms.
Hoy Thomas, Mr. Fitzgibbons, Superintendent Powers, Assistant Superintendent Barry, Ms. Babalola, Ms. Robichaud, Mrs. Feeley, Mr. Schantz, Mr. Chakra, Principal Watson, Mrs. McDougall, our recording secretary, and myself.
Um at that time, we approved budget subcommittee minutes of March 23rd, 2026. Um we also discussed a fiscal 2027 budget update. Um the budget subcommittee continued to review the fiscal 2027 budget following the approval of the school committee on
March 25th. Various percentage increases were reviewed if the towns were not able to pass the requested school committee budget. Um four potential options were reviewed and what impact that would have for the 10 requested positions and or potential cuts into other areas such as building maintenance, curriculum, and
resources. Uh we further discussed other questions from town council on the CLA report. Um I will get into this later, but as you know, we did approve our budget on March 25th, so it has been sent to the towns. Um
Raynham has not presented their fiscal 27 budget yet. Um they will be presenting that with um the town warrants in the upcoming weeks, so we'll we'll attend and review review that with them where they're where they're coming in for our budget. Um town council last
night, um Mr. Justin Casanova Mr. Casanova Davis presented the Bridgewater town council um budget, which I will get into um later on, but this was our discussion on April 6th before this had happened. Um So, not much is going on with us yet.
We're waiting to hear what the towns are really presenting with their budget and what their plan for funding will be before we then also have a discussion between the school committee as to what our plan is going forward following that. Um Mrs. Babalola did review the
quarterly budget report, which is um coming up on the agenda, and she'll present that herself. Mr. Shawcross presented three estimates um for a IT 3-year antivirus contract. Um he received um three estimates regarding the renewal of the antivirus
contract we have currently with Sophos security software. He received estimates um from our current provider for 3 years for a total cost of $66,000 over the 3 years. Um he received an estimate from Arctic Wolf for a 3-year contract, and the total cost would be
$68,000, $429. And he received an estimate from CrowdStrike for a 1-year contract in a total cost of $59,539.06. Mr. Shawcross indicated he recommended the Sophos contract as they were the
most cost-effective, um our current provider, and he had also been able to negotiate them down from their original quote of 37,000 um per year to 22,000 per year. Um so, that was his recommendation um based on the three estimates that he received at
that time. Um So, with that, I will entertain a motion to authorize the superintendent to enter into a 3-year contract with Sophos for 24/7 proactive monitoring and incident response software security software. So
moved. Second. Uh motion made by Mr. Loesch, second by Mr. Fitzgibbons. Do we have any discussion or questions on that? Mr. Loesch. I I just want to know it's a great job by Mr. Shawcross in the negotiations uh to get that level of contract and get them to agree to I think
maybe he said it was the previous kind of agreement we really just duplicated, so that was an excellent effort to really get cost savings for the district. Yeah, we appreciate that especially going into this budget year, so thank you. Mrs. Hoy-Thomas. Yes, I think it was a great negotiation. My question is I
guess could we get an update on when our i-Ready contract ex- is up next? Um there's a lot of chatter because of a federal lawsuit with information and privacy, so just think if we could get more info out to the public on what we're doing, what the plan is there, that would help.
Yes. Um I did see some discussion on that today regarding that, so I will put it on to the next budget sub meeting, and we can discuss that that time. So, thank you. Any other questions regarding this? Um seeing none, all those in favor? I. Any opposed?
Thank you. Uh Mr. Shawcross did provide a facilities report regarding the fee schedule fee schedule for fiscal 27. Um one of our members did request further information before we brought it to the committee, so that will be on hold. We are not going to act on that this
evening. It'll be pushed to the next um meeting. Uh declaration of sur- uh surplus was discussed. Um that was already voted and approved in consent agenda. Um we did have one other item. Mr. Shawcross did update the budget subcommittee about recent increased
plumbing and maintenance costs at the high school due to an increase in high school students vaping in the bathrooms and disposing of the vapes and vape wrappers in the toilets causing blockages. Um so, that is something that um Principal Watson and Mr. Shawcross are working through on potential
resolutions to this. Um so, if you're watching at home and you have a high schooler, please speak to them because it causes a lot of issues with the plumbing and the bathrooms. Um the budget subcommittee meeting was adjourned at that time. Um otherwise, um
on April 7th, 2026, Vice Chair Loesch, Mrs. Hoy-Thomas, Superintendent Powers, and I um also attended the Bridgewater Budget and Finance Subcommittee meeting um at 6:00 p.m. and following that, the Bridgewater Town Council meeting with their finance committee at 7:00. Um during these meetings, we answered
questions and discussed the approved school committee budget following our budget approval on March 25th, 2026, and in advance of Mr. Casanova Davis's budget presentation on April 14th. Um lastly, um as I previously stated, um
as an update on April 14th, so last evening, um Bridgewater Town Manager Mr. Casanova Davis presented Bridgewater's proposed fiscal 27 budget. I was unable to due to attend um due to a conflict, but I did watch the live um YouTube um I
did watch the YouTube, and these are my notes. Um Mr. Casanova stated that this was a challenging budget year maintaining services with a starting uh budget deficit. The approved school district budget was an 11.2% overall and 9.87% with debt um to the town of
Bridgewater. Proposed in his uh budget presented last night was a 3.6% increase to the district. This represents a $2.7 million deficit from what we requested. Um he did state that new revenue was only about 500,000 um to fund operations
this year. And his employee benefits alone had increased by $1 million. Um school is 54% of their entire budget um and 83% of their town budget is staffing and benefits. Um since 2025,
the town has reduced 25 full-time employees, um which many of which were retirees or attrition that they did not fill positions. Um union contracts currently are all settled except fire, which I believe he stated was in mediation.
Um regarding tax bills, he did uh speak to this. In 2026, the average home value in Bridgewater was about $616,000, and the average tax bill is $7,420. In 2020, there was $320
delta versus the state, which is now a $690 versus the state. Um so, Bridgewater taxes are quite low compared to the state average. Their home values have increased by 55%, but their tax bills have not increased
proportionately to that. If it was proportional, he stated, it would be over $9,000. Um as he stated, new growth was less than $500,000 for this fiscal year um and the budget does not meet the community's needs, but it is balanced,
which is just his job to balance the budget. He reduced staff hours and reduced COLAs to get the balance. However, that is not sustainable to maintain services and keep staff. Um they were only adding one firefighter to mitigate overtime expenses in that
department um and reclassifying a business office person to a grants and procurement position position to also mitigate costs since that could be increased revenue. Um the service impacts he stated, um it will definitely impact town services.
Non-public safety full-time hours will be reduced and or not filled. Um however, I did not see any police or fire cuts um and they are in fact are adding one fire. Um none of those are sustainable. Um town hall would be closed on Fridays.
The senior center reduced hours during the day. The library is currently closed on Saturday, and hours will be further reduced. Um he did highlight needs within the town. Um they do have a need in their assessing department um and their dep-
deputy building inspector. Um those are departments that generate revenue. Um the library needs staff and may lose certification and state aid due to that. Um this budget was referred to Budget and Finance and Finance Committee, so we
will be attending those and also hoping to have discussions with them on this budget and see where the town council falls on this. They must approve this budget um within 45 days from the day it was presented yesterday. There was a public comment regarding the
new town budget. Multiple people discussed the golf course as a state of revenue that they are not obtaining enough from. Town council comments regarding this, counselor Lindy did not like cuts across the board and
it devastated the small departments. And short changing citizens that have needs of those services. He was especially upset with the library cuts and the senior center cuts. Town counselor Murphy, these cuts are going to impact the town and the community
and obviously we can't make money appear even though residents voted against an override last year. Services are going to decline. Town counselor Perry, our town budget is way behind where we need to be compared to other towns of similar size. And if
we do not increase it now potentially later. And 2.5% which we have stated multiple times is not keeping up with expenses which is now going to be affecting town services. Town counselor Kennedy um
stated that chapter 90 state funding has not been enough. Neither has chapter 70 or 71 and people should pay attention to what the state is actually fully funding or funding. Town council Allenburg also indicated that she would like to talk regarding
the golf course contract for increased revenue. Town counselor McGrath would also like to advocate the state for more funding from the millionaires tax. Town counselor Reddy um indicated unrestricted government aid
that they should be looking to that at the state level as that burden is going on the taxpayers right now. And the budget presentation that was presented by Mr. Casanova Davis is on the Bridgewater town um website. So I encourage people to review
that, watch the presentation. To review the budget book, see where those cuts are and what it looks like for the school department. Going into fiscal 27 but that will his presented budget just as our presented initial budget does go to
their budget and a finance and finance committee and back to the town council. So we'll see if there are any changes to that. We do have a budget sub meeting coming up on scheduled for Monday May 4th. Um
Annual town meeting for Raynham is May 18th. Um tentatively Bridgewater town council to approve the budget is May 19th but I'm not sure if that's been confirmed with Bridgewater yet. So we will update [clears throat] that and then our next school committee meeting will be May 20th.
So lots of budget things coming up and we will keep you updated on both sides of the district where they are. Do we Do people have questions? Um on budget things right now. I tried to get everything in there what's going on
on both sides and the status of it. I thought if none that concludes my report. We have an update from Mrs. Conrad Leverentz and Mrs. Fitzgibbons regarding the PEC subcommittee. Anything going on? Um
you know we've been meeting since August, September. The PEC has been meeting um to review health insurance rates. Again we towns asked us to go back and look and so the school committee to really look
and kind of look if we could work on cutting some of those rates. I am incredibly thankful for Mrs. Healy and all the work that she has done on this. So what I can say is we did go out for bid
and if the the health insurance for our current or active employees and and retirees that are not Medicare eligible. We got back lots of quotes and I will say we I think budgeted 15% in our budget
for health insurance increase and the rates that we got back actually and Mrs. Healy was able to very skillfully negotiate was 7.5%. So I think we are we did a phenomenal job or Mrs. Healy did and are thankful to our
health insurance broker. So we'll be and that was actually with the current current carrier of health insurance so we will continue with our the current or the district will continue with the current carrier at at only a 7.5%
increase. Oh that's great. I mean between last year and this year that's a lot of funds that we're able to save so thank you. Mr. Fitzgibbons did you have anything? Mrs. Conrad Conrad Leverentz summarized it very well. Thank you. And
I would just say I think 7.5% many of you all here all have health insurance seems like a lot but it's really not in that industry and the rates that people are seeing and what we were told from our broker and even from um what do you call it that did the report
here is you know on average across the state people are seeing anywhere from 15 to 20% so you know we are well below kind of the state average in what's happening. Thank you. And thank you Mrs. Healy for that. We appreciate that.
Next is also Mrs. Conrad Leverentz with policy subcommittee. On the agenda is policy JFAA residency of students. This is a second read so I second read so I will make a motion to
waive the reading of policy JFAA residency of students. Second. Motion made by Mrs. Conrad Leverentz and second by Mr. Fitzgibbons to waive the second reading. Any discussion on that? Mr. Walsh Yeah and just reviewing and
looking at the forms for what we're asking people to prove residency. So we Hold that for the next motion. For the approval of the motion. All those in favor? I. Any opposed?
Do you want to put the motion to approve on the floor then and then make Um I will make a motion to approve policy JFAA residency the residency policy. Motion made by Mrs. Conrad Leverentz. Do
I have a second? Second. Second made by Mrs. Davenport. Mr. Walsh you had a question or comment? Yeah and just looking at what we're asking residents to provide. I'm just thinking maybe adding another option of water since we have telephone on there and home phones
pretty much phased out at this point. This might be another decent you know piece of uh residency documentation for the preschool.
Cuz I mean having telephone on there I know a lot of households do not have that anymore so that makes sense. So are you suggesting maybe under B electric, gas and and or water? Around to there. Okay. And this might be a bit of more of a procedural question for the future but are we
allowing online submissions considering we're having folks do this in multiple different ways? Is that a question for me? Yeah. Yeah so right now we we have been doing an online residency process. We're actually getting back to scheduling
in person interviews so they have the option of submitting their documents online. And we used to try to go back and forth via email and we were just kind of losing that that face-to-face connection. So I know Megan her team have come back to scheduling in person
registration meetings where they can still submit or they can bring everything in with them. So they do have that option. Right I'm just saying when they were asked to re-verify Oh re-verify I'm sorry. I thought you were asking about the the initial process. Yes they they have the ability to still
submit that. Perfect. Thank you. Mrs. Withrow is adding water housekeeping or should do you want me to put it on to the next? Adding water doesn't really change the it just gives another option. It doesn't change the integrity of the policy.
Okay. Do you want me to Do I need to do it? Maybe just a minute to add it and just >> So uh I will Do I need to do it? I will amend the vote to amend the policy to include um water after
electric, gas, or water. Okay. Do we have a second for that amendment? Second. Second by Mrs. Davenport. Any questions or discussion on that? All those in favor of the amendment?
And then going back to the motion to approve now with the amendment. Any other questions? I will say we didn't get any comments back from last meeting or from anyone around around this. Okay. All those in favor? I. Any opposed?
Thank you Mrs. Healy. Next we have the business office quarterly update with Miss Babalola and Mrs. Robichaud. >> Good evening, Madam Chair, school committee members, and Superintendent Powers. I'm reporting this evening on the Treasurer's quarterly report of
January 1, 2026 through March 31, 2026. Chapter 70 school aid. These funds have been coming in timely at the end of each month. We received $8,552 493 during this quarter.
Chapter 71 transportation. We have received one payment in the amount of $1,312,898. Fiscal year 26 budget was estimated to be $2,830,632. We expect the final payment in June. Athletic fees.
Fiscal year 26, we estimated receiving $104,400. We have collected $63,900 during this quarter. We have exceeded our yearly budgeted balance by $199,800. Investment of funds. Interest earnings
for fiscal year 26 was estimated at $300,000. This quarter we collected $239,061.73. Due to higher interest rates, and we have exceeded our yearly budgeted amount by $360,003.14. Miscellaneous receipts.
We estimated receiving $55,000 for fiscal year 26. During this quarter, we received $10,939.15. Medicaid revenue. During this quarter, we have collected $117,568.40. We estimated receiving for this year
$300,000, and we anticipate receiving $85,780.16 by the end of the school year. Parking fees. We estimated receiving $40,000 for fiscal year 26. We have received year-to-date $38,375.
Rental of school facility. We collected $17,074 during this quarter. We estimated receiving $65,000 for fiscal year 26, and still anticipate receiving $16,561. Charter school. For fiscal year 26, we
budgeted $80,000. As of this quarter, we have collected $119,625. Construction debt appropriations and town assessments. We are receiving these funds timely. And this concludes my report.
You have a Yep, Ms. White Thomas. Um it might be for the superintendent. Um just to quote Natasha, exceeded budget regarding athletic fees. Um exceeded budget balance by 199K thus far. I think if we could clear that up to the
public, we're not in a surplus cuz we didn't budget to fully cover the program fees, right? That is correct. Yes. So, when we developed the budget last year, uh we had anticipated only bringing in about $100,000. Uh it wasn't until after the fact that sports fees were then raised, uh which we knew we were
estimating based on the number of athletes participating the prior year, we should be bringing in about $500,000 all three seasons if we had the same number of athletes participating. Uh but again, to run athletics at the middle school, high school level uh is just shy of a million dollars. So, y- yes, we're
not running a surplus there. That is all going to to offset the cost of of running athletics for the district. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. All right. Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the school committee,
Superintendent Powers. Tonight, I will be presenting the quarter three budget report covering July, I mean, January 1st, sorry, to March 31st, 2026.
You should have the full report along with a chart and graph in your packet. So, tonight I will be stressing the quarterly report. The total budget for fiscal year 26 still remains the same. Nothing has
changed. 104.4 million. In this third quarter, we spent over 23. 3 million dollars. This represents a 22% of our total budget
for this quarter. Why this is $724,000 more than what we spent during this time last year, we remain in a stable position. Though, we continue to monitor all our
key key cost drivers as the fiscal year So, the summary before you, the summary report in your packet, compares the spending in this quarter to this same time last year.
Just for you to be able to see where we stand at this current quarter. So, this is outlined series by series, and I'll go through that shortly. Uh to start, the 1000 series is our administrative
cost series. This This cost is uh central office staff, our legal cost, and also IT-related expenses. So, in this quarter, we expended [clears throat] 16% less
than last year. This is because we did not fill the HR assistant position that was vacated early this fiscal year. Also, our legal cost are lower since we are not negotiating any new contracts
this year. I'll move on to the 2000 series, which specifies expenses on our teaching staff, curriculum for regular and special education um classes.
Spending in this category is 2% lower because we have less opposition than last year. We have already encumbered all known contracted obligations, including salaries
and other related um expenses, and we are also processing our biweekly warrant accordingly. In that same 2000 series category, we have our substitute lines, which we constantly monitor.
monitors. So, between the long-term and the short-term substitute lines, we currently have a positive balance in the bottom line, approximately 147, I mean, 148 uh thousand dollars in the bottom line.
So, we hope this should take us through the end of the fiscal year fiscal year, but it all depends on how many staff will be taking um some time off, leave of absence, due to number of reasons.
Moving qu- Excuse [clears throat] me. Moving quickly to our 3000 series, which is our food food services. And this details out our transportations to both regular uh special education and also medical services to our students.
In this quarter, we spent 9% higher than last year. This is mainly due to one-on-one service expended to educate our students. And again, I'm referring to this quarter because that's
what I'm reporting on. Our 4000 series is uh operating um of the building, as well as the custodial expenses and ground maintenance. So, in this quarter, quarter three,
spending is down versus last year by 3%. It is mostly time timing issue. Some of the invoices that were expected haven't been processed yet, and this is not due to us just pushing them on the
side. It is the fact that some vendors are late in sending in their invoices, and this is this may be due to their company policies, which may or may not have aligned with our timing of processing
vendor warrants. But we continue to keep an eye on these as we go through the rest of the fiscal year. And then moving on to our 5000 series, which is our benefits health insurance um category.
As we know that in this fiscal year, health insurance rates for active and retirees rose by 15%, just like what we just heard, compared to last year, which was a little bit over 7%.
As a result of this increase, we spent 3% more this quarter than last year. So moving on to our 7000 series, which is our capital projects.
In this series, we have spent about 88,000 so far in this quarter. Projects are currently out for bid. And however, some projects that have already been
awarded are scheduled for April vacation or summer vacation in order to not interrupt the the school session. Moving quickly to our debt services,
which is our 8000 series. The payment of debts dropped by 2% this quarter. This is because fewer debts debts are reaching maturity. As bonds age, the interest portion of the debt
services naturally decreases, and that's why we're seeing that decrease in payment for the debt services. And lastly in this category is our 9000 series, which is our tuition to
other schools or programs to other schools. Special education, as we know, cost that can quickly and easily be changed based on student need.
While we saw a spending spike in this quarter, it is temporarily an overage is a temporary overage that will be offset by our circuit breaker reimbursement fund that we currently have in our revolving line.
So at this time, we currently maintain over 900,000 dollars balance to offset any overage that we have in our program to other services line accounts. So we expect these lines
to normalize once the journal entry is processed. Probably anytime from now that will be taken care of. So next month, you should not I mean, there shouldn't be any overage sitting in those lines. So overall at this time,
the district maintains on track finance the district, sorry, remains on track financially. We will continue to monitor all our cost drivers and bring you updates as we go through the rest of the fiscal year.
And this concludes my report. Thank you. Thank you, Ms. Babalola. Do we have questions or comments from Thank you. You're welcome. >> [clears throat] >> Next, we have approval of general ledger warrants. I will entertain a motion to approve general ledger warrants dated
March 19th, 2026 and April 2nd, 2026. So moved. Second. Motion made by Mr. Fitzgibbons and a second by Mrs. Hoy Thomas. Any discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And we have one abstention.
Thank you. Next, we also have another administrative thing to approve. I will entertain Do you want to speak to this? >> Sure, happy to. Yes. As you know, we had a quite the number of school cancellations
this year, more than we have had combined, I think, in the last four years, which pushed our last day of school out to Tuesday, June 23rd. I did, as I shared with the School Committee, petition the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to
waive the additional day for Raynham Middle School. We had six school closures district-wide, and Raynham Middle School had seven. Thankfully, the department granted that waiver request. And so all students grades 1 through
grades 1 through 11 will be out on that Tuesday. So that is the official last day of school. Thank you. So hearing that, I will entertain a motion to approve Tuesday, June 23rd, 2026 as the last day of school for grades 1 through 11. So moved. Second. Motion made by Mr. Lowe,
second by Mrs. Conrad Labronto. Any discussion on that? All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Thank you. And thank you for applying for that waiver for RMS. I know that school is very happy about it.
Yeah, yes, yeah. I do not have any other business. We have public comment again. So we have our second public comment period. Once again, the School Committee welcomes information, concerns, and opinions from those attending our meeting. And to ensure open compliance with open
meeting law and other legal obligations, the committee will not engage with the speaker or one another for deliberation on comments. The chair will now open up public comment for a period of 12 minutes per policy BEDH, and would ask anyone who wishes to speak to please approach the podium, state your name and address,
and please limit your comments to under 3 minutes. I will open the second public comment at 8:15 p.m. Hi everybody. I'm here tonight to speak about the misuse of time-out rooms or what Bridgewater-Raynham like to call them as blue rooms. Could you just state your name and address, please? Oh,
sorry. Lauren Boyden, Sophia Lane, Bridgewater. Thank you. Bridgewater-Raynham calls them blue rooms, but what they truly are a closet used for seclusion. I know this from firsthand experience with my own child, a sweet, loving, autistic little boy who at the time was 6 to 8 years old.
During 2022 to 2023 school year at the Mitchell, my son was placed in a closet 138 times, totaling over 23 hours for the year. He had an incident at the school where he was told he wasn't allowed to leave and actually defecated in the closet.
The following year, he was transferred over to the Laurel Liberty School. I made it very clear on that school tour that he was not to be placed in any time-out rooms, not knowing the extent of what happened at the Mitchell, just that one incident. So the following year was the 2023-2024,
second grade, Raynham Elementary. It happened again without my knowledge. This time, 108 times, totaling for 21 hours for that year. At one time, my child was kept in that closet space for 2 hours. Let that sink in. 2 hours in a 7x7 room, tile floors,
tile walls, no ventilation, no rugs, no chairs, nothing to help them self-soothe. This is not support at all. This is not access to an education. This isn't my recollection of events, Mr. Powers, as you stated in your recent email today. This is facts of what
happened to my child. I recently saw a mom comment on Facebook about questioning about these blue rooms, which breaks my heart because the district is still continuing to use these rooms. I have dedicated a lot of my life to trying to shut these rooms down or get more information on why they're being used on such a vulnerable
children. I went as far as doing a Boston Globe interview. I have talked to Julia Evans at DESE trying to get answers. How was my son brought into these rooms? Who was he with? I can't get those answers. So I guess my public comment to all the parents with special ed children is
ask more questions. What are staff doing to your children? I was never informed. Had I known, I would have drove to that school and got my kid out. Once I actually requested the logs, this is what I was given. All this. And then if you look closely,
you see redacted names of other children. These could be your children. I had no idea. All these black lines could be someone else's kid. My kid now has been in therapy for 2 years. And I stand here now because DESE is changing regulations. I stand here now because my
son is ruined. I will give you an example. My two boys were playing on a trampoline. My other older son closed him in there, just playing around. He had a panic attack cuz he was scared he couldn't get out. It's something that's impacted my child. And this isn't 5-minute or
10-minute time-outs. These are 30 minutes, 40 minutes. And this isn't something I'm making up. I have the actual forms. It's I can understand if you put a kid in a you know, a time-out in a maybe in the same room, not in an empty classroom off of that, and
there's a closet. It's not even in the room. It's child abuse. I don't know how else you guys what else you would call it. And I guess I'm here tonight to spread the word. I thought maybe after the Boston Globe article, things would get better. It looks like they're still unused. It
breaks my heart because I don't want any family to go through what my family is currently going through and what they have been going through. It's absolutely heartbreaking. And you can sit there and say it's public safety or it's safety for the teachers. This is not a big kid. This was a 6-year-old, 30-pound 30-pound
little boy who was scared, and it's horrible. And that's what I have. So I know this is more for the parents to be informed, to ask more questions. I've reached out to some of you, and you know, it goes unanswered or
I don't know. So this is more for the parents to know and ask questions. Thank you. Thank you. Do we have anybody else for public comment? >> Hello. Dave Patrick, BREA vice president, long time teacher here at the high school.
Um I was going to I came here tonight I was going to speak to the letter that I wrote to the town council. Um but after hearing a few things I I mean I changed changed my plans. Uh I'd like to speak to the phys ed
issue that Mr. Powers mentioned. Uh that we got bold by DESE for over the natural our attorney meeting non-compliant. Um We we have a problem and we've had this
problem here at the high school for many years. Okay, we have a population of mostly young males uh non-college track kids. Um many with ADHD
uh and they're bored out of their minds coming to school here. Okay? Because we have no gym because we have almost we have very few hands-on classes for them. All right? Shops are long gone.
Okay? And that's what those kids need and they need gym. So uh we've been under-serving those this population of kids for a long time. And I just you know, it's more than just some check marks from DESE. It's a problem that we have here. And get guess
what, you know, the boredom of those kids lead to? Vapes in in toilets. Okay? Rappers in toilets, all right? Wasted time in bathrooms and stuff like that. So it's something that we should really take serious and really try and
fix here at this district. And I and I'll say this, I mentioned this to uh past superintendents. And the answer I got from now I'm just going to past superintendents, the answer I got from them it was, "Well, those kids go to BP." Well, guess what? They don't go to BP, they come here.
All right? So we need to do something for those kids. Thank you. Do we have any other public comment? Seeing none, I will close public comment at 8:22. Thank you. Uh several announcements to reiterate.
We have the annual town election in the town of Bridgewater and the town of Raynham on Saturday, April 25th, 2026 at the Edward A. O'Donnell Middle School and the Raynham Middle School. We do have one open school committee seat in Bridgewater and Raynham, so please go out and vote. Long Range Subcommittee
scheduled for Monday, April 27th at 5:30. Budget Subcommittee, Monday, May 4th at 5:00 p.m. The School Committee also has its reorganization meeting following that um April election on Wednesday, May 6th at 6:30 in the Superintendent's Conference
Room. At that time the School Committee will vote to approve a new chair, vice chair, and secretary clerk for the following year and the chair will then appoint School Committee members to subcommittees. Um the annual town meeting in Raynham, Monday, May 18th at 7:00 p.m. at the Raynham Middle School.
Um the Town Council meeting to approve the budget um is still tentative and the next School Committee meeting is Wednesday, May 20th at 7:00 p.m. Do we have any other announcements from members? Mr. Fitzgibbons. Uh Chair, did you want to mention Bridgewater's going to have a play
coming up very soon? >> Oh, yes. Um the weekend of May 1st is also Bridgewater. Um they're doing a rendition of Mean Girls, so it's going to be fabulous. Ms. Hoy-Thomas, did you have anything? >> Yes, uh the high school music department has their spring pops concert on May
14th at 6:00 p.m. It is free to attend. They take donations and the program could use your support. They have snacks and refreshments and the last concert that I went to that they put on was amazing. So hope to see everybody there. All right. Um with that, this concludes our School
Committee meeting. I will entertain a motion to adjourn the April 15th meeting at 8:24 p.m. So moved. Motion made by Mr. Low. Do I have a second? Second. Seconded by Mrs. Conrad-Lantigua. All those in favor? Aye.