Please note we are live streaming on our YouTube channel and we'll be recording um that and it will be available on our YouTube channel following the meeting. Please rise and join us 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. Thank you. I would like to introduce our school committee members and admin in attendance this evening for our regular school committee. On my left I have Miss
Davenport, Mr. Fitz Gibbons, Mr. Bethro, Superintendent Powers. On my right, I have Miss Jean Cece, Miss Foy Thomas, Mr. Collins, our RAM select board member, Miss Conrad Labberto and vice chair, Mr. Loach. And
I am Rachel King, school committee chair. We also have in attendance, assistant superintendent Barry and Mrs. McDougall, our recording secretary, as well as other members of the admin team in attendance. Our first item on the agenda is our item
from executive session, ratification of the union contract, maintenance, custodian, and grounds. As stated, we just returned from executive session and we have one item to report out on regarding maintenance custodian and grounds union contract. As I stated, we
also have Mr. Ken Collins, Ringham Select Board member as our town representative, voting member this evening. I will now turn the floor over to Mrs. Conradto, the negotiation subcommittee chair. >> And at this point, I just will highlight
a few of this working. Yes. Um at this point um time I will just highlight a few of the um high points from the contract. Um the contract is for a three-year period starting July 1st, 2025 through uh June
30th, 2028. Um some of the language in the in the contract includes clarifying language around promotions of moves. Um language around overtime and standby pay. um some changes in the accumulation
of sick pay, an increase in the clothing allowance amount, um the addition of tuition reimbursement for re relevant courses which is new to this contract and the cost of an increase at 2% for each year of the contract.
>> Thank you, Mrs. Conrain. I will accept a motion on the floor right now and then we can discuss this and have any questions. Um, I'll entertain a motion to accept the memorandum of agreement between the Bridgewater Ringham Regional School Committee and the American Federation of State, County, and
Municipal Employees, AFL-Cio, State Council 93, Local 1700, Maintenance Custodian, and Grounds Union for the period of July 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2028. Motion has been made by Miss Conrato,
second by Mr. Lo. And do we have discussion? See none. Miss, I'm sorry. Mrs. McDougall, is this a roll call? >> Yes. Okay. I just wanted to confirm. Do you want to call names from where you
are? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Thomas. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Thank you. Motion passes. Um, thank you, Mrs. Conrain and the rest of the
negotiation subcommittee as well as the maintenance custodian and grounds bargaining team. And thank you to our main select board member, Mr. Collins, for being here this evening. We appreciate that. Uh next we have correspondence and recognition. Um we have community
emails. First um we did receive since the last um hearing an email from a community member regarding the state um the status of the tennis courts at the Odon Middle School in Bridgewater. Mr. Powers did respond to that and is following up with the town of Bridgewater regarding repairs whether
they'll be done by the school district or by the town. Um so they're working to get those tennis courts up and running again. Um, and then we did receive several emails from parents regarding transportation questions um, from the start of school um, and concerns
regarding some bus stops. So, Mr. Powers did respond to that as well as Missville as the transportation chair. Um, we did have a recognition of the VR marching band. Um, I believe the marching band director was not able to be here this evening. Mr. Car, did you
want to anything about that. >> Uh yes. So our uh high school marching band did host through the US bands competition, an early preseason competition at the high school last weekend. There were four high schools there. Again, our students did amazing.
I was so proud of them. I just If you had the opportunity to uh view one of these US bands competitions, you know how impressive they can be. Um, you know, from a small band to a large band, it really doesn't matter. It's all about the performance. And, you know, we had such a great
turnout. Um, I know in the past they've hosted these later in the season, uh, with more high schools participating. Uh, but this was a a pre-season kind of a, you know, an early warm-up for the high schools participating. but they did an amazing job and can't wait to invite
all the students in the marching band and come and be recognized here. >> Thank you. And I did see lots of photos that they had shared following the competition um and that's amazing. So for them to host it here um and to come in first place. So that was amazing. So
we're so proud of them um for doing so well. Um we also had the school renaming ceremoni. Did you want to say a few words regarding that? >> Sure. Um we've uh for years years ago the the Bridgewater
Rainham School Committee when the now Odon Middle School was still the old BR high school uh dedicated that school uh to Ed O'Donny regionalized
district um last year or so. We voted to ask the town council in Bridgewater to uh rename it. They went along with that and we had a ceremony and and uh you know finally able to
unveil the new name on the building uh over the month of August and u all of Mr. O'Donn's family was down and they were very appreciative and as um Mr. Arthur Wyman said who used to be the
chair of this body. It was long overdue for a man who done a lot for the district. So um just a great turnout from the BR family, a great turnout for the Odon family and uh can now call it the Odon Middle School like the Williams
intermediate and the Mitchell elementary and the Liberty uh intermediate and the Merald Elementary early childhood. So We're working on this one, I guess, next, right? >> Thank you. And thank you. Thank you so
much for taking care of that, Mr. Gibbons, and and presiding over that. We appreciate that. Um, so now are we calling it MS? Is that the the term now? Um, next we have public comment. Um, do we have anyone in the public that would
like to speak? So, just All right. I will move on. Mr. Boy, do you want to be on the move? Thank you. For the record, we have no public comment duty. Thank you. Um, next we
have the consent agenda. I will entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda as presented, which includes minutes dated August 20th, 2025, approval of payroll warrants dated August 21st, 2025, September 5th, 2025, and September 12th,
2025. Acceptance of state Federal grants, the personnel report, the high school graduation date of Friday, May 29th, 2026 at 6 pm on the Bridgewater Ringham Regional High School multi-purpose field with a rain date of
Saturday, May 30th, 2026 at 10:00 a.m. and acceptance of a grant in the amount of $1,750 from the Bridgewater Cultural Council to Rainwater Players. >> Motion to approve. >> Motion made by Mr. Lo. Do I have a second? >> Second. Second by Mr. Fitzgiven. All
those in favor. >> Any opposed? Motion passes. And all my senior parents note that date. Very exciting. Next we have educational report. So I just want to make a note of this. Um we have a lot of new administrators and
directors that we haven't met before. We also have new school committee members. So I thought it was important to make that they get a chance to come before the committee um kind of give an overview on what they're working on, what their goals are um so we can get to know them and vice versa. So we will
have one or two um administrators um come to our meetings just to give a brief report at each meeting um so we can meet all of them, principles, people in admin, etc. Um so this evening was the special education department of report with Miss D'Angelo. Um as we know
she started July 1st. Um, so she's had a couple of months in the district. Um, and this has been a huge focus of the school committee to try and get that department um, on track um, and everyone working in the same direction for that population that we really are concerned
about. So, thank you so much for being here, Miss D'Angelo. Um, I believe you have a presentation, correct? So, we're going to go down there so we can see that. So, thank you. [Music] Congratulations. So, um, for those of you I haven't had
pleasure of meeting, I'm Jen Hangel, the director of student services here school district. I did a couple of slides just to help kind of focus. Um, but at any point if you have any questions or concerns, to interrupt me and ask those questions. So, this is
just a quick overview um of our services. So, currently right now there's about,200 students receiving services through IEP plans in the district. Um about 400 students receiving accommodations through 504 plans and about 50 of our students receive their educational programming
outside of the district. Um we provide related service providers in a variety of areas um speech and language, OT, PT, physical therapists, counselors, and also teachers visually impaired and heart.
We have three administrators currently that um work with me across the district. They this was one of our focuses at the beginning of the year to create an equitable kind of distribution of oversight. Um one of the things that we found was um inconsistent practices and a lack of effective communication
across all of our buildings. So one of the main things we looked at is how do we get that messaging out and how do we everyone going in the same direction which um sheriff kind of alluded to. Um so one of the things we looked at was the three leadership positions in special ed that that oversee the
district and how we could create some continuity. One of the things that we heard a lot about was that transitioning between buildings and between levels. Um so this model was really to support that transition as well as the services happening. Um so if you look the middle
schools will have one administrator above to keep that consistency across the middle school and then also support Bridgewater High School at the nth grade level looking at that transition here. Um and then we kept some continuity in
the Mar Liberty and Mitchell um with the staff who had been here last year and then Miss Tum who's our newest administrator to join the team um she will be primarily at Williams and Rain in that 10 to 12 plus and then I have to give a special shout
out to my first months were crazy. Um, but good crazy. Um, and the people that kept me afloat were the administrative assistants that worked across the hall. Um, anytime I had a question, whether it was who to go to or who someone was or, you know, where the fax machine was or
any of that thing, um, these people kept me going. Um, so I cannot say enough about them and the knowledge that they have provided for me as I transitioned into the district. Couple of early successes. So, as you know, Chair King mentioned, um, it
hasn't been too long. Um, so kind of looked at a couple of things in our in our first few months. One of the big things was looking at creating and implementing consistent processes and practices across all of our buildings. Um, and that again came with that clear messaging and that consistent messaging
through our ads. Um, we also looked at reviewing our contracted services and creating some internal capacity. So hiring has been a little bit of a challenge um because of our situation, but an opportunity to that challenge was really looking at the candidates who were hiring and what they could do and
in their capacity to provide services in district. So that was a really nice opportunity for us um when we were looking at hiring new candidates, looking at some of those candidates who had credentials and expertise in some of those areas that we were contracting out previously. So that really that kind of
challenging piece of hiring turned into a real positive for us and some of our positions. Um the equitable allocation of responsibilities among staff that's something we're looking at too. So a big piece of growing in the right direction is also having a strong culture and a commitment to making great decisions for
kids. Um so a piece of that is making sure that everyone on our team is holding being held accountable and working towards that goal with us. So that's been a big piece to looking at those responsibilities and making sure everyone's held to that same standard. Um and then the examination of us of
electronic materials and subscriptions. So we all love technology. Um we all love to make things easier for us and engaging to our students. Um but we also had a lot of subscriptions to different tools and resources. Um so another piece of the work that we've been trying to do
over the last couple of weeks as our renewals come up is to look at usage levels. So, anytime something comes in and there's a request to renew everything, we're asking our vendors to provide some usage um calculations and data so that we know how often it's
being used, by what populations it's being used, and in what capacity. And then looking to see what our other products are that may be a repetition or a duplication of a similar service. And then really reaching out to our service providers to see what you use, what is
most beneficial, and where can we streamline some of those resources. questions looking ahead. So, one of the big things that we're looking ahead about is creating um pro proactive open communication to rebuild our parent
relationships. So, that has been a little bit of a work in the beginning. So, over the summer, I had um the fortunate opportunity to meet a lot of great families um who came in with some real frustrations um and an understanding of where those frustrations came from. Um so, part of the work that we're doing is really
looking at how we proactively engage our families and start rebuilding those relationships and that trust um so that we can work together for for good outcomes. Um so that's a big piece of what we're doing. Um we're going to continue to build on that internal capacity. So looking at the strength of the staff that's already there and how
can we use that those strengths to really benefit um one of the things we looked at is transitioning from these are um deescalation strategies. So looking at moving away from CPI into safety training that something that um some of the staff who are trained and
train our other staff members have have requested. Um so we're looking into that. There is a little bit of a financial benefit to it as well. Um CPI has a higher cost per renewal membership for everyone that we certify and we do certify quite a few people in the
district whereas safety care is a much lesser cost um once the initial cost is then pulled out. Um and then another big focus for this year is again to get us all going the same direction we have to have common understanding and common expectations. So a big piece of that is going to be working with Alan Bloom. Um
he is a specialized field around IEP development and IEP practices. Um, so he is going to work with us and do some for our special education staff um over the course of the next year um and work on really honing in on our IEPs, honing on
our services and making sure we're meeting them hard and doing what we need to do um for our students. And then the last one is another collaboration looking at our behavioral and mental health initiatives. Um more specifically looking at proactive approaches. So, what can we do to benefit all students
um that are proactive approaches um with our counseling staff? Um and then looking at how we can partner with um some of our community partners locally, but also some at the state level when we have Thriving Minds and the Ready Center who are really big organizations in Massachusetts who provide a lot of
resources and support. >> Do you want me to go down? Okay. Thanks. Thank you so much, Miss Angelo. Um, I'll open it up um to my members for questions, but I just want to say I really appreciate how it was very thoughtful in you're aligning things
from this top down, which I think we definitely need. Um, and also looking at the efficiency between technology and staffing, which we definitely need right now. So, thank you so much. Plus all the personal relationships, which I think is a huge part of it. So, thank you. Um, do
we have questions and comments for Miss Dangelo? >> Um, thank you for the presentation. I really don't have any like questions right now, but I did want to say I'm really excited about even just the language and mindset you seem to have about it rather than using the word like
you know challenges like it turned like you used like opportunity and I think that's will be great for the staff and it's just an awesome in regards to it. So, thank you. I'm excited for you. Thank you, >> Mr. President.
>> Yes. Thank you. Um, welcome. Welcome aboard. Um, if you paid any attention to the Bridgewater Ringham School Committee, you know, I'm going to tell you that how we treat our most vulnerable students is how we should be judged as a district. I've said that
from the beginning since I get on here in 2021. still believe it today. I'll believe it 20 years from now if I'm still around. And um but but what I what I want to encourage uh not only yourself
but also the superintendent sitting here is looking at creative ways to say yes. We can't say yes to everything. But too often in school administration, town administration, the easy go-to answer is
no. and and and I think you know where you're saying let's rebuild uh collaboration and parent trust I think that's a big part of getting there is saying yes but or not no and um and and
and that's important I think in them so I just make that suggestion and then one question for you um six 1600 if I counted uh 1,200 IEPs, 500 400ish
uh accommodations out of a out of a district of 5,00 5,500 students. Is that ratio average for the state smaller than the state or above the state average or could you speculate why? >> Yeah, so um so the state average doesn't
include 504 plans. So when they give statistical data at the state level, it really just it just takes into consideration our students with disabilities. Um so if you're looking at it, we would know who would have relative data to compare to,200 students receiving services. On top of that,
there's a breakdown that kind of goes into it looking at the level of need among those,00 students. Um so to say that where where we are comparative to others, um that's hard to say. because I think it looks at the demographics. It looks at, you know, our service
continuum. It looks like at a lot of things, but I would say on average most districts fall between 16 and 18%. Um, just giving you like a general percentage >> and we're closer to 20. So, it's higher
than the state average. >> We're saying yes. >> Okay, great. Thank you. >> Thank you. Anyone else? Um, >> um, so one, thank you for the presentation and I really like uh some of the approaches you're taking. I think
you're very proactive and God bless you for staying in this role because I have this job and it can be brutal at times. Um, one question just kind of preparing personnel report >> uh and looking at the school psychologist situation. How are we in terms of school psychologists and
looking at things like evaluations? >> Yeah, we're great. So I think that some of that equitable allocation is what we're looking at. Um we actually took that again um very cliche but we turned that resation situation into a positive.
Um what we have heard over the last several years is that our school psychologist um their position has also encompassed the team chair role which is the person who facilitates meetings and does more of the paperwork side of processes. Um, so the feedback that we have heard from school psychologists is
that some of them do not love that role. They love the school psychology role and working with students and the assessment piece, but that other side is something that they're just not comfortable with or they feel it kind of compromises the work that they're doing on the other side. Um, so we took that as an opportunity um to roll out our first
team chair position. So we posted for that the other day. Um, so what we are doing is we're kind of combining um two schools to share a school psychologist the assent of it and then a team share to do that piece that's more involved in
the process. Um so you know that's something that we're looking again strategically to say okay well this this um another piece of that is we've also just sent out an email today actually um for school psychologists who want to participate in a team share um job
institute that's running um it's one meeting a month from now till May um so if there's any I actually had four when I left this evening um who are interested in that so that's another way to either build their comfort level or their capacity and make them, you know, a better team member who can facilitate
those meetings. But yeah, school psychology in the high school one, we're interviewing right now a couple of applicants. So, we're interviewing for that. Um, we're fortunate that our school psychologists here um do cognitive side of testing and our special education teachers academic. Um, we're monitoring the number of consents
that come in to make sure that we're not falling behind without a person in that seat. Thank you. >> Um, thank you for your explanation, Mr. Lo. And I would just, um, commend you for being innovative and being thoughtful. Um, I think a team chair
position is something that we've talked about. Um, many other districts have team chairs, and we seem to be late to the game on that one. So, um, I applaud kind of your ability to kind of innovate and be flexible around some of the needs.
Thank you. Thank Mr. >> If I can. Yes. I just want to uh take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank Mr. Angelo. It's been a uh a side of relief to have her join the district, how we obviously appreciate all that Mr. Leonard did for us this past uh year and
really restored a sense of calm to the district. But we are uh right for change and Mr. Angelo without a doubt is that person to lead us through this. And and so we're very excited. you've already heard some of the positive changes that she's made here in the district. Uh, and it really has only been two months and really a few weeks of stuck the school
year. So, I I know there's great things to come in the student services department under her leadership. So, I just want to commend her already for all the efforts she's put into this. >> I appreciate all your time. >> Like I said, um, to Miss Davenport's point, I really love how you've embraced
this and your mindset. So, I think that's definitely what we needed with everything going on. So, I really appreciate that and you have our full support. If you need anything, please let us know. So, we really appreciate and thank you for being here.
>> Great. Thank you. >> Um, next we have the principal report of Mel and Liberty. We have Mrs. Westell and Mrs. Richards. Mrs. King, if I may, just while they're coming up to the podium, obviously, you know, again, another public
acknowledgement for Miss Westell and Miss Richards. Um, as you know, last year I made the difficult decision not to fill the lawying principal position. Miss Hates moved on to Westport to a promotional position and just given the timing of that um and this would be kind
of unknown challenges that we were going to be faced with with budget not being unsettled. I did make the decision to ask Miss West to be the principal of both schools and I approached Miss Richards um to see if she would be willing to go over in support of the
work great work that's already happening at La Mer and she was willing to do that. So I I thank her for her sacrifice. Obviously uh she has another position and I know she's trying to hang on to that full-time position as much as she can uh but really wearing You know, obviously I know I' I've asked
him to take on a um what some would see as as a you know, a challenging situation, but I I think to use Mr. Davort's term, it was a great opportunity for both of them, and I truly appreciate it. We've got great feedback um already on how things are going in the start of school, and that's because of their efforts. They obviously
are our team working strong together. Uh but then we're also working strong with the families and the and the staff and and the students. And it shows Mrs. Barry and I when we're over there, we see a lot of smiling faces from everybody from the adults to the kids and it's because of their efforts. Really strong leadership in both of
those buildings. So, I just wanted to to thank them both for that. >> Thank you. >> Good evening, Madam Chair, members of the school committee powers. First, I want to express that I'm very honored to be the principal of both Maryland schools and I thank you very much for
this opportunity. I'm happy to report that things are going very well. We had a great the school year. On the first day of school, Mrs. Richards and I, Mrs. Richards welcomed 142 first graders and I welcomed 535 Liberty students. I have to say it was wonderful to see the
former students grown up. Some of whom I didn't recognize because it had been a couple of years. There were a lot of hugs getting off the bus, a lot of smiles and some confused faces. I have to say, "Oh, you're at the wrong school." No, I'm not. You know, so it
was it was great when Mr. and I first spoke about being me being the principal of both buildings. I knew right away that it was very important for me to be present in both buildings each day. I want to be seen by staff and the students each day. Fortunately, I am able to do that with the help and
support of Mrs. Richards. We have created a schedule where we split our day in half. So, from the time we get there in the morning until 12:00, one of us is at one one building and then from 12:30 to the end of the day of of
buildings we use 12 to 12:30 is our transition time and the person who's at Merell will come over to La Liberty. So we have a quick what's going on here what's going on there before the switch takes place um and then we go to our prospective schools at that at that
point on days 1 three and five I start my day at Liberty and and Mr. at Merrill and then on days uh two and four I start my day at Mel and that time. Our calendar is all full of colors and all
sorts of different things to do just to keep things on track. Um, a lot of time goes into planning the daily operations for each school because we are planning two of everything. Um, for example, typically Maryland Liberty had their open houses on the same evening.
However, this year we had to change that so M. Richard and I could attend both of them. Also for kindergarten orientation, we switch back and forth several times throughout the day. As you know, the kindergarten orientation takes place the first day of school so that I could be there to greet the 137 kindergarten
kindergartens and their families. Fortunately, the ECPO and LPO parent meetings are on different nights. So, we didn't have to change anything. So, I could attend both those meetings. We consistently check in with the staff and we have received positive feedback from everyone. Our goal is to make sure
continue to feel supported and appreciated. And I have to say the greatest joy for me thus far is being with our students. I've always loved being at ME school, but I've always said it's a two-year school. Just when you get to know the kids, you get to know the families, they move on. And now
being back with those families, being reconnected with them has brought me joy. So I thank you for that. Um is going to share her experience with us. >> Good evening. Thank you everyone. Um it's great to be here from speaking to you from a building perspective. As you
probably know, this is my seventh year in the district and for six I was at central office as the coordinator of teaching and learning for the humanities. And I am, you know, trying my best to continue to do that role to the best of my ability while also being present in both buildings every day. And
I have to say on a personal note that it's been a real joy for me to be back in a building with children. Um you kind of forget how wonderful it is when away from that for a few years. Um, getting to know the 800 children, trying to get to know them all by name, not quickly enough for some of them who every day
come and see. Do you know my name yet? Um, but it's been great getting to already start to build those relationships and form those relationships. Um, you know, trying to balance that and also, you know, staying in contact with colleagues in other buildings and different principles and administrators. But we've been really
making it work. And, um, you know, I think that really this wouldn't work if we didn't we had at those buildings. I know Deb would agree that you know from day one no one complained. No one everybody was like how can I help? How can we make this work? Everybody you
know sharing things that at Law Liberty that you know went really well that they want to make sure we continue sharing things that maybe they wanted to see improved upon. Everybody will jump in and I know to Mrs. Chering and Mrs. Burns and
>> they're the boss. >> Mrs. Burns this afternoon and I was very nervous having to fill in that role for a little bit. But I mean it's really it wouldn't work in any school but it definitely works for these two schools and it's because of the staff and the kids.
>> Thank you so much. I obviously I'm a Ringham resident. Um I've had kids in those buildings. Um and I know a lot of parents had reservations when this was presented to them. How would it work? Would they have someone in the building? um would they have someone that would make those connections with the staff,
with the kids? And I've had nothing but positive feedback. Like you have really ease their fears that there is someone in the building that you know the kids, you're making personal connections. There's not a time when there's not someone there that if it it's a staff member and they need some or if it's
students or families. So, thank you for making this work. I know it's challenging, which we're trying to be positive, but I appreciate that you've you found creative ways to make it work. So I appreciate that from a parent aspect as well. Do we have other
questions and comments from members again? So thank you so much. I appreciate it and thank you for being here this evening. Uh next we have the student advisory committee report. Um, I would like to welcome our new student advisory committee for the school year. At the
end of last year, the high school voted in two new members, Miss Marissa Cabraw and Mr. Jackson Cogrell. Um, the student advisory committee also voted in Miss Sophia King and Miss Kayla Tjan Cis as co-chairs for this year. Um, I would like to say Miss Curley wasn't able to
continue um as the advisory person advisor this year. So, I just want to thank her for her help this past several years. Um it was very enjoyable to work with her and see how much he mentored the students and made that connection with them. Um that being said, Mr. Hoy
has stepped into the role this year. Um so we'll welcome him. Thank you Mr. Hoy for being here for taking that um role with them. Um the committee so as we know the Massachusetts law states the school committee must have five member student school committee advisory council voted in by their peers by June
1st of each year and they are to meet throughout the school year when the school is in session. The student committee is to vote a chair which is a non voting a non voting member of the school committee. I would like to now welcome Miss Tjan Cis to the microphone. Good evening everyone. I hope you're
having a wonderful start to the school year. My name is John and I'm one of the students co-chairs. It's a pleasure to speak at these meetings for another year. I'm a senior this year and this is my second year on the committee. Along with speaking before you each month, I'm
a member of the culture club, newspaper club, student council, and president of our healthcare club high school. I am also a member of the girls track team and the historian of our national honor society. I also spend my time as a Harvard Princ American Heart Association
ambassador promoting life CPR and helping to pass the law in Massachusetts to require CPR and first training as a high school. I am so excited to share with you the latest developments and happenings at our high school every month. As part of my report for this evening, I would like
to recap how both the boys and girls soccer teams have been performing so far. The boys varsity soccer team has a record of five wins in one tie and the girls with three wins, two ties, and one loss. They have both been playing against teams across the state such as Derby,
Dartmouth, and Sandwich. This week or every week on the morning announcements, we highlight both of the outstanding teams and wish them the best of luck. Thank you for your time. Wishing you all the best start of the school year and I look forward to speaking again.
I welcome. >> Good evening, Madam Chairman. school and superintendent powers. My name is King and I'm one of the student committee boards co-chairs. I'm thrilled to be standing before you today to present them to you over these next few months.
I'm senior this year and have been a member of this committee for three years now. In addition to being a part of this committee, I'm a member of TJ Robotics National's high school football team and member of the girls sports team. These diverse groups that I'm part of will be most of
the topics that bring to you this year population. The only teachers start to say that we're talking about last year's game in January. This previous Saturday we
competed at high schoolster and managed to win our two other team. We're incredibly proud of both our team and our Well, that was the only club and athletics update I had for today. I would also like to say a major thank you
to the community board and all the people they worked with for doing their best to help all the district schools during this time. While the over with the overarch during the school year stood up and help our schools understand
as much fun as possible due to your many major changes and our teachers have helped continue that effort. For that I applaud and thank you. I now welcome to the name. I'm member of the student school.
This is my second year in this position and I'm a junior in high school. Currently, I'm trying to and my overpice class. This brings me to the event I'll be recording on tonight.
Our previous we had two advisers and our four faculty member signatures along with our speeches have been now it's time for speeches to be reading Monday for tonight. Good evening everybody. My name is
Marcy. I'm excited to be a part of this group here today. I connected with VR in many ways over the years for three years. But this year I've honor you working
at church. I look forward to sharing updates on the activities that means to come up today is about the marching competition that we hosted on September 13th. Our band participated alongside four other bands across England first
place in the 1A division. The event host music raises thousands of dollars to support the entire music department such as providing scholarship to seniors and sponsoring trips. such as high school junior senior high school
and regional high school participated in the event. The day featured four trucks, a big sale and more. The competition was unique and that each band had a dedicated one-on-one time with judges who provided insight and feedback on performances.
This allowed fans to make improvements to the show early on in the season. Our show Dynasty Spear of the Trojans will be performed at and a few more football games will also participate in a truck and this Sunday
come and welcome Jackson. >> Good evening. My name is I am a sophomore and this is my first year this week. Along with this group, I am part of the team lives. Last Tuesday was the first meeting for lives that I attended the
at this meeting went over the goals of the group and the various initiatives in it. The goal lives to prevent substance abuse by working with the community to help educate and spread awareness. This is accomplished through several different initiatives. The negative eyes and will continue to participate in this
year is the fifth grade mentorship program where we give presentations to fifth graders and play games with them to help um to help reach their goal preventing
substance use. I look forward to continuing to participate in these groups along with others that I've joined this year. Thank you. Nice job. Thank you to our student advisory council for your report. Um I know we had two members that are new, so that was their first time. So nice job.
You got it over with. Um and thank you. Your report is one of the best things that we look forward to. So thank you for being here and for giving your report. Thank you, Mr. Boy, for taking us on. So we app appreciate all of you for being here um and for giving your report as well. So, thank you very much.
We look forward to next month. Um next we have administrative and school committee reports. We have the report of Mr. Power Superintendent. >> Thank you. I don't know if I'll do it justice. um
they're so involved it makes me uh think I need to do a reward in my life. But I I do want to take this opportunity to really acknowledge, you know, our students really represent our full student body uh and the amazing activities that they're involved in. The amount of activities they're involved in
really speaks to the quality of student that we have in Bridgewater. I know sometimes that uh our high school and our schools are not always looked at favorably, but I think those are in the know, those that you know work there or
attend there or to hear the amazing things that happen at the high school know what a special place our high school and really our district as a whole is. So congratulations to you know you students. It simply is just amazing and impressive. I'm so proud to be your superintendent. You make my job easier every day and I can't thank you enough.
So so well job well done. Uh I did want to just provide update and overview on the opening of the school. It has gone remarkably well. uh you know year in and year out I'm able to stand here before you and report that thankfully knock on some wood but I know it also starts with our amazing staff that we're surrounded
by from our facilities department getting our schools ready to our our teachers our faculty our support staff Chuck Wells anyone that's involved with our students on a daily basis getting our schools ready for opening day um obviously you know despite our situation
this year I certainly haven't felt we haven't opened successfully. Our teachers have welcomed and embraced all of our students back. And again, you know, we all have a collective responsibility to to ensure our mission is met and that's excellence in
education for all. And by the actions of all of our faculty and staff this far, they have fully embraced that despite what we've in front of us this year. And how we achieve that mission certainly is going to look different this year than others. Uh but it doesn't mean that anyone's less committed. So again, I did
want to just and thank the staff. I'm so fortunate to be surrounded by them. And obviously the administrative team, you know, they are really kind of, you know, the backbone of this district. I'm fortunate to lead it, but they really the ones doing all the the work. And so I want to thank all
of them as well. Uh in your package, you have several uh pieces of information. The first obviously I shared this last week uh when we met with the town of Bridgewater, Johnham, is just some updated enrollment information. I did try to include another document for you. Uh so the
first one that you see is just a barraph representing our enrollment over time. As I shared last week, we're hovering right around that 5,400. Last week I think we're at 46. Now we're at 45. We do have some pending registrations as I mentioned and pending because you know we're not 100% sure
we're actually going to fulfill their responsibilities. Last week when I shared out we had 73 pending registrations. Um Maggie and her team have really reached out to those families that have started that process and now we're down to uh 35 pending registrations. So of those 73 uh we're
now identified 35 families that it looks as though they're going to move forward with the registration process, but those other 40 so families they decided to enroll elsewhere. And so thankfully, you know, because we we say they're pending, we really don't know those going to be 73 students that we're going to now have
to place into our schools and increase our Uh but right now we're looking at 35 and obviously we'll continue to monitor that as the fall unfolds. Uh the other document you have in your packet is just the district's enrollment over time. Um and what I really this is just
information that's available to the public in general. Uh it comes right from the department of elementary and secondary education website. Uh but what I tried to do was and as you know that really is based on October one. That's when Desi certifies our enrollment based on our C count on October one. But what
I did included a very comparable chart, but this information in that that talk chart that you see is as of uh today so the 24th of September obviously once we get that enrollment data certified by Desi which typically doesn't come out until later December January obviously
we'll update this but we'll continue to update this based on the information that we know around enrollment but you can see obviously by grade level by school and then overall enrollment and you have the historical And then you're familiar with the last
page in your document in that Google sheet which is just the overall class size average and the impact. I think you know the failed override really has had the greatest impact on our class size. Obviously there's some other consequences of the failed override but
really where we're seeing the greatest impact is on our class size. As I as I've explained to you, we did everything we could to try to maintain I don't want to say low class size and not early grades. U but class size that was not significantly different than
what we've had in years past the lower grades. So we are looking at as you can see we review that and this information has been sent out to parents and we'll continue to update it as we go. But you know high 20s 26 27 28 in our lower grades. Obviously those numbers start to creep up as you start to go up in the
grades. So you know the get grades three, four, five. They're hovering high 28s, 29s, some 30s. And then obviously once we get into middle school is really where we start to see the greatest impact. We do have some middle school classes of 35, 36. And then when we get
into the high school, you can see, you know, we listed it by core class, but some of our electives because we lost a large number of electives, you know, they're in the in the mid to high 30s, some 40vious. I know obviously we have some very class at the middle school and
high school level. And really that has to be a focus of ours going forward. How do we not just reduce class size, but how do we bring back some of those offerings that our students uh were once able to take advantage of? Uh thankfully we've been able to partner with Bridgewwater State University. I did mention prior that they were willing to
create a dual enrollment program specific to our high school students. And it certainly doesn't replace all the electives we lost that they're offering a few classes this fall and our hope is to give a few more offer a few more in the spring. Uh But really uh we appreciate their partnership and their willingness to try to help us out given
our given our situation. Uh when you look at our total staffing, we have lost 48 staff members and that you know isn't just about class size. It's about operations and looking at other areas of the district where it has had a negative
impact. But as as we talked about, people have not shied away from their work. They've embraced additional responsibility and they're really trying to to um the challenge and meet that in front of them. Uh but we have seen you know the registration office you heard me talk about um you know me and her
team as great as they are. They are down positions our coordinator of student family supports who worked out of the registration office but also help with registration. Our transportation assistant who also worked out of that office help with registration. So really you know we're down two people in that office. It does mean we've had some
delayed registrations. So students um you know taking longer to process them and actually get them into school something that me and her team working as hard as they can uh to be able to do that. Obviously you've heard you know how amazing the clubs and activities we
have at the high school. But what we do have we've had some challenges staffing some of those club positions just because we simply don't have the amount of staff that we once had. And uh you know same thing with some coaching positions middle school sports you've heard that you know we not running
because we couldn't staff it. We're delayed in rolling out some of our middle school sports programs because we had challenges finding coaches. So again, some you know consequences of of that. We did have to eliminate one of our abandoned course positions at the
middle school. I know school committee has been a strong advocate for increasing those opportunities and over time we were able to have two banded course teachers at the middle school level but unfortunately uh for this year we're only back down to one. We do have one teacher going between the two middle schools to provide band course
opportunities. Um you know obviously transportation overall uh has run uh really well. We have had some challenges like we do every year. Um and this year is no different. We do have some late buses and obviously late vans. I know you've heard those. Uh we've had several
parents reach out. So we're not saying that transportation is perfect. Uh some of those were just you know first few days. uh and then some continue to linger on consistent problems. We have met with uh Lucini in person as a followup. We we're
talking to them almost on a daily basis to try to tackle some of these issues. Right now we we do have a few open driving positions, driver positions. Uh we have several orini has several that they are going through the certification
and licensing process right now. Um so we hope that in the next you know two to three weeks they'll be able to bring on additional drivers. So in some cases what's happened is we've had to double up buses you know so because we don't have enough drivers we tend to you know split groups and that has created challenges. You know some of the routes
are running long upwards to you know almost an hour and depending on what time they're arriving school and leaving school you know they could be getting home 4:30 almost 5:00 and we all know that's unacceptable agrees that is not their their goal. and they want to be
able to provide, you know, high quality transportation, which for the most part they do, but they know there's some there's some challenges ahead of them that they need to fix. And so, but they're working on that. Um, and you know, again, we're always going to have hiccups here or there, much like when we
have a teacher that's out, we're able to hire a substitute teacher, it's very different. We can say, "Here's your classroom. Here are your lesson plans." Putting a substitute driver in on a route that they're not familiar with. Now, driving through town while to you know supervise a bus of 50 60 students
isn't quite the same. So yes, they much like us have substitute positions but it's it's significantly different but we're still working with them and we're confident that we'll get that um you know some of those issues minimized as
we go. Also you know obviously you've heard from Miss Richards she is working out in our own liability now while she still is trying to uh perform many of her duties at the district level which we so appreciate. Uh but we know that we've had to sacrifice some of those responsibilities. Uh unfortunately we
just learned that Miss Joyce uh will be moving on from the district as well. So you know Miss Joyce is our uh STEM coordinator. So Miss Richard's counterpart, Miss Richard oversees humanity and Miss Joyce overseas STEM math and science. She's going to a different district in a promotional
position as well. So we wish her well. She's done an amazing job for us. But that's two positions we're now down in teaching and learning. And obviously that's that's what we do, right? That's at our core. We're all about teaching and learning and student achievement. Um they have done amazing as has our our staff members over the last couple years
to really put some strong structures in place around teaching and learning and instructional practices resources then you know it it does you know take to to pause and wonder you know we don't want to take a step back and obviously we can't afford to look at our you know
achievement data. achievement data and hopefully not future achievement data, but we can't afford to go backwards. We have to continue to move this district forward and that's my responsibility and my charge and one that I I know wholeheartedly embrace and take on. So that a lot of those responsibilities
will fall to me to Barry and you know look to the future about how we can possibly restructure you know our administrative team to take on some of those responsibilities. I did uh want to just you know give a couple of quick updates. Um, as you may or may
not be aware, certainly if you're a parent in the district, you probably see some communication around an inschool dental program. Uh, we did have a community organization, Commonwealth Mobile Oral Health Services, reach out to us to see if we would be interested in providing on-site dental assessment,
dental, minor dental care. It really is a referral program for other community based dental programs. U speaking with Miss Bren nurse near they do see a significant amount of visits to the nurs's office that are actually related
to students access to you know dental care and uh you know having trouble accessing those care and services and that obviously causes some health problems for the students. And so she said she thought there there could be a need for that and so we did u send out
some information to families and the response so far positive. What the Commonwealth Oral Health Services would do is they'd come up set out set up a space in one of our schools. Uh obviously it's all through consent. So parents have to consent. We're not just
calling students down and you know filling cavities and really um it's obviously all through consent but they do an assessment. They would obviously um you know see if the student requires any further service and obviously refer that. So they'll be able to do basic
assessments, basic care. Uh but it's not as though that you know we're not doing any or anything like that anything significant. But uh this organization has been great. Uh they've been around for for over 40 years. Um they work u not just with schools but they also work
with other community agencies uh department of youth services as well. Uh and and so we're we're excited about this opportunity. We're also you know going to proceed cautiously. We want to make sure this works and and is well received and that it's doable for our schools. We
view as it's a burden for our administrative team to try to organize. We really think this could be a positive. I think uh just as easy as school pictures. It was it was a comparison. So our our principles uh all cringed that they're like school pictures are not easy. So not
comparison, but uh we're we're excited about this program. So I just wanted to share that. And then also that um you know obviously I know Miss King report out on this that we had our joint meeting last week. I have been able to meet with both town both towns with our
team with Mola Barry with the town of Bridgewwater Mr. Kasanova Davis and Mini and then on the ring camp side we were able to connect with Mr. Barnes and Mr. as well. So we decided to have the conversation first and foremost uh you know just about the current state of our
budget FY26 the planning process for FY27 the timeline but also some of the other things that we've talked about and shared uh you know trying to figure out now that we're on a different cycle for capital how can we um you know all come to some type of consensus around a time
frame a process so those are meetings that we're going to be scheduling in the near future to continue to work through and we'll continue to work much like we did last year where we met with them monthly to talk about the budget But also we want to make sure that you know not just uh what we're talking about at our meetings and I know this is
Miss King's intent for these larger meetings with both towns that what has happened with the three of us so the three bodies here is getting expanded and shared with the council select board and obviously the greater community. Um and then I I I know again this thing I
don't want to get ahead of myself but I know you're going to be talking about sports fees. I did have some updated happy to share now or wait. >> Okay. Um, so we I know I shared some preliminary information with you the last time uh that we had approximately about 375
athletes registered for fall. Uh, and speaking with Mr. Oonnell once they were able to go through that, work with the coaches, they actually only had 319 students rostered. Uh, so somebody may have signed up but actually then didn't, you know, try out for the team or, you know, decided not to follow through. Uh,
so we have 39 athletes rostered for the fall. With compared to last year, you know, we had 189 male athletes for the fall. We have 158 this year, so down 31. Last year for
female athletes, we 186. This year we had 168, so down 18. So we're down not a significant number, not as much as I was potentially anticipating. So that that's nice to see that, you know, the athletes are still coming out. uh in terms of uh collecting the use of fees obviously you
know we have raised that price to $600 uh Mr. Okonnell and his staff and high school staff and uh Mr. Rojo and and Mr. Prescott working diligently to make sure all those funds are collected um to date there have been 265 payments received we
do have a number of uh families that uh you know do require a waiver so those families have been accounted for as well and then You know, we're at that point where Mr. Okonnell and his team and our team have have made contact with every family that has yet to pay. Coaches have
talked to their student athletes about that. We're at that point now where uh you know, if they don't receive, you know, the fund by the end of this week or some type of outreach that unfortunately going forward the students will not be able to participate. Uh we've already started talking about a
process for the winter to make sure that, you know, we're able to collect those funds as soon as possible. So we, you know, we definitely need to hear at least have an outreach from the family and I know they've made connections with all of the families. Uh I think feels they put in place and that hopefully by the end of the week that all of our
families that need to pay will because we don't we don't want to exclude athletes. That's that's not our hope and I know that's certainly not your hope. Uh but you know we had to do that in the past if someone hasn't paid and um you know that's our hope going forward that we don't have to do that. As far as middle school sports go uh we are
offering boys at Middle School. Unfortunately, we're not able to get enough female athletes for the soccer team, so there won't be a team. I know Mr. Cruz was potentially going to roll it out to fifth grade. And then there's some talk among the team that uh they didn't they
had several sixth and seventh and eighth grade female students drop out and so they even bring fifth graders on wouldn't have made a difference. So, unfortunately, they weren't able to build the team this year. And at Bridgewwater Middle School, this 20 uh 20 on the boys soccer team and 14 on the
girls soccer team. Terms of funds raised um for Rainan Middle School, we have had 12 athletes fall out of the 13 after pay uh and the 13 family has already been uh you know contacted and they are in the process of getting that payment in.
Bridgewater Middle School was really um get a late jump. They just uh completed their rosters at the end of last week. So certainly payments have just started to come in now. We had collected $3,000 between the boys team and the girls soccer team thus far, but obviously
those roers just have been submitted. We know that they'll take a little bit more time to get those payments in. We are, you know, heading in the right direction and those payments will continue to come in and we'll see what happens for winter and spring and certainly keep you updated as as
happy to answer any questions. But that my report for this evening. >> Thank you, Mr. questions, comments from members. >> Thank you so much. Next, we have my budget subcommittee
report. On September 15th, 2025, the budget subcommittee met at 5:30 p.m. at the superintendent conference room. In attendance was Mrs. Mr. Loach, Mr. Lo, Mr. Fitzgiven, Superintendent Powers,
Assistant Superintendent Barry, Miss Babalola, Miss Roashau, Miss Healey, Miss McDougall, the recording secretary, and myself, Miss Hoy Thomas also attended as a member of the public. Um, first uh discussion that we did have was
fiscal 2026 budget discussion. Um, where Mr. Powers gave his update and overview of the current budget, staffing, and classroom sizes, which he just gave us this evening as well. during his report. Um, just my own personal notes on that.
Um, just I know there was a lot of talk after the override um that it would mean larger classroom size, but I just want the public and the community to know what that specifically means. It means that there is an effect in every classroom. I know we're trying to be
positive and have a good mindset, but it is affecting specifically every classroom from kindergarten through 12th grade in various ways. So, it's not just a general vague large classroom sizes or loss of electives. It means a financial
impact to the district for sports because we're down athletes, which we account for that in our operational budget. It's a mental health aspect of those athletes that may not be playing sports, but really should be having that outlet um at the at the middle school
and the high school level. Um at the middle school level, we're now down were not running. Obviously, this is personal to me. My daughter is on that soccer team that's not running. Um, so they're not going to run that team and she's thinking ahead to high school. Is she
going to have the have the skills necessary to try out for high school? So, I'm sure she's thinking that. There's lots of other girls athletes in middle school thinking that and having that pressure. Now, um, at the high school, TJ Robotics, we heard today, they just won their offseason
competition. um they're going into their new season. They have lost their competition practice space at the high school because now that is a 60 person study um which is a lot of students in their in their place that used to be
their practice room that they have now lost. So I'm hoping that doesn't affect their season for the upcoming year. Um 40 classes cut at the high school has been devastating. lots of electives and AP classes that are that we students
were counting on. BSU has been such a great partner to us. They have stepped up and I know we've always had dual enrollment, but their freshman class was so high this year there was not many spots open to our students. So, they have opened those online um dual
enrollment classes at the high school. Um, so they're starting to roll that out and hopefully they'll continue that and expand that. But that is a cost to parents. They're what, $400 or more. So that's a financial cost to parents as
well. Um, so lots of cuts at the high school, lots of clubs at the high school that our student advisory council talked about. I'm hoping they all have advisors this year. Many clubs because we've lost so many staff members at the high school um, are not able to run. Um, I've been
in the middle school and the elementary school this week. Lots of teachers were positive and enjoying being back with their students, but they also had safety concerns. I know Mr. Hoy pointed that out last year at one of our meetings. He was concerned about that as a safety
thing at the high school because of our lack of staff. Um, it's also a big safety issue at the elementary and middle where that's a lot of students for the teachers to keep track of. Um, in the midst of doing their curriculum that they need to get done and make connections with their students and make
sure everyone's going in the same direction, they also keep have to keep track of all of those students where they are, what they're doing at all times. Um, so there's a lot going on in every classroom from kindergarten through 12th grade. Um, and how it's
affecting everyone. So, I just want everyone to know that we're we're doing our job up here as much as we can. I know the staff is doing everything that they can. They are pitching in. They are collaborating. They're working through it. But the dayto-day it's affecting
everyone. So, I just want to thank everyone in the classrooms, everyone in the buildings, everyone that's doing their very best and doing double their very best this year. So, I just want to put that out there and thank them.
Um, moving on. Uh, fiscal year 2025 invoice payments. Um, Miss Beal did submit a budget subcommittee um for payment um of invoices that were submitted from the prior fiscal year 2025 for payment. Miss Bevol explained
that these invoices were submitted late due to a change in the department administration staff staffing shortages and the late special education submittals. Um, they were in your drive. Um, I will entertain a motion to authorize the director of business services to pay invoices totaling
32,396.72 cents from prior fiscal year 2025. >> Second. >> Motion made by Mr. Lo and second by Mr. Fitzgiven. Do we have questions and comments on those invoices? >> Seeing none, all those in favor?
>> Any opposed? Thank you. U Mr. Powers did give an update on the athletic fees which we did discuss at budget sub. Um he also did a draft of the budget timeline which was in your drive um presented for the fiscal year 2027 and he did present that at the
joint meeting that I will that he mentioned and I will discuss acceptance of grants. We did in consent agenda as update. Mr. Powers did update us that facilities is looking into a multi-year contract with an HVAC
contractor and more info will come up regarding that from Mr. Ja. Uh we did approve the budget uh subcommittee minutes of August 11th, 2025. Um, another thing that we did note, um,
that was a question but did not have any financial impact that we determined, on September 11th, 2025, DESIE did issue guidance indicating all districts with middle schools that are within a vocational collaborate should develop a middle school pathway, middle school
pathway exploration policy and process um, which should include language that documents how middle school students in the district are made aware and gain exposure. We We already have internal procedures within the district to make our middle school students aware of Bristol Plymouth Vocational Technical
High School. So there should be no financial impact. Mr. Powers and his team is drafting an internal procedure outlining these procedures as it was not mandated at this time by Jesse that a policy. Um if that changes, it will go to policy subcommittee to review and
approve. Uh no action was taken at that time. Uh lastly, other uh September 17, 2025, the school committee held a joint meeting with the Ringham Select Board and the Bridgewater Town Council. At that time, Mr. Powers presented an update on the current budget, school
opening, class size, and staffing throughout the district. School committee members, select board members, and town counselors were able to make comments, observations, and ask questions. Our hope is to hold these meetings regularly throughout the budget season to keep all members on the same
page and up to date and to have smaller joint working group meetings more often to work through the budget process together. The group agreed that if we need to look towards meeting to go towards a potential override in the future, more education and information needs to reach the communities and
therefore we need to find creative ways to go about that. Also, more time is needed. So, we need to start that process now. Further, many members of the community discussed the potential need for an operational review or audit. This was discussed at length as to the
scope, cost, necessity, and how the fee would be paid and by whom. It was requested by the chair that the towns discuss the appropriation of the fee at their respective meetings and to come forward with a proposal on how the towns would pay for that. Mr. Powers was to
work with Mr. Barnes and Mr. Casanova Davis to determine the possible scope of work, vendors, and a timeline. Um so we're going to schedule a working group meeting for next month potentially and then the following month or January
a another joint meeting um prior to the budget um preliminary presentation. Um at our October budget subcommittee meeting we will be discussing the quarterly budget update from the business office and a base update. Um do we have any questions from members
regarding budget? Seeing none, the next budget subcommittee meeting will be scheduled for October 22nd at 6 in the lecture hall at the high school right before our regular school committee meeting. And that concludes my report. Uh next on the agenda, we have policy
subcommittee report with Mrs. Conra. But um the policy subcommittee met on September 15th, 2025 and attends were myself, Mrs. King, um Mrs. Hoy Thomas, and Mr. Row along with Mr. Powers, Mrs. Barry, um and Mrs. Watson, the principal
from the high school. Um we reviewed quite a few policies policies. Um the Mass Association of School Committees um has recently updated numerous policies um and put forth to the districts to review. Um I will just say in context is
um MAC um updates policies but um districts are not required to accept their suggestions and those updated policies. Um so the first policy that was reviewed is policy GBBC was gifts um
to and solicitations um review um by staff. Um the subcommittee discussed the update language um presented by MAC regarding raffles um and the associated risk around some of that around raffles um and how the policy would be enforced.
The group cited the present policy was sufficient and the parent groups um would be advised on state regulations surrounding ruffles and games of chance at the bannual leadership meeting with um the advisory groups um and that the leadership meeting the leadership meeting would gather kind of the parent
groups to talk around that and no action was taken. Um the second policy that was reviewed was JJ and this was around student fundraising activities. It was a similar discussion around um the changes, the suggested changes around
raffles. Um the the group decided the current version of the policy required no updates and so no action was taken on this policy. And maybe I should just say um some of the recommendations from um NAC was that raffles again would be made
by state law and regulations and the district would kind of enforce that. And some of that is from a lot of clubs if people don't know clubs sports teams do raffles in this in our community um for many things and some of the town
local town state regulations require permits be called be pulled from towns around some of that and um so we really were going to leave that up to the up to the clubs and sports teams to monitor that and to comply with whatever rules and so district was not going to be in
the middle that. Um the next item that was reviewed was policy KBE. Um and that's for relations with parent booster parent and booster organizations. Some of the new changes suggested by MASC included language requiring that they be
5013C um organizations. Um and although um the suggested changes by MASC was slightly shorter than our current policy, we felt that our present policy was more solid and did not
require changes. And um the sub subcommittee um decided to take no action and keep our current policy. Our current policy 2 does not require that organizations be 5013C, that they have 5013C status. Um but they
be approved by I think the superintendent or their design, we felt it would be really restrictive to require um parent booster organizations to have to be 5013C status um have that status um because it is a very lengthy
process to become a 5013C. Um the next policy that was reviewed was ECAB was access to buildings and grounds. Um the group discussed VR's um version of the polic
and compared it to the MASC version. We decided no action would be taken at our meeting, but we would go back and potentially merge um the ECAB policy with our our pol with a policy that we have that was similar that was FG um
community use of school facilities and we would do that further a future meeting, excuse me. Um so no action was taken. Um the next policy reviewed was um KI was visitors to school We had quite a discussion around this um
with some concerns around some of the new language. Um so we did um after reviewing it, we decided to um that we would update the policy and so that we would bring um the
updated policy to you all have a copy of that um bring it to school committee. Um and so at this point I will uh make a motion to make the first reading of visitors to school. Um, yes. >> Motion made by Mrs. Conra, second by Mr.
Lo. Any discussion? All those in favor? >> Any opposed? And that will have a second reading at the October meeting. And if you have questions or comments, please feel free to contact me about them. Um, the next item on um the agenda was um I
will make a motion to wave the second reading of IMG Animals and Schools. Motion made by Mrs. Conra, second by Mr. Lo. Questions and comments on that second reading or waving? All those in favor? >> Um, this was a policy that was reviewed
at our last meeting. So, at this time, um, I would make a motion to adopt policy and schools. >> Motion made by Mrs. Conto second. Second by Mr. Lo. Questions and comments on the approval of that.
>> All those in favor? Any opposed? >> Um that next item was around Mr. Superintendent Powers gave us an update on the competency determination. Um so we did receive that update from from Superintendent Powers. Um again because
there is no longer the requirement of INCAST for um graduation and the district and districts are required to create a competency determination policy. Um Super Powers and Principal explained um you know how they
researched what other districts are doing um and the need for policy. It was determined that the um competency and what mastery looks like was the biggest obstacle um again there were some
districts were using midterm grades um in which we didn't think that was an accurate kind of description of a student's ability. Um it was decided that the passing of the class basically what we would align with kind of backwards or you know again what we used
to use around MCCast testing. Um so um the next meeting I believe um the superintendent will um will review the policy that is being um outlined or drafted this so no action is taken. Um
the next item which Miss King talked a little bit under the budget piece was um the notice recently by Desi around drafting a policy for working with vocational technical schools. At this point, um we the district does have kind
of an operational procedure I will say. Um and given that um given that we felt it should stay as an operational or there was a discussion at the meeting but a discussion that it would stay operational at this point and that it' be an administrative process and we
would not adopt policy. If there became challenges in the future, it something the policy committee at that point would review. >> All right. Yes. Thank you. Uh yes. So we we do have to develop what we're referring to as a middle school pathways um policy really when Desi was asked you
know is that a school committee policy? We had a webinar the other day and I'm actually attending another one tomorrow around this development. They said the regulations are are somewhat vague. it doesn't specify whether it's a school committee policy or an internal policy and so some districts said well you know
we already have something in place and they said well whatever you do locally uh to make sure there is something in place to you know to follow through with that. So again, where we, you know, we do have some vague language about, you know, middle school and our relationship with with uh vocational technical education, but we've already set out to
draft a draft internal policy, you would call it, not something that we bring forward to school committee. Certainly, if I get additional information that Desi clarifies that and says yes, it has to be. Um, I will obviously bring it back to you. Uh, really, it's just memorializing what we currently already
do. We do have to provide contact information to the vocational technical programs. Uh so we provide you know names of students uh contact information. We allow uh Bristol Plymouth, Bristol AI in the other vocational programs to come in and do a
presentation. If we're invited to go there for a tour, we certainly let our students are not penalized or we even organize a whole school tour. So it really is those things we have to have in place, things that we already do. So really it's just memorializing
Thank you. It was also kind of a compressed timeline which was an issue too um based on when they wanted this by. Correct. >> Yes. November first. Uh and obviously they're you know they're running webinars now uh around the details of it and as many districts pushed back and said that's just an unrealistic timeline
because if it's going to be a school committee policy, you know, we obviously require two meetings. There was a district on that said, you know, we require three. So they're looking at, you know, potentially three meetings to be able to get a policy approved. So there is a waiver process that we can apply for if we were to go down the the
path of making a school policy. So it's, you know, pretty straightforward to to apply for that waiver if we need to. But right now we're just going to work on this internally until otherwise >> totally change guidance. >> Thank you. Anything else, Mr.
Thank you. Um, next we have Bridgewater Ringham Education Foundation report with Miss Hoy Thomas. >> Hi. Um, the Bridgewater Ringham Education Foundation met on Monday, September 15th, and their agenda included several items. Um, preparations
for this year's annual gala, Star Night gala in March. Um, they're working with the principles in the schools to award and distribute this year's enrichment funds and other community incentives that are in the works, um, such as a meet the author. Um the upcoming touch
and truck event is the Saturday after next October 4th at the Odonu Middle School from 10 to 1 that includes a sensory sensitive hour from noon to 1 and the admittance is a non-p perishable food item. Uh more information can be found on their website. U my family was
at the touch of truck in May and it was a wonderful event. So I encourage your attendance. >> Thanks Miss Thomas. Do you know when the gala is going to be this year? It is Saturday, March 14th. >> Okay, perfect. Thank you.
>> Uh, next we have the IT director's report with Mr. Sh. Good evening, members of the school committee. Um, Superintendent Powers. Um, for those that don't know me, I'm Michael Shots. I'm the IT director for
BR. Um, the IT department successfully dis distributed a total of 676 Chromebooks to parents and guardians of fifth and 9th grade students. The distribution
took place over four separate dates, ensuring that everyone who needed a device was able to receive one efficiently and with minimal weight times. The well organized process helped the department manage the large volume
of equipment and streamlined that pickup experience for the entire community. This summer, the IT department successfully imaged over 600 computers with Microsoft Windows 11. This proactive measure was necessary because
the district's current operating system, Windows 10, will no longer be supported after October 14th by Microsoft. By upgrading these devices, the department ensured that the district's computers will remain secure and compatible with
the latest software and security updates. This effort was a critical step in maintaining a stable and protected technology environment for the entire district. The capital project to upgrade the
security camera system at Williams School has successfully completed. A major highlight of this project was that the systems programming was handled in-house by myself. This effort saved the district an estimated $5,000 in
labor costs that would have otherwise been spent on exter external vendor. With this final installation, all schools in the district are now equipped with modern security camera systems, significantly enhancing the safety and
security of our schools. This spring, two-factor authentication was rolled out to 650 faculty and staff as part of our ongoing commitment to safeguarding institutional data and personal information.
Two-factor authentication adds an extra layer of security to the user's email login process. Instead of accessing your email with just your password, you will also need a second factor, your phone or hardware token.
The first year of this two-factor authentication solution was funded by the state's municipal local cyber security grant. We were awarded $13,000 for this grant. And lastly, I just want to thank my um
my staff Tomy um Matt Tucker and Walter Healey um are the district's IT technicians for su for a successful uh school opening. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Sh. Do we have questions
for Mr. Fitzgiven? >> Thank you. Uh, Mr. Sh, um, with the rise of fishing, social engineering, etc. And I know I've seen a few emails to my school committee account that I've raised to you. How will we making sure
staff understands and even more students understand not to click on every email and open every link that seems to be sent to you. So for the last three years um we've um implemented
um cyber security training um through a program called no before and that has been grant funded. Um I feel that staff over the last few years have um become
very good at at um identifying uh fishing emails. Um and I just want to mention the um the purpose of the implementing the two-actor authentication. Um that was uh due to
our cyber security insurance. Um They ask us every year if we're, you know, what if we've implemented it. So now we can finally say yes. And actually the last year before we had it implemented, we had 10 teacher accounts
compromised, sending out scams, fishing. So that should eliminate um our district teacher account being compromised. >> Mr. Do the students pay to take it as well? >> Um
>> they do not >> they don't >> they don't take the training or and they also don't have the two factor authentification >> or checking accounts >> and we have had student accounts compromised. So
>> thank you Mr. appreciated. Um, under new business, we have approval of general ledger warrants. I will entertain a motion to approve the general ledger warrants dated June 30th, 2025, August 21st, 2025, August 31st,
2025, and September 4th, 2025. >> Motion made by Mr. Fitzgiven. Do I have a second? And Mrs. Davenport. All those in favor? >> Any opposed? And we have one extension. Thank you. I do not have any other business.
Um, we do have another public comment. Do I have any members of the public? I do not. So, we will not have public comment. Under announcements, we have a budget subcommittee meeting like I stated on Wednesday, October 22nd, 2025 at 6 PM at
the high school lecture hall. The next regular school committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, October 22nd, 2025 at 7 at the Rainham I'm sorry, Bridgewater Rainham High School Lecture Hall. Do I have any other announcements?
Seeing none, I will entertain a motion to adjourn the September 24th, 2025 school committee meeting at 8:34. >> Motion made by Mr. Los. Do I have a second? >> Second by Miss Davenport. All those in favor? Any opposed? Thank you.