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[Music] Three. Good evening. I'm Lionus Gillery, superintendent of schools, and tonight the May 15, 2025 meeting of the
Brookline School Committee is called to order. I would like to read the letter from town clerk Ben Kaufman confirming that newly elected members have taken their oath of office. I, Ben Kaufman, town clerk for the town
of Brookline, duly qualified and acting as such, having custody of the records, hereby certify that at the May 6, 2025 annual town election held in accordance with MGL chapter 41, section 1, Valerie
Frius, Donna Perry, and Robert J. Wantrob were elected members of the school committee for the town of Brooklyn for a term of three years. I further certified that in accordance with MGL chapter 41 section 15 that
Valerie Frius, Donna Perry, and Robert J. Wine Tribe were sworn to the faithful performance of their duties as a member of the school committee for the town of Brookline. Congrat. Let's congratulate our new members as well as our returning
[Applause] member. The school committee chair and vice chair are to be elected for a one-year term by a majority of those members present. Unless a vote taken to the contrary, no member may serve as
chair for more than two consecutive one-year terms. At this time, I will ask members for a motion to nominate someone for the office of chair. Mariah. I nominate Valrius.
Mariah nominates Val Frius. Is there a second? I'll second it. Suzanne seconds. Are there any other nominations for office of chair? If there are no further nominations, hearing none, I will ask Miss
Fitzpatrick to call the role for vote to close nominations for the position of chair. Okay. So, this is just a vote to close the nominations for chair. We have one nomination. Uh, yes or no. Suzanne, how do you vote? Yes. Val, yes. Jesse,
yes. Andy, yes. Sarah, yes. Mariah, yes. Donna, yes. Carolyn, sorry. Is there a dis we just vote? There's no discussion. Closing. Oh, sorry. Closing the vote. Yes. Uh, this is a vote to close the
nomination. Yes. Yes. And Bob, we should have showed. Yes, sir. I hear Bob. Bob is a vote. Yes. There you go. Testing. Oh, there you go. Just got you. So, typically now the
superintendent would ask for the vote on this nomination uh on this motion, but I suppose we could discuss it now if members would like. Just ask. We hadn't typically had discussions. So, I just I do Can I ask question?
You're turn your mic on. Actually, I'll skip it. I'll skip it. All right, Betsy. Do we have to take any further action now? So, now we have to actually take the roll call vote on the nomination to make um Miss Frius the chair. All right. First vote was just to close the nominations. I know it's very
procedural, but this is the vote to to make her chair. So, are we ready? I'll call a roll call. Um, Suzanne, yes, sir. Yes. Val, Jesse, yes. Andy, yes. Sarah, yes. Mariah, yes. Donna,
yes. Carolyn, yep. And Bob, yes. Okay. Congratulations, Chair. Free. Not yet. Uh, no. Right. When we after we do the vice chair vote for change, but the new chair conducts the vote for vice chair. Yes, you would. Oh, great. Okay. Yes. Well, that takes me off the hook
then. It's on the second page. Val, item number four, Dr. That's off again. I'll now ask Mrs. There just went off. Mine is acting up.
I'll now ask Miss Fitzpatrick to pull the members for a roll call on nomination. Oh, sorry. Uh, poll members for nominations for the position of vice chair. Yes, Jesse. Um, I nominate Bob Winrup. I'll second that. Carolyn was a second.
Thank you. Any other nominations right here? Suzanne. Yeah, I nominate Sarah Marta. a second and Mariah seconds. How do we work that? Um, are there any further nominations? Yes. Thank you. I'll nominate Suzanne
better spiel. Okay. Is there a second? I I actually respectfully declined. Is there a second? No second. She declined, but I don't know that she can decline the office, I think. But I think we still if somebody seconds that
we still vote. Any other nominations? I'm going to decline. I'll nominate Jesse after. Okay. Is there a second? I second.
Any other nominations? Okay. So, how do we proceed, Betsy? Um, well, just let me clarify. We have uh Miss McTadder nominated by Suzanne and that's been seconded. And then we have Dr. Hefner nominated by Miss Thal and that's been seconded. Those the two nominees everyone agrees. I don't think
we've had it before. I think the fairest thing would be to um have a vote as opposed to a yes no have the two candidates and do a roll call vote on the two candidates and it's you when I come to you, you tell me the the name that that you want. our our our policy
doesn't say anything specific other than what it says. So, um so I think that as I call the role um your vote is not a yes or a no. It's the candidate who you want to see um in the position of vice chair of the two that have been
nominated. Then I tally those up at the end and we do need a majority of those present. So uh so we need each get five and we need to close I don't think we voted to close yet the number. That's a good point. Yes, that's right. Okay. Um,
okay. I'm moving to to close the nominations. Is there a second? I'll second. Andy seconds. Okay. Um, Betsy will do the Betsy will do the roll call. Sorry. Again, is there a opportunity for discussion, especially since we have two
people? I Yes, this is just closing the nomination. Okay. Yeah. Uh, all right. So, in the vote to close the nomination, um, Suzanne, yes. Val, yes. Jesse, yes. Andy, yes. Sarah, yes. Mariah, yes.
Donna, yes. Carolyn, yes. And Bob, yes. Okay. So, again, now um if there's is there any discussion on the on the motion on the floor? I or the vote on the
floor? Go ahead. I think the motion is that because it's been made that we have two nominees for vice chair. [Music] Um, and so any conversation about that I think is welcome at this point. Well, I can say why I nominated
Jesse and why he would be my preference. Um we are uh going into a period where we want to um attract a superintendent
uh and be a unified school committee um and the relationships uh among school committee members are important. Uh I think Jesse has uh excelled in that.
Um, I think there have been some interactions that were not positive um, in terms of potential leadership and relationships um, with Sarah. So, I think um, it's
really important that we have a steady person who can um, represent us uh, handle pressure. This is going to be a contract negotiation year. We have a lot to accomplish.
Um, and I think Jesse is the better person. I'd like to call the vote. Okay. Any other comment? [Music] Okay. this
week has been there's been um and I won't say there's violations of open meeting law because there there isn't but I have heard from members in about who was going to be vice chair and it has been [Music]
um it has been a different runup to this vote than any other year um and this is the first year in my recollection that we've had um two different people for vice chair and I can't say that I've felt comfortable this week and I really
hope that as this vote proceeds that the membership will understand that we are turning from a campaign season to a year of governance and it is very different to campaign than it is to govern. And as my colleague Carolyn just said we're a a committee and we need to be working
together as a committee. So whatever happens next, let's move on and continue in the spirit of collaboration that we've all exemplified over the past year. Thank you. Uh sure, if you're ready. Um so again, this we have two nominees for the
position of vice chair. When I call on you, you will let me know the name that you're voting for. And we have Miss McTadder and Dr. Heft. Um, Suzanne. Sarah. Okay. Val, Sarah, Jesse, Jesse,
Andy, Sarah, Sarah, Sarah, Mariah, I'm voting for Sarah with the respect, huge amount of respect for my colleague Jesse and planning to work very closely with him over this year. Thank you,
Donna. Jesse, Carolyn, Jesse, and Bob, Sarah. Okay, so Sarah has been elected our next chair. Vice chair, excuse me.
[Applause] It's only the chair and the vice chair. Yeah. So go wherever whatever opened up, right? Yeah. The motion to reappoint you, right? Okay.
Um, so every year we need to make a motion to um appoint or reappoint our secretary. I just want to say that Betsy, this is my favorite part, too. I I Betsy is uh the the hands down 20 to zero unanimous vote of the school
committee on on this one. So um I'd like to move to reappoint Betsy Fitzpatrick as the secretary of the school committee. Seconded. Um Suzanne, how do you vote? Yes. Mariah? Yeah. Jesse? Yes. Andy? Yes.
with thanks for uh all the work that we've done together uh during the past year when Suzanne and I were very vice chair. Donna, yes. Oh, sorry. Yes. Sarah, yes. Carolyn, yes. Bob, oh yeah, and I vote
yes as well. Thank you. Thank you, Betsy, for another year of uh punishment. I didn't actually ask if you'd accept that. Next is the consent agenda. Anyone move the consent agenda?
We should probably clarify. It does not include Sorry. It does not include items 2A1 and 2 A2. The grants and gifts. I will move it. Okay. Second. I'll second. Suzanne, your vote. Uh, yes.
Rya, yes. Jesse, yes. Andy, yes. Donna, [Music] what am I voting for? Consent agenda. Yes. You know what that is? No. Sarah, yes. Carolyn.
Yes. And if people don't know what it is, maybe somebody could explain. Yeah. Bob, yes. Um, and I vote yes as well. So, so for for new folks and for um anybody at home, the consent agenda, it's it's our administrative business.
It's generally things like um past records, so our our meeting minutes. It's often approval of grants and gifts which have gone through the finance committee. Um occasionally it's a a vote on uh a building project that has gone through uh generally both the building
commission and that school's building um committee. Uh and on this particular administrative business we had um school choice as well. No that's No, sorry that's separate. That's not on. Can I ask a question? This is about a procedural thing. So
um who will be reporting to the committee as needed on the change orders and such going forward? And did and did anyone did did anyone happen to Andy on this? Okay. Or other members
perhaps. Andy's on the um on the building committee too, actually. So, yeah. And as far as I know, so is Helen at this point. Um the I don't know exactly what will happen, but the school committee may need to take some action in the near future to get that get that sorted since Helen's no longer on the
school committee. Okay. In the meantime, I'm still on the school building committee. Okay. Thank you. I guess I would just add that in looking at that actual item um it for people's information or for people at home who hadn't looked at it. This is um in in the removal of some of the material on
the lot that's going to become the new Pier School. There's an area that was discovered under the edge of the wall of the historic uh Pier School building that has some columns of brick that hold up the wall, but the columns don't extend far enough down. And as material
is being dug below it, um there was not there was deemed from an engineering standpoint to be somewhat uh fragile. If they would be leaving it alone, it might actually collapse that part of the section of the wall. And so this is a um uh engineering analysis that has already
pretty much been completed to look at putting acceptably large uh concrete uh sections underneath it that will support the um brick columns of the historic building so as not to cause any damage. That's what the 5,225 is for. Okay.
Thank you, Jesse. Um next on our agenda is a possible vote to not participate in the school choice program. So, the school choice law is uh a provision contained in the Ed Reform Act of 93 and it presumes that each
school committee will admit non-resident students under the school choice program unless there's a vote to the contrary taken by June 1st of each year following a hearing on the issue. The school committee combined the hearing for school choice with the public hearing on the FY25 budget held on February 13,
2025. Brookline has not participated in school choice in the past year, citing the lack of excess capacity in student enrollment. Uh, tonight's agenda includes a possible vote to not participate in school choice for the 2526 school year. Is there a
motion? Sure. So moved. Anyone? Mariah seconds. Any discussion? Yes, I would like like to speak. I know we have a history of not participating in the school choice program. Um, and I'm not I'm not clear
about how much capacity we have, but in the in the context of our fiscal challenges, um, I might want to open a conversation on the possibility of changing that practice and perhaps um, achieving some uh, some income uh, from
the school choice program. So, I just want to throw that out. Can I ask a question about that? My recollection and Susan is or maybe not here. Oh no, there you are. I couldn't see you. My recollection when we talked about this last year is that the reimbursement rate
is low. Not it's low. And so that was what we talked about it last year and I can't remember what it is, but it's like 12% anyway. It's it's not um it might not even meet our marginal costs. Just FYI.
$12,000 per student. It's I don't remember what it was, but I was surprised how low it was. I That's Don't take the dollar amount. Just It's not That's fine. Yeah. I mean, so but it's an interesting conversation because when we talk about the materials fee program
and METCO, we sort of say like METCO is 8,000 per student, but we say it's not that's not we don't expect to be reimbursed in the context of revenue generation. I
understand. And so materials fee is a revenue generator. Um I'm not sure it's a revenue generator in that it's a recruitment and retention tool
primarily. Right. And it generates revenue. It does. The point being, when we look at both of those programs and we have those conversations about the sort of per pupil value or what we
spend, my understanding is the conversation is always sort of like, well, we don't we don't frame it that way. We don't frame our what we do either generally or with either of those programs as a per pupil.
So, so I guess when I hear whether it's 12,000 or 8,000 or 2,000, isn't revenue revenue? 5,000. 5,000. Yeah, I just You said the school choice is 5,000.
5,000. Okay. Can I ask a question, Dr. Gillery? Dr. Gillery, um, I'm just curious about capacity in the system right now. We have new buildings. Um, again, this is my first meeting, so I have questions to ask. Like, is there a capacity in any of
the buildings or a number of the buildings to accept students? Um, and Mariah, you said it's 5,000 bucks per student. So, so if we get 50 students from school choice, that's $250,000. It's not nothing. It's not
that much, but it's something. I just think we should open our brains to the possibility as we as we begin again to struggle with the fiscal challenges that we face. Dr. Gillery. Sure. So, microphones are proving challenging
tonight. Um, as I look at our projections for next year, each school does have available seats. Now, that's keeping in mind the um conversation that we have over and over about going up to
the um the guidelines in each of those sections. Um so, at the elementary level, we remember at uh the K2 range, that's 20 up to 22, grades 3 through 8, that's up to 25 um uh in those sections. But each school does have available
seats uh if that's the question. So if you distribute, I'm just picking this number. If you distribute 50, 60, 70 students, um the class sizes probably will not be dramatically affected um if we do that. And so I just think we have to look at the bottom line. Um this
would be a change. Um I don't I I just think we have to think of any fiscal alternative to to begin to meet the challenges that we have. So, I would be open to um to doing something I think the school committee has never done
before, which is to um participate in the school choice program. Can I ask a question, Dr. Gillery? If we accept a student into school choice um does their sending district or do we um pay for any special education costs or anything
related? I think we would pay right. The the question about is um special education services cost if our students Yeah. I don't
close Lionus is yours falling apart right now. Test test. Okay. We just need to keep it flat. Yes. So like our other programs where we accept students um we get whatever the amount um we receive or whether it's material fees or in this
case it would be school choice and then we hold that seat for that student until they graduate. One of the challenges I see here, and I'm not opposed to I've I've been in school choice districts, so but one of the things I do see that's different here in Brooklyn is the churn. And so,
and you probably are very familiar with the churn, uh, Dr. Winrop. Um, but you can't control where the seats are going to be next year because we have, uh, migration, in migration, and out migration at a pace that I haven't seen
in other school districts. And so if we hold a seat, let's say for somebody entering in kindergarten, um we have churn that then um uh negatively impacts the number of students that are available in that particular grade that they're going
into. It creates some um challenges for us. So I think that's one of the things that you should consider as we think about um opening up seats or bringing additional students that are non Brookline students um into our community. Um, also as Val says, uh,
stated so well is that we'll get $5,000, um, for that student. Our per pupil cost, as was listed most recently, is $26,000. Um, and that's just the average cost. And then, of course, any additional costs that they need for supports um would also be a cost that
we'd have to um, uh, account for. Has that $5,000 been in place forever? Seems like. So I mean school choice has been in place for what many many years many that's outrageously it really is number
it discourages communities to to participate in this and and it discourages us from again using it as a possible way to help our fiscal situation. Sarah, now would you anticipate that being any different um for like so if in
Winthrop House we're able to offer somebody a a space that they that they paid for um is that a separate issue in that we wouldn't hold on to that seat and also it it wouldn't be um reimbursed
only at 5,000. Are we able to sell spots in our special programs for more? Is it a separate situation? We talked about this during the Sorry, I'll jump in. We talked about this during the budget discussions and I think Dr. Schmuckler said Winthrop
House. Was it Winthrop House or or the um It is Winthrop at Driscoll and hopefully the adaptive learning center at Lincoln. Well, potentially answer I think your
question. We can set the tuition rate for those programs unlike these types of reimbursement programs. So, of course, I'm also curious is then do you hold on to the student all the way through 12th grade or is it a situation for that particular year? I I I don't actually
know the answer to that question. I think if we have a continuum of programming likely we would keep them here and charge. But if we had in-house, one thing I do know about that because I have had programs like that before is that if our student body um needed those
seats, we would not have to continue to offer those seats to other students unless the law has changed. Wouldn't we have to if someone was there and they had stay put rights? We couldn't we couldn't move them out, right? Potentially. I think that's a Dr.
Schmuckler would probably be better able to answer that that question. Can you set a limit on the number of students you accept as part of school choice? I do believe that when you um elect school choice that you do determine the number of seats and I my recollection is
it's by lottery that you would fill those and by grade if my recollection is it's been a number of years since I've done school choice but that's how I recall it working. Um, any other comment before we take a
vote? Start this way. Bob, could you just I'm sorry. Could you just say what a yes vote means? That's what I'm The question is framed as not to not participating. So, a yes vote is we don't not going to part. Correct. Thank you.
I'll vote no. Okay. Carolyn, yes. Sarah, yes. Uh, Donna, sorry, can you clarify? A yes vote means you are we are not participating.
Yes. Andy, yes. Jesse, yes. Mariah, yes. Suzanne, yes. And I vote yes. All right. Good evening, everyone. We're going to go through our spotlight on excellence so that we can get to our
superintendent's report and Mr. Stoddard we we will be able to share the presentation from here. Um so for tonight uh I want to give an update on the NEAS visit uh to BHS. BHS
had a very successful den um denial visit from the New England Association of Schools and Colleges accredit accreditation team from Monday, April 14th through Wednesday, April 16th. This was a followup of from their visit two
years ago of their collaborative conference. BHS worked with the original team and NAS director of accreditation to identify several priority areas of improvement at BHS. One foundational element of the accreditation of school
safety and security and the planning and implementation of BHS access control system deeply impressed the des dennial visit team I want to say dentennial. Their memorable quote from 2023 was this
is a beautiful school and campus campus now lock it. BHS has succeeded in doing this while allowing access to students, staff, families and visitors. There are three other areas where BHS has made substantial progress. Developing a multi-tered system of
support, including major progress on the BCAP plan. This will go live on our district and high school websites uh will in advance of the 2526 school year. So, at some point uh later this year um as I'm sure they're working on that now,
working on a common curriculum format with um within and across departments as well as more common assessment practices and structures. These intra and cross-dep departmental efforts began this year and will continue the next two to three years. They have structured and
focused professional learning that helps teachers develop a core of strong instructional assessment and student support approaches, practices and strategies. This was declared a focus area in 2023 and the decent the denial visiting team was impressed by the
progress made on providing professional development and professional learning for educators. One area that needs to be tracked with urgency in the next year is a district-wide vision of a graduate. The visiting team helped us think about ways this could look and be done efficiently
and effectively. Overall, this was a great visit. The director of accreditation has asked head of school Meyer social studies curriculum coordinator Jen Martin and English curriculum coordinator John Andrews to present at the NEAS board of directors meeting this Friday.
State leaders will plan to visit the BHS lunch program um in the coming month um between now and the end of the school year. The Massachusetts Department of Secondary Education, state legislators, school nutrition directors, and members of the
Mass Massachusetts School Meal Nutrition Standards Commission have requested to visit the lunch program at BHS due to the outstanding work of the PSB Food Services Department. The purpose of their tour is to illustrate the impact of investment in universal free meals as
well as wrap up the 2425 school meal nutrition standards commission. The tour will include opportunities to interact with students, taste school meal samples, and see Brookline's fantastic school nutrition program in
action. PSB shines at the Music Parks Festival. Last Friday, May 8th, 140 PSB students across grades 5 through eight took top honors at the Music in the Parks Festival held in Six Flags in Awan, Massachusetts. The event featured
a high number of competing music groups with schools from Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York. Here's how our groups performed. Voices of Brooklyn, our townwide chorus directed by Rianne Gibson with the company of Melody Melody Linhardt earned first
place. Brook Lion Youth Orchestra directed by John Ferguson with an assistant director Arena um Nara Shikova earned first place, received a superior rating, the highest possible, and was named the best overall middle school
orchestra. Our townwide concert band directed by Emmy Hardy and with assistant director Rick Stone earned an excellent rating and placed fourth. And then our townwide jazz band directed by Rick Stone with assistant director Kenny
Kosall earned an excellent rating and placed second. A special thank you to our passionate and dedicated music teachers who led the trip. Kenny Kosal, Rick Stone, Emmy, John Ireina, Riion, Rianne, and Melody, as well as our performing
arts secretary, Sonia Joiner, who helped manage the many logistics to make this event a success. And before we go to our spotlight on excellence, I do want to give the community and the committee an update regarding a um a complaint that
was filed about BHS um and their structured uh learning time. So, a community member filed a PRS complaint, which is a problem resolution system complaint with DESIE, asserting that the BHS days of, and this is like their um
the various days of events that BHS has programs and advisory do not qualify as structured learning time. This included Zblock, which many of you know is the before school um time
for I guess conservatory uh prep time. So this Zblock impact, TB block and Xlock and that students were not getting their 990 hours of structured learning time. PRS reviewed the complaint,
confirmed that the high school days of so that the doors events do qualify uh as structured learning time as well as the advisory portion counts as structured learning time. The complaint, however, prompted Desi to conduct a
deeper dive into the BHS schedule through the structured learning time lens. PRS found that Brookline High School to be short of the required 990 hours by approximately 60 hours or less, noting that the current configuration of
X block does not count towards structured learning time and Zblock is not part of the mandatory school days as reported by the district u because not all students are participating in that. Both of these blocks have been in the
BHS schedule for 15 years or more. I'm sure Bob knows more about their origin. I have charged the high school administration team to come into compliance uh with the 990 hour requirement by revising or developing a
schedule that meets or exceeds the 990h hour requirement. BHS will engage in the corrective action process to meet a July 11th deadline to create a revised schedule that must be submitted to DESIE. Creating a new schedule will have
ramifications on the structure of the bell schedule for the 2526 school year, the master schedule, and the availability of some classes. There is no action required for the current school year. Um the current school
schedule, um BHS will keep us posted on their progress. And given that this information was communicated this week from Desessie, the BHS team will work as quickly as possible uh towards a viable solution. And with that, that concludes the superintendent report. And we have
now our Pierce team online to share with us the spotlight on excellence. And I'm happy to answer any questions once the Pierce team Sorry, may I ask a question? Um do you mind clarifying? You said I'm going I'm going to have to interrupt. I'm sorry. uh if you could please hold
the questions for that till later. Um we are absolutely tight time uh crunch. Absolutely. I was told that we would be be able to be done by 6:45. I need to leave very shortly uh to get to a performance. Um so I respectfully ask if
we could just move right now to uh the Pierce School uh Spotlight on Excellence. Is that Oh, you okay? Thank you. Uh I'm sorry for that. Um uh thank you uh for inviting us uh to
uh to present here u about our Black History Month door project. Uh Jandy Strong Dennis, our Metco liaison, came to me with a wonderfully creative idea that she had uh for our students to learn about and celebrate black history. uh we shared it with uh our staff who
immediately embraced the idea and when we rolled it out to the students they ran with it making it such an authentic learning experience for the Pierce Middle School community. Uh Jandy will tell more uh and then we'll watch a video that highlights the students work
uh with Stephanie Goodman and Lucy McNeel, two of our wonderful sixth grade teachers, uh providing commentary um especially since I'm not sure the audio is going to be able to work on uh on what we're about to share. So with that, I'll just pass it over to Jandy.
Thank you, Jim. Hi everyone. I'm Kiss referred to me as Miss Ron Dennis. I am the MECO advisor at peers. So the dough decorating contest was an initiative meant to bring everyone together. I want a student to immerse themselves into
valuable lessons that remind us that black history is American history, showcasing resilience, perseverance, and their ongoing struggle for justice. After all, a complete understanding of American history requires their
contribution and experiences of black people. Embracing their it takes a village approach. I I propose a door decorating contest that will bring together students, staff, and the Meco families. Each home room class created
door decorations featuring black history art and facts driven by students ideas. Their judges included teachers, custodians, paraprofessional, and parents. Their winning class will be
rewarded a special meal featuring, Liberian, West African, and soul food. It was amazing and educational experience for everyone. Thank you. And I'm going to pass it over
to Stephanie Goodman. Yeah. So I think now we were going to try to watch the video. Yes. Okay. 6 as a cast worked tremendously hard to complete the door art project. We landed on the idea of Bill
Russell and wanted to elaborate of the idea of black Americans associated with the color green. When we didn't think of any other option, we decided to focus on the incredible Bill Russell. We focused on his great achievements and went for
the graffiti style of of art. We took ideas from Jean Michael best squid um another groundbreaking black American who is known for his graffiti style to make the to make the overall image just
like just like Bill just like Bill would come onto the court with the game plan. We we came into the classroom with great ideas and put together the masterpiece on the on our door. This is Bill Russell and he was
the first black head coach in the NBA and modern North American sports. And he was also a President
Medal award by President Obama in 2011. And we have more stuff here to scan in a video, a music video. Wise words from Bill Russell. The most
important thing to me is the friends that I've made. Joy is a current of energy in your body like Lauro or sunlight that fills you up and makes you naturally want to do your
best. You can do anything you want to do if you want it bad enough. The most important thing is to be true to yourself. Hello, this is uh HC's Black History. Uh we decide to um have a lot of um black
people that were in influential and important. We did a bunch of different like some drawings, some pictures. Um there's like a mural down here. Um so it like look different. Tried to like fill in the space with different quotes and stuff. This is my drawing Obama and he's
the 34th American president and I like uh one of his codes very much. Change will not come if we if we wait for something other people or some other time. We are the only ones being waiting for. We are the change we seek. So this
is my um drawing of Harriet Tubman and I uh drew her holding a torch sort of like the Statue of Liberty. But you'll notice that um all of the other
areas are very dark since she usually went under the cover of night and she actually might not have had a torch in many cases but as I said I was inspired by the Statue of Liberty. So uh this is our mural we decided to do kind of a
like a thing with connections. So um Henry Yeah. So here we have Canada Kamar who's a rapper and He's rapping about Bas here, you know, who's a painter and he
is painting Drew Holiday. Yeah. And um here we have Drew um your own Drew Holiday. And um one quote from Drew Holiday that we wrote right here was um having your voice heard makes you feel more involved.
Hi, I'm Rayanch. I'm Sh. Our door includes quotes from Frederick Douglas in orange, Harriet Tubman in green, and Martin Luther King Jr. in blue. We chose this for our door because these people were influential in preventing the suffering that so many people of African
descent used to experience. Harriet Tubman helped enslaved people journey to freedom. Martin Luther King Jr. helped people with his words, as did Frederick Douglas with his words and actions. Now we will read some of the quotes to
aloud. The soul that is within me no man can degrade by Frederick Douglas. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere by Martin Luther King Jr. I never ran my train off the track and I never lost by Harriet.
Hi everybody. Um this is our Catherine Johnson made by 6. This this this door was made by Moana Olivia Vera. Unfortunately, Kristen's not here today and also Senna and also I um we drew Catherine Johnson climbing up and
reaching into the stars and in those little stars you'll see quotes and fun facts about her. Captain Johnson was a NASA fisher. Um on one of the clouds there are more fun facts about Catherine Johnson.
um where she was born in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, West Virginia on August 26th, 1918. A little bit about her and her early days and when she was 15. Um we chose Catherine Justin because we found
she was very inspiring because even though she was Africaname, there was a lot of discrimination, she was still able to fight her to become one of the computers/micians at [Applause] Miss Goodman, Miss McNeel, were you all
going to add too? Yeah, I can add a few things. Just um as you saw from the video, the kids got really excited about it and that was like from grade six through eight. Um, and my kids did the uh Bill Russell door. And just a couple of things about it. Um, my when my kids said they wanted to do Bill Russell and
Bosot, I was like, I don't know that this is going to work. Um, but it ended up working really well. There was a lot of collaboration and they worked together and each kid really took a part and took ownership over that. So, it was nice to see the learning and also that problem solving skill. Um, which was
really nice to see in, you know, February when, you know, things start to feel a little tougher at school and everything. So, it was a really great experience for the kids and teachers as well. So, and Lucy, if you want to add a little thing. Yeah, thanks Steph. So, it was so exciting. I feel like when Jandy came
with the idea to us. Um, and it was like really fun as a committee like figuring out what we wanted to do and what resources we could give. Um, so each home room in the morning would have like a little mini lesson or like a question or a song um or video they could look at and have discussions about. And then it ended right with this the month ended
with this project. um that the kids were working on. They really all like collaborated and got so into it that it was like you would have to like tear them apart from the project to to move into the day. Um even like I remember at one point they were all working on their portraits so hard that they um were
like, "Miss McNeel, you need to color this overnight for homework so that we can get this on the door." Um so they were really into it and it was like such a cool committee that Jandy brought together. So I'm super grateful to work with them. Thank you all very much. So, our
spotlight on excellence from the public schools of Brooklyn is awarded to the Pierce School Black History Month door decorating contest in recognition of Stephanie Goodman, Lucy McNeel, and Jandy Dennis Strong for spearheading this project, which encouraged students
to work creatively and collaboratively to deepen their understanding of the rich history and many contributions of African-Americans to our country. Congratulations to the Pierce team. and thank you all for being here with us tonight.
Thank you. Um, next up we have public comment. Val, can I just can I Sorry about that. Make a comment. Did they Suzanne? Yeah, I just want to make a comment and that is um, you know, I just want to do another shout out to our middle school program.
It is not easy to bring eight schools together. Uh both the families, the parents, the kids, they come together, they don't know each other really uh because they're at different schools and our staff does an amazing job of bringing them together and having them
perform. So I just another shout out to them. It's, you know, we have this prek to 8 model which we love, but it also offers some challenges, but it also offers extra opportunities. And I think that in our music area, performance area, they do a great job. Special thank
you to that group. Any other comments? Donna. Hi. Yeah. Um, I'll echo Suzanne's gratitude. That was um really lovely. I wanted to go back to the conversation about the PRS complaint. Um, can you just clarify?
It was we were short 60 hours or I think you said X and Z. Is that approximately 60 hours over the course of the year? Okay. And that includes both of those blocks. T Oh, it was T T. Okay. Yep. T um X was
T block. Yeah. this the high school was counting ZBlock, but Zblock doesn't count towards that um 990 and X does count towards the 990, right? X counts. T doesn't. And do you know if there'll be a notice going out to the BHS
community about that? I'm sure I will communicate. Thank you. I have a question too. Okay, Mariah. And then Oh, sorry. It's okay. Um I think it might be the other way around with X&T, but that's okay. Anyway, so I wanted to just say how much
I enjoyed the presentation, what you mentioned, Suzanne, and just I was so struck by just these like moments of wonderful excellence that we've heard and between um the the performing arts program that
was highlighted, but also the the fabulousness that Sasha Palmer and the food services team are getting recognized by the state. Um I wonder I don't know which legislators were invited but I wonder if perhaps I don't know like you know as we're going through the budget cycle and the free
the universal meals program is wants to be funded you know are there other people the governor the lieutenant governor who might be able to invite it or even us could come so that we could also be there so whatever we could do to be supportive of sasha for that event or however else um but I just think it's
wonderful that um that that team is being recognized as well and then I thought the pier stores project was lovely, too. So, what a wonderful um presentation you gave to us and thank you for giving us these moments, these glimpses into the days of our schools. I
will just say there's a May 20th uh something at Tappen. Yeah. At 5:30 for for food for the food services. So, that's a place we we are invited. We got the invitation. So, okay, Carolyn. Um I'm going to go back to what
Dr. Gillery was describing with the high school. Um, so Dr. Gillery, I think you said that there was the potential for this to impact classes that could be offered. Can you explain that a little bit?
I won't be able to go into great detail because the high school is working on it as such, but um given that we're talking about probably um starting the school day a little bit earlier um is what it's going to amount
to is what I suppose or surmise. Um and then looking at the high school will have to put together what offerings will be available as such. Um, but I will have them give us more details around that, but I won't try to pre-build their schedule, but I know it will have an impact. Okay, I'll be interested to hear
that. I can't translate in my mind how adding time would mean offering not being able to offer certain classes. So, I will watch for that. Can I I Bob I I can comment on that if
you should I go ahead. Yeah. So, I was the one who designed the schedule that's there and we created the conservatory period Zblock so that we would isolate the performing arts classes so they wouldn't have to compl
conflict with all the other classes in the school. So what's going to happen um and Dr. Giller is correct. The um the school day will probably begin a little bit earlier um maybe 8:00 um instead of 8:20. And the so the
only challenge that I would see is that because the conservatory block was isolating performing arts classes that it'll be a little more challenging to get all the kids in those in those uh performing arts classes during the regular school day. I think it's also
beyond performing arts. Um Bob, my son, for instance, took um wellness ZB block so that he could take an art class each semester. So I I think that there are different a few things now that are offered in Z. Andy, um would starting the school day
earlier be something that requires collective bargaining? So, the fun the um high school has um notified the union uh of this impact as well, and we'll learn more uh as they dig into this, but I'm sure there will be some form of
um a notion of a change um to the current experience. Anyone else on this? Okay, so now we're moving to public comment. Um, and just so folks are aware who are going to be giving public comment, um, we limit it to three
minutes. We listen attentively. Uh, but we, uh, generally don't respond or have a back and forth. Just so you know, we're listening. We're taking it in. Um, but our practice is not to have a back and forth. Um, first up, I see lots of Driscoll red. So, hi to my friends from
Driscoll. Um, Emma Garmms is is first up. Thank you. Wait. Um, okay. Um, hello, my name is Emma Garmms. Um, I am in seventh grade and I go to the Driscoll school. When I heard that Miss Crow was not
going to be at Driscoll next year due to budget budget cuts, so many feelings filled my mind. But the biggest thought that popped into my brain was, how is Driscoll going to function with just one vice principal? A few months ago, seven
of my friends and I were targeted by homophobic comments. When I when this happened, I went right to Miss Crow and explained the situation. She listened to how we were feeling and then talked to the other students involved to let them know that what they did was wrong. I
think that would be very challenging for a single vice principal to have the time to make these types of changes when they have so much other work to do. It would also be very hard for a single vice principal um to know all the students
enough for them to feel comfortable for their for this type of personal conversation. Also, think about how different kindergarteners and first graders are to middle schoolers. It would be a lot to ask someone to deal with breaking up a fight between who
gets the swing next and also dealing with older kids who can be dealing with anxiety and depression. It would be really challenging. Miss Crow has has to do so much for the Driscoll community and planning events for all the middle school is already hard enough. Think about adding six more grades to that.
This probably means that each grade won't get their full attention. Thank you so much for hearing me out. That's it. Thank you, Emma. Next up is Jonathan Golden and Miss Pritchards on deck.
Good evening. Jonathan Golden, town meeting member precinct 11. I want to start by congratulating the chair and the vice chair on your election this evening. All in your re-election. Welcome to Dr. Bob and to Donna to the school committee. And also I really want to take this opportunity publicly to thank Dr. Gillery for his service to our
town. I'm a Driscoll parent and former member of the Driscoll School Site Council. I am also a former assistant head of school and director of academic operations at a local private high school. Well, my sweatshirt says Driscoll. I stand before you today as a proud member of team Brooklyn. Not to be
confused with the Boston Marathon Group from our community, but all of us know that work in schools is a marathon, not a sprint. I thank the extraordinary efforts of the school committee to resolve an $8 million deficit. I truly marvel how each of you can devote multiple hours a week to school
committee service for no compensation. My admiration only grows greater given the predicament of this year's bud budget cycle as you discussed yesterday even in your finance subcommittee meeting. As a proud member of team Brookline, I stand before you to support David Uclas, my principal, and all
principles in Brookline who often do not have the resources and supports that they need to deliver on their educational vision. As a proud member of team Brookline, I stand before you proudly as a parent of a school that houses five beep classrooms and a win house program.
Six years ago, this community worked together to build a new Driscoll school. As a Driscoll parent, I am forever grateful. The new Driscoll school override meant the fiscal responsibility to add sections to Driscoll and build capacity to the system as a whole.
Whatever the financial solution is on this issue, let us not let a $130,000 position impact the growth of the Driscoll school population and all the programs housed there. Finally, as a proud member of team Brooklyn, I wanted to do all that I can
to support both our new interim superintendent and permanent superintendent. Leadership turnover is an epidemic in Brooklyn because we all of us are falling short in our teamwork among us, parents, teachers, students,
administrators, and the school committee. What can all of us do here to change that dynamic and improve that sense of teamwork? For those who know me well, I'm not asking a rhetorical question. I am ready to roll up my sleeves and do my part to make the public schools of Brooklyn a preferred
destination for future school leaders. I hope you will join me in making that dream a reality. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you, Mr. Golden. Uh Heather Pritchard is next and Miss Sultani is on deck.
Hi, my name is Heather Pritchard and I teach sixth and seventh grade social studies at Driscoll. Last week I learned that Michelle Crow, one of our vice principles, is being reassigned to another school in the district. Michelle's reassignment is a consequence of the school committee's vote to reduce
one VP position in the district to close the budget deficit. I don't believe that the loss of a VP position at Driscoll and Michelle in particular is actually sustainable for our school. How can I support? That's the question
Michelle Crowe is always asking teachers at Driscoll. When teachers are focused on helping their students feeling seen and heard, Michelle ensures that the teachers she works with feel seen and heard. Michelle is a mainstay presence on the fourth floor where most of our
middle school classrooms are located in our new building. From her makeshift second office in what was originally designed as a small groupoup student workspace, Michelle does the intensive behindthe-scenes work required for team building. Michelle's leadership has
enabled us to develop a middle school culture in which our students are held to consistent and high expectations. And this is a culture in which they can find support and a sense of belonging. Michelle's days are thus often filled with tasks we may not
typically associate with a middle school vice principal. She mails postcards teachers have written to their students so they can receive words of encouragement and affirmation. She handplaces kids in groups for arts equinox field trips so students can have choice and voice in
how they spend their time. She covers classes when we don't have enough substitute teachers in the building. She follows up with students when they've transgressed community norms to help them understand the impact of their actions on others. She troubleshoots technology challenges with our
educational technology specialist. She trains staff in deescalation strategies to help us support all students and improve the safety of our school. And she attends trainings for the new eighth grade social studies curriculum through the Democratic Knowledge Project.
None of these things will happen if Michelle is transferred away from her crucial crucial position at Driscoll. Given Driscoll's current needs, two administrators cannot do the work necessary to keep our school safe for students. We know this because we
know what it was like to only have two administrators. It meant there was not always an immediate and effective response to emergent student needs. It meant that students sometimes walked into classrooms that literally had no adult in
them. I am aware that the school committee has already approved a budget for this coming school year that does not include a second VP position at Driscoll. Nevertheless, I am hoping that they and members of the Brooklyn community can use the information that
we members of the Driscoll community tonight are sharing to advocate for action from members of town meeting to fund the second vice principal position at Driscoll. Thank you for your time. Thank you, Miss Pritchard. Um Lisa Sultani Sultani and then uh Lee Simons
on deck. I'm Lisa Sultani. I teach uh sixth and seventh grade math at Driscoll. Um I'm a former Hayes at that time Heath parent. Um
and I just want to read a quote. Um when a ship is sinking, there is value in knowing how fast and calling it out. John George Saunders wrote these words the other day in the New York Times and I took them to heart. So, that's what I'm hoping to do here. When I return to Driscoll last
fall, we were down a special educator. Um, the position had been trimmed from our middle school and its effects were really immediately felt by everyone in the middle school staff. Um, eventually we adjusted to the new reality. Um, but today we are all a bit
wearier for it. And now we face another cut to Driscoll staff, the middle school. this time, Michelle Crow, our middle school principal. And I truly worry about the loss of this incredibly talented, hard-working, effective,
empathetic, passionate, and relentlessly positive administrator. Not merely one fewer adult in the building, but one fewer powerhouse of an adult. I am grateful that at least some other school will benefit from Michelle's
singular talent, but educators really aren't funible in that way. Our work, when done well, is about relationships. And um this cut means severing those relationships. Relationships that take years to build, especially when um we're
dealing with families whose children have really complex needs. David Uclas and Michelle uh Melissa Lions are both incredibly capable and effective leaders in their own right, but how can one expect that they just
pile onto their already full plates all that Michelle does? Asking that they each do a job and a half is just untenable. And the reality is that things simply won't get done. And as such, they won't be the only ones
feeling the fallout from this cut. every teacher, staff, and our students will feel these knock-on effects, and in the end, we will all be just a little bit wearier for it. Um, you know, I know there's it
feels like there isn't a choice that we have to make these cuts and eliminate programs, shuffle people around. We ended ECS. Elementary world language is gone. The Office of Education Equity is cut.
EL teaching remains understaffed and it it'll be fine, right? We'll muddle through. We always do. But I'm just asking, is fine good enough? Many of you may think that I'm just another whiny, catastrophizing
teacher blind to the fiscal realities facing the town. But I pay those taxes, too. And I join Heather in asking you perhaps to be mindful that maybe you
are the blind ones um blind to the cumulative effects of all these cuts year after year and um join Heather in asking you to help us work with town meeting and make an amendment to this budget. Thank
you. Thank you, Miss Sultani. Uh Lee is up and Orley's on deck. Thank you. My name is Lee Simons. I am a Driscoll site council member and the parent of a second grader at Driscoll
who's very patiently waiting in the audience. Um and I want to thank all of you first um for your time and effort serving um our community and our children always, but particularly in this challenging budget time. Like my fellow Driscoll parents and other community members, I'm here to
provide comment on next year next year's budget's elimination of one of two Driscoll vice principal positions. I know the school committee has prioritized maintaining student facing positions. The Driscoll vice president vice principles, excuse me, are decidedly student facing, supporting
students directly as well as supporting teachers with student needs. As I know many of you are aware, Driscoll is the school with three of the biggest K through8 classrooms in the district and there are many other Driscoll classes with student teach teacher ratios at the high end of
district recommendations. Large class sizes mean more need for teacher support from the vice principal. And Driscoll is a growing school. It's currently three sections, but as you know is built as a four section school with at least one grade, if not more, already warranting a
four section. We also house the middle school Winthrop house pilot, which I understand the district wants to expand. As a former PTO co-chair of BEAP, I'm thrilled that Driscoll has welcomed BEAP classes back into the school building. With five classes, it's the largest K through8 school-based BEEP site and the
same size as the freestanding BEP sites. All of this enrollment growth at K through8 BEAP in the small uh middle school Winthre House program has meant enrollment at Driscoll has grown 25% between 2022 and 2025. and will be even larger as a four- section school when we
will undoubtedly need our second vice principal even more at that size. It seems short-sighted to remove that institutional knowledge now right at the cus of when we will be a four-section school before our amazing current principal um Driscoll cycled through a
new principal every one to two years. At those times, we only had one vice principal and the reason for departure of those principles prominently included burnout and work life balance as a result of the high demands of the job and lack of support. I'd like to make one final
point. This decision to eliminate a vice principal at one of the K through8 schools occurred in early March before we learned of the upcoming changes to the superintendent and deput deputy superintendent roles. It's even more important now that we ensure the individual schools have the resources
they need to support our students, educators, and school leadership. Thank you. [Applause] Thank you, Orley. Is all mine. Hi, Orley. Yeah, how are you? Thank you. U my name is Orley. I am
a parent at Florida Ruff Ridley and um this is my second time speaking on the subject and it is about keeping five sections in second grade in FRR. Um last time I spoke from my heart and then I noticed that everyone else reads things. So this time I'm just going to read the letter that was sent to the school
committee. Um I think it kind of captures the sentiment. So, we're writing as concerned parents and community members in a strong opposition to the decision to eliminate a second grade teaching position at FRR, reducing the number of classes from 5 to 4 for the 2025 school 2020 25 school year. Over
the past several weeks, many FR families have voiced deep concern about this change through letters, outreach, and participation in meetings. Despite this input, the decision to move forward with the reduction has gone forward. Reducing second grade sections from 5 to 4 will result will result in significantly
larger class sizes. currently projected at 22 students per class and likely higher. This projection does not account for families moving to FRR zone over the summer. Historically 10 to 15 new students join each year. Families on the border of two zones who choose F FRR new students in the EL or TLC programs who
are placed at FR. A recent community survey has already identified at least 12 new families relocating to the FR district. Many are coming from abroad and will need additional support to transition smoothly. The loss of a fifth section and the educator leading it, Miss Brooks, will direct will directly impact the school's ability to serve
these students. Second grade is a found fun foundational year building critical reading, writing, and thinking skills. Our ch our children have already experienced instability in both kindergarten and first grade, including mid-year teacher changes. They need consistency, not additional strain from
overcrowded classrooms and reduced attention. Letting go of Miss Brooks would be a profound loss. She's not only a skilled and compassionate educator, but she's uniquely equipped to support our multilingual and multicultural student body. In just two years, she has made a lasting impact on both students and families. Moreever, it is well known
how difficult it is now more than ever to recruit and retain highly qualified, passionate educators. When we lose a great teacher, we don't just lose a staff member, we lose institutional knowledge, continuity, and trusted relationships that cannot be easily replaced. This is not simply a staffing decision. It is a choice that will shape
the educational environment at FRR for years to come. At a time of broader transition, including a new principal and superintendent, we urge you to protect stability where it matters most, in the classroom. We strongly urge you to reconsider this decision. Maintaining five second grade sections at FR is an investment in our children's education,
well-being, and equitable access to support. Thank you for your time and continued commitment to the Brookline students. Concerned FR parents. Thank you. Um, that concludes public comment. We're skipping number five and moving to
uh number six, school committee actions, discussion and possible vote on beep extended day fees. Mariah, is this you? Yes. Sorry, you said we're skipping Q3 report, right? Yes. Okay. Because we'll do it next week. Okay. So, um last last
night at finance we um discussed Do you have that slide, Betsy? Thank you. we discussed um a possible reconsideration of the vote on the beep extended day tuition. So if you all recall and as Betsy has helpfully prepared in a
historical slide um in January we voted to increase the beep extended day tuition by $200 a month and at that time the memo we received said that the tuition was $800 a month. Since then, we um we discovered that there was a typo
actually in the memo and the um extended day tuition is $700 a month. So, the proposal is instead of the original vote, which Betsy has there in the second paragraph to increase it to $1,000 a month next year, 1,200 a month the year after that, and 1,400 a month
the year after that, it would be by $100 less each year. So, 900, 1100, and 1300. and the finance subcommittee voted unanimously. Did we vote unanimously? Yes. Um to to on the motion that's the last
paragraph here and that we're recommending to the full school committee tonight. And the impact of this would be that parents who participate or families that participate in the extended day program of which I believe there are approximately 30 would each pay $100 a
month less which is $1,000 a year less. Um and financially the 200 the the increased funding to the program that is required for our budget was based on the $200 a month increase. And so the program finances are intact.
We're just adjusting the original base amount to the correct base amount. So, I'm going to make a motion that school committee vote to set the beep extended day tuition rates at $900 a month in 26,100 a month in 27 and 1,300 a month in 28 as is written in the last
paragraph on the slide. Second. Any discussion? Jesse seconds. Suzanne. Yeah, I hate to kind of bring this up, but the fees do still seem high. I I know, but I'm just asking uh some clarifying questions.
Is with be programs in our schools, do they still have separate extended day and tuition rates or can they participate in the school's extended day? My recollection is that this is only for two sites at Lynch and maybe at
Peterham which are the standalone sites which don't because the one beep beacon participates in um what is it oh Shalom's Yep's um extended day and the other and Heath participates in that extended day and I
believe Heath maybe covers no because anyways it covers I believe Lynch and um Putham yes That's my recollection. And is this in alliance with the other extended day programs in terms of the
the amount? No. Okay. But there's Yeah. The the the PSB programming, if you recall, we had Schools for Children that was doing this before and with the change in the school day, Schools for Children elected to to exit the partnership, right? Um and Margaret and
Susan, forgive me if I'm saying anything horribly wrong right now. feel free to come up and correct me, but um the I think one key difference is that the BEP extended day program is run by um uh unionized staff and the um who have full
benefits under the PSB programming and so the cost structure is slightly different than perhaps the program that um that an extended day would run. Okay. So you so you're actually penalized a
little bit for if you happen to be at Putam or at Lynch. I mean just because of your location because the program is different in extended day. I don't know that I would frame it as penalized but Well, I bet the families
though. Well, I mean it I don't know. I mean I guess it costs more. Your finan you're saying it costs more, right? Okay. I wouldn't say penalized, but cost more. Okay. There's nothing we can do about that. The when we talked about this last
night, we talked about that the um $700 a month rate right now barely covers the staff. It just a little bit more than covers the staff salaries. It does not cover um I think it's
$655 a month cover staff salaries, but um it's closer to almost it's over $12,500 total per student. Um so there's actually quite a big difference. And even at these prices, we are not covering the total cost of the program.
It's only a little more than half of the cost of the program. So there is some question about the long-term and we talked about this yesterday the long-term viability of the program given this discrepancy but I think in particular Margaret was very sensitive to supporting the families who had joined with extended day when we had
schools for children and didn't want that to be a loss. Okay. Any other Thank you Bob. Yeah. Is the beep extended day program the same hours as the regular extended day program? More or less it's 2:30 to 5:30 and most of the extended days end
somewhere between 5:30 and 6 I believe. And is there any scholarship money available? Beep in general has scholarship and I believe it also would apply to this but I couldn't tell you. Do you know Susan does the scholar I presume it also applies to extended day. She's nodding.
Is is beep free the regular program? No. Um I can't remember. It's I can't remember what we voted. Sorry Susan. Do you remember? Um, I could get you that number afterwards, but I don't have it right here right now. So, the extended So,
we're asking parents to pay about $10,000 a year for extended day. Beep. Yep. $9,000 a year for extended day. Okay. Yep. It's a lot of money. Mhm. Okay. Thank you. Yes. Any other questions or
comments? Okay. Um, you moved it. Was there a second, Jesse? Jesse second. Okay. Um Suzanne, how do you vote? Yeah, I'm going to vote no. I just It just feels like too much money somehow. I Okay. Mariah, yes. Jesse, yes. Andy,
yes. Donna, yes. Sarah, yes. Carolyn, yes. Bob, yes. And I vote yes as well. Um, next is the discussion and possible vote to approve extra compensation, hourly rates, and stipens. Mariah, back
to you. Okay. So, in your packet, somewhere in here, somewhere in my packet. One moment. Well, I can talk to it. I don't need to. That's okay. Here it is. I found I just like to have a prop in my hand. So, in
your packet, you have the um non-aligned extra compensation, hourly rates, and stipens. and to summarize the conversation we had yesterday and to also take you to hearken back in time to June 2024 which was the last time we talked about the previous iteration of
this document. Um so two years ago um Susan and the ANF team and OTL and OSS did a herculean effort to try and finally identify the exhaustive comprehensive complete list of um
non-aligned extra compensation hourly rates and stipens. Um and so that's what this list was in 2024. And at that time we had voted it in May of 2024 and then we revoted it um to make a couple of
tweaks but one of them which I will highlight because it came up um yesterday was to change the rate for the ESY coordinators from 7500 to 8800 last year. Then last night at the meeting um
the document was presented um it's equivalent to the June 2024 document with one change which is the ESY coordinator um salary was included at 12,500 which is an increase from last year's number. So it went from 8,800 to
12,500. In the conversation we had yesterday, there was a a lot of discussion about the primary discussion was about um some of the work that we had requested that we had all hoped we had all collaboratively discussed would hopefully happen this year because there's
some perhaps different rates that aren't really clear um what is the right rate to be set for different things. How why is there discrepancies? How are they based on effort? Are they based on time spent? There's just a lot of questions we have unfortunately um although everyone was very excited to have those
happen that analysis happen this year um due to all the different things that have happened that didn't happen. So the document itself really carries forward except for the 12,500 last night when we were talking about this we moved um we were confused about
whether the 12,500 was last year's rate or not and we had a long discussion about that. Um so the committee voted to recommend to the full committee this entire document minus the ESY coordinator rate. Um however
um with the additional information about the $3,700 increase yearon-year um that is incorporated in the budget per Susan the 12,500. I personally would feel comfortable um recommending the full document, but that just to be
clear, the committee voted the entire document minus this one point because we weren't clear on that. And I personally am going to move the entire document as it stands. The one edit we made last night was just to include BCBA in the ESY first first row PSB special
education teachers and specialists. For some reason, BCBA was not included and so we're just making sure that BCBA goes into that first row. So that's the motion. Is the motion clear? This document as is with BCBA written in.
Is there a second? Second. And I would just add before we get to any other discussion and vote that I see this again with the enthusiasm um of the committee and staff of a multi-year plan towards really
getting these to be um well documented and analyzed so that we have um a really strong basis for um understanding the the rates. Okay, Andy seconded. Is there discussion? Jesse? Yes. My question is
relates to the fact that um in just you know as a bystander last night at the finance subcommittee I heard some testimony from um individuals associated with the ESY program about their sense I suppose it's the reality that they feel
underpaid as compared to other um other individuals involved in the program. So my question is um as they mentioned that they have a considerable amount of prep work that they start in February or March to prepare for
extended school year and that they're doing it sort of for the love of it year after year but without the pay for it year after year. I'm wondering how this is this 12,500 going to address that issue and if not what's our plan to properly if there is an imbalance and
how they're being paid what is our action plan to address it not for another year they're already working you know without maybe being paid uh this March to now. So um so they're doing it out of the love of their heart. They're dedicated people. They want to stay. Um what is it that we can do to address the
issue even um um post retrospective retrospectively you know since March till now for this year? Can we can we make good on that? And if not, can what what would our plan
be to um put into place a a uh a a goal of addressing this before the next year cycle starts? So I I don't totally have the ability to forensically go back
um but what I think may have happened is because the document was represented as being identical to last year when actually that was a quite meaningful difference. Um, and I haven't been able to close the loop with the staff member to confirm that it was a misunderstanding. Um, but based on what
that person said, I think it might be that they were assuming it was the same as last year because that was what was um asserted. Um I am hopeful that this um relatively large I think it's like a 40% increase year-on-year will again
feel like um a meaningful step to them um as part again as part of a multi-year plan to address this issue that we have all identified. So I guess my question my question there would be is this would they do better if they were being compensated per DM than than flat rate
given the amount of hours you know if they were keeping track of their specific hours just like I don't know um coaches or other people might be getting it by the hour that they go in or instructors for music or whatever rather I think I think I don't want to speculate and I think that should be
part of the analysis that we should do Um I think that I don't want to speculate. Yeah. So So we're thinking then just so I can understand this that the 12,500 is a meaningful representation of
the amount of time that they're spending from say March to September or March to August to run the program. You know, I don't think we have that data. I think that was what we requested and unfortunately we didn't get it. But I think it's uh an improvement over last year and again we're on the path towards
so I I guess again I guess my question a balanced approach right. So my question is if we were to take a look at 2024 the extended uh program and we already know what they've spent in time for this year. How like again we're short staffed
but how difficult would it be to get a pretty close estimate of whether we're close with this number or not? I don't think we know how much time they've spent. Okay. Yeah, we don't know that. That person might they might might. Right. But again Okay. Yeah. All right. Thank you.
Uh you made the motion. Andy seconded. Donna, you had a comment. Yes. Actually, no. I had questions if that's okay. Um sorry, just so I can catch up a little. These stipens are the the rates that would go into effect beginning July 1st. Is that right?
So, one thing we did last year was we made it for FY25. This year's version does not have a specific fiscal year on it so that should there be any sort of delay, we could carry it forward. And so, yes, it would go into effect, I think, for July 1 because we already
have an FY25, but all of our summer programming starts after July 1. Okay. And so, and a technical question on the motion. So, the motion isn't for one one year, it's just to approve the document, correct? Okay. Yes. Um, and then if for any reason we
made someone suggested changes, they would those changes would then have bud budget implications, right? Yes. And one nice thing about this document is that if we accept it as is, it does not have budget implications. Got it. Thank you. Yeah.
Any other questions or comments? Okay. Mariah made the motion. Andy seconded. Suzanne, how do you vote? Yes. Mariah, yes. Jesse, yes. Andy, yes. Donna, yes. Sarah, yes. Carolyn, yes.
Bob, yes. Uh, and I abstain. Um, next up is an update on the process to identify an interim superintendent, Andy and Suzanne. Right. Thanks, Val. Um, yes. So, at our last meeting, uh, couple things. So Suzanne and I were tasked with uh
updating uh the existing job description for interim superintendent and getting the position posted. Um again we're the idea is to uh be looking for an interim to serve during the coming school year uh for one year. Uh during that year we'd be looking for a permanent
superintendent. Um, the other thing from last time was that we decided to put off until this meeting uh any discussion of what the screening committee for this position should look like because we wanted our new members to be able to weigh in on that. Um, so what's happened since then is that yes, Suzanne and I um
as as instructed updated the job description. I would say the major the most important thing we changed there was simply to remove uh the provision that whoever is in the interim role would not be eligible to apply for permanent superintendent. we got rid of that. So, whoever is hired into this role would in fact be eligible to apply
to uh to become permanent. Um, so the job got posted, I believe, a week and a half ago and as of beginning of this week, we had nine applicants come in. So, I don't know what's happened since the beginning of the week, but at least folks have been responding. Um yeah, and
in the job description um or in the posting rather, I think we said that we would like to begin um considering applications next week and interviews the week following that. And so I think uh it's about time to um think about appointing the the screening committee.
So about that, um I think the last two times that the school committee did this, which was in 2019 and then again in 2020, in each of those cases, the screening committee consisted of four members of the school committee and that was it. Um and then I don't know what happened in 2019, but my memory of 2020
is that uh that screening committee advanced only one finalist uh to the stage of being interviewed in public by the by the school committee. So interestingly, thank you Betsy for drawing this to our attention. So in November 2024, uh there came out some
guidance from the AGO's Division of Open Government. Um uh it's one of it's it's part of our packet for today. It's called public body checklist for preliminary screening committees meeting in executive session. So So the screening committee can meet
an executive session under purpose 8, but uh the guidance we're now given is that um you have to have at least you have to advance at least two finalists uh who would be interviewed in open session. That's really the big difference here. It doesn't say anything about who who has to be on the the screening committee. I think that's really up to the school committee to
decide. It can't be a quorum of us, but uh anything short of that would be okay. Um I think we should probably also discuss um whether we want to broaden um you know broaden that committee to include any staff or um any community members in addition to school committee
members. Time is of the essence though. Thank you, Mariah. Suzanne, did you have anything to add to this summary of what we've done so far? I think the only thing to add is uh well, two things. One is uh Alvin Cooper, head of HR, is out for a couple of days. So, um I did check
with him today, but he wasn't in. So, I don't know the number of new applicants we've gotten uh this week. And I think the other thing is is that we said the posting would remain open until it was filled. So, um, even though there's a deadline of, I think, tomorrow to apply, um, it's still
open until we feel the position. Nine. We had nine at the beginning of this week. Sorry, Mariah. And then Carolyn. Thank you. Um, I want to put in a a request that
there do that there is members um off of this. Um, I'm so incoherent at this point that there are non-school committee members also on that. I understand time is tight, but I think it would be important and we've certainly heard from members of the community indicating their interest to serve on such a body. So, I think it would be
valuable to have that. However, that can happen in an expeditious format. That would be great. Um, and I had a question about So, um, are you are you hoping to identify or have volunteer what's the process for school committee members who might be
interested in being members to participate? Um, I think first I' I'd like to hear from members on um thoughts on composition and we can go from there. Carolyn.
Um, so I was going to ask a clarifying question and I can respond to that too and make a statement. So we can have up to four school committee members. Yes. So I'll just make a Are we just
openly discussing this? We're just This is just discussion now. Yes. So I think it's essential that Dr. Winrab be central to this. I don't know if there's a chair um but since this is his uh
profession educational leadership um I'd just like to say that's seems essential to me and then as for composition if we were I would sort of I'm not sure if I agree or or what my
thoughts are on what the composition would be outside of school committee members because I don't know what the process would be um for like wouldn't we have to how would those yeah I mean made so if time
is of the essence since time is of the essence for interim I I think it might be hard to do that in a way I'm just thinking back to our strategic planning process and um figuring out the group representation
and the community representation um I want to make sure that we get it right. Um, so from from my personal perspective, I think that for interim, we would probably be okay or I'd be okay with us um having school committee and
then really having a robust discussion with community and um here in in session uh about how to how to um construct that broader committee for the permanent position, if that makes sense. Bob,
I think it's a very important statement to the community to be inclusive in the search even as an interim because the as you said the interim person can apply for the permanent position if that if they choose. So again, I've been involved in many many many searches and
I find that the the support for the candidate who's chosen is dramatically increased if we have an inclusive committee from the community and that includes teachers and that includes students and that includes administrators and that includes members of the school
committee. So even though it sounds like a maybe so that part I I'm with you on it's it's the broader community in a short order. How would you recommend doing it? That's a good question. I mean, that's that's complexity, but I think that again, we have a new school committee, and I think the school
committee needs to reach out to the community in some way. Um, and have uh maybe four representatives from the community serve on the search committee. Just I I just think we have to figure out how to how to make this happen. Um,
in terms of how many community members are on the committee, um, I think two students should be on the committee. Um I think we have one student right here who might be interested in in that. I'm not sure. Um two students, four parents, four teachers. I know it sounds
big, but I think again we define ourselves by these by these very important processes. And so you know I don't care if the committee is up is 12 people. We have a bunch of applicants already which is great, very positive. Um I know in the past we haven't had
huge numbers of um applicants. So now we do. So, let's go. Let's let's get a a a robust committee to do the um quest prepare questions, do the interviewing, and recommend three finalists to the school committee and we make the decision.
Okay. So, we're meeting again in a week. Um Suzanne. Oh, sorry, Donna. It's okay. I actually um if you don't mind, I have a couple questions. Technical questions first. So, does it matter from an OML point of
view? Should we be considering who's on subcommittees when it comes to the committee makeup? That's one of my questions. So, yes, but we Yes. Okay. And then answer is yes. The second question is, is there any guidance? I don't think there is because I know the
policy manual quite well, but in the Brooklyn policy manual, I don't think there's any guidance on interim appointments for superintendent. Is there from the Brookline policy manual? I mean, what we're looking at here is um guidance from the AGO for any screening
committee that meets in executive session. Nothing to do with the per uh with the position. No, no. I mean, in terms of like there's guidance in terms of um principal searches and whatnot. So, is there any guidance in like how those are how the the makeup of the
committee or anything like that or the process as it as outlined in the in the I think it might only be for permanent, but I think it's worth looking at to make sure we're not violating our own
policies. Um um and then I think I'll just wait to hear what everybody else says before I chime in with any opinions. Suzanne. Yeah. I just want to remind the public and remind us that the big search will be next year. So, it'll actually start,
it could start as early as November in terms of bringing people together, you know, get it posted around January or February. So, it's it's very soon after this. And I know for the search for Dr. Gillery, we had maybe 20 people on that
uh search committee. And so, that's that's big. So um you know it's it's a little hard to get 20 people to come together and so um I would think in numbers smaller than that you know maybe instead of four community we have two maybe instead of four teachers we have
two you know I mean kind of pair it down a little bit so uh it can move a little faster uh and then and then the bigger committee would be in the in late fall just to keep in mind anybody else Carolyn
Um sorry I lost my train of thought but I'm going to remember. So in terms of this composition um oh so one is I should know this but when the select board
creates ad hoc committees um I don't know what their process is whether the chair appoints people maybe sometimes they interview people so you know I guess there are different models
in terms of levels of cumbersome Um and perhaps we can [Music] um you know be inclusive and and have a broader community uh committee without it being terribly cumbersome. Um, and
perhaps it could even be that once the school committee members are appointed that that they work on um pulling other people together, defining what the different roles are,
whether you know advisory, how much participation, maybe that would help in terms of streamlining um because it it does seem like it would be quite cumbersome to try to make those
all of those decisions as a full school committee. Mariah and then Jesse. Um I would like to maybe this is accelerating things a little bit too quickly, but I'm in a mood tonight to move things along. So, I just would like
to if we could have do can we take a motion to have Bob be the chair of this and have him work out these details outside of the group? Chair, but um Okay. Comments first. Yeah. Well, I'm hoping we can get there and then we don't have to all mole this as a group. We can delegate it to the chair to the
delegate to to the chair to Okay. Well, I would strongly encourage the chair to delegate to Bob then. Thank you. It could get delegated. Thank you. Sorry. My comment can simply be uh
brought up with our presumptive chair of the interim superintendent search committee within the school committee over um if if it's important it would probably be good for everybody here. Um the I I just wanted to make sure that if there um we have various communication
processes within the district to get to everyone. Yeah. And so I feel it's important that even though this is a um short fuse in terms of seeing candidates, tomorrow is Friday and superintendent update newses go to newsletters go to everyone. Um if even
within our parent community, we reach one person who is very interested in letting us know about this um and they take the time to read the newsletter to the bottom and there it says, you know, let us know. um we should invite that and if they know of people in their friendship circle that uh they think
would be very helpful because of their background or something like that that I think would be a really good strong way of telling the parent community that we're even looking broader within Brookline if we get a one or two people that volunteer and they seem to match up with what we're thinking that would be a
big step also to bring the town in someone from the town in not that I don't mean town government I just mean from our someone from Brooklyn one or two people in terms of composition in addition to school committee and all the different subgroups of the school
district that Bob uh listed. Um that's an important comment. Thank you, Jesse. Bob. Yeah, I just want to say that I think Val and Sarah should really organize this thing. I appreciate people thinking I should be the chair. So, well, hold on. So, let me I just I
want I want to respond to uh Suzanne for a second because Suzanne, I think you said we'll post the permanent position in January and I want to I want to state that we need to do that much earlier to get the most candidates for the permanent position. So, I would just
This is I think she said I think I think she was starting November December actually. Yeah, I think that's that's too late. Yeah, I just want to say that. I think we should start about in October. You mean start in October or post it in October. Start thinking about it and starting or start organizing the search in October. Well, that's what I said. I
said, yeah, I said late fall, you know, I would like to to be ready to post in January is typically when the postings go out. Okay. Okay. Well, I mean, that's later. That's fine. I mean, um, so what I was going to say, Bob, and what I wanted to say actually much earlier in the meeting, so it's a good opportunity
to say it again. Um, so a little bit of what Mariah said, there is a lot that's going to happen this year. We have negotiations with all of our units. Um, we have an interim search, we have a permanent search, and then we have all of the regular stuff. So, there is
plenty of work and plenty of leadership opportunity to go around. So I I think it's perfectly wonderful to use your skill set to um chair I I'll participate but to chair this this um
interim um group and um would love for you to in this week think about um what that community and and sort of other representation might look like and then bring that back to us for um discussion at the next at the next meeting. We're
meeting in a week, right? Is that where's Bets? Yeah. That way. Um, do you accept this? Uh, I'll prepare a small proposal. Okay. Thank you, Bob. [Music] Um, anything else? So, to be
clear, since I think Andy said interviews, applications would are coming in. I think we might be slightly delayed on that. Yeah, I think what what we said in the posting is just that uh the as Suzanne said, posting stays open till the job is filled. Um the search or
the screening committee, which of course still doesn't exist, uh intends to begin reviewing applications next week and to start holding interviews the week after that. Got it. So obviously that would be pushed back based on what Bob brings. We're not committed to that next week. Okay. Yeah. I mean our timeline is
somewhat fixed. Um, right. But, um, I think pushing by a week to make sure we have a a good process is a a reasonable thing to do and certainly the right thing to do for the the community and and for the district. Anything else on this?
Yes. So, tomorrow in the superintendent's message, what is the message that's going to the community tomorrow? Is it if you're interested, please email Betsy Fitzpatrick so that she can I know Betsy is making a face and that I
understand but like what is just to be clear what is what is the call to action for the community. So it was Jesse's idea but I'm going to um paraphrase what I would recommend and then have welcome others to react to that. Um, we
obviously this goes to I don't know how many 10,000 people or more of the newsletter. So, we want to certainly welcome participation knowing that if we're having two or four or however many um
community members join that probably not all thousand who respond are going to be on a committee. But I think that we just we need to frame it as participation. And if if this if this piece isn't um doesn't work out for you or the time commitment doesn't work out for you,
there are going to be many opportunities. There'll be public interviews for interim. There'll be a a big community process for permanent. Um but I think it's important to engage and to keep people engaged so we can we can you know mail to them, email to them,
make sure that everybody is um on the same page. So Betsy has a thought on this school [Laughter] right for something like that. I was going to say something like that and maybe also
if they have thoughts about what is most like things they want to the school the the search committee to focus on that way they could share thoughts and then also if they want to volunteer that's a checkbox and what they're going to bring to it and that way you don't get emails coming in you can have it all in one all in one thing with with ability to
filter. Um, Betsy, does that h how much overlap is there on the school committee list versus the um exact? So, we could do that through this one through our our school committee newsletter. It should go to both. It
should go both, right? Yeah. Can we do a little um I want to say expectation setting of some sort because if it does go to 13,000 people, right? Um, you might want to point out that we're I was going to say I Sorry, Carol. Sorry.
Because I Sorry, Donna. If you Okay, go ahead. I mean, I I I I want to reach out. I feel like we're maybe if there's something to go out tomorrow, it might make more sense for it to be like, "Watch this space for
information about how to apply." Like, we're a little jumping the gun. And I think there it does have to have you know I think we so I don't there needs to be a little discussion about like what what is the time commitment what is
the structure like so maybe a watch this space might make more sense for tomorrow other than like hastily having people apply for something that's not defined yet. Bob, I agree with that. Um,
can we do a little planning backwards and do we have a a sense of when we want to make the appointment? So, it's it's May 15th today, right? And what are we talking about? June uh July one start. July one starts. So,
our backward planning is June 20. Our backwards planning is here. No, because we have to make a timeline, right? Part of what I'll do is that So I mean I you know I'm not sure what if
any notice I mean it's it's really when we have candidates like it's a our ideal is to have obviously somebody for July one okay so that we can reduce any acting okay period let me prepare a timeline for next that'd be great I mean
it's if if somebody is somewhere they might have to actually be there until June 30th they might want to take a vacation there's so many variables So, it' be great if you could um prepare. And I think we have to what Carolyn said is smart. I think watch the space for y for your involvement in this process
because not that many people obviously will be able to be involved, right? Like two or four or however many. I you I think Suzanne had two and you had four. And so that's not a lot out of 13,000, right? My math isn't great, but that's not a lot out of I'm sure 500 parents will
volunteer. I I don't want to spend a lot of time on what the the message should be in that Monday email, but I think it would be helpful just to have some sort of reassuring message particularly maybe from Bob if you're heading since or did
we vote yet? I can't remember if Bob is heading that search. Yeah, whoever just reassuring message to the community that we intend to make this as inclusive as possible and you know we're running on a short timeline and more information will come. bring up a good point on it. So,
we have a communications team. Mariah, you're still on it, right? You tell me. Okay. Well, you were on it. Carolyn, were you on it as well? Was it Steven? Yeah, I am as well. Oh, and Sarah. Okay. So, we have three still. Yes. Can Can we ask our communications small group with
working with Betsy on a and Bob on a message for tomorrow? For Monday. For Monday. For Monday. Yeah, sure. Betsy, will you do what you always do and we'll say okay like we always do. I'll say that one more time. So, we have a a communications work group. Um
Stephen used to be on it. It's Mariah, Sarah, and Carolyn. It this is when we need statements drafted or things like that. Um and I'm adding you as the subject matter person expert on this. Um if if you're so willing to work on a
message that would um go in Bets's newsletter for Monday. Fine. Okay. Does that work for you, Caroline? Um, yes, except I won't be able to do anything this weekend, but I would agree. Like I'm sure whatever it is will be fine. I don't need to I don't need to
do anything other than say fine. Okay, Sarah Mariah. Okay. All right. Anything else on this before we come back next week? Okay. Um, that brings us to subcommittee and liaison reports. And given that we haven't appointed new committees yet,
I'm not sure if anybody has anything they want to report. Mariah, just that at finance yesterday, we did not do grants and gifts, so we were going to schedule a special meeting for early next week. If Betsy, has everyone responded? Okay. Well, if you haven't responded to Betsy and you are on
finance, then make sure you respond. Um, and in addition to covering grants and gifts, we will also get a little bit of an update on the Q3 report that includes um a little bit more detail on the uh current year-end projections compared to
the Q2 year-end projections and the any modifications to the sources of funds to close that gap. So, we'll get a memo on that. Um, and then that will then both of those will then come to full school committee next week. Thank you. Any other um mazone? Oh,
sorry. Go ahead, Carol. Just um following up on what Mariah is saying, what is the timeline for reconfiguring and would would you intend to is it sort of standard practice to
have the new people on finance? Um it the short answer is it depends. Um and I was going to reach out to people this weekend to talk about um various committees, subcommittees and um assignments for lia zones and things
like that. So is that a question about then is that um I I believe last year our chair sent out a spreadsheet or something asking people to identify like in priority order things they might be interested in for both for leaison and subcommittees. Um I'm hearing from you that you're
going to reach out to people individually and get that and then sort of combine it. Is that going to be a different process than last year then? Yes, it's I'm going to call you. Andy's a spreadsheet guy and I'm going to call people. No, I I don't I don't actually know how to use a spreadsheet. So, whatever it was, it
wasn't a spreadsheet. I think I talked to everybody. Okay. Um but I will talk to folks and then um talk through their um interests and then also what uh needs are on on various subcommitt on that topic. Then have you given any thought to any reconfiguration
of the subcommittees given changes in next year's budget or um um maybe um merging or changing of any committees that you can share with us now so we can be thinking about this because the meetings are coming up. Um I absolutely can. So the the one for certain is that
finance and capital will be uh merged together. So that will be one committee. Um, okay. And right now that's the only change that I see during this time that we're doing updates. Could I do an update for expenditures and revenue? Does that work? Caroline had a question.
Caroline had a question first. Um, this might be new business, but I'll throw it in here. Um, this is something I've might have brought up in new business a couple times and I discussed with Andy. Um, and it's come up with increasing frequency.
um it might not be in the immediate in the same process as the standing committees. Um I'm of the opinion that we need to have at least an ad hoc subcommittee to look at the whole um buffer zones, catchment
areas, um fiscally responsible use of our facilities, that whole um um realm. Are you uh offering to share this? Um I don't know. I I'm certainly I'd be
happy to discuss it. Okay. Um sorry, you had expenditures and revenues. So, I'd like to remind everybody to look to expenditures and revenues. It's in with all of the other meetings that we do around the town. And um just to kind of like get you interested, I want to tell you that
right now we're looking at um school town partnerships. Actually, it's Jesse that's on the committee that's looking at it um in different towns. So, I think that paying attention to those meetings is really important to all of us and would just like to get you to, you know,
keep an eye on that. Are those all recorded? They're all recorded and there's minutes. Any other Oh, sorry, Bob. Yeah, this has to do with the budget. I obviously this is my first meeting. Oh, should we wait for new business? Is it if it's not a is
it relating to a subcommittee? It's just a question. Is the budget finalized or are there possible changes? Um, our budget has been finalized. So, our budget that is going to town meeting um for a vote, our recommended budget is finalized and there are possible changes
at town meeting. That's town meeting budget. That's town meetingings budget. Our recommended budget has gone or will go um but town meeting as you know town meeting members are the ultimate decide okay decision makers on the um on the final budget.
Speaking of town meeting members, what happened? Um, here I'll do the son's mic. No, you take one of their mics so everyone can hear you. Take a mic. Um, so I I did come up short, just short. Um, I got but
I mean I was I got 25 votes. Um, which you know as a writing like I'm not sure how these things ordinarily go but um I was you know pretty proud and um we made a little flyer. Caroline helped out. So, thank you so much, Carolyn. Um, and uh,
you know, who knows, maybe there's a next year, or not next year, but like maybe there's a, you know, a future. Um, but I was definitely really excited to do it. Um, and thank you guys. I mean, Jesse, Carolyn, Sarah, Bob, you guys all helped out. Um, so, you know, I really, and Mariah, you too. Um, you guys all helped out, so I was really, really
grateful for that. Well, I'm sorry you didn't make it, but I'm really proud of you for trying. That was wonderful. I appreciate that. Thank you. [Applause] Which precinct? Yeah. Any other updates, Suzanne? Yeah, I just
we've been having some curriculum meetings. We haven't had much updates lately, but so we had a really good conversation the end of April about uh the mass dyslexia guidelines about the training that's been going on uh that we've sent people to the dyslexia
institute that the state puts on DESIE and it was just a really good conversation talking about MTSS as well. So I just if people are interested in that you could take a look it's recorded. Uh and also Betsy this is new but we will not be meeting in May. Oh,
that's canceled for curriculum. Oh, okay. That's just that's hot off the press. Yeah. Really? Yeah. I was just looking at it in the calendar now saying Yeah. Yeah. Oh my Oh, we're not meeting. Okay. Trying making sure. Any other updates?
Okay. Any new business, Donna? Oh, thanks. Um I'm hoping is new business the right place to ask questions about you had mentioned the communications team or I don't know what
you what it's called communications team how um what is the process by which the the the communications that are identified for the newsletter or the email whatever
whatever whatever we call it Betsy like how are we identifying items to go in there. And can I make a suggestion for the folks here to consider that maybe when there are issues that come to us in public comment, specifically the
Driscoll VP or the second grade classroom, if those are can be included somehow in the communication that's going out to the community. So Betsy does this amazing summary of our meeting. Do you want to talk about
Um, so the school committee newsletter is new this year. It was a a request from the school committee. So, um, I think the request was last summer we talked about it and we finally started in January. And our idea is that it's fact-based. So, it's a summary of the meeting itself. Um, I think it
would I'm not equipped maybe to venture into other areas. I wouldn't want to represent something one way that was how I heard it or um something like that. And uh the committee of course even the communications team can't collaboratively look at something on say
a Google doc because that would violate open meeting laws. So it it's a little more difficult to share other things like that. But look, I send it out, we write it, we edit it, we can send whatever we want, but you know there's a precedent to be set if we start to
include other other things. So, so what would be the way and I'm ask I'm asking go ahead Jesse. I'm asking everyone here. What would be the way where we would respond as a unit to community members
who come in and advocate for something? So, for example, um the Driscoll VP, I mean, I understand that has budget implications, but even just acknowled like how do we as a unit respond to things like that? So, that would be an open meeting law issue. And so if you
wanted to discuss it, you could ask for it to be docketed for a public meeting or um discussion in a public meeting. Got it. So for all of us to be able to communicate about something, it has to be docketed um for a public meeting.
And Donna, this is just obvious. And then also we have the emails of the individuals so we can answer to them directly but not reply all. You can't reply all to those. Just Yeah. Do you you have Betsy handed out to all of us their emails so you are able to answer
to what you heard but not in a way that can be seen by the rest of the school committee Carolyn. Sorry that we're in new business. We're in new business. Yeah. So thank you. So um yeah we sort of segued out a subcommittee somehow but
okay. Oh new business. Okay. Thank you. Sorry. Did you still have a Yeah, on the le on the lean side. I know that you haven't made assignments yet, but I'm just um informing the committee that tomorrow morning at 8:30 is the CPAC monthly meeting. Um they contacted me um
about 2 3 weeks ago asking me if I wanted to continue. We had a a gloriously successful year together and I um I agreed I agreed to be leazison again with the permission of the chair I guess at this point and so I will be there tomorrow and um be giving them an
update about recent happenings of the school committee which has been a request of theirs. So for for leazison zones I will say that um generally speaking you keep the ones that you have unless you are unhappy with those and and you can let me know and then the ones that so for example for Stephen and
Helen we would then um redistribute those with the the new members is generally how that works. So if you have no when I talk to you if you have no problems with your liaison assignments those will um in all likelihood continue.
Carolyn, thanks. Um, so I I'll put this in new business and I'm gonna refer to um the emails that we received about the um moving of a vice principal. I guess this
is a request um for us to receive information from I don't know who, maybe Dr. Gillery. Um when we voted to reduce um or to eliminate a VP position, my
understanding was that was blind. So um as we started getting these emails, I was like, "Oh, okay. I have no idea who's moving where, what's being eliminated, what the staffing is at each of the buildings." Um, so I would be
interested in that information if if that can be um sent to the school committee. Yeah. Can I just add to that, please? Um, it's um it's frustrating to get this news from the community. That's, you know, I'll put a period at the end of that sentence. It's not the way that
communication should go. I think Caroline is being a little more roundabout about saying it, but my my position is I get a phone call or I get a text. What's happening? A VP's moved. like why should we be finding out after the community knows about it? So if it's a if it's a rumor, you know, that's one
way, but we get like a torrent of emails and then petitions are being, you know, sent out and then there's 500 parents signing something and then it isn't even we we still I mean me personally, I'm I I don't know that that even the public comment that happened tonight, I don't even know if it's true. All I know is
that there's a piece of information that ended up sending tons of emails to us and petitions getting started. So something about how the school committee can be um kept apprised of decisions that are made needs to happen because
this is sort of backwards in my opinion. Can I Yes. Um related to that, we got an email BHS parents this and caregivers this week got an email that um Dr. Brown was appointed permanent
science department chair and I forwarded it to my PSPMA address intending to forward it to the committee, but I don't think I have Oh, did I? Okay, amazing. Then I'm proud of myself for doing what I was hoping I would do. Anyway, the point is that like it is it's it's only because I'm just sort of adding to this
point. It's not just about Driscoll, but it's like basically these big leadership changes would be helpful to have a a mechanism by which school committee whether it's delegated to the building leader perhaps because they're the ones sending out I presume I presume a message went out to the Driscoll
community. I have no idea because I didn't see it right and none of us saw it I presume or maybe some did but anyway unless we happen to be a member of that community and get it forwarded we almost never get it forwarded directly to us with some exceptions. Um, so I think it would be very helpful to have that as a standard practice. I
agree. Okay. Any other new business? Suzanne. Yeah. I just want to say that, you know, we're bringing up we're bringing up points that are going to help us move forward as a community, as a committee. And, uh, it's really important. So, as people think of these
things, they should kind of jot them down because we'll have a workshop this summer where we talk about our norms, our guidelines, how we function as a committee. And so, you know, we just need to think about and have a discussion about what's going to make it work for us. And so, um, I would just
encourage people as they think of these ideas to jot them down or keep them in mind and bring them to the workshop so we can talk about how we're going to work well as a as a committee together. Do we have a date for a summer workshop?
I don't think we do. No. Okay. I don't think we have anything. Yeah. On June 30th, correct? Yeah. But that would be helpful to have a date because a lot of us have hope to have plans this summer. I don't know. I'll work with um Betsy and staff to
figure out some blocks that we can circulate for um everybody's schedule scheduling. Jesse, yeah, I guess on new business again um probably about four to five months ago, I'd have to check the minutes. I did add in a new business item about SRO's after the select board
had voted to recommend that they be brought back into the schools. Um I guess because of the budget um crisis we had, we never got it docketed, but I would um respectfully request that we uh that I've entered it in as new business again and that at some point it should
be docketed. Perhaps I you know given the how many meetings we're going to have now before we break for the summer and the summer workshop. Um however, if we were able to get the program started for September at the beginning of school, wouldn't that be great if if that if if that so happened? So, I would
just uh again bring that up as a uh another item for us to consider at some point. Thank you. Thank you. Anybody else? A motion to adjourn. Second. Okay, Betsy, you can figure out
who uh who moved and seconded that. Thanks everybody. Have a great night.