stands one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you. This meeting is being live streamed by Chelsea Patel Media and posted CPS website for committee members to act and watch. In person public
participation will be taking place tonight in accordance with the chumps of school committee public participation policy. Anyone speaking tonight during the public input portion of this meeting is notified the superintendent's office of the desire to speak and be provided with these guidelines. Upon request, written comments received no later than 12 PM on the day of the meeting will
also be read and made part of the record of the meeting during the second public comment session. So, welcome to this meeting of the child school committee. Um, just so the viewing audience uh knows, we have one member that is meet uh joining us through Zoom. So, Diana Leau is going to be on on Zoom with us tonight. Um, and we have everybody else
here in person. >> Okay. >> All right. So, the first order of business we have is to approve the minutes from our meetings on February 24th and March 3rd. Okay. I move that we approve the minutes of the regular school committee meeting of February 24,
2026. >> I will second. >> Okay. Any corrections on the minutes? >> All right. We'll have to do roll call. So, Diana, >> she can't hear us. >> Oh. >> Um, >> okay. All right. So, Gora >> Oh,
>> Susan. >> Hi, Susan. >> Hi, >> Maria. >> I >> And we're going to get her back on. >> She's trying. >> Okay. All right. So, do we need to come back and revote? Well, we can ask her. >> Um, >> I don't think it's controvers.
Okay. All right. Great. >> So, we'll move on to the next one. >> All right. I move that we approve the minutes of the regular school committee meeting of March 3rd, 2026. >> I'll second. >> Okay. Any corrections on those minutes? All right. Uh, all those in favor?
>> I. >> All right. So, three both times. >> Okay. >> Okay. Next up, we have our Chelston High School representatives. >> Thank you. The wellness fair at CHS on March 6 was a success. Despite the delay, many students were able to go down and see the many presenters. I got
to see Miss Santos at her awesome origami and her husband taught me some fishing stuff, so hopefully I can catch fish now. Um, and winter sports awards night was yesterday in the pack. Congratulations to all the athletes who got who won awards and extra congratulations to the swim team who won
their fifth straight MVC title. Yay. >> On Thursday, March 19th, CHS students were visited by Becky Savage in her 525 Foundation who educates students about the dangers of opioids by sharing her tragic story surrounding opioid misuse.
This presentation was also seen by uh by grades 9 through 12 and was also presented later in the day for interested community members. And term three is coming to an end at April 4th, which is crazy, isn't it? >> Yes. >> Um so to start off, house Olympics took
place on the week of March 9th to the 13th with Hawthorne House winning and uh all spring sports have started up and um a few events to look close. Uh this Friday the Red Cross blood drive will be taking place in the gym. Um students are
able to uh donate their blood and uh up soon we have the craft fair on April 12th which is taking place in McCarthy and then Catil is on May 9th. >> Wow. Um what what what house are you in Patrick? I saw you shaking your head. >> I'm in Whittier.
>> Yeah, I saw you were very disappointed in the results. I saw that. I could see in your face. Yeah. >> Only Hawthorne House. All right. >> Oh, this is nice. >> All right. Um, any other good news to share? >> Yeah, one other piece of good news is Baym um Elementary had a very successful
multicultural evening the other night. I know we had a lot of different events happening on the 19th, including the building committee meeting, but um they had a very good time and we're excited to have that. >> Great. All right. Anybody else? >> I had some good news. Um, I was invited to go to the center school um, steam
fair as an official. Um, so it was really nice to be back in my old school and talked to quite a few kids about their projects. So I really enjoyed that. And I attended the Parker Middle School production of Mary Poppins. Also very well done. Nice to see including
singing and speaking in British accents even. So they did a lovely job. It was a lot of fun. >> Great. Yeah. My good news is that I got to watch Susan Huloop. >> I I saw the picture. I saw the picture. You look good. >> That was >> I I did see that. I I I sadly couldn't make it over to that.
>> You did? Huh? >> Cuz time ran out. >> Did see the hula hoops. >> I will say too, the science fair, they kids actually got medals this year. They were very happy with those. >> Yes, they loved it. >> They do a good job over there. They, you know, I think they had the one of the highest numbers they've had in a while. So,
>> there were a lot. That was nice. >> All right. Um I don't believe we have anybody for public comment. Um I'll give you a sec if you want to try to get Miss Bo back on. >> Yeah. The issue is um I guess Chelsea tell me he has to do an upgrade to their Zoom. Okay.
>> Um so it's making them go through that because they're not joined as a member Diana can't hear us. But as soon as they're able to reboot um be able to get it running. >> Great. >> All right. Um so we're all we don't have public comments. So we're all new business. Um so the first one is
>> Yeah. The first one was just public comment on um the Parker project as you know. Did you want to talk about how we met last week or >> Yeah. I mean before obviously we all attended the the public forum before we did have a building committee meeting and we went through a lot of the same things that we did on the um in the public forum just a little bit more
detailed on all the different options and you know the different grade level. We kind of concentrate on four to six in the public forum but we kind of looked at all of them. Um and just in terms of this committee we we have some work to do at our next meeting. Um, we are going
to have to make the final approvement of the ed program. Um, so Dr. Hersh has been diligently working on on some edits to that and so we'll have to do that and we'll have to take a formal vote on the grade configuration and then two nights later the building committee will do the
same thing and hopefully at that point we'll have one option, one grade level configuration and be ready to go. >> One location. Yeah. >> And one location. >> Yeah. One thing that struck me about this meeting was that um you know you got to see everything including the
numbers and the proposed numbers and I think that that was really you know it hit home >> on you know what you're what the money will pay for and the solutions that it will pay for >> makes a huge difference >> and that'll get more refined once we get
down to you know a project they'll really be able to kind of narrow that down. We're all supposed to get upgrade updates as it is on the options we currently have in front of us. But, you know, once we get that one project, then really then the I guess the fun starts. >> It does. Yeah. I mean, um, April's
obviously busy. We've got the big submission and then, um, we wait, we have a couple of back and forth meetings with the MSVA to clarify the um, scope of the project. Um, we take a little bit of a look at the individual um, spaces within the building, like what's going to be allowable, what's not going to be
allowable. that uh kind of runs through May and then uh hopefully we get the sign off from the MSBA board uh at sometime late May, early June on that option uh that we're going to go forward with and then it shifts into schematic design. So June right through October is when they're going to be um doing like
the formal cost estimating doing an even bigger I know we got to get a sense a little bit of like what the space might look like, but they do more elaborate designs even on the outside of the property. So that'll all be between June and October. And then by October, we'll have um another series of community
input sessions to really just talk about the option that's going to be before uh individuals when the vote comes next winter. >> So it's progressing well. It's there's just a lot still to come. >> It is it's getting closer. So yeah, >> it's been good to see the continued interest in um people attending the
meetings. >> Yeah. >> We've had four public sessions, >> correct? >> Yeah. There's been so many over the last couple years, but I think >> in this new area and and people probably the best attended >> and new people as well. So there like different people who didn't maybe come
to one of the first or second sessions, but they were very involved and active. So I thought it was good. >> They had a little scale models you can play around with. So good. Yeah. Nice. >> All right. Uh so any other comments on the grade level configuration options at
this point? Okay, we'll move on to the next thing. >> All right, moving on to number two. our uh spotlight on one of our departments tonight is um Katie Sims and health fizzed and family consumer science and she's got a couple of students with her so we'll invite her to come on up to the table and um share a little bit about
the happenings within her department and I will get this started for you. >> Hi everyone. Thanks so much for having us tonight. I'm Katie Sims like Dr. Lang said and I have two fabulous uh senior students here with me tonight. um Misha
and Fabiana. Um and what we're going to do tonight is we're going to talk about um two different things going on that to spotlight from the high school. One being a new health education course that we uh ran for the first time this year
and uh Misha and Fabiana both were in that course first semester. So they'll be able to share their experiences and then since the wellness fair was a couple weeks ago, we'll share a few highlights from that. And I know a few people have already mentioned it, so we we just have a couple of highlights. We
might have a picture of of Susan doing a so we have evidence. Um and then we'll have time for questions at the end. So our new course at the high school um is modern topics and health sciences.
So, this is a course that juniors can take as an elective course or seniors can take as um their health requirement senior year of high school. Um so, they have the option of taking it junior or senior year. Um and the course is kind
of broken up into four major areas. Um they talk they talked a little bit about ethics and professionalism, different infectious diseases, um health dispar disparities and different policies related to health sciences and then they got a chance to
explore different career careers in health science and pathways. Um do you girls want to share maybe some highlights from the class and maybe some of your favorite parts? Uh my favorite unit was definitely the ethics unit. We
learned a lot about different studies um done in the past in psychology in um epidemiology and it was really interesting to see all of them all of that um through the perspective of medical ethics and we also talked about HIPPA and how in real life for those who
want to pursue a career in healthcare how we would act in response to HIPPA with um knowing these medical ethics. I'm going to have to agree. I really also enjoyed the first unit, ethics, and I think it's just because it has like set the foundation for like um
discussions we would have in class. So, we learned that um the doctor's duty is not really it's just to relieve the pain of a patient, but it's never really just black or white. So, we were able to navigate different moral arguments, and I thought that was engaging for everybody in the class.
>> Awesome. Thank you so much. Um so part of the course that I mentioned earlier is to explore explore different um pathways. So um Mrs. Gonzalez that teaches this course, she
had 12 or maybe a little bit more professionals come in to the class and speak to the students about different health science professions. So they were in public health, in nursing, uh she had a doctor, a physical therapist, just to
kind of show and give students a wider span and range of the different professions within health sciences. Um and to hear from people in those positions and um hear about their experiences and maybe the schooling that
they went through um to get to the job that they were in. and um kind of like what their day-to-day world looks like. Um so we have a list. These are some of the people that they they had come in. They had paramedics, um different types
of nurses, um physician assistant, a registered dietician. Um so girls, do you want to share kind of some highlights from those presentations and what you got out of it and um some that stuck with you?
Something that definitely stuck with me was the sane nursing and the trauma nurses. Um sane nurses are sexual assault nurse uh in the ER. Um, and they were they're um
as an addition to their nursing license, they're able to get a cert certification for sane and they can help respond to sexual assault cases in the ER. And that goes with the trauma nurses, which it was really interesting to see how they deal with that professionally, deal with having incoming traumas all the time
with their personal lives, seeing how they balance work and life. And it was just a really interesting presentation. >> Yeah. And for the same nursing, they brought um the lady, she brought a box, which is a kit that they use, especially in their position. And the trauma
nurses, they also talked about how people who come to you are basically having the worst day of their lives. So, you're going to have to be able to navigate how to deal with that. And like they might not be kind to you, but you're going to have to learn how to deal with. And if you're not able to deal with that side of healthcare, maybe
it's not the option for you. Um, we also had a physician assistant come in and she did let us know that if you wanted to intern with her, you'd have the opportunity. So, I think it's definitely a great opportunity for seniors or even juniors looking into their future.
I think you mentioned earlier an occupational therapist also came into the class um and also offered up an internship um for students and one of the students in their class actually reached out to the occupational therapist center school I think
>> Southro south row um so that student is going to be interning with that that staff member um in a couple weeks so that was great too Um so part of the course um Mrs.
Gonzalez and I reached out to the nursing coord uh coordinator at Middle Sex Community College. They have an amazing we knew they had a a pretty good nursing program there. So we reached out to them. Um I didn't realize that they
had such a robust dental program as well. Um so we went on the field trip in December I believe. um spent a whole day on their campus. They um planned hands-on
activities for the class the entire school day. Uh which was amazing. Uh some kids were saying, some of the seniors were saying, "This is my favorite field trip I've ever been on. This is so great." Um because they were really engaged in the work and they were
part of it. Um, and Middle Sex, I don't know the exact date, but within the last couple years, redid their entire um, nursing and dental building. So, it is all brand new, high quality
top tiered equipment. They had some pretty cool equipment um, when we went there. So, we spent the students spent part of the day in the nursing building and then we were in two groups and we flip-flopped. So, they got to experience
um dental assisting, dental hygiene, and the dental lab um technician. And I learned a bunch of things throughout the course of the day, too, which was awesome. Um I didn't realize Middle Sex had the only lab dental lab technician
program in New England. um which was pretty cool. So they were making retainers and um crowns and things like that and then work they were working with dentists um and the dentist reaches
out to them if they need something made and they make it in the lab and then and sell it to the dentist and then it gets sold to the patient. So things like that were kind of cool to learn. Um, I know Misha wasn't able to make it to the field trip, but um, Fabiana, do you want
to talk about your experience? >> Yeah, even though I wasn't really interested in dentistry, I thought that the lab was really cool. They showed us like the technology that they get to use cuz it makes their job easier. And they also showed us they had like models from like they used a long time ago. So like they use different materials and like it
kind of set into like to see really how much we've advanced just the different technology. I thought that was really >> Yeah. The technology that they had was really amazing. Yeah. And I really like the nursing. I'm going into nursing. Partially I was influenced also by that um field trip and I thought it was really cool the simulation lab. It was
really cool. You could see like the robots. I don't know. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Well, the mannequins that they had were interactive. They made sounds. You could take a blood pressure. >> You could do CPR on them. They they were >> Yeah. And you could hear them breathing,
too. Like >> Yeah. You could hear them breathing. And they were all hooked up to monitor. It was like being in a hospital. Yeah, true. >> Yeah. >> Yes. >> Um, so these are some pictures from their class um, uh, in December when we
went. So the picture on the left was some digital scanning where they just have like a wand now that can go into your mouth and scan your teeth. So yeah, so it's not as invasive as the old school X-rays.
Um, Fabiani, do you want to talk about the second picture? because I think that was a highlight for a lot of students. >> So, yeah, it was really difficult. We had to like put the the rubber bands in like with the braces and align it and I don't think I think I only got one. >> Did you get Did you get They were really small. They had to put the uh colored
bands on the braces and then they also had a chance to try and take them off, but they are really really tiny. >> You have to have a steady hand for that work for sure. >> Um so this is the simulation lab on the left. Um, you could see they got to, you
know, check heartbeats. They, all the students were given stethoscopes. Um, and on the right there, I think she's, she's trying to remove maybe one of the um, elastics, but yeah, that was very intricate fine motor work they were
doing. Um, and this one just shows um, on the left is the dental lab. So, that's where they were making the molds. They had a couple of rooms off of that um that had some really heavy machinery. So they would start here in the
classroom and then move it to um one of the other rooms after. And these are just some Oh, they they did the handashing thing too. So all the students had a chance to see how well they wash their hands. So they were given soap and water and then their
hands went under the black lights. Um, and I don't think anybody, not one person, I don't think those spots, >> everybody had a few spots. Um, so to show how important it is, uh, working in the medical field, like really scrubbing
your hands and and getting them clean. So that was a a little fun side activity they got to do. Um, and then at the end of the day, uh, Middle Sex put together a panel discussion for all of our students. So
there were representatives from nursing, dental assisting, dental lab tech, and um they also had people from admissions there. They had students from um all of those programs there. So they
kind of talked a little bit first, kind of shared their experiences either from the professor side or from the student side and then the admissions side of it and then opened it up to our students and gave them an opportunity to ask questions. I don't know if you remember
anything specific about that that you wanted to share. >> Um really I just remember that they talked about how they're all like in different age groups. So, it's like not right away they knew that they wanted to take this path, but they had the time and they chose to take it. And they also talked about how rigorous the programs
are. >> Yes. >> And it's also challenging to get in, but it's worth it. That's what they all said. >> Yeah. Yeah. Great. Thank you. >> Um so, yeah. So, that's our new course at the high school that we're very excited about it. We ran two sections
this year. um we're hoping to run that if not more next year and to continue to grow um the the course and then also partnerships within the community and um different colleges as well. Um Misha, do you want to share what you're doing for
your internship in a couple of weeks since it's health science related? >> I'm interning at a pediatric dental office on Drum Hill. I'm interning at both the general dentist and the orthodontist. So, I'll be able to um work with them on treatment plans and
just learn about all the new technology. I've actually seen the um the scanner instead of the X-rays because I've shadowed there for junior job shadow day as well and I I love the experience and I want to go into dental. >> Awesome. Thank you.
Um, so just the last thing we wanted to share today was just um that the fact that we had the wellness fair on March 6th um we pulled it off even though the weather um was a little tricky that day and we ended up having a delay but
everything worked out perfectly. The same amount of classes still met just shorter amount of time which was fine with us and the vendors were amazing. Uh we had about 38 v that we had the most vendors we've ever had at the wellness
fair this year and we had I I believe about 38 of them. Um and we felt very fortunate to have two school committee members um be a part of our wellness fair. Uh that was also a first. So they were Susan and Maria were there the
entire day uh entertaining our students. So we thank you for that. It was great. You were a great addition to the wellness fair this year. Uh, and you were both very popular. Your stations had a lot of action. >> It was really Julio's station. The
fishing >> Oh, the fishing was the fishing was a big >> rod caught my eye. It was kind of nice to do that the hobbies area because you sometimes I think tend not to think of your leisure time,
>> the time you take to pursue your creativity and the other things in life besides career and family and all of these things, >> but um pursuing your creativity is important too. So yes, our origami was actually done by Hannah Hannah Barker
and her team her group >> and um I did crochet >> which you really love. >> Oh yeah. >> Um we did the worry worms. >> Yeah, the worry worms were a big hit. >> They were big. We're still dropping off some today.
>> They were a lot of fun. And um the other Julia did his fishing thing. We did puzzles. We had some painting and bookmarks, things like that. So, it was it was fun. But you can add can keep on adding. So, if anybody has ideas for the
next one, come on over. >> Yeah, it was great to have a hobbies table. We never had that before. So, thank you for putting that together. And you were definitely successful in getting a lot of students over and interacting with your group. >> Yeah, it was really good. Some people
came up and said, "We need a new hobby." So, you know, I need I need something else to do. Okay, let me convince you to do crochet. And um I challenge the golfers ne next time to come over do a little golfing right there. What else? Let's see. You know, there's tons of
things. It would be really really fun. >> Wrestling could. >> Oh, yeah. We we could throw that. >> We can do not quite a hobby, but >> yeah, quite a sport. But >> my table had nothing to do with hula hooping. That was just that was just a draw to get people to come over and I
like hula hooping so I happened to do it. >> It worked. >> Yeah. But like so we were from a different way. We were I'm part of the upper Marramck Valley Medical Reserve Corps which is a totally volunteer group of medical and non-medical people. So it
was a good way to talk to the students about people who are already in or are interested in the health field a way they can also just volunteer and and serve their community through it. So that and a lot of kids were interested and had a lot of questions. >> Great. >> It's terrific to bring everybody
together. >> Yeah, it was a it was a fun day. The vendors were amazing. They all had some kind of game interactive activity. We had more giveaways than we've ever had before. Um so it was a fun day.
>> Yep. >> Um one of you >> Misha, you got to go. Did you have a favorite vendor that you visited? Um, I think my favorite one with was one of the banks had an interactive um like life in college simulator where you were
given like um you're trying to go through college without getting into debt >> and that was I'm a senior that was like okay I have to think about this but it was really interesting to put all of that into perspective >> like five minutes on a just a playing a game. >> Absolutely.
>> Yeah, that was a great little activity that they had. I want $100,000 in debt. >> Really? Did you end up with that? >> Quickly into $100,000. Yeah. >> Oh my goodness. It adds up quick. >> It is something else. But this whole
thing with um the community college. Are you okay if I return to that? Ask you a couple questions. >> Yeah. >> Um first of all, it's so that is now part of our pathways. Is that so? >> So, um, not yet.
>> Um, but if we end up getting the early college grant funding, health sciences will be one of our pathways. >> That's that's wonderful. So, we would tie we would probably try tie the field trip in to the pathways because although
it was great to go with the seniors and kind of pilot it this year, a lot of them, especially we went last week with the second semester students, a lot of them already know what they're >> they're doing. They already have their plans laid out. So, I think if we got
sophomores, juniors that are in the health sciences pathway to do the field trip, I think that would be a better fit down the road. >> But we thought it was great. It tied right into the class. So, we figured try it out this year, see how it goes, work
out any kinks, and then hopefully we're able to have a health sciences pathway, and then that can be part of the process. >> Because with the community college, it's for free. >> Yes. >> Correct. in Massachusetts, which is really amazing. >> Yes. >> And if you get your associates and you
decide that you want the bachelor's, it all applies, which is terrific. >> Yes. >> So, all of that is right there. I think that that's phenomenal. Well, the other thing I think is great for this is um the hands-on and knowing what you really
want to pursue given that you can end up with $100,000 of debt and nothing that you really want to do at the end of the four years. So, it's wonderful to be able to explore that right at the at the beginning of things. If you can get that
idea for yourself, that's terrific. >> Yeah. And I always tell students it, you know, it's good to explore different opportunities. So if you think you might be interested, it's just as important to find out if you're not interested in it before you go off to college or whatever
and spend all this money and then potentially not end up liking it. >> And I for the wellness fair, I wanted to say um that Nancy did antella did a very very good job. you did. >> Um and it was really the food was great.
And then um Peggy is always very very involved in this >> and goes gunhole loves it too. So, >> but you and Stephanie take the cake cuz you just go nuts over this thing and you love it. >> Yes, we do. But we got a lot of help and
support from the wellness advisory. >> So, it's really good. And the wellness advisory committee is always looking for members. >> Correct. including community, staff, >> parents, anyone. Yes, they can reach out to Steph or I anytime. Yes, we had one
student. Would love to have a couple in the future. >> Would be great. >> Um but yeah, it's it's a good group. We don't >> we don't meet four times a year. We meet virtually for an hour or so. So, >> that's great. Uh yeah, anyone can reach out about that
>> except when we're reviewing the policy, >> the review of the policy >> based on the federal and that's something really important I think people need to realize because people often think that the wellness committee and the wellness policy that we have here on the school committee are one in
the same thing exactly and they're not. >> Yeah. >> So the wellness I I I don't have to speak to this. You can. The wellness committee is based on the federal >> Yes. >> policy. >> Yes. So then if anything changes at the federal level and we would have to
>> make changes to our policies and then we would present them to school committee >> and although I think we go a little beyond what the federal policy requires. The federal policy is old. >> Yeah. >> It hasn't been updated >> recent. Yeah.
>> Yeah. So >> yeah. Thank you. Any question? Any questions? >> Just a quick add-on and and your people who connect with Middle Sex probably know, but they also have a really excellent radiology and an ultrasound diagnostician program and they've got labs on campus.
>> Yes, we asked them if we could add that next time though. That's on their Bedford campus, right? >> We were trying to figure out if we could spend half the day in LOL and then the other half in Bedford. >> But you come out of that with an associates degree ready to to work at a really good job. So >> yeah, that's uh that's a good point. We
asked them about that a couple weeks ago when we went and said, "Can we um get on your Bedford campus next time?" >> So yeah, thank you. >> Don't mean to interrupt. You've got a couple more slides and then I just need to go check and see if Diana has any comments. So I didn't know. Do you want to finish your Susan with the hula hoop?
>> Oh yeah, I did have the Susan with the hula hoop. I Yeah, they were just a couple of pictures of the wellness fair. >> You put it back up. >> Um >> Oh, you went right past me. >> Oh, did I go right past you? Go right back >> in living. >> Oh, she's in the second one. I skipped
first. Um, so this is just a couple of the vendors. Um, >> we had therapy dogs. We had a rescue dog company come for the first time. A couple of dogs have already been adopted by some of our staff members, which is really cool. Um, you got Mrs. Gumps got
her staff doing uh CPR and first aid. Uh we had um a company come and a nurseries company come and do like little potted plants and then here we go. We got Susan in the hula hoop. Um a reaction
challenge, health screenings. Uh it was a lot of a fun day. We had Chumsford PD there. We had Chsford Fire Department there. Um the board of health. So, lots of uh community representation which was
which was great to see. >> So, yeah, that was um >> all we had for our presentation today, but if you have any questions for me or for the girls? >> Um >> Diana, are you with us? >> I am with you. Thank you. It's been
great listening. Um I did I did have just one very kind of technical question which is you mentioned that students can the new course that you were talking about students can take that either in 11th grade or to meet a requirement in
12th grade. Just to clarify if they take it in 11th grade does that count as meeting the same requirement or it does it only count if they take it in 12? >> Uh that's a good question. If they take it in junior year, it counts towards their elective credits. But if they take
it in senior year, it would count as their senior year health graduation requirement. So they wouldn't count as the same. >> Yeah. So if they take it their junior year, they would have a different course that would meet their requirement senior year. Is that >> Yes. Yes. They have three different
options for courses, health courses that they can take senior year. So, if they took the um health sciences class junior year, they could take one of the other two their senior year. >> And this was just a semester course. >> Yes. >> Yard. Okay. Great. >> Um and I did just have one other
question which is a little unrelated to what you shared out, but um I was just curious how it's now been a couple years since Massachusetts has had the new sort of layout of the scope and sequencing curriculum for health education. And I
was curious how it from your perspective has been going now that that's sort of an established um >> Are you talking about the updated standards? >> Yeah. >> Yes. Okay. Uh yeah, it it's been going
great. We updated all K to2 curriculum two years ago at this point. So, all of our pacing guides are updated, all of our scope and sequences are updated, and they are all aligned to the national and the Massachusetts standards now. Um, so
we're happy that the standards are no longer from 1999. Uh, they were quite outdated, as you can imagine. Um, so we were, my staff was happy to update their curriculum and add in um new standards.
I'm just curious, does it has it have you heard from staff if it has felt like, you know, it it's going well with the the shifts that were built into that change now that it's been a few years? >> Yes, I think they're very happy and
honestly welcomed the change. Um, so that was one benefit of the standards being 25 years old. um they were they were ready to they were biting at the bit to update the the um curriculum. Um and we really had
weighed heavily on the national standards for the last 10 years or so because the Massachusetts standards were so outdated it didn't make sense to kind of follow along with those and the national standards were being updated every 5 to seven years. So, we kind of
went with them for a while, but we were happy to to come back to the mass standards once they were updated. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, of course. I personally just want to thank Misha and Fabiano for taking the time to come and meet with us um and for giving us your perspective. You both
sound like two really intelligent people to me and to be given these types of options sounds like something you really appreciated. So, thank you so much for doing that. >> Right. Well, thank you all. >> Katie, thank you. Thank you very much.
>> It was great program. >> It's always great to have >> Susan was wonderful with the whole >> enjoy the rest of your life. >> Thank you. >> Thanks, guys. >> Okay. Um, moving on the agenda, item number uh three tonight is just a memo
and some information that I'm just sharing with the school committee members. Um, regarding a um, parent communication that I put out uh, just a little bit ago regarding some of the supports that are in place um, for the district supporting immigrant families. Um, I know Susan had actually kind of
brought this up at a previous meeting just asking like what we would do to make sure that um, you know, our schools, our staff, our families are prepared. they always feel welcome to the district and uh you know um god forbid a parent were to get ch separated from a child that we would actually have
uh resources in in place to be able to uh to to deal with that. So, um, I had sent an email, I included in the packet here that went to, uh, families a bit back. There was actually some very good resources that the DA's office had put out for, uh, families as far as just for
planning purposes around, um, different kind of, uh, caregiver affidavits and things along those lines to make sure that, um, you do plan ahead. And really it's not just for um you know immigrant families but um during co if you remember back just a few years ago um we've found even in schools that a lot
of times um you know if you happen to go to like an emergency contact if a child is sick and has to be picked up you know during co everyone happened to be home and you could you know get to the district pretty quickly but now that people are back at work sometimes there are emergency contacts that might now be back say working in Boston or something like that that aren't quite as close so
it's never a bad thing to uh just update your information and make sure your contacts are um are ready in case the school ever needs to reach out to them. But we wanted to make sure that families and uh staff um knew the supports that were in place to um to work with and support families. Um that we do have
incredible uh social workers and guidance counselors at our schools to be able to um to help families if they have questions or in need. And I did also send a few communications to staff just to let them know exactly why they were receiving this information. um some FAQ
type documents for them in case uh students or staff had any questions. But I just wanted to share that communication with um with you so you you're all on the same page. >> Any questions, comments, Susan? um just thank you for doing that and
thank you for filling us in also on the kind of staff training and things that are happening as well because it's important for us to know that um our office staff and our administrators have been given clear guidance around these issues. So, thanks for including that. >> Maria, anything?
>> I just want to say thank you. I I truly appreciate it. Of course, I faced this with folks many times and um people you you can't be fearful. You just got to continue on with your life and doing
your job and be ready. And this is good. This is great. >> Diane, you have something. Um yeah, so I I also appreciate that this has been issued and I do think it is important to emphasize what you say in the
communicate which is that this is not um a warning of an imminent threat or a response to a concerning incident in our local community. It's more about making sure we have all the information and all
of the steps taken so that when something if something happens, we have the resources in place. And I think I just want to make sure that we're being really careful not to make people frightened that there's something imminent that we're aware of or >> that there's been an incident we're
responding to. I have heard some families who've been asking me if this is because of something specific. And I just wanted to say it's it's more a supportive slate of resources that the district wants to make sure families have just in case.
>> Yeah. Just typically nothing has happened and uh like nothing is um that we know about is is planned to happen. Um it's really more just as you you indicated Diana just to make sure that the families know that they do have resources available um that you know we are supportive in the schools um around
all type of different crises that could happen but it's really more for just preparedness planning um to make sure things are uh are in place if need be. But we've had no um no specific issues or accounts that necessitated this or you know we're kind of pushing this. Um
we just thought it was a good time um to be able to ask parents to make sure that their information is current again to let them know that we do have the resources. So the few um parents that I have uh talked to and even you know had reached out like prior just asking like what we would do um did get back to me
and thank me and kind of say that they felt reassured that there were systems in place and the staff knew um how to support and to um to deal with them to make sure that they really um continue to feel included and welcomed and safe in the district. So, that was certainly the intent.
>> All right. Well, thank you for putting that out there and >> You're welcome. >> Um, moving on. We have a couple financial things. >> Yep. So, we'll move into the financial aspects and we have um two different contracts uh that are before you for approval tonight that relate to um
capital projects in the district. Um one is the South Row exhaust hood and then a second is an emergency egress uh to be added to the high school. Both of these projects were funded with uh town capital over the last couple of years. Um both projects um the egress one at
the high school um took some additional detail to have drawings done before it could go out to bid. Um the south row hood um actually has been in the works for a little bit. We'd gone out to bid one time and it ended up just coming in significantly overcost. Had to go back and kind of redesign and then went out
to bid again and have um a number that we can work with. So, I'd ask Joanna, if you don't mind, to just kind of walk us through um the documentation that she prepared for uh both different projects. And then there are two separate contracts. These are two separate um capital projects. So, if and when
approved, um I do have two separate contracts that we'll pass around for signatures. And Diana, it's no rush at all. And John as well. Um I'll just leave them in the business office and uh you can just pop in someday and sign them over the next couple of weeks. It's um not critical. But we still have to
get the vendor signatures and things along those lines. But Joanna, maybe you could walk us through the two of them. >> Sure. The first one is the South Row Elementary School kitchen exhaust hood. And as the superintendent said, we rebid this one because when we bid it earlier in the year, it came back um
significantly over budget. The one bidder we did get. So, uh, this time, uh, we went out for bid January 28th and advertised in all the, uh, standard central register combis and in the little sun. We received 16 requests for
the bid. Um, and so we sent out those packets. We had a walkthrough on February 5th so they could see um, the kitchen and the hood and what the project would entail. One contractor did attend. Again, that was voluntary. Um,
we sent out an addendum which is uh addressing any questions that came in either at the walkthrough or in um writing via email and um we sent out the answers to the questions in the addendum
on February 17th. We received two bids on February 26 which was the bid deadline and um no those are open to the public and no one attended that. Um and Marino
Construction Inc. was the successful responsive and responsible low bidder. So, we asked our attorney to uh draft a contract and before you tonight um maybe afterward you can uh if you approve this
uh recommended um contract then you can sign the documents the superintendent um brought with and the bid was for $48,333. >> Right. Does anybody have questions on the bid or the project? >> I just have one question. The very first
sentence says the fiscal year 2022 capital budget. Was it really that long ago that it was originally approved? >> Yeah. So the funding well it's a year behind. So the funding in 22 um would have happened during the 20 summer of 23.
>> Um this particular project has languished for a bit. Uh we were originally going to try to work with a vendor who was on state contract to purchase it and do the installation. There were a bunch of different hurdles with that. um finally got to the point where we ended up actually purchasing the hood itself and were then looking
for a vendor to do the installation for us. Um that was also cumbersome. So this has been languishing for quite some time. Um we don't use the um elementary school kitchens as cooking kitchens. So it didn't impair any of the um you know
the programming that we currently have. Um but no, we're finally at the point where we've kind of retoled it. We've gone out to re-engineer, redesign this and we have a uh product before us that we can put in. >> So yeah, >> it was a long time coming just carried that. How does that work
for the fund? Like the just carries that on the >> it's been allocated to the project. So yes, it just carries over until you actually utilize it. >> Okay. >> And most projects do take like say two to three years because when town meeting approves money in April, we don't usually have enough lead time to be able to go out to bid and get stuff done that
summer. So it's usually at the earliest the following summer. But um this one has been quite the quite the time in the making. >> Okay. Like I said, no other concerns. I just wanted to make sure that >> I saw the same thing as a long time ago. That's right. >> All right. Uh Diana, any questions on this?
>> Uh no, thank you. >> Okay, Maria, anything? >> No. >> Okay, we'll take a motion. >> Okay. I move to accept the base bid and award the contract for construction services for work at South Row Elementary School. And the project includes installation of a pre-
purchased HUD equipment with associated electrical and HVAC work as indicated in the contract documents to the vendor Marino Construction Inc. 24 Marshall Street Low Massa 1851 for South Row Elementary School in the amount of
48,333. >> I'll second. >> Okay, we have a motion and a second. Uh so a roll call. Uh Diana >> I. Susan >> I >> Maria >> I >> I was >> great and next project Joanna will walk us through is uh some additional
emergency egress at the high school. >> Thank you. So this is a 2026 capital project. Um we went out this is if you look at the high school when you're coming in on the far left um there's a little bumpout where there's a
exit one exit door. So, this is adding a second exit door and coming outside um for when students or staff um are leaving the building. Um we follow the exact same calendar.
Sometimes it's helpful to go out for bid on your projects at the same time. You might get more interest. So, again, we went out for bid January 28th with the same advertising. We received 18 requests for the bid packets. We had a voluntary walkthrough on February 5th at
the school and one um contractor attended and we sent out the addendum. Um it was just a sentence added to the specifications and answered any Q&As's, answered any questions. We received five bids on February 26th.
Um two uh vendors did attend that bid opening. The successful bidder was uh Marino Construction. It came in at $94,375. We asked our attorney to draft the contract and then tonight we are asking
the committee to um recommend that we go into a contract with this vendor. >> All right. Any questions on this contract? Diana, anything? >> No questions. >> Susan? >> No. Okay. Ria. >> Yep.
>> I just two questions. Um, one is this, if I'm not mistaken, this came out of our safety audit that this was something we needed to to do if I remember right. >> Um, yeah, it originally came from um our own like staff and security u observations of the emergency drills
that we do at the high school. Um, we basically have a bottleneck that happens when the second floor of the high school is trying to come down the stairs and then the first floor is also coming out to go out one door. So, what this is going to do is bump a door out with as a window. So, the top floor is going to come down and keep going out on out of
the side lot and the first floor will use the other exit. So, we did notice that we brought it by um the Davis group when they were out doing their work and they also concurred. Um so, this is how this came about. >> Okay. And that doesn't happen anywhere else. We're okay in other parts of >> No, on the other side of the building
there's a second door. So, it's I don't know why at the time there was already a door for this the top floor up near the um kind of the plateau area where the um >> the what do you call the gazebo is >> so the top floor can kind of go down right there and the bottom floor can go
out. So, um again I I don't necessarily know why but it it is a little so we're doing a door but you also have to do a cement platform and stage it to come down. So, it is a little intricate but um it'll be great to be done. >> Okay. And then my other question was that that 94 is that's the complete project cost.
>> Uh no the door >> we are purchasing. >> Okay. >> Uh so but it's still within the budget that was brought forward um for >> for the capital. >> Okay. It's within the total project budget. We just like the particular doors that we've been buying because
they integrate with everything else we have in the district. So it's easier to just buy them to know exactly what we want and then the vendor installs. >> Okay. >> Thank you. All right, we'll take a motion. >> Okay, I move to accept the base bid and award the contract for construction services for work at Chelford High
School to Marino Construction Inc. 24 Marshall Street Lassa 1851 for the Chumsford High School in the amount of 94,375. The project includes installation of pre- purchased doors, new concrete egress stairs with metal railings and
associated electrical work as indicated in the contract documents. And that's it. >> Okay. >> Second. >> We have a motion, a second. Uh, all right. We'll take a vote. Uh, Diana >> I, >> Susan, >> I, >> Maria, >> I
>> I thank you very much. Uh number six on the agenda this evening, uh Joanna is going to walk us through the preliminary uh current year fiscal 26 uh budget projection. >> So each year about this time um we present
where we think we're going to be um favorable and unfavorable by Desi categories. We've been reporting it in our quarterly financial statements. Um, and then this is just kind of a one-page summary where you can kind of see overall where we think we're going to
come in. And you already, um, have listened to the reasons why. >> So, um, remember our budget is $75,650,000. We've been, um, favorable in labor mainly because, you know, we hired
people at le less than master step three. um and all the other reasons we've um talked about for the first six months. In the end, um we believe we're going to be three million $55,000
favorable. As a reminder, one of the main reasons were that favorable is uh about 1.8 8 million was for prepaid tuitions, out of district special ed tuitions that we paid last year for fiscal year 2026
um tuitions. So it's about a million dollars in other categories that were favorable. So, we are we'll bring forward at another meeting a dollar amount to
present to you to recommend prepaying fiscal year 2027 tuitions. And then tonight at this meeting, we have a list of um one-time projects to consider to use with the um
to reallocate this budget into the categories where the one-time um purchases would need to be charged. All right. Does anybody have any questions on the budget projection itself? >> So, first of all, I think it's really important what you said, Jo, and that
folks keep that in mind. The reason it's this total amount is because of the prepaid tuitions. >> It's about twothirds of it. Correct. >> Yeah. And and that's really important to keep in mind because it's not like we're, you know, over budgeting here.
It's really important uh for people to realize that. And that's really just a strategy that we're using asking for too much money. It's >> and I think it's an important >> it's been carrying over year to year. So that >> we need to keep budgeting for it. >> That's very important. And the other
thing is I wanted to ask on a lot of the times when we have um savings quote unquote is because we bring people in to fill a position who don't have that that
higher level that the individual who left had a higher level. And that makes sense to me because, you know, you've got a lot of people retiring who have many years of experience, who've taken additional education, degrees, all of these different things, and you're
bringing in somebody to replace often who may be at the more beginning points of their career and so on. Um, my thing I think is really important for us to keep in mind is that we're not out there trying to get people who have less
credentials, less experience, or less whatever in order to get positives in the end. I get these kinds of questions that I just really want to make people understand that we go through a process here of really looking for the best
talent that can be found. And I know that because I ask all the time all kinds of questions and um the answers I get and and and the principles of the schools have a lot to do that with the hiring process for the teachers who work
in particular schools and uh lately I've been getting a lot of questions about um special ed teachers and whether because there were stories out about recently in the Boston Globe, the New York Times about the fact that
schools have a lot of schools don't have licensed special ed teachers. Um they're taking any teacher who can then get the license. Um, so it's just really important for people to realize that we
have a pretty uh I think sturdy aggressive process to get the best talent that we can and that we have to plan and budget for the best that we can get. So that's that's important I think.
>> Great. Yeah. The only kind of quick thing I would add to that is um I agree with you and like even for the limited positions we have open for next year, we're already on the market trying to get the very best and brightest um people to come work in our district. Um there is usually a savings though
because not that a person has lesser credentials like a new teacher who is filling say a second grade or third grade position at one of our schools. Um they're going to be licensed for the job that they're in. It's just typically they're not coming to us with 20 or 30 years of experience like the retiree may
have had. So for our budgeting purposes, we do save assume a little bit of a savings because traditionally again depending on the position, the person will have likely a master's degree at least um and they may have a few years of experience but they don't have 30 years of experience. So there is a
savings because they might be coming in on step two or three or four or five as opposed to step 10 or 12. Um so that's where the savings comes from. But the person is no less licensed for the role that they're in. And again, often times earlier in someone's career, they may, you know, you obviously have a
bachelor's degree, but you may have a master's degree, but they may not quite yet have ke that usually takes a little bit of time to develop. So yes, we do obviously see some savings on that front. Mhm. >> Um the other area and I think Joanna has pointed out previously as well is even
like some of the um the leaves that'll happen and you know we will have say like a maternity leave and have to hire a sub in the place of um that obviously also acrews a little bit of savings >> um sometimes if you have an individual um say resign or go to work a different position in the middle of the year
there's a lag time until you can actually hire a new person. So there's a little bit of savings that gets built up in the salary. And that's another reason that we end up having a little bit of extra money, but um you know there are some districts that over the course of the year will actually um calculate that
and go immediately and do spending um or that you might add to say uh staff or salaries. We have always resisted that. I have never recommended doing that because you end up getting yourself in a hole where now you're building your budget base much higher for the following year. and we don't want to
budget in deficit in any way. Our strategy, and to Susan's point, this has been a strategy, is basically to accumulate those savings over the course of the year. Obviously, if we need something mid year, we'd make an adjustment or we would allocate it, but we've been able to um account for those uh funds and actually do some very
strategic one-time purchasing. So, we'll buy things that aren't going to have a recurring cost in the next year that we wouldn't have necessarily been able to fund in the current year or even in that year's budget. And that strategy, I think, has worked as well, worked well for us. Um, we've been able to accomplish a lot more on our capital
projects, on our investments in kind of non-personnel by doing so. And, uh, again, to Susan's point, you mentioned the prepaying the special ed tuitions. That also has worked well for us. It provides us a little bit of a buffer in the event that you do get some special ed kids that move in or some kids who
you didn't plan for that have to go out of district during the course of a year. Um and that's about a million8 a little bit more of that $3 million. So um you know you're really probably talking about less than you know a million and a half which in the scheme of our budget is not a significant sum to uh to have
as what would be on the town side say free cash right on our side it has to be reinvested in education. >> They're real costs. It's not correct trying to play tricks with it. They are real costs >> and many years we've been able to save by prepaying but they are real costs
that would be there if that ability went away. So we can't >> it's it's really just it's the funding mechanism and how you're funding it. Correct. >> Yeah. >> Um and again I I do think we've been able to accomplish a lot more by by using and implementing the strategy as
opposed to um what some other districts might do and just spend on the fly during the course of a year. And it doesn't always work that way because if you look at the breakdown that we have here, look at transportation, >> right? >> That is a substantial amount more
>> than what was budgeted. Um, so you know this it just it can work either way, but it's not it's important that folks realize what that means, what that bottom line really entails. >> Agreful. >> Diana, any questions on the budget projection?
>> No, thank you. So it's clear um from what you were all discussing and what I can read. >> I just looking at this the summary I I assume that the approved budget transfers those are mostly the salary transfers for that we made for the contracts the new contracts. >> Yes.
>> Okay. So >> and then any uh smaller ones that I might have brought um >> okay >> between the beginning of the year. to to Maria's point on the transportation, is that something that will cover that deficit later in the year from other funds or the 344 or is that already been
>> Well, that um with the way this math works is um that overage, if you will, >> is already baked into the number. >> Okay? Baked into the final total. Okay? >> So, >> because that whole column sums up to the 3,55.
So if that weren't there, if that was negative, you'd have another 340, right? >> Okay. >> All right. So we'll move on to the >> Yes. So there's no I mean technically that's just like a report of progress for you. So what we've crafted tonight
very similar to um and this would be my recommendation to you is kind of a multifaceted approach to um um utilizing some of this funding to uh to help our needs. So I do think we should again um employ and in the back of our minds have a number of about 1.8
million for the prepaid tuitions. So that gives us comfortably about 1.2 million that we can uh allocate to onetime spending. And uh before you this evening what I uh did is we usually ask all of our schools and all of our um
uh departments to come forward with uh requests that again would be one time in nature. they're not going to add to recurring costs in future years and to basically help us accomplish some of our um our capital planning goals. So, you have a list. I just have to find page.
>> Yeah. >> Oh, okay. It's just small. >> It's just small. >> My eyes can't do that. So, you have a list before you this evening of um just shy of a million dollars. Um we do have a number of projects that we're still waiting on kind of refining quotes for.
We want to make sure that we can get product based on availability. Um, so there'll be another batch of uh projects that do come forward um at a future meeting, but this would be just under a million dollars of uh spending. I can run you them through you or I might just kind of group them in big groups and
then you can ask individual questions if you uh have. But um uh through the town capital funding this coming year in the spring, there is funding for uh the in um emergency notification system similar to what we implemented at Harrington
last summer at South Row and Bay. Um in talking to Bill, we'd actually like to try to accomplish center school at the same time and have all four elementary schools have the new ENS system. So the 116,000 is in there to be able to do that. Um, we then have a couple of
requests for updating some um CPR mannequins for both uh staff and student training at the high school. Um, a request to add some digital cameras uh to the some of the digital camera classes. Um, I'm sorry, digital photography classes at the high school.
Um, and then there is a series of uh musical instrument purchases uh that we try to upgrade the band and orchestra at both McCarthy Parker and the high school over the last number of years. So Christy Whittleles works with the staff of those stu uh schools to um to provide
some updated equipment for us. And these are some of the bigger pieces that are very expensive that an individual student wouldn't buy, but that we keep um at the school for for use. Um again, we have uh a request from Peggy, who's our school nurse, to basically refresh
our AEDs at all of the schools. I think that makes a lot of sense. and also to add one AED at Parker near the gymnasium um just because of the amount of use that we get at the uh at the gym over there. Um this would be a continuation on the next line of updating the
touchscreen um uh what what we'll call it displays in the schools. So this would accomplish a couple more grade levels at the elementary uh and then most of Parker and McCarthy would be complete. Um last year we did a very similar purchase. So, I think the final
round of this would be um next year in the schools, but that's about $328,000. Um upgrading the Mac the mini labs at the high school with new Mac minis. They haven't been upgraded since 2020. So, they're going on six years old. They're
uh starting to run a little bit slow. Um looking to uh purchase for a lot of the far science materials in the schools. A lot of the original kind of cardboard boxes that they come have come in are really starting to disintegrate and fall apart. Um so this would be to buy proper
um plastic uh storage bins so that you can actually they can be clear, you can see through to see what's in them, but they'll be a lot easier for schools to be able to store away. Um then we have a couple of um requests from our facilities department to add some snow removal equipment, a couple of new
snowblowers. Again, this was a very uh tough winter for our equipment as well as our custodians. Um, but we do need to replace a couple of uh pieces of equipment um that went down last year. Um, as you know, for the last, I believe it's four years, if not five years, we
have allocated funding to purchase all the back to school supplies uh for the students in the district to kind of take that cost off of parents. And also from an equity lens, it really allows all students to have the exact same materials when they come back to school. So there is funding in there to be able to uh to do that. Again, I think again
that's been very well received. Um a smaller request at Harrington to add some sensory swings to their autism classrooms and that's been worked through with um the special education department. Uh another piece of uh band equipment for McCarthy.
As I'm talking, I'm realizing this is now sorted by school, and that's why it's uh I thought it was by equipment, so that's why that's coming up again. Um, again, some more um chairs and band equipment uh for the orchestra and band at McCarthy. Some new uh 3D printers uh
for McCarthy as well. They have them in the labs now, but they're really starting to um be out of date. They need to be replaced. Last year, we had approved funding to do uh replace four of the accordion walls at McCarthy Middle School. There were two on the second floor and two on the first floor.
We physically uh did not have enough time to do the two on the first floor. So, we did the two on the second floor last year because we know the elevator is going to be down at McCarthy to be rehabbed this summer. So, we left the two on the first floor to be done uh this summer. So, the 43,000 is for that.
Um again, that's the AED I mentioned earlier at Parker. I assumed it was in the other line, but that's uh to be located near the gym area. And then another uh piece of musical equipment, the digital piano for Parker. So this first round of um onetime expenditures
adds up to 974448. This would be part of approximately the 1.2 million dollar final ask when that comes forward. But uh I think all of these different items would be very appreciated by the schools and departments and staff and students that get to utilize them. Again, I think it's
a wise use of our um onetime sp um spending and it's in line with what we have been um kind of strategically doing over the last number of years. >> Okay. Does anybody have any questions on any of the proposed one-time expenses?
>> Not. >> Diana, any questions on any of the >> uh I don't have any questions at this time? No. >> Okay. Maria, anything? >> No, I'm just looking that it's pretty spread out throughout the the system,
which is great. And um it's interesting when you add up all the things that go to music and arts at this one time spending I think is important. That's great >> that we're able to do it. >> These are the last two according wells we have to deal with at McCarthy. >> Yes.
>> You sure are. >> I always think that's >> there's always one hiding on us. But uh no, I do truly believe these are going to be the last two according wells at um at McCarthy. >> Okay. >> They they've only been there like 70 years. >> They have. They have. It's they've um served us well, but they're past their useful life.
>> Right. My other question is just on the the clear touch. These are are these new purchases or these are replacements? >> Uh >> no, this this is to replace the existing equipment. So, um the existing equipment that's going to be replaced now is probably five, six, seven years old. Okay. >> Um so, they would be taking out the old
and putting in the new. >> Okay. So, that's the lifespan of these things about five or six years. Really? Okay. >> Yeah. >> Right. >> They're getting a lot of use. I mean, on a positive, they're getting a lot of use. I know that >> these are the teacher displays, right, that they use. But, um, >> yeah, that is about the longevity we're getting out of them.
>> Okay, great. Because I knew we did a big over on the co years. We did a bunch of them. So, okay. >> We did. >> All right. Okay. Any other questions? Okay. I will take a motion. >> Okay. Uh, I move that we um
vote to approve the FY2026 local operating budget transfers totaling $974,448 for the Chsford public schools as presented. So this budget transfer shifts from 10 desi categories that are
favorable to eight desici categories where the items should be purchased as discussed. >> I'll second the motion. >> Okay. All right. We'll take a vote. Uh Diana >> I >> Susan >> I >> Maria >> I >> I 4 Z
>> and there goes a million dollars. >> There goes a million dollars. And um we do have one smaller u budget transfer that followed. >> Mhm. >> So at the um February 3rd school committee meeting, we brought forward a cost of living adjustment to align some
salaries um in the central administration, clerk, secretaries, and support positions with the CFT PSP salary tables. So, this budget transfer of $15,379 is to um move funds from the salary
reserve cola account into the three account numbers where these salaries are charged. >> Okay. >> So, >> any questions on this transfer? >> No. >> Hey, Diane, any questions? >> No, I don't have any. >> Okay. All right. We'll take that.
>> Okay. I move that we vote to approve the FY2026 local operating budget transfer of $15,379 from the salary reserve COLA account to the various labor accounts as presented. >> I second.
>> Okay. All right. Diana, >> hi. >> Susan, >> I >> Maria >> I >> I thank you very much. Uh item number nine this evening is the personnel report for the month of February. uh just details a few uh new hires to the district, a few
resignations, and an assignment change. Um no action required, just providing this uh for context. Okay. Any questions on the personnel? >> I believe I do actually have a question. Um I believe that at a prior meeting, we talked a little bit about the library
staff and the schools. >> I do see that there's an assignment change um for an interim librarian to be in that split role with McCarthy and Parker. I'm Could you remind me where where that transfer is coming from and
whether the position that's been vacated is also been filled? >> Um, so yes, so two parts to your question. So the it's listed as an assignment transfer because the individual um who's listed here on the report used to previously work at the
high school. So, she is actually transferring to that split role that goes between McCarthy and Parker um temporarily through the end of this uh school year. So, um she vacated a um a library clerk position at the high school. I honestly don't know off top of
my head what the status of that is. >> There's no back. >> There's no backfill at this time. All right. So, that that has not been backfilled at the high school at this time. Um but the librarian position at McCarthy and Parker is filled by this individual through the rest of the school year. We do happen to have two
library um clerks at the high school. So, um I can follow up tomorrow morning to figure out if there was a further plan or if that individual is just going to be um kind of keeping things together for the rest of the year. But, uh that is a library clerk position at the high school, not a librarian. So, the high
school has a librarian. >> So, this is this position is the one that we've been trying to fill for a couple of months. >> We had a really hard time. Yeah, we posted uh several times. We posted several different ways. Um we ultimately actually um thought we hired someone or
thought we had someone we made the offer and it didn't come through. Um so Bill working with some of the staff um were able to work with this individual who was interested at least on an interim basis of stepping in to help us and we were able to get a waiver for the lensure. So she's licensed for the time being and um
>> someone to make clear she was able to get the desi. Yeah, we were able to get her the Desi waiver for the year as the librarian and um she's going to help us out through the end of June. >> Um long term, you know, we'll be talking about that and and advertising for like a permanent replacement, but uh for the time being, this is at least going to
help us out through the rest of the school year. >> All right. Any other question on the personnel report? >> Okay, we just have a couple of field trips. Um one of which is retroactive. >> Yes. So, one of them is retroactive. I
had sent an email to the committee um a couple of weeks back. Our schedule did change, but this trip um actually came in um even later than it should have after our schedule changed. So, the first one um we allowed to go. It was the um high school ac cappella group um
attending the HSA semi-finals in Hatford, Connecticut. Um it was not an overnight trip. It was just a day trip on a Saturday from Chelmsford to Hatford and then they came back that same day. Um there may have also just been confusion about the need for because it wasn't overnight the approval. Um but I
have clarified that again with the um the high school. So I'm I'm hoping that that doesn't happen again. Um and then the new two new trips or new trips, the high school, the theater guild uh this weekend actually going to the MEG uh state finals down in Boston. Um that is
an overnight trip. And then uh later in the spring, as has been customary, McCarthy Middle School, the students who are in the eighth grade um French program that are interested doing a cultural enrichment trip up to excuse me, up to Quebec City, uh Canada May 1st
to 3rd. So the first one is really more of just because it's already happened, just an acknowledgement that the trip occurred for recordeping and the other two are your approvals. >> Okay. >> All right. We'll take them one at a time. >> All right. So, I move that we confirm the um approved CH approval of the
Chelmsford High School field trip, the Thursday Zakapella group to CHSA semi-finals on March 15, 2026, West Hartford, Connecticut. >> A second. >> Okay. Any questions? My question is, do
we know how the Thursdays did? >> Yeah. >> I I don't um do you know how they did that day? some but they got >> what place they came in. >> They got some awards. >> They they usually do very well. That's why I ask you. Okay. All right. So, we have a motion, a second. Um Diana,
>> hi. >> Susan, >> I >> Okay. I move that we approve uh the Chelsea High School field trip for the theater guild to the METG state final round of one of one act festival March
26 through the 28th 2026 at Austin Mass. >> Second. >> Okay. Any questions on this one? >> All right. Diana >> I. >> Susan >> I. >> Maria >> I >> I Okay. >> Okay. Okay. And I move that we approve
McCarthy Middle School's field trip for interested eighth grade French students for cultural enrichment May 1 through3 2026 to Quebec City, Canada. >> I'll second. >> Okay. Any questions on this one? All
right. Diana, >> I >> Susan. >> Hi. >> Maria. >> Hi. >> Hi. >> Great. All right. Um, can I just make can we flip-flop um new items in Le's reports because I know the superintendent has to get out of here. So, anybody have any new items they would like brought up in
a future meeting before he takes off? >> I'm not I'm not going home. Um, tonight was my night to present to the civics academy that the town is doing. You know, they're having residents come in. So, I forgot when we moved this meeting it was going to butt up, but I have a
presentation I have to go give at 7:30 up at town hall. So, um, I'm prepared. I'm ready to go. Go for it. >> But, um, no, if you have anything, I'm happy to. >> Diane, you have anything? >> Nothing that's timesensitive. No, >> Marina. Okay. I just had two things. One
is um, and this Joanna probably could have answered this. I was reading something recently about um how um, Desi was setting out about title one funds expecting like a 15% cut because it was another town and it was just it where title one makes a bigger impact. Is is
this something that we've already considered in our budgeting? And um >> um we it's not official, but our community was highlighted that we may not meet the um >> poverty level >> the poverty level to keep getting the
we're at around 400,000 in title one funds. So if we don't meet the poverty level, we'll go back to where our title one was for two years ago and prior, which is more around 200,000 per year. And we'll know that this summer.
>> Okay, great. >> And it's just title one. It's not entitle. >> Like I said, this other community was much bigger part of that budget. So it was more concerning than than what we >> a lot of the urbans are really getting killed, >> right? It was an urban school. Yeah. And the only other thing is is just I know
we got our um I'm going to get mess up. What is it called? The integrative program review. Was it >> coordinated? >> Coordinated program review. Um could that could we share that with the committee at some point or is it going to do that? >> Yeah, absolutely. So um this earlier this winter um special ed and the DESIE group um perform their coordinated
program review. It's every so many years they come in. Um so that was completed. Uh overall I think very successful. we received the uh draft report and I just need to see if we have responded or not to the um questions that Desi posed. But then when we do have the final report,
I'll certainly uh share that with the committee and then I do know that Amy Reese when she comes I think it's in April when she comes to do the special education overview is going to also highlight that. So all in all, it was very good review uh very good report. um the one item we're just following up
with them on, but I'll absolutely share the final report with you and again Amy will speak to it when she comes in. >> Great. Thank you. >> All right. Any other new items? >> All right. So, we're good. >> I'm to present. Okay. >> And we can do uh we can do leaz reports. So, Diana, do you have any less on
reports? I actually I don't because the uh Parker PTO and McCarthy PTO decided to uh cancel this month's PTO meeting due to the fantastic >> Parker play that was happening that
night. Um so other than congratulating the staff uh and students on that wonderful production, I don't have a report from that group and um the South Row hasn't met this month. >> Okay, great. Susan, you have anything?
>> I attended CHIPS PTO on March 9th and they are, as usual, continuing to do just really great enrichment things, working very cooperatively with their teaching staff to pull them off. Um, so nice job to them for all of that.
Uh, they got goats coming on May 28th. I think that's really cool. I love they do things like that, but they just do a great job. Um, just to let people know that their PTO board does need three new people to step up because some of the parents kids are aging out of chips,
moving on to the next school level. So, they do need at least three people to move up into the roles of president, co-president, and secretary in order to keep the PTO functioning. >> Okay. Um, similarly at Harrington, they have,
I think, two of their executive board roles filled, but they are still looking for at least two more people at Harrington to continue in their executive board roles through the next school year. They have a few months, but it's a good thing
for people to think about to be involved. they um they have been able to use their um new notification system to assist with the ALS drills >> very successfully. It's been good
feedback with how well that is working. So, I know those are systems we're putting into all the other schools, but it's um working really well. And um they've used it not only in ways that are more traditional, like using it when everyone's in their classrooms. And when
a drill happens, it's pretty easy to follow a protocol, but they've also conducted drills during transition periods and students could be anywhere in the building, in the hallways. Um, so it's just an important need that they are pra able to practice what to do no
matter where you are in the building and that systems just helping them with that so that it's obvious when it happens what's happening. So that's really great. Um, and they're doing their annual tape Mr. A to the wall as a fundraiser soon.
um this time it's going to help fund um fourth grade party costs, but there is a day where they actually tape the principal to the wall with duct tape and he stays taped up pretty much the whole day. >> He's a good sport about it. He really is.
Um that I guess that's it. Yeah. >> Wow. >> May I have any principal being? >> So center school PTO I attended that meeting. Um they run an incredible meeting. They always are doing great things for students, families, and
staff. And um so I'll highlight a couple. First, they ran their bingo. And I believe Dr. Lang and Dr. Hirs have shown up with their prize, which was lunch. Correct. >> Lunch pizza. It was great. >> It was fun. >> Some great kids.
Delicious on top of it. >> They run three sessions of this bingo this year. About 45 minutes to an hour per session. and on one night and it's an incredible event. Taste of Chumsford did incredibly well again this year. Uh they were very thankful to everybody in
the community that um donates to the Taste of Chumsford family culture night. They're having one for the first time in a in a long time and um I believe it's their first in many years and they have now over 20 um students with different
location. So, it started last report it was 10 when I remember and now it's up to 20 um and everybody got very very involved and they're calling out one center, one community which is means a lot. Recycle day is coming up May 2nd
and that will be true for McCarthy too. Um and the signs will be going up. Um they are very well a ahead of their planning for the fourth grade activities and they had an amazing science fair,
STEM fair which they said this time the great thing was the kids the students presenting to each other was really amazing to see from the you know lower levels to higher level to and vice versa. It was really wonderful. Uh they
did pi day for the staff and um they also um got their whole cafeteria painted and they are very thankful for to Nancy Antelli for helping out with that um and getting that all organized. It looks terrific. I think they've
called their lion warry. Um and they had a contest for it and everything. It looked wonderful. Um okay, you know the wellness committee, we attended that. That was a lot of fun and that was one of my uh delegations this year. That is
a fun one. Um, another person who was on my hobby table was Teresa Evans. She is a crazy crazy uh fanatic for puzzles. >> Oh, yeah. >> Yep. See, and somebody made a puzzle during the whole thing. Yeah, we got one done. CHS also met. They're into the
after prom. No question about it. their budget is um they want to leave in the budget enough for another after prom. So, they're working away at it. They have a pickle ball tournament coming up May 16th from 8 to 4. Food trucks,
raffles, different things for that uh pickle ball tournament. And they ran staff events March 20th. They had um one um that was this this um week I believe one more launch is planned and they did
a St. Patrick's treats day. So they're also doing quite a bit with staff in Richmond and that was it. >> That's all. Huh. >> Thank you. >> Great. Um >> what's that? >> Yes, she already did. Okay. Um I already spoke of my the building committee met
um before our thing. Um, and you know, I think I I would assume we're going to get the educational program document with a little lead time before our next meeting because we are >> yes >> going to vote on it again. So I would assume that I know you're >> just in the process of updating answering the current questions for the
three configurations and then we'll get the um final plan for your review when we make the >> So that will be our next meeting the 14th. So >> yes. >> All right. Speaking of which, um just to quickly 30th we have Day on the Hill. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Actually, I wanted to ask before you
move on from that, have we um what's the current status in terms of any legislators or others we' reached out to? >> Yeah, I I' I've been in contact with uh Representative Aiero's um staff and we have a a scheduled appointment with him
at 1:30 on Monday. I've also had um some conversation with Representative Catalo and he's going to try to work his schedule so he can also meet us at 1:30 so we can meet them both in the same office at around the same time. So I think that works out well. I think the program begins at 10:00
>> with some presenters and then 11 12:30 is lunch. So then after we move to to the office I have his office number and all that. >> Um I haven't heard back from our other rep um at this point but those two definitely I think we'll be able to meet with them. >> Yeah. And it's nice. >> Yeah.
>> Nice that it's back at the state house. >> Oh, it's great. So much better. Yeah. >> Yeah. That's terrific. >> Yep. So, that will be Monday. And then Monday night, we meet with the select board. >> Yes. >> To um approve Nishoba Tech School Committee member.
>> Then Tuesday, we do our AI workshop um from 6 to >> 6 to 9. >> 6:00 to 9. >> And then Wednesday, we have executive session, I believe. >> Yes. >> So, correct. So, >> yeah. >> So, busy week next week, but uh we we'll be good, right? Then we don't meet again
till the 14th. >> All right. Uh anything else before we wrap it up? >> Um >> I'm just going to tell people that we have some signatures to do. Diana, next time you're in the office, could you see the superintendent just to put your signatures on those two contracts that we discussed this evening?
>> Absolutely. And um I can if if I haven't um come by incidentally just >> we'll find you. >> Yeah, just reach out to me and I'll do it in a purposeful way. Just come up to do that. >> Can I just ask Dennis a question for the building committee?
>> So what happens with who represents the select board on the committee right now? >> Still right now it's just Pat Maloney is still >> Oh, he's still doing it. Nobody the this building committee has not changed. It's the same makeup as as he's still the chair. So yeah. >> Okay.
>> Of the >> building committee >> park and building committee. >> So he'll still be on the committee. He will no longer be select but he can still chair I believe. So >> because he's still a member. >> Yes. Yes. And he has experience in in in school buildings and all that too. So
that's right. Expertise that. >> So that won't really be disruptive. >> Yeah. No, it shouldn't change anything. I think that's all. He's still on the committee. >> The building committee of status quo. >> Yeah. >> Y >> just thinking that it's been a while. You know, we've been at this building for several years. >> Uh 10 for me.
>> 10 for 10, right? >> Yeah. Cuz I started even before we I got elected. I was already going to work >> and this is my seventh year um on the committee and we've been talking building all of these years. Um I was sitting at that meeting thinking uh that
you know children uh born this year will be what four or five years old by the time this building is done. >> Um the wonderful thing is continuity. >> So I truly want to thank you Dennis for all the work you've done on this committee. It's very much appreciated.
Uh and I know it involves quite a bit more. >> Yeah. >> No, everybody on the committee is it really does join us on the committee and superintendent >> Lang. It's great. It's exciting to know that it's >> it's it really we are really I mean we're close we are it's
>> yeah very very close to being saying >> you you know here's your building here's your grade configuration here's your site and >> start to get the design work. So yeah, it's exciting. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. And I also think that it was really important to have a delegate from
our committee on the whole town's uh planning. Um and you did a great job with that. And I think that and the building together is really really important for us to keep in mind. The goals of the town, the goals of um this
building committee go right in line one with the other. So the strategic plan if it's going to get implemented and is going to happen for the town, the committee is important here and all the work >> be in effect now. I don't know because I'm not on the continuing committee, but
>> it was voted and it's in effect. So >> good. Terrific. >> All right. Um if there's nothing else, I will take a motion to adjurnn. >> Okay. I move that we adjourn. >> I'll second. >> All right. Diana >> I. >> Susan >> I. Maria I
>> I we are adjourned.