stands one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. This meeting is being livereamed by Chancellor Teledia and posted the CPS website for interested community members to access and watch. Inerson public participation will be
taking place tonight in accordance with the Cha School Committee public participation policy. Anyone speaking tonight during the public in proportion meeting is notified the superintendent's office of the desire to speak and pro provided with these guidelines. Upon request, written comments received no later than 12 PM on the day of this
meeting will also be read and made part of the record of the meeting during the sec second public input comment session. All right. So, welcome to this meeting of the town school committee. Our first order of business to approve our minutes from May 6th. I move that we approve the minutes of the regular school committee
meeting of May 6, 2025. Second. Second. Okay. Anybody have any corrections for the minutes? All those in favor? I. I have zero. Thank you. All right. Uh, next up, our student representatives. All right. So, there are multiple elections held at CHS this week. Um,
these positions being for the new school committee student representative and multiple um positions for student council, those being vice president, president, and treasurer. Congratulations to Tiffany Vu for winning student council president. A Stout for winning the vice president. And then in the runoff for the school
committee representative is going to be Richie Frrazy and Ana Bardy. And along with that, the treasure is going to be on Ana. I don't know if there's good news, but there's MCAST today for sophomores in English. I mean, not in English, in math. Interesting. We love it. Yeah. So, that was really fun. But
on the good side, the rugby team's undefeated. And as of right now, there's going to be two home games for playoffs. Then from there, it's a state championship. So, come and watch. There you go. That's wonderful. Okay. So, the seniors last day of school is this Friday. And those who are on internship
will also be having a check-in with their internship advisor and group. So they'll be sharing a brief presentation on their internship in preparation for an exhibition that will take place um I think it's the 29th maybe um where current juniors will get the chance to
learn more about the internship program and um the opportunities that it entails. And today was the junior's job shadow day. So, the juniors again had the opportunity to network and shadow adults in any profession they may be interested and that um that they may also want to intern with for next year.
Great. All right. Unfortunately, um this is Lana's last meeting with us. So, I just wanted to thank you um for for being here the last two years and and all your hard work and three years. Three years. Three years and keeping us term. She did a whole term. Wow. Uh and keeping us up to date with everything.
It's been a pleasure. Um, you know, I really hope you good best of luck in in college. We have a little gift for you. A I'll let it pass. Great. John, you want to come? Thank you. You go. You go. All right. All
right. Now you got to go. [Laughter] You get to take your name plate with you when you leave, too. So, that's yours. A little momento for your I'll put it on my desk or and all the people walk in your room and say, "What is that?" Yeah. But thank you. It's been great. I really
appreciate it. [Applause] Right. Oh, good news. Talk about junior junior juniors. That's all I heard. Um so, no to just to kind of piggyback on the high school stuff that things are going very well. We're transitioning out
our seniors and we actually just had an excellent um walkthrough at the Sus Arena in preparation for graduation in two and a half weeks. So, very good news. Everything's moving along. All right. Anybody else have any good news to share? Okay. All right. Uh we're in our f first
public comment session, but I don't believe we have anybody registered to speak. So, we'll move on to new items. We'll jump right into the agenda. Um so, we actually have a couple of presentations tonight. Um the first one is going to be one of our spotlights on the school. So, Harrington Elementary School, uh Principal Robin, I see
Assistant Principal Growski here as well. So, we'd love to invite you up, hear a little bit about what's happening at Harrington. So, come on up. But I'm not sure if Linda's going to help you with the presentation. They get the clicker and then I'm going to work the videos to just Perfect. And if you have other folks with you, you just need to
come on up and just grab a chair. Come on close. And just make sure you're somewhat within the proximity when you're speaking. Just for the viewing audience at home of the mic. Thank you so much for having us. Um this is definitely a highlight of the year.
uh you know I always trying to find um something that's exciting to share with the school committee to show the great things that are happening at Harrington. Uh this focus for us is going to be on mathematics um and how it looks across the schools and some of the skills that we're developing with students in regards to
math. Um a lot of it comes to conversation which is a critical skill. So we're teaching students not only to communicate with the adults but with each other. That's a skill that as first grade is a hugely important things. I have with me Stacy Gilbert's a first grade teacher and then we have Amanda
Bernier is our math instructional specialist. Uh they have been working very closely together um to develop on these skills for for first grade and it's really impressive to see them talk to each other and if they disagree they have to you know they explain why. So
there's a comprehension piece to it that is really a critical skill that you know as they develop their educational careers I think it's hugely important. [Music] So as Rob was saying we're we're focusing a lot on student discourse K to 4 especially this year and I'm sure
beyond. Um but one of the things we've been trying to improve is the kids ability to talk to each other. How do you agree? How do you disagree? And understanding from the adults perspective that this is a skill that needs to be taught. kids don't just inherently understand how to have these
contentbased conversations, especially in the primary grades. Um, and so we're trying to make sure the teacher poses all the models for the kids so that they can go ahead and sort of learn those language um phrases that they can use to agree, disagree, to explain their
thinking, to share their thoughts, and then have a dialogue between between one another. And the Stacy's done a really amazing job with her kids in particular, the whole first grade in fact as well. And there we have some um videos to share with you about the kids actually talking to each other. So hopefully you can hear them because we're so proud of
all the work that the kids have done and I'm I'm really grateful to work with Stacy so closely. So this is these are the videos. Yeah, we'll give it a try. Typically what will happen is if we're not hearing it very well in here, usually tele media is picking it up and at home they hear it
probably better than what we do, but we'll find out. So, we're going to start with the first video and see how we what we go off with. Just have to switch screens. So, bear with me here while I come over. I disagree because if you know 6 + 6 = 12,
then 12 - 6 has to equal 6. They were fighting with me on that. That was the I disagree. Like I gave them the wrong answer. They were able to explain respectfully, right? Yes, they did great. They're really short clips.
A is longer than B. C is longer than A. So B is the shortest. I'm so interested in watching them. I'm forgetting to go back to That's good. They're captivating. 17 is four more than 13. And how did you
figure that out? Because because we counted all of the flowers and then we then I looked my fingers and see how many more there was and then I saw there was four. So I said
that this one has 16 and this one has and this one has 13. So 16 is bigger than 13. And then and so you have then uh 16 is three.
Wait, 13 is you need to read more to get to 16. Me, too. So, they've been working together in a variety of modalities. They spend time sometimes partnered on the floor, sometimes chatting um with at the screen when we're showing the the reveal videos
to them. Um and they also use whiteboards. I don't know if you remember when we came with biome and the kids were showcasing the whiteboards. The first graders are doing that too. And so it's really helping enhance their ability to communicate with one another. Um so this year was the first year with
Amanda that we've been doing a lot of co-planning um and co-eing together. And that's gone really well because when we kind of first started it, the kids really didn't know how to interact with each other, forget mathematically, but also just they really didn't know how to
talk to each other. So by us doing it together, we've really modeled for them like the expected um way to work in a team, the expected language to use, expected problem solving, and they really took to it. And as time has gone on, they've been practicing all the time. Um they really have gotten so good
at it. Today we were doing science and we were talking about the plants that we had done and the whole thing this year has been I agree because I disagree because and a a little girl in my class was like well I disagree with what we the order that we think and I was like my work here is done like they um they
are really catching on about how to agree and disagree with each other and give the information as to why they do which is really important in planning with her. She has absolutely opened my eyes to so many different ways um of delivering math this year. Stuff I've
never done before and it's working out really really well and I um so glad to have you. Um another thing we've done this year is test out the creation of a professional learning team at Harrington. Um in my teaching experience, I've had a really awesome
coach in the past and we had a PLT regularly throughout the school day. I taught middle school, so it's a little different, a little easier to manipulate the schedule that way. But, um, I thought I got so much out of it and I really wanted to make sure that that was something that we could do as a group. And Rob agreed to let me test it out and
see how it went. And there's actually 11 staff members at Harrington that volunteered to go, which is way more than I thought. Um, because they didn't really know me that well at the start of the year. It's my first year. Um, we've we've done so much amazing things during our PLT. We've really dug into the
reveal program. We've gone through what I'm calling like uh like a plan aloud where we've gone through all the components of a reveal lesson. The teachers there have been able to like work together with their colleagues. They've been able to ask me questions and if they don't if I don't know, I can I have the time to research it. That's
part of my job. And I can bring it back to the team. We meet once a month on Monday mornings. So, you know, they really want to be there because it's bright and early on a Monday. Um but I think it's been really helpful. I I don't want to mess you up, but there is a little video there to have it. Oh,
there's another video. So, let's let's see what happens. I'm always up for a good adventure. Hopefully, it works. And anyone share what you were said in the beginning of the year for first grade, I kind of reminded them
like things that they're wondering doesn't necessarily have to be about math. It can be more about the future. And then they kind of realize that what they were wondering about really was about math. And I feel like that was helpful just to start. And now as we go more through the year, they kind of
think about what we learned yesterday and kind of connects a little bit more as they're getting. Yeah, that's great. I'm I'm chuckling because our conversation was that we try and remind them that it's
math the lesson title and what are some math language that we've recently used that we maybe want to lead them into. So kind of just the opposite which just makes me kind of chuckle between the differences like in a linear way. So that was a first grade teacher
talking about how they do their notice and wonder. Um and the the fourth grade teacher was the one that commented second and how the sort of the connection between from first through fourth what that looks like and how the kids respond differently and how we really need the collaboration among the school to build that that responsiveness
to math and it starts in Ken one. So it's going it's really nice to have everyone in the same room so we can have those really rich conversations. Um, and so this is sort of a little more of the same, just talking about Reveal and how we've all of the teachers um at Harrington have been really great about
asking questions, getting curious about Reveal, um, inviting me into their classrooms, doing model lessons, things like that, and working like I do with Stacy, co-eing and co-planning. It's really been helpful for me to get to know the staff and to get to be in their classrooms. I know a lot of the kids, like almost all of your kids' names by
now because we've been in there so many times. Um, and just the willingness that we have had for collaboration at this school has been fantastic. I've worked with basically I think every single classroom teacher in some capacity this year. That was sort of a goal I had set for myself and um, their their openness to me has been really wonderful. So,
we've been able to accomplish a lot in this year, I think. [Music] You know, just to follow up what Stacy said, you know, having Amanda um, in this position this year has been a huge asset to the school. Um, I think one of
the things it's really important is the establishment of that communication between the students and adults. It's also the consistency across the grades that PLT, every grade's represented in that PLT voluntarily. So, they're having conversations about math and how it's working in that in those grade levels.
And what that also does is it contributes to their thought process of okay, so this is what they're doing in first grade. We got to think about this in second. The consistency across the grades is what you want. So developing these skills, especially the communication, I think is is critical um
throughout the grades just sets them up better for the secondary level. Um and I know that Stacy and Amen have worked really really hard. Um and they've put together a really great um system and the kids have shown. You know, the kids are amazing. When you watch them work,
uh it's the videos does not do it justice. Uh, it's really an amazing thing to see six-year-olds having these they're kind of deep conversations for a six-year-old and they're explaining why and and that's huge that's a huge skill, you know. So, um, kudos to Stacy and
Amanda. I think they've done an amazing job and and u, thank you to everybody else. Does there any questions? Anybody have any questions, comments? I have a question. I'm just curious, are the PLTs something that was part of reveal math or is that something you brought in as
an interventionist? Um, that's something I brought in when I started. U just on my experience having participated in PLT, I learned so much about uh math instruction through the PLT. I have the luxury of having, you know, a middle school background and so I was content focused. Um, so I had a lot more time to
just only talk about math and I kept saying like I think there's a real need to talk about math and to for all of us to have these conversations and there's such limited time and I know the elementary level these teachers are so busy and they're they've got a lot going on and so I was really grateful that so many folks had chosen to sign up and I
think next year I also work at Baym and we're going to try it out there at Baym next year and we're going to keep going at Harrington and hopefully all my friends will come back again next year and keep joining us. Um, but I'm hopeful. Yeah. So, you can talk not just about the strategies you're teaching kids, but strategies that the teachers
use. Exactly. Right. Yeah. That's great. And that's sort of what I've been trying. You mean you can speak to maybe the part here. So, yeah, it's kind of like twofold because I feel like Amanda has brought um a lot of math knowledge, but also the way to deliver math has something that she's brought. And then
in the PLT, we also do do a lot of like deep diving into the math program. things like I just wasn't noticing that really none of us were even paying attention to she this is really important and it really was important. So we have gotten so much better at the program um itself but also the different
ways to deliver it. Yeah. Excellent. Any other questions? I just I want to make a comment. It's it's interesting watching this that math which usually you think of math as just a problem you do on a piece of
paper and has led to more communication and better ways of communicating which is really great and I think that not only developing the analytical skills in the mind but also uh verbalizing what's
being analyzed not only in the math world but whatever world that they're dealing in and being able to communicate that's absolutely fabulous. If it can both things can happen that that's terrific. I really want to commend you
for modeling it as well. I mean that is it that's the way to go. It's a mentorship right in action. Um, and uh, so I appreciate that tremendously and that you took the time to come and present to us as well and letting us
know how it's going. I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you. Any John, just a quick comment. I just wanted to say that I agree with this methodology and I think you guys are executing it well. That's the because so thank you. Thank you. Thank you for your work for super. Thank you. And thank you for I'm glad the videos work. So it's great to see
the kids. No, great to see hear how they were kind of working the problems out and their explanations. It was it was great. So, thank you very much and give up. [Applause] Yeah, very good job. This is an extra special night for us. We have two big
presentations tonight. So, next we'll invite up uh Katie Sims, who's our department coordinator for health, phys, and family consumer science. And I know she's got Pat and some other staff and students from the school with her. So, we'll turn it over to you. Great. Thank you so much, everyone. Um we're thrilled
to be here. Thank you for having us tonight. Um we're going to share uh a few different things with you tonight. Um I'm going to talk a little bit about what's happening um prek to 12 in health education, physical education, and family consumer sciences. What we've
been working on the past year or so. Uh talk a little bit about some programming um things that are h that are going on at the high school. Share some new um additions to our department um
facilitywise and um signage. And then we have some um staff members here, couple of teachers, and some wonderful students that are going to share um some of the things that are going on
at McCarthy Middle School, sorry, with their classes. Um so, just a couple of things, districtwide highlights. Uh we got um physical education and health education has brand new Massachusetts standards.
Uh so those were released in June of 23. So we have spent the last two years updating pacing guides, scope and sequence, uh syllabi to align to the new Massachusetts standards which were a little outdated from 1999. So we were
thrilled to have updates to our standards. Um so um happy with the standards and also with the updates from um all of the curriculum changes that we've made. Uh we have a new course
coming what that we're rolling out in the fall at the high school called modern topics in health sciences. Um so we've found that the la over the last few years that a lot of seniors are going into different health science
fields. Um so this is an opportunity to for them to learn a little bit more before they go off to college to see if they'd like to explore certain health science fields. Um, so we're excited about that course coming to the high school in the fall. Uh, and that will be
a course that juniors or seniors can take. Um, we've done a few grading updates. We've made ba because of the new standards. Um, we made some changes to our standardsbased report card at the elementary school level. We've made some
updates, some minor updates to our middle school grading categories. And then we are just starting the conversation at the high school level about standardizing and coming up with common grading practices at that level. Uh so we're excited about that work
continuing on um for the next couple years. Uh we have some new um curriculum updates that we've added in recently. Uh we all four elementary schools got nine
uh mini golf courses at the start of this year. So we were able to um introduce a mini golf unit at the elementary level. Uh they're all rolling it out in the next couple of weeks. So um I don't have any pictures of that
today. Um but they're excited. And um I think one of the elementary schools is going to try to do a glow mini golf course in in the gymnasium, which will be um pretty cool to see. Uh so they're really excited about that. And then um
my high school teachers are really excited. There's six brand new pickle ball courts at the high school in addition to the new basketball courts and the new tennis courts. Uh the whole facility uh I think came out amazing and it's such an it's such a great use of
space for physical education classes in the fall and in the spring when we can get outside. Uh it just provides us with um a lot more opportunities of activities that we can do outside. So we're thrilled with um how that came out.
Uh we've made some updates at the middle and high school level um around mental health. Uh we used to use Signs of Suicide and we have transitioned away from using that curriculum and moved towards Erica's Lighthouse. Uh Erica's
Lighthouse has been amazing. They make updates every year. It's a free curriculum. Um they offer PD for free. Uh they're extremely communitative. Um so if you reach out to them, you need help resources,
uh people, they're always willing to get back to you. So we've been very happy with that. Um and then at the high school, we've had um the NAN project come in the last couple years and talk to our senior health classes
um about mental health and suicide education. and they do it in the lens of um peer mentors. So they have young adults ages 18 to 26 come and share like their comeback stories. So a positive
spin on mental health um and sharing their stories and kind of the trajectory of like where they came from, what they went through, and like how they came out and made some positive changes and are doing great on the other side of it. Um, and we've gotten some great feedback
from our senior students. Um, so we look forward to continuing to work with them um, in future years as well. Um, and then other highlights, we all seven of our schools got brand new
tennis equipment from the USA this year uh, for free, which was amazing. uh we just had to we had we did a 2-hour professional development with them. They came out to us and provided the PD and
then um they have a website. So all the teachers went on there and signed up um and have access to their free curriculum. And then after we did the PD and signed up online, they send us a class set um of 30 rackets uh training
tennis balls um for us to use in our our PE classes, which is which is great. Um so some updates for just Chumsford High School that I wanted to share with you tonight that I'm really excited about. Um, we're looking to put
together an education pathway for students at the high school. So, anyone that's interested in pursuing education outside of high school, this would be an option for them to um gain some of those skills prior to going to college. And
because of our relationship with Middle Sex Community College, we already have a lot of dual enrollment courses that match up with their education pathway um currently being taught at Chumsford
High School. Um so right now, as you can see up on the board, um the pathway it this is just a draft. It hasn't been rolled out yet. Um, but it would be inclusive of 30 dual
enrollment courses that are all taught at Chumsford High School. Um, which is amazing. Um, and then all three, so the family and consumer science department is made up of, um, Joan Murphy at the
high school and she teaches all of our education courses. And um this this past summer we had all of our education courses approved for dual enrollment uh through Middle Sex. So that's why we were able to start kind of looking at
could we create a pathway for students um so they could work on get some of this coursework done while they're at high school and then potentially leave with 30 or some other number of credits
um before leaving Chsford High School. So, we're really excited um to be working with Middle Sex on this um and potentially roll this out in the fall. Um some other pathways that we're exploring but just beginning stages are
a health sciences path pathway and a nursing pathway. Um, again in conjunction in with Middle Sex Community College and our current dual enrollment classes, so our students could stay on our
campus. Um, so that is it for the high school. Um, and to go along with that, we added a a future teachers signing day. Last year we had our first one. Um, and we have our second one coming up
next week. It is Thursday, May 29th at 10:30. So, similarly to a student that is going off to college to play a sport where they would have a signing day, we're doing the same type of idea for
students in at Chsford High School that are graduating that are planning um to go to school for education and highlighting that. Um, so we have, I think, 10 students right now that we have information on that they're definitely going to school for
education. Um, so we have invited those 10 students to the future teacher signing day uh next Thursday and we'll have a little ceremony and a little signing for them. Um, and anyone is is welcome to attend that. It's at the
career center at the high school. Uh we just recently got, if you have been around the Chumsford Public Schools campus recently, you might have seen some disc golf maps. Uh they were just installed a month ago um by our DPW. So,
we had the maps made by an outside company and then um Brian Curley helped helped me out in conjunction with DPW to put a frame around the maps and then um put them in the ground so that permanent
structures there. So, the map has the course lay the disc golf course is laid out. It has all nine holes, where the nine holes are located, um what the PAR is for that hole, how many yards it is, etc., and then there's a QR code that
people will be able to scan so they can have the map available to the on their phone. And both maps are located, one's at McCarthy and one is at Chumsford High School and they're both at the first hole, um, which is traditionally how it's set up if you go to a disc golf
course offsite somewhere else. So, we were thrilled that, um, they were installed last month and they look great. I think we are the only high school with an 18hole golf course, too. I think so, which is it's pretty cool.
Um, so, uh, next we are going to highlight some programming at McCarthy Middle School. Uh, we have Mr. Graham here and Mr. Hilts here. Uh, Mr. Graham is going to bring some of his students up and talk a little bit about the brand
new fitness center at McCarthy Middle School and how they are able to in a how they're able to use that in a variety of different ways in classes outside of classes. Um and then from the student perspective, what that looks like for
them um and then Mr. health will come up after and talk about um we have a new unified physical education class at McCarthy that started last year. So we have some students from that class that
are here to share their experience with that. Um so these are just some pictures of our fitness center. So um Parker also got some upgrades as well. So all brand new equipment and all new flooring at
Parker. Um, so as you can see from the pictures, it looks beautiful. I wish I had befores of Parker's because it looks like a totally different space. Um, and they're able to use it for fifth and sixth physical education classes. They have a fitness club after school and it
is open to staff before and after school as long as it doesn't conflict with any um afterchool programming or activities. I do have some befores for McCarthy's Fitness Center. So, this is what McCarthy's fitness center looked
like prior to it being a fitness center. Um, it was shower stalls. Um, and essentially a unused space. Um, there was a lot of storage in there. Um, so we were able to demo that space. So, this
is was the demo work after they pulled everything out of there. And then the final product is this beautiful, amazing fitness center um that the McCarthy Middle School students have access to on a regular basis. So um now I'm going to
call up Mr. Graham and Alice and Aaron if you want to come up too and talk a little bit about um the fitness center and how they're utilizing it at McCarthy. You guys could pull up chairs.
Yeah. Yeah. Go upstairs. One more. Uh, hello. Um, my name is Patrick Graham. I'm a physical education teacher at McCathi. Um, and tonight we have two of our outstanding students, Alice and Aaron. And um so we've had the fitness
room. It's this is actually our second year and um it's just been a great addition to our program. The pitches don't do it justice. It's uh it's really a beautiful space and it's large enough that we can have a whole entire class in there and
we have plenty of space for everyone. And uh the reason why I asked Alice and Aaron to come with us tonight is um right since since we uh began doing the uh fitness room, um these two really gravitated to it and um they've been
they've really enjoyed it. Um they've um I think they've learned a lot in there and um any opportunity they get to go in there, they um really enjoy it in there. And um we uh do several programs in there.
We not only use it in in the physical education classes, but it's also an elective for the seventh and eighth grade. Uh it's a very popular elective. And we run um after school programs out out of the fitness room. Also on um Tuesdays we do a CrossFit
program and on Wednesdays and Thursdays we do just an overall fitness uh room program where kids develop their own programs. So, um it's it's just been a great addition to our um curriculum and um if I think Jay's been over there
before and seen some of the groups in there and it's it's just amazing um how much the the students have learned and become comfortable in there and have learned how to use all the equipment, been able to develop their own programs
and things like that. And um it it's just again it's been a great addition. So, Um, we have some questions so that our students can share with you. So, um, Alice, how would you describe your overall experience using the fitness
center during PE or after school programs? I think using the fitness center um, really improves the gym class because it gives us another option. And I think that it's also benefited some students
by being able to go into the fitness room and kind of workout, whether it's a workout that was given to us or kind of doing our own. Yeah. So, we have some options in there. Sometimes we um we create a workout for
for the students to do and um as they become more knowledgeable in there, we start to talk about goals and let them um create their own workout. And you know, we have several different things in there. We have uh you know weights as
part of it, but we have um foam rollers and treadmills and and and rowing machines and TRX bands and so many different options in there that um seems to appeal to a lot of different students. So Aaron, um do you feel like
PE classes or the afterchool fitness program have helped you to feel more confident, prepared to work out on your own either now or in the future? Um, yes, definitely. The fitness room has uh it's a space to learn how to work
out and like uh lift weights safely so you can go to any gym pretty and get the hard work done. Thanks. Uh, Alice, what are some of the most valuable things you learned from using the fitness
center? Go ahead. It kind of teaches us what we should do if we work out in the future and what we shouldn't do. And it teaches us how to not push ourselves but allow us to do what we kind of want with our bodies. Good. Uh so one of the big
things is just using the equipment correctly and um safely. And um the nice thing about our fitness room is it's geared towards um age ages of the students that we have. So, a lot of the equipment we have
are um lighter than what you would see in a regular gym because seventh and eighth grade students. Um, and it's a good it's it's teaching them to do things properly with proper form and things like that so
that in the future when they go they'll know how to use it, they'll have confidence and they will not get injured and be able to improve their fitness. Okay. Aaron, uh, in PE, we try to help you discover physical activities that
you enjoy. Sometimes you get to choose what you want to do, and one of those choices might be the fitness center. How do you feel about having the fitness center as an option in in instead of like a a unit that we're doing in class or something like that? Um, I feel it's
very important cuz uh some people don't like some of the units we do. So, it always gives you an option and it can really round out your school day because you've just been sitting around all day and you can have a chance to work out. So, with the fitness room and the the
space that we have, we we u Mr. Sherlock and I team teach a lot of things now and we have a lot of students who would prefer to use the fitness room in in instead of the activity that we're doing in the gym. And um we there's there's
sometimes that because we have that new space, we're we're able to give kids options. And um it's it's been good. The the kids feel like they have little bit more of a choice in what they want to do. And that's that's really how the fizzed geared at the high school, too, where the kids kind of have options to
do things they're interested in. Um all right. And this is for both of you guys. Um, which types of workouts or equipment do you enjoy using the most in the fitness center and why? Um, I definitely enjoy using the weights
uh with the uh bench press and the deadlift cuz they're important exercises and they teach you how to lift safely. It's you can't really do it anywhere else. Alice. Um, I like working out mostly um during
CrossFit times because it really lets us try different things with like the weights and the treadmill and doing deadlifts or doing pull-ups. And it really teaches us all the different like
values and things in the fitness room. Um, is there anything else that we wanted to add or Katie? Anybody have any questions for the students? No question. Just a comment that I think
this is great because this is lifelong fitness. Way better than the old days. We used to just play dodgeball in the gym. You know, this is stuff you learn how to do it safely now and you're fit, you know, you're set to stay fit for life. I think that's great. Yeah, I was just Oh, I was just going to say that uh
that access to that kind of space and and the people that really support you, it's people the most important thing, but I'm glad you have access to the space and that uh the students will have that kind of experience before they go to high school when they make the weights bigger, I guess. Probably a little bit bigger. A little bit bigger.
I I think when we first started it, you know, the the students were a little intimidated. Yeah. And um I'll tell you, you when you see the kids in there now, they know exactly what to do, where to go, how to use everything. And that's something that they can, you know, use
forever. And and I tell them in seventh grade, um even if fitness isn't super important to you now, it's going to be someday. At some point, it's going to be important. Yeah. And you're going to have the tools and knowhow to be able to um you know, use equipment properly and
get yourself fit. Yeah. Do you teach the kids too how to spot each other and because that's what you know that's important part too that's like day one stuff like safety you know spotting um choosing the right weight how to choose the right weight all those things and um
you know once they get hands on it and they use it and we're there supervising and you know you have students like this who you they'll be the first ones to go over and help kids um when Alice goes to the the CrossFit program I've seen her bring a bunch of her friends in there who kind of haven't been exposed to it
as much and she's teaching them and um so it's it's really been a just a great addition. It really has. Yeah. So, first of all, it's wonderful to have taken that space which was useless before and turned it into this. The second thing I
wanted to just mention is um the two of you are examples of what's happening really with students today um moving forward. when you go look for colleges or places to move on to, one of the first things you want to go look for is
what does that gym look like at this school, I was shocked because I have two different daughters and one adores doing this and she learned a lot of it with Mr. Graham and at McCarthy. Um, and I that was the first thing she wanted to
go find the gym. And it is just so much part of the physical education today because this is the way we're going anyway. This it's not just, you know, playing games or whatever. It is this is education, physical and physical
workouts for each individual. So, I'm just so glad to see that and to see you exemplify it. So, congratulations on all your hard work. And it's very individualized hard work. So that's terrific. Thank you both for being here and and let's not Thank you guys.
The wrong one. I hit the wrong button where you need to go. Gotcha. Still doing better than Jay. Oh man. All right. Next we're gonna have uh Mr. Hilts come on with Addie, Bella, and Emma. Um and they're going to talk about
a another elective at McCarthy Middle School, uh which is our unified physical education class. Y uh that also started last year and these um three ladies are part of that class. Um so they're going to have an opportunity to share their
experiences in the class um and and what that's like for them. So thank you all for coming. Hi. Uh, my name is Eric Hiltz. I'm the adaptive PE teacher and unified PE teacher um at four different schools. Um, so I'm kind of all over the place.
Uh, and when Katie asked me if this was something I could take on last year, um, I had two thoughts. The first was I I am pretty sure I'm going to love it. Um, and then the second was what's the what are the the kids going to think about it? What's the what what's going to the
Yeah. Hello. what's the reaction going to be from the kids? Um, and and to be honest, from day one, I stepped foot in the gym and kind of laid it out there, and I had kids like this walk through the door that were amazing. Um, the second they came in, um, if you're not
sure what unified is, it's combining kids from like our life skills and our neck program, bringing them into the gym uh, with some of their general ed peers. Um, so the general ed peers act as coaches. Um, and then we refer to like our neck and our life skills kids often
as our athletes. Um, so they're there to kind of share experiences and um, the coaches end up being sort of an extension of me. Um, so I'll have my agendas up and I'll kind of go over what we're going to do for the day and they're really hands-on. So they're around the gym. Um, they're helping kids
move. Um, they're creating relationships. Um, and and it's really just a really cool thing to watch. It's an amazing um, place to be and and it wouldn't be that way without the kids. Um, they make the program. So, I'm I'm
incredibly fortunate to have these guys. Um, I'm going to ask you guys some questions, too. Uh, if you're comfortable answering, you can. And if you're like, I don't want to talk, totally fine. So, the first question I have, and Emma, you said you'd take the first question. Can you describe your experience in unified PE and what you
enjoy about it? Yeah. So, unlike Addie, who's been doing it for all of seventh grade, I think. Yeah. All of seventh grade and all of eighth grade now. I've only been doing it for two terms, and I love it. It's one of my favorite classes. It's given me a chance to
interact with some students that I never generally would have had to interact with before and it's given me a lot of life skills that I can use um just around really. Um interacting with students of all kind and I love seeing
them in the hallway too like interacting with them out of class just saying hi. It really means a lot to me and I like it a lot. Thanks man. Yeah. So, one of my goals is is and I like explained this on the first day that I have them that it's not just in
the walls of the gym during this period that I, you know, I'm hoping to create these bonds. Um, what I really was hoping for is that they would see each other in the hallways um and see each other around town and then have those experiences where like they may not have known that person before, but now there's they see them in other places
and they they now say hi to each other. And I know these guys drop by the neck room frequently just to drop in and say hi. So, that's awesome. Um, so Addy, I'm going to say what are some activities that you participate in during the class and then what are some of your favorites? Um, so in unified PE, we do a
lot of classes that are well, we do a lot of activities that you would typically do in just your average gym class, but all of the class like all the activities we do are definitely slowed down to a level where kids can
understand it. So, it's definitely a gym class where if you are like looking for a fast pace, you're going going going, it's definitely something not for most people, but for people that do love like just learning the sports and helping kids that maybe out on the outside of
this gym class would not be able to learn the sport, it's definitely like an opportunity to like see the smile on like one of the kids' faces when they make it in the hoop. And yeah, and other than just like your basics of like basketball, tennis, bad mitten,
volleyball, we do like tag. Tag's a big one. We have three versions. We've got banana tag, octopus tag, and then just classic tag. But definitely I love all the tags because it's lots of running.
But yeah, it's great. Awesome, man. Thank you. I appreciate it. So, I know and I know like um watching them play tag, they come in and it's usually one of the first things we do. So, we start our day, I start our period with some sort of tag game um and it is hugely popular and all those different we try
to change them all around. And my favorite part of it is watching these guys all like kind of hold each other's hands and bring each other around. So, if they see one of the peers that's not really sure what to be doing, they are awesome. They I don't even need to go out and tell them. they just go and grab
the kid and they they like bring them right into the game. So, it's it's really something awesome to see. Um, the next question is, has been being in Unifi changed the way that you interact with the these peers like both in and outside of the gym?
You want to answer that one? Okay. So, basically, you made friendships with these guys and a whole bunch of other people. Um, what are some of the ways that like Unifi helped you do that? Um, so I just I just started talking to them
and just started interacting with them just like normal and just like just normal people do just really just I just talk and just say, "Hey, what's your name? Um, can I um start talking to you? Can I start being your like can we start meeting and talking and starting to be
your friend? Can we eventually start talking and being friends?" And somehow that works and and it works and we become friends. Yeah, I dig it. Yeah. You guys want to add anything to that? Um, yeah. It's
also really nice when you're able to connect with girls like Bella and there are some more in the class where I feel like we do we do form a relationship where we are very close and I know that I have Bella's number. We chat we chat a
lot online which is very nice. So I get to hear about how our day went and all that fun stuff, but it's really great to make friends that you never knew you could make. Um yeah, we have our unified gym group chat
and and I don't think I'd be in a group chat with those people if it wasn't for that class and I really appreciate it. I value it a lot. Um I like talking to Bella. I like we like to FaceTime, right? Yeah. And yeah, I just love all the friendships that I've made during
that class. It's really it's really nice. I like it. Thank you guys. Yeah. And like I said, that's sort of one of the things that I think is most important to me is the is creating those relationships. Um and and really just being able to kind of be in the background and see it happen during
the classes is uh pretty overwhelming but amazing. So um and you already touched on the next one, so I'm going to skip that one because you already talked about it. Um, are there any skills, so I'll throw this one to you, Emma. Uh, are there any skills, physical or social, that you've
developed in this class? Um, definitely getting better at communicating. Um, I know I'm not the best at communicating for sure, but being in this class definitely helped me um, like find my voice sort of and kind
of be assertive when we have to be playing a certain game and kind of like enforcing rules gently and like not having harsh communication and they're absolutely professional at that. um to see them kind of handle the
things the way they do is is magical. Um they just have a way with all the kids in the class that is it's soft but it's they get like things moving in the direction that they want. Um and it's really cool to see. So um and then my last question is is there anything else you guys want to share that we didn't
talk about today? I have one thing. Go for it. So, like Emma said before, I have had the opportunity to take unified PE for all of seventh grade and all of 8th grade thanks to Mr. Hilts and Dr. Parks. They really hooked me up with
that class. Um, I think that like the first time I really like stepped into like just the small gym. I like knew that this class is something that really was for me. I've always like loved working with kids and I just love being around kids and I formed really great
relationships with all the students and this year I found like I gravitated more towards like Bella and Shay and they all were like just very great and I would just like to thank Mr. Holtz for making it that amazing for me. So thank you.
You want to say I felt like I had the same rod. I forgot. Sorry, I forgot. Let me figure it out. Yeah, take the mic. Um, as a very sporty person myself and who like likes to play basketball and
field hockey and stuff like that, um, definitely getting to teach them um, the games that I like to play is really, um, it's really great actually. Getting to see them kind of strive in the sport. Like Bella, she's a beast at basketball. and running. Yeah, and running. She beat
me today in a race. Um, but getting to see them strive in activities like that, it's really it's really nice to see cuz you don't see them a lot playing around. So, I like that class a lot because of that. Um, so basically, if I didn't do unified
gym, I would never met these two people. So, I'm so glad I did unified gym and I'm I'm so happy I met these people. So, I'll just close up by saying that I, you know, I they are what makes the class. Um, and and it it makes me feel
it. When Katie asked me if I would do this, she said, "I think this will be the your favorite class of the week." Um, and I don't have favorites, but this is the favorite. Um, yeah, I love it. So, I I thank you guys a ton. I can't thank you guys enough. It's you make the class what it is. So, thank you. Any uh
questions or comments for students? Um, thank you all. I mean, this is just uh uh makes my heart feel very full to hear you all talk about your experiences in this class. Um, just kind of a bigger picture logistical question. The students who um take this class, is this
the only PE class that they take when they are at McCarthy or is this in addition to another PE class? I'm just curious. Yeah, so most of them are in a general PE class as well. Um, and then this becomes an elective for them. So, uh, what's awesome about that is you
have those kids that know that this is something that they would be interested in. So, I end up that's how I end up getting the kids that like really want to be there and it really shows from day one. So, awesome. Any other questions? But I think this is like last year there
was a presentation about unified. I this started about three years ago. So, uh, we have a couple of different unified programs. Yeah. Thank you. Uh so this class started last year at McCarthy. Um because of the school reconfiguration,
McCarthy was able to add in electives to their schedule which they didn't previously have. Um so it's been something that we've been talking a little bit or were talking a little bit behind the scenes. Could we do something like this at the middle school? It's been very successful at the high school.
We've been doing it for about six years at the high school. um in just the way the um schedule worked out. We were able to bring it down to McCarthy because of those electives. That's great. Um so yes, we have it at the high school 9
through 12 and then we're able to bring it down um to McCarthy for grades 7 and 8. Um, and in addition to that, last year we started a unified game day, um, which incorporates all of our adapted PE
programming as well as our unified programming for grades 3 through 12. Um, so we're excited for that. That's next Friday um, at McCarthy from 10 to 12 and we have 118 athletes just from Chsford
athletes and coaches um, that are going to be part of the event. Um, so we're really excited about it. That's phenomenal. Amazing. Great. Right. Anything else? Quickly. I know I've met Eddie and Emma before and you know, you're both such strong leaders in
school. Um, I've seen you, you know, speak at other events and we've been involved in things. So, um, it's nice to see you involved in this, too, and taking that leadership in a different direction where you're mentors and coaches and building relationships with kids who you might not have met in your other classes. And that's really nice
that you're using your leadership skills in that way. So, great job. Continue the good work. Thank you. All right. Well, thank you all for coming. Thank you for telling us about the programs and uh good luck for the rest of year. Thank you for having us. Thank you guys. Oh, there's your unified
unified. Show the rest of your presence. This was pictures. I know. I know. I just like to close it out. Thank you everyone for coming. Thank you guys. You need to present anything because I'm coming. No, Patrick. Thanks, Katie. Thank you. Thank
you. Thank you. Thank you. That's so uplifting. All right. Now, we have third item agenda. We've got two great presentations. Try to follow that up. It's all important work. Great. So, it's all very important
work. I I will say I can't top those presentations of great presentations. I'm glad I came to see them. Just real quickly, just for the viewing, Christine Clans, CIDPW director, and there's a report in your packet, just the third quarter summary. Um, so Christine's just here to review that with us tonight. So,
thank you for having me. Thank you. Um, so this past uh quarter was important, too, because we switched to the new program. Um so previously when I came um come to talk to you we were just switching from school dude. School dude we've had for well over a decade. Um it
was a older system had some limitations um in terms of the reporting and how we were able to um create work orders and track work orders. So we've moved on to a new system uh with Brightly Solutions. It's called asset essentials. So this quarter uh the end of January we
transitioned to that new software. um this software what so in that transitioning we uh we we revised some of the work order uh uh tasks or categories so previously we were tracking 11 categories we have more um
granular details that we can track so we have now 22 categories so I I will present that in tonight's um update um and really this new software it is allowing more real time updates um it has it can be downloaded on your Android or app phone. Um, so a lot of our
facility staff, they're going to they can bring it up on their phone. They can close out work orders more real time. Um, and so that in terms of, you know, days a days aged, uh, looking at the completion of work orders, it can it can be really closed out there on the job.
Previously, we were filling out papers and that was getting back to the office. So, it's really eliminated a lot of the administrative um, process for how we track and close out work orders. Um so really happy to have that system. We're continuing this is so in terms of this quarter it was really our first quarter
using this new system. Um so with uh so this quarter which is January 1st to March 31st um we tracked a total of 319 school work orders. Um we are also using the system townwide. So it's a 388 work
orders townwide. So most of them taken up by the school. Um, I think that's because historically this software was really for the schools and then now we're expanding it to ex to use townwide um for facilities um in terms and I'll get into some of the breakdowns but of
all the work orders about 80% of them were completed or 254 work orders that is tracking lower than previous quarters and that's partially because we are um transitioning to this new software and also I think from the um from the winter there were some things that were put on
hold just because I know there was a request at Parker School to put line striping in the in the parking lot. So now we're looking to do that. That was put on hold this last quarter just because we had to have um you know in better weather for it. So onto the next um so in terms of I do
break down the work order completion per a school. So for all nine buildings uh reporting obviously so the high school has the most work orders 123 that were created um or or closed out um in the completion rates per school we're
tracking I show it in both um in the figure and then a chart form um so really everything is between 78% all the way up to 90 uh 95%. Um also with this work order system we can look at priorities. So when a work order system is put in, we look to say
we look to say is this an emergency? Is this critical? Can this wait at all? Um also some work orders are tied to larger projects and so that's why things are put on hold. So they're still that's why they're not shown as complete because they're does it is it ordering a part?
Is it part of a larger project? Um when we get into some of the trades, some of them roof leaks. Well, we're doing a lot of roof projects. So some of those roof leaks might be related to some larger capital projects. And then also just reporting on the um number of work orders or percent work orders per a trade. So
previously we've um represented 11 categories um a lot of the trades. We expanded upon that when we switch over to the new system just to try to track um some additional um uh categories that we often see. Um and so going from that
11 to 22. We still have all the trades. We have snow and ice in here, but those are typically closed out um more immediately and that's related to, you know, in the winter. Um in terms of percent complete, that is varying um really from essentially 25% but there
was only four work orders for the roofing all the way up to 100%. Um for roofing, that's an example where we have four work orders. Three of them are still open, one's closed. That roofing is probably tied to a larger project that we're and we're working on many capital projects. um for a school work
order system or program, we do not c track the capital projects. We're tracking this, you know, the smaller requests. So, if I guess if something is a request and it's part of a larger capital project, we we would close that out. Um let's see what else. I just also show
it graphically. And then lastly, um so this the next quarter will be the last year, the last of the quarters to report for this year. Um there's a lot more uh metrics that we can track with this new program. So we'll look at it as we start July the new year. We'll look to maybe days age outstanding. We can look at
some more metrics that we'll track and we'll present maybe later on this um this summer or in the fall. Are there any questions? Good. Dana, thank you for this. And I love I always love looking at the level of detail in the data you share. Um, I'm just curious
and I I don't have historical data from other times you checked in and I know that the systems changed anyway, but and and I know that this is covering winter, but I did see there are 85 total work orders around HVAC specifically, and 27 of those at the point this was captured
were still open. Is that unusual or is that like a typical amount of work orders are related to HVAC or is that specific to winter usually or? So I would say HVAC is really all year round because you have the cooling season, you have the you know general heat all year.
So it I would say between um historically HVAC in electrical we get the most work orders and sometimes they for parts um and sometimes to I guess it's a re it's it could be a um a control issue. It could be something that's more of a part issue. So I think
it's that that those are just the two largest categories that we usually track. So like there was uh one of our buildings or several of our buildings were having like huge heating problems. No. So, and we had we've also put a lot of money into the buildings um through
ARPA and through other um upgrades, but it could be as as simple as like you know room 202 is has too warm and so we go and troubleshoot it. So I would say because we we get the most um requests in HVAC. So it's one of our largest ones
and sometimes it could be we think we fixed it and then a week later it's fine and then when also it's weather dependent sometimes. So when we have flu right now we're having fluctuations with between hot and cold. So that's also a lot a lot of it as well. So sometimes they um they're they're minor issues. Um
it's not significant. We're constantly needing to repair our boilers or No, our boilers are actually in we're uh McCarthy will be in the next boilers and we're in really really great shape with the boilers. So I would say that that number is right to say 85 work orders
for HVAC and only 68%. It's um I would I would say our facilities in terms of maintenance of infrastructure HVAC are are rep. I would say we don't have significant issues or you know we're not losing sections of heat in buildings.
That's that's rare. All right. Thank you. Questions? I was just going to ask I mean it sounds like the new software is good in terms of keeping track any snags any hiccups with the new software that you weren't expecting or Yeah. I mean we h So the benefit of this new software is you can
access it through your mobile phone. So we had we um we have between tablets or mobile phones, we have a lot of our staff accessing it through their phones. Before they'd have to go back to the office and look log onto the computer. Um so that's been great. It took a little bit of time getting that app to
work correctly in terms of notifications because that's the thing too is is that the notification process. So when a work order comes in that goes to the supervisor. So Sean Trainer or Brian Orso and facilities they get these notifications. So they can be at cell row and if a work order comes in and
they see that it's in cell they can instead of you know they can maybe check it out before heading back to the office. Um so it took a little bit of time getting that functionality to work and that was a little of a a snag but um but it the systems you know we're really happy with the system. Great. And the
metrics will take time to um to kind of build the metrics, you know what I mean? That's something that we are still playing with. Um also preventative maintenance. So we can preload a lot of work orders and I set them on routine schedule that had to be previously on the school due that had to be entered
all manually. Um so that is something that we're still piloting and we're you know we're um starting but we'll be expanding on that this summer. Great. Thank you. So Christine just mentioned how it works with getting to a supervisor or to the work order water
going on her end. How does it work on our end? So let's say there's a leak. Yeah. In a in a ceiling somewhere at the high school. This is a complaint I got yesterday. A leak at the high school. How what do they do? So we're the ones
actually entering the work tickets that then get received by Christine's group. Who gets who writes the work tickets? Well, at the high school it would be Charlie who is the head custodian at the high school. Okay. So, if a teacher or someone reports an issue, um, anything that would happen that we would want DPW
to respond to, then Charlie would enter the ticket and when he enters it, um, like Brian on our side, Brian on our side can view it, but it would go up to Christine's folks to be able to say, "All right, this is plumbing, this is roofing, this is, you know, whatever it ends up being, and then they can kind of prioritize it and assign staff to it to
fix it." So we do the entry and then we can monitor and close and things like that when they're done. Yeah. So that is another good aspect. So when we close it out, whoever generated that ticket gets a notification that is closed out. Previously under the school dude that
was not as easy. You'd have to go into the system and check on the work order status. So that's another component kind of similar to our Cclick fix throughout town. um is that when whoever generates the work order is also provided an update or sometimes if something's put on hold. So we've sometimes said you
know on hold because this is part of a you know we have to order parts that information will go back to the person that generated the ticket. That's good. And you can tag photos and so a lot more abilities with this program. Awesome. Right. Any other questions? Just thanks for all the details. Thank you. Thank
you as always. Thank you Christina. I very much appreciate it. [Music] Uh, next item on the agenda for us is number four. This is um to approve a new custodial cleaning um contract. So, as you know, we're just talking about Lali. The building custodians during the day
are employees of the school department, but we then contract in the evening for cleaning companies to come in and perform like the deep clean of the buildings. So, um our contract with the current vendor was up, so we have to uh go out to bid to award new contract. Thank you again, Christine. Um, so
before you tonight is a summary that I'll ask Joanna to walk you through on um the RFP process, the number of applicants, ultimately the recommended contract before you. Thank you. So, we put out RFP 25502 earlier uh this spring
and we received six responses and uh we had a little committee to review the non-cost proposals and u rated them and we invited three of the six proposers in
for interviews and um in the end we um are recommending we award the contract to dynamic janitorial services um for a grand total of $987,219 for fiscal year 2026.
Any questions? I I do. Um one is this is just from my understanding. I'm sorry if I should know this. Um, when you say it's a non-cost proposal, does that mean there's a set cost and everyone is putting in their
proposal for the same amount? So, they're not including a cost, right? So, uh, please. So, an RFP is a request for proposal and there's the non-pric proposal and then the price proposal. So when they submit it, there's two
envelopes um sealed and the process is to open the nonprice proposal first and have the committee uh review the points that are listed in the RFP. It's a kind
of a ranking of um advantageous uh not advantageous and it's the third one. There's three. Um, highly highly advantageous. Highly. And then so the committee um you get
your little packet and you're sent home over the weekend with a lot of reading and your little charts and then we come back and um provide um the discussion. And so that's the whole nonpric proposal component. And then
once you set that, then you um open up your price proposal so that doesn't influence your decision on the ranking criteria that you put out in your RFP. So um this is interesting because
I'm very familiar with RFP processes, but I've never heard about it on this end of it um as much. Um, I'm curious then to what extent I mean I imagine in the end price does factor into decision-making. Is it something that is only looked at for those who have
otherwise been seen as advantageous or is it really like cost blind throughout the entire evaluation process? The the more important part of an RFP is are they meeting your criteria. So let me give an example on this. So if if you're
um if you have your list of requirements for cleaning the buildings and you know we know from experience it takes you know 8 hours to clean the building and when they put that in their proposal how
they're going to do it. Um and then you rank that very high but then you see another company put in one hour to clean the building. So that one hour might have a better price, right? But you're not gonna have a clean building. So
that's the reason why you split it out and you don't have it just based on price because you might not have all your criteria met for what you're asking for in a custodial cleaning. Yeah. Then I guess my qu that all totally makes
sense. I guess my question is then what if there's a situation where the best proposal that comes through based on the rankings and the blind review of the applications well exceeds
uh the cost of like the second best rated one. Uh we're fortunate it's still pretty competitive out there. I think they all know each other. They all show up for the walkthroughs. Yeah. Um so
we're fortunate um that it was very competitive on price too also. Um but if you ever did have something that was way out of whack like that, you could go ask your highest ranking to, you know,
review and say, "Is this is this your best?" Gotcha. Okay. Thank you. Um, that wasn't just for my own edification. I'm also just thinking about this in relation to, you know, does does what we ultimately landed on align with what
we've allocated budgetarily for this? I was uh short by less than 1%. I put that in the Is that 8,900 amount? So, pretty good. That's not bad at all. Thank you. We tried. Thank you, Brian
Curly, too. um because remember we did the budget in February, you know, way before this went out. So um so we will make an adjustment within that category um to to cover that small little
shortfall. Other questions? That was a good one. My question was just uh in the past I I believe we've had multiple companies and there's been some advantage to having multiple companies. I forgot what those advantages are, but now we'll go into one company. Can you kind of talk about that a little? Yep.
One of the advantages um well this one was they ranked very high um in comparison and also when you have um a supervisor over or a couple supervisors over multiple buildings you really get
higher quality sometimes. Um and that's been our experience. Yeah. Just the other things when we first went out to bid years and years ago our first contract we ultimately awarded it to three different companies and uh that was our first time kind of getting we had Aramark at the time they
had like a a global contract for the district. We went out we awarded it to three and the thought process was it was our first time doing this. If one contractor wasn't really kind of pulling their load we might be able to terminate that contract we'd have a couple of other on site and it would work out well. We did that for the first
contract. one of the three really didn't um kind of own up to what we had uh really wanted. The next time we went out to bid, it was awarded originally to two contractors. So, we had two different contracts and a different split up of the schools. Over the term of that contract, one of the contractors um
basically again wasn't holding up to their their own. We ended up um terminating their contract and then the third company who was already in the district assumed the load which is dynamic is the current contractor we're under and they currently are contracting to do all of our schools. So today we
really only have the one contractor. We could potentially have broken it up and done say two contractors if we wanted some competition. They have proven um to be very good and actually reliable and kind of know our buildings now. They staff them uh very well. We're happy with the product. If it was an unknown commodity, I'd be a little bit more
concerned, but um we I think we actually get a very good price for a very good service and they're a known entity for us. So these these people have been in the district. This is the current group that's been successful in the district and they're managing the whole district right now. So we're basically saying, you know, they've proven themselves. It
wouldn't um make sense to break it up just to bring someone else in for competition if what we have currently working is working. Okay, great. That clarified. I didn't know it was the same company. It's the same. It's the same company we currently have. I I do have a question about one of the things I'm really wondering about is um what kind
of things do we ask them about how well they vet their employees because these are the people who open and close our buildings. There's a lot of security concerns involving that and is that part of the RFP that they have to talk about that process? I remember when Aaron Mark was here there were some issues that was
going way back of course. See, um, in the RFP, and Joanna can speak to this if you'd like to, as far as the, um, like the requirements for workers, but we, um, treat them as a contractor of the district. So, they have to be vetted by us. Um, very similar to the bus company. They have to be Corey checked and
background checked. We have to approve them coming in to work on the contract. We're not just taking the word of the vendor who's doing their own kind of vetting. So they have to get through the same level of clearance that we would have for hiring a teacher or a parro or someone like that as far as background
check is concerned and then ultimately if um something ever went ary because they are an employee of the company they are carrying insurance um that we would tap if something ever happened um but they're going through the same vetting they would go through as if they were our own employee. That's good. That's important. It's yeah I see there's see
there's page nine in the house. All right. Any other questions? All right. If not I'll take a motion. Okay. Um, I move to accept the base bid and award the contracted con custodial cleaning services contract for Chumsford
Public Schools commencing on July 1st, 2025 through June 30th, 2026 to the vendor named which is Dynamic Janitorial Cleaning Inc. 176 Main Street, Milford, Mass 01757 for the four elementary schools,
two middle schools, Chumsford High School, the Community Education Building, and the Central Administration offices, and it is in the amount of $987,219. Second. Second. Nice motion. That was a good motion. All right. Uh, any further
questions? All right. I think we'll do a roll call on this one. Susan, hi. Diana, hi. John I Maria I I zero. Great. Good signature. Yeah, we do have real contracts we'll pass around at the end and there's going to be three of them. So, you're going to sign your name three
times on the right line that corresponds with your name. Thank you. Um next up is just an enrollment update. Um I told you I'd give you some updated numbers after we held the last um kindergarten registration session. So, you do have those uh numbers before you. Um they're
somewhat in line with uh previous years. Um if you look at the top section, this is uh kindergarten numbers. Um the high actually at this point is uh center at 89 uh students enrolled for the fall, followed by down at 81 and then
Harrington 79 and South Row 70. Um so at this point in time, we actually haven't had any of the schools that are even tipping into the 90s. Um this is very reasonable enrollment. I do anticipate it's going to go up between now and the end of the summer. It's something we'll closely monitor as schools uh start to
approach. Um you know the the high 90s 100 mark is typically when we then consider adding a fifth section. But uh the numbers are very um very good at this point in time. And we didn't have significant additions to first grade either. Only five students have signed up for first grade coming in. So nothing
out of the ordinary there. Is is this exceptionally low for biome? Does hasn't biome had five sections of each grade for a number of years? Um it yeah it has if they're five across the board. So uh biome definitely gets up closer to closer to 100. So this is a little low
for them. Um I would if I had to bet just based on annually what happens I think they're going to be up in the mid to high 90s by the end of the cycle. I don't exactly know. Yes, we're just going to keep monitoring it but um it is a little lower than usual. Yeah. I
saw 81 and I said, "Wow, that's like a comfortable four classes." Yep. Any other questions? So, we look good right now. We're looking very good. And again, I'm going to keep tracking this for you. If we get any updates, we need to make any actions, I'll bring that forward to you.
Yeah. So, one of the questions I received is what happens if we do need to add a section or a teacher. Is that something we've budgeted for? No. But historically what will happen is if we have to add a teacher we will and
then I'll find the money somewhere to do that. Um so you know we've always had it be if when we get into the mid to high 90s approaching 100 if we need to add that fifth section we will. Um and then I'll come back and make a recommendation to you as to where we should um where we should fund it. Thank you. Is there
currently a budgeted fifth teacher at Baym for kindergarten just because they may be a placeholder because what's happened with Baym a couple of years um they inevitably do fill up um and the problem with having kind of like an interim teacher in that role is
yeartoear it just can potentially bounce who the person is. So I will look at the budget and see if we're already carrying five at Bay. I wouldn't be surprised if we weren't but um I will take a look at that for you. But even regardless of the school it was at, if we ended up needing it, we'll put it in and I'll figure out
how to pay for it. Super. Right. Any other questions on that? Great. Thank you. Great. Um, next up is I'm going to have Joanna review the student transportation information. Very exciting time of the year as we prepare for busing for the 2526 school year.
Thank you. So, there's three um memos about the bus uh this year. The first one is just an overview of this year's uh transportation. The second one is a vote on the fee structure for next year.
And then the third one is just the little flyer we put up on the website to help families um you know know what to do and how to register for the bus. So for the overview, um each year we
have 29 buses making three runs every day. The high school, then the middle schools, then the elementary schools. And we had a record high number of students this year. Um 3,612. Usually we're around 3,400. So um
a lot of students riding the bus. And they also uh are able to ride uh after school buses uh three days a week from October to uh late May, early June uh if they want um you know for our afterchool
programs. So the fee structure is um there's a little chart there and if you're K to six over two miles you do not have to pay a fee to ride the bus.
And then we also ask that um all students have to register to ride the bus even if there's no fee because we need to know where you are and then we can set the route and the bus stops and
get everybody to school safely in a reasonable amount of time and not have you ride the bus too too long. And then the parents would just go on. We're still going to use my school bus and you're going to register um starting June 1st to uh ride the bus.
And again, K to six over two miles. There's no fee. Everybody else pays a fee. Okay. Then there's a little chart of um when these uh
3,612 students registered. We had a big um registration in June, that's the early bird, over 2,000 students, and then 762 in July. And then in August, we still had, you know, uh 500 families
register to ride the bus. And I just encourage families to register sooner rather than later. Uh so we can set the routes and get the bus stops um set. And then when we mail out the bus passes in mid August, um we have a a pretty good
set of data to uh to do the routes. And then the next section is uh uh the list of schools and the number of buses running. Um and then the total number of students from that school on the bus and then the average count of
students on the bus. And just as a reminder, uh the capa capacity is 83 students on the bus. Um, so this is saying for example at Bay, eight buses run, 415 students for an average of 52 students on a bus. Now I'm sure there's
some buses that have more than that and some that have bus. Again, we ask families register sooner rather than later using my school bus. And we plan to mail out the passes um August 15th. We'll set the routes and the bus stops on the data that we have,
you know, by the end of July, early August. And then as families make a decision later than that to ride, you'll just um get an existing bus stop. And then um later if we have to adjust the bus stops, we will. But um the main
reason for that is there's safety in having the many students on a bus stop. It's also a time factor. If the bus, I'm sure you remember driving down the street and if you're behind the bus and he stops every 10 minute, you know, 10 feet, it takes a lot longer for everybody to get to school.
And u we're still going to be again use our same systems, my school bus. Um we're still going to use Transfinder to do the routes. We're still going to work with NRT as our uh bus company. And um any questions on the overview for this
year? Okay. The next memo is asking Oh, go ahead. Sorry. Are we going to talk separately about the bus fees? That's next. Okay. Sorry. So, the next memo is the fee structure, and I'm not recommending any changes to the fee
structure. Um, what we've been using for the past several years is from June 1st to June 30th. That's our early bird fee. So, it's $175 per student with a $500 family or $400 family cap.
And then if you register a little later, July, the month of July, it's 200 per student, 500 family cap. And if you register August 1st through end of January, it's 225 per student with 500
as a family cap. And if you register in February, it's $100 per student and a family cap of 500. And just as a reminder, this only pays for a portion of the bus um fee. We um big round
numbers. Um we pay about $2 million to the bus company a year for the big yellow buses. Um, this will bring in about, you know,
$380,000 of the 2 million and then the rest is funded uh from the local operating budget. Questions? Diana? So, I am to be clear not advocating for
raising bus fees, but I am curious if that if there was conversation about that and how the decision was made to keep the fees at the same level. The reason I bring this up is because I know back in December when we had an initial discussion about the tight budget this
year and in the next few years, it was clear that one of the few areas in which we as school committee can really levy fees is around bus fees. Um, for equity reasons, I would be concerned about
raising it significantly. I'm not advocating for raising it at all, but I do know that those who receive free and reduced lunch can have no fee for buses regardless. Um, and so I'm just curious if there's
any amount that raising it that would allow us to enhance our programming, open up budget space. Has there been any consideration for, you know, the tradeoffs of that?
So when we put the um we did we obviously we had the discussion last December and um when we were putting the budget together for the year we assumed we would keep the same fee structure in place. So that's what the budget was derived on basically having a set revenue come in consistent what we've
had previously. Um, one of the things we certainly can do um, going forward for next year even just to have the data would be to show like what other school systems are charging uh, for buses just so you can have that sense. But we were not in a position with the budget that was approved to have to raise fees. And
I think we've honestly worked over the last number of years to reduce as many fees as we possibly can to not have them be a barrier for anyone um, getting to school or eating lunch or staying for after school programs um, participating in sports and athletics. Um that's
something that we've actually whenever we can we've lowered. Um is it something we certainly can look at? Yes, we did not need to for this current budget because it was predicated on the same revenue offsets that we've had um previously. I will tell you the other thing about the way we do um
transportation currently in Chelmsford is we take a look at the riders that we have to transport to school based on the state mileage requirements who are free. And for us, because we're using the same buses for three different runs, we're
doing high school in the morning, then middle school, then elementary school. It's typically our elementary school buses that we have the largest um number of need. So we need 29 buses to transport the kids that we're required to transport to the elementary school. So um what we would have to do is
basically an analysis um which would be difficult because we'd almost have to approve higher fees to then see who wouldn't actually take us up on it to not ride the bus. um it would be very difficult to just do timing wise because
I don't know necessarily that we could really cut back from the 29 buses that we're currently running and the revenue that we take in for the students who aren't required to ride the bus say the middle school the high school things like that um just offsets the a little bit of the
cost but we would still in my opinion need approximately the 29 buses to be able to do the elementary routes just based on the mileage to and from school for elementary um how spaced out our town is. So, I don't know that we would be able to cut down to say 20 buses and
really have like a substantive change. We're basically just kind of taxing um folks for the extra seats that are on the buses. I just have a feeling that we'd probably and I just don't know what that point would be, but we'd hit a point where we just have empty seats on buses that we have to run anyway because
we have to um get those kids in the elementary schools to school. Um, again, we if it's something the committee wants to look at, we certainly could do a survey of again even like local communities to see what they're charging for buses. We cannot alter the um the mileage and things like that because that's kind of set uh statewide, but um
obviously always open to a discussion on it. Yeah. And and as I said, I'm not advocating for raising fees, but I have since December heard from several people not affiliated with the schools necessarily who have asked why we have not raised fees. and I I wanted to kind
of publicly hear the explanation for why they are said as they are. Um that said, I do think it might be beneficial prior to setting next year's budget to do a survey of you know the dark comparable districts um and what their bus fees are
um just for our understanding of where there may or may not be a big difference and what what and have that discussion. Um, but I appreciate hearing about the intentionality behind keeping them at the same level. Sure. Okay. I'm just
going to say another concern I would have if we're going to in any way eliminate the possible number of people who will ride the bus. I I looked at the numbers when you um reported from last year and it's
always interesting to see that the lowest elementary writing writership is Harrington and that actually causes quite an issue in the morning and in the afternoons for the number of cars that are going around and trying to circulate
there and so on. And I think that that's something that has to be taken into consideration too. um the safety and and the additional traffic that happens in the town and so on when you have more people bringing
the kids to school instead of riding the bus. So that that's another concern. I think we'd have to see what the impact would be at every school. It'll be complex to figure that out for sure. parenting of ours. I do, you know, just looking at the Facebook post, a lot of
people are very concerned about bus fees and, you know, they may not qualify for free and they have to pay it and it's a big concern of people because they just need to use the bus as ways to work with babysitters and who knows what. So, I think we're very fortunate and that we
haven't had to raise fees and I hope listeners are actually grateful that we haven't had to raise fees, but I do think it's something we might need to look at. Westford actually just recently proposed raising their fees again. They're going to 375.
Yeah. Per child with a cap of um 850. And they did do a survey which they published. So I printed it out and we are quite a bit lower than a lot of similar towns. So I think there might be
room for us to look at the possibility of raising it in the future. Although I'm grateful for families that we've been able to keep it low because so many people really need the buses and the traffic situation. So I think we've got to kind of weigh what is it we want to do for families. Do we want to keep it
low as possible or do we need to look at as a source of revenue and there might be some room to raise it maybe next year. Okay. I would even argue that you probably get more ridership because a lot of parents because the fee is low that are within the two mile block pay for it because they're like I'm I can
afford it, right? So if you take those people out, is it as accessible to the sub two miles? Cuz not every school is reachable by any other method besides bus or car. So right just a thought. Um another question I had here is um about
the bus waiver fee uh the reduced lunch and getting that certification from the state. So what happens when lunches are always free? Will you still um we still encourage families to apply for free and reduced lunch because there's other
benefits to um to putting that data in with the state like the this is one of the benefits. Um there's other things with the state reduction on your electric bill, reduction on your cable bill. Um
there's other benefits to filling that out. Um, not just breakfast and lunch. Okay. So, if they don't have it and they want the waiver, they must have it. Correct. They fill it out. Period. Okay. Right. Any other
questions? Okay. We'll take a motion to approve these as the fees. Okay. Um, I move that we approve the fees for busing as presented. Second. Right. Okay. Susan I. Diana. I. John I
Maria I I 5 Z. Okay. Thank you. Next item on the agenda is just a communication to um alert you that we officially do have uh left field on as the owners project manager for the uh
Parker Middle School project. So they're going to serve as our OPM. A week ago Monday, we attended the OPM uh review panel uh with the MSVA. uh uh left field did a very nice job uh presenting very few questions. It's clear that they have a very good track record with the MSBA
just based on the tenor of the discussions with the group. Um shortly thereafter within a day or two I attached a copy of the letter that the town manager received just approving um left field to serve as the project uh I'm sorry the owners project manager for our uh construction project and then um
they subsequently last Friday signed the contract. So we have an executed contract between the town and left field to serve as the OPM. Uh our next step is now as indicated kind of moving on to the designer um selection process. Left field submitted to the MSBA last Friday
also a draft what they call request for services to get the designer on board. So we should hear back uh within about 10 days on that. We'll start that process. But um just officially wanted to let you know that the MSBA did approve left field and the town has executed their contract.
Any questions on that? Good. Okay. All right. Moving on. Number eight. Um, we have a few more recommended one-time uh budget purchases for you as we uh and then the item after that is just the required transfers. Um,
as we're still kind of closing in on the end of the fiscal 25 U budget, we have been able to um identify some uh remaining projects, uh, solidify some of the quotes on the projects. Um, so you do have a another list of approximately $400,000 of uh projects before you.
Again, these are all one-time expenditures. They don't have uh recurring costs in future fiscal years. They do fall within um the budget plan at the end of the year to make some onetime expenses to do some prepaid tuitions for uh special education.
Um and I can either I certainly can just answer any questions you have. They're pretty self-explanatory, this list. um or if you have just individual questions on them, I'm happy to answer them, but Joanna laid them out for you. Any questions on the list of items?
I question just on the sports uniforms. We don't typically pay for sports uniforms from this account or from general budget. how any particular reason why we have these these ones in particular and and is this going to become an issue in the future
where No, I mean a couple of different things. Um when I talked to all the different departments about like what are some of their upcoming costs um for the coming year um the Dan Hart the athletic director has a a running list of different uniforms that they replenish on a particular cycle. Um he
like say the music program and things like that submit different requests. Um, in the past, what we've also done at the end of the year is allocate some funding to say the athletic revolving fund. Um, so that he might be able to just purchase it out of that where he actually just had um solicited already
the quotes for the purchases and these are all for the fall. The timing just happened to be that um they were ready to execute on the orders. Um, it fell within the one-time parameter, so we brought it forward. Okay. So, typically it comes out of the athletic revolving. Yeah. There's nothing to prohibit it
from coming out of this, but um normally it would come out of his regular budget. It would come out of the alphabetical revolving fund. Um and with the quotes were just ready to go. We just did it this way this year. So uniforms are not purchased by the individuals who participate.
No. So the uniforms themselves, the district has always provided like the actual team uniform. Sometimes the teams will do like a fundraiser and they might buy like a sweatshirt or a pullover or a t-shirt or something like that to supplement the uniform. But the true uniform that the kids wear that say like
lions and things like that, we buy them and then they're passed down year to year. So at the end of the season we collect them, they get washed and everything. Um and then they're, you know, reused for a couple years. Oftentimes they'll start with the varsity team for a couple years, then they'll move down to like a JV team, then they might move down to a freshman
team. So they might have like say a six-year cycle and then you go buy you go replenish and buy new uniforms but these are actually owned by the district or owned by the school. All right. Any other questions on the
list? Okay. You want to make a motion to approve this list first before we do the other one? Okay. Um, I make a motion that we approve the one-time budget expenditure expenditures list for um
recommended one-time purchases um of four totaling 400,254 as presented. Second. Any further questions? All right. Susan Ia I John IA
I I Okay. And then we have the Valley Collaborative one. Do you want to walk them through your transfers? Right. Um so the next memo are the budget transfers. Yeah. The first one you is for the
400,254 that we just went through and there's the um eight categories that are favorable um putting to the four categories where the item should be purchased. The next page of that memo is
recommending that the school committee approve a prepayment of fiscal 2026 tuitions at the end of 2025 for to an up
total of uh 1,885,000. Okay. And this is based on um Amy Reese um has been reaching out to the um the providers to see, you know, where we could come. And just a reminder of
the rules is it's um you can pay up to 12 months of a collaborative tuition and up to three months of a private um school tuition. So, will most of these go towards the
collaborative, I assume, or uh it's a little bit of a mix. Okay. Uh it was when Amy had her list and she also considers the student because if the student might be changing placements, you wouldn't want to do a prepayment, right? You know, that kind of thing. And
it was also is the provider able to provide that invoice um you know, and and get us moving and everything. So, she um been working on it for about a month and this um she's ready to go on
this up to amount should the committee um approve it. Okay. Any question any other questions on I know this is something that's worked for us in the the past so nice to continue it. So, yeah, I I do I think it it provides us a little bit of um like
budgeting um flexibility as we get into um to next year. It has served us well the last um few years kind of taking a look at any of our anticipated revenue at the end of the year, extra funds, doing the one-time purchasing um using this as kind of a placeholder to be able
to um roll some funds into 26. Um I do think it's a good strategy. Great. I'll take two motions here. So the fir the first uh for the first we already did the first one the $400. Not I didn't do transfers but that's okay. You didn't do the transfers. You just
approve. You approve the list. Okay. Transfers. Yeah. Okay. Let's I've got you on this. Okay. Here we go. Um I make a motion that we uh approve the FY2025 local operating budget transfers totaling
400,254 for the Chser Public Schools as presented. Uh which is shifting eight desic categories that are favorable to four desic categories where the items should be purchased. Second. Okay. Questions on that? We'll vote again.
Susan I. Diana. Hi. John. Hi. Maria. Hi. I. And then next one. And I move that we approve the FY2025 local operating badger transfer totaling up to up to
a,8.85 uh to fund prepaid out of um district tuitions for the Chford public schools as presented. Second. Okay. Any further questions there? Okay. Susan, I John, hi. Maria, I I 5 Z. Thank
you very much. Um Joanna, do you want to do your warrant? The next memo is just a little chart of um our recommendation for the dates that the committee would come in to sign the accounts payable
warrant which is every other Friday um for fiscal 2026. Okay. Any questions? Everybody still comfortable with what while we're doing it, which as long as one person signs it, it's good. I'm okay with it. Yeah.
Okay. All right. Great. I'm I'm fine with I'm sure Joan is fine with much easier to find one person than three people, but uh Okay. All right. Uh do we need to approve this list or we just As long as you don't object to it, we'll put it in your package. I move
that we approve the warrants signing list as presented. Second. Sorry. Okay. All those in favor? I abstain. I'm just kidding. I do want to say that I just wanted to throw you make sure I was paying attention. I wanted to make sure you're paying attention. I appreciate it a lot when um
and thank the PE when you let me know I've signed it or you know it's really nice. So, thank you. Helpful to know somebody. I really appreciate it. Says they're going to go in. It's so nice. You can always have more than the one. So, if someone like really wanted to come in and do it, you certainly can.
But it does help as far as just having to have the one just to keep things flowing. It's really nice. Nothing better than a Saturday morning. I was going to say I crave the opportunity to look at a bunch of business get a good overview without having to go in extra time. True.
Uh next item, the uh personnel report uh on this one for the month of April. So some of our transactions you'll see starting to come in for our new hires uh to going to not begin with us until the fall. So if you see an effective date of 825, these are all individuals who are going to be uh starting working for us
at the start of the next school year. So we have a number of new hire in various positions. We've had a couple of um paraprofessional resignations um over the course of that month. And then we're starting to also list for you the assignment changes because we have had a few individuals in the district transfer
primarily within the same role but to different schools. Um, so just to help you um, track some of those names and uh, positions, we have that for you. Um, no action required, just um, providing you the information. One of the new hires is a former student of mine. So that was kind of heartwarming to see.
Oh, good. Oh, nice. You inspired him. Any any questions? No. I would just question. So, somebody is transitioning from a financial analyst to a assistant business administrator. So, what's the change in the role there?
And so um we are not back filling we're still going to be at one FTE. We're not back filling the financial analyst position. Um and we used to have an assistant business manner manager position years ago and we're just kind
of which the committee approved. So we're kind of bringing that um back to life and now you will have two people in the district who have the lensure um myself and uh Donna Dantis who you know from the business office uh she um has
her lensure and also the MCPPO certification and um that's what that one's about. Okay. So what will change in terms of her job description? what should we do different or same or so I mean a lot of the the duties are going to be the same we have um and this
is part of the financial review years ago trying to have some redundancy in positions and have some additional people be licensed um to hold the various roles so Donna actually was hired as the um financial analyst when we were advertising for school business administrators it's very difficult
finding individuals with that license um we weren't able to hire one Donna came on board as a financial analyst um she worked on and was able to get the license to be the school buildings administrator. So, we're basically recognizing that and um she'll now be the again another individual on staff
that holds that license. A lot of the duties will be the same. She'll start to take on some additional duties with Joanna maybe around budgeting and accounts payable receivable. Um just to have a second person who really knows the full complement to the office. Um it's it's honestly it's a great thing
for uh for the district. Okay. Yeah. I I actually want to say thank you to Joanne because I think that that means that she's really helping us as a district in terms of making sure that there's continuity and knowledge transfer and
all of those things in the office. So, thank you for doing that. I appreciate it. Right. Any other questions on the personnel positions? How are we doing on positions filling? We're good. Yeah, we're actually doing pretty good. we can do a
report for you maybe um give me another two meetings maybe towards the uh the second meeting in June we can give you an update at that point but hiring is overall going um very well um we've been able to actually secure some key positions we had a couple of psychologist positions that were open we've been able to get candidates for
those which is great um but I'll have a uh an update for you in June before we break for the summer okay thank you all right uh last thing we have one field trip yeah we had one field trip come in and this is just um for a one-day trip. This happens to just have one of the venues is in New Hampshire.
Uh this is the class offices for next year's high school. Um the class of 26 visiting some potential uh prom venues um on June 2nd. Uh the four class officers and the class adviserss. Um I forget which one, but one of the venues
is in New Hampshire. So yeah, I don't have it right in front of me. Window. Uh it's a country club. Atinson's a country club up there. That's probably Atinson Country Club. Yeah. So that one's in New Hampshire. So um that's why they needed the approvals. Okay. So I'd recommend
approval. All right. So just take a motion on Okay. I move that uh we approve the field trip by Chumsford High School class of 2026 officers to visit uh potential prom location sites or venues
on June 2nd, 2024 in New Hampshire. Second. Right. Any questions on the field trip? All those in favor? Hi. Right. All right. I believe that is it. That's all I have. Okay. Anyone have any less or reports?
I believe Yeah, I have not shared um the Parker and McCarthy PTO meeting um happened on the 8th um which was just after our last meeting. Um it was a great meeting. Um they presented scholarships to the Parker and McCarthy
PTO scholarship winners. Um, and that was great to see. Um, some students with great plans. Um, and it was pretty competitive from what I understand this year. Um, to my understanding, McCarthy's knowledgeable team came in second. Is
that correct? Yeah. Okay. Um, and uh, what else did I hear? The repainting at McCarthy's cafeteria was a point of excitement for students. Very good. Um and um there was lots of appreciation and excitement around the teacher and
staff appreciation events at both schools. Um and lots of discussion about upcoming big events. The Memorial Day ceremony at Parker this Friday. Um the we are Parker event on 611 is up in full
swing. um and McCarthy um and center um had a really successful recycling day event. It was very I think the most successful of those events to have ever happened um
at least in recorded history. Um but some concern that for this event to continue in the future, they would really need more volunteers to have it be run effectively. And so there's a a lot of conversation between both Parker and McCarthy's PTO's about how to engage
more parents who may not necessarily want to be in an official board position or run an event to be um sort of more likely to volunteer for some of these um big one-off events that raise a lot of money and make a big difference
for the school community. Great. Right. Susan, you have anything? I do. um Harrington PTO at their meeting they um had their scholarship presentation. A young woman named Jessica um received their scholarship and she wrote a very nice
letter about her memories from the Harrington's Heritage Festival and how that had impacted her and influenced her. So that was nice. Um they recently had their ice cream social that was combined with their art show called Celebration of the Arts.
upcoming. They have a Silver Knights game, Harrington Night at the Silver Knights on June 7th. They also had some great teacher appreciation events. It sounded that the teachers really enjoyed them. Their next meeting is Wednesday, June 4th, and they
will be electing their executive board for next year. So, if anyone's interested in getting involved in that, uh there's one more chance. Hey, John. Anything? And chips. um right
also did some great staff apprec appreciation. They really said that they were grateful that they do get some money from Dr. Lang to help them fund that. They were able to include the KMED program um because they share the building and
their appreciation events and they just said that worked out really well just for camaraderie, you know, people who work in the same building. They have a touch a truck event coming up on June 10th which is I guess very very popular and they are also ready to
elect their next slate of officers um at the June 9th meeting. That's um well I have center tomorrow night um so I don't have anything but I do know that the high school did meet um their
big event is coming up the after prom. So just a reminder that they're collecting um and so people folks should go on the website that they usually go on to to um help support the after prom.
And just a reminder to everyone that over 200 students hugely participate in that event and that it's very important for the seniors in our town. So whatever they can contribute, it's absolutely appreciated. Speaking of which, what date is the prom? Just so people can
know to stay out of the center of town. Yes. The 28th. 28th. And how beautiful. We'll we'll put something on Facebook. The police department always does as well. Yeah. I think it's a Wednesday, correct? Yes. As somebody that lives right next to the common, I'm very well aware of when it's prom. I can't get in
my street, but I think it's Wednesday. Wednesday. Yeah. Wow. Time flies. Just flies. And just something on the reports that we do, and it's wonderful to be able to um liazison with these parent groups. But I wondered if we as a
committee might want to invite them as to also present to us once a year or um whenever they see the need maybe through the council of schools. Well, maybe through the council of schools and asking once a year rather than having each individual group just just to see
um because they the service they provide is is really immense. Um, and I think as a district, uh, it's it's wonderful to recognize the fact that with this much parental involvement is really part of the quality that we bring to the
education. We're partners in all this. So, um, you know, it would be nice to have them directly uh, present to us if they would like rather than just through us as the liaison. Um, maybe through the
council. Just a thought. All right. Um I just had u already mentioned we had the building committee last week met again. We're now going to be on a monthly basis. We'll be meeting once a month with uh left field and as was already mentioned the next step is
to uh put up proposals for designers and hopefully get some applications back over the course of summer and then slated end of August maybe. End of August hopefully. Yeah. They gave us dates towards the end of August. Yeah. to hopefully have a designer on board and then we we we step on the next part
of I think yeah right after um you know like mid-occtober right when we come back from Columbus Day I think we'll be going so it's moving along a little bit slow Dennis um Linda has made a mistake she needs to announce okay it's not the 28th I was less right this time um I have a correction it's actually June 4th
for the prom next week is finals week okay June 4th for the prom week off week off last year we had everything so much earlier so I'm a week off So June 4th. Okay, that is official. Stay out of the center of town. And graduation is the graduation is the 6th. Saturdays at 4:00
at this. Well, we'll meet before then, right? We have a meeting before. We have I think we meet on the We can remind everybody on our next meeting that graduations on the sixth. Oh, stop. Okay. I'll be there. Are you looking at me? No, don't look at me. I'll be there. Okay. It's all on my wife's calendar. We
put it all on there. All right. Um, I got it. Any additional items, new items people want to talk about? Um, I feel a little bit like a broken record, but before the school year is out, I would really like to be able to
pull educators, particularly in our secondary schools, but I would say in general, about technology policies, particularly around cell phones and smart devices, and get information on what whether the
existing policies are meeting the needs that they see in their classrooms andor if there are concerns with the policies as they currently exist and how they are impacting their ability to successfully engage students and manage the
classrooms. Okay, great. We can send some note. Is there like a a particular survey that you've seen that's been It's not a particular survey. I just am aware I think that it's important to hear what
is happening in the classrooms before I I hear a lot of what parents are saying, right? But I I want to hear from educators and what they're seeing as potentially what works and and policy gaps. Um, part of the reason I bring this up is because I've had the opportunity recently um to visit um
several high schools and have seen a vast difference based on what the cell phone policy is in terms of what I'm seeing in terms of student engagement and classroom management for what seem to be very excellent educators in in the various schools. I think now four schools I've seen in the last two weeks
and I've been pretty uh struck by how the cell phone policies that exist particularly schoolwide and districtwide ones can make a really big difference on the student and the teacher experience in the schools. So I would love to just hear, you know, what educators feel
about the existing systems and if there are changes that could make a positive difference to their experience that they um would like to see. I would be happy to chat offline about ideas for specific questions, but I I think it would just be even if it was an
open-ended call for for feedback on a simple form, um it would be great to know if there are any kind of pressing rising concerns, particularly if we saw it clustered at a certain age group. Is there an interest in trying to
capture any kind of like parent perspect like official parent perspective through a survey? Yeah, I mean I would love to do that too. I'm just thinking that time sensitivity wise with the school year ending soon, it will be harder to get educator data after let's say 2 weeks
from now. Um whereas I think we could put out a parent survey in the summer and we could still get feedback if that makes any sense. So I think both are critical. I just feel like timewise it would be trickier to get teacher data in a few weeks. We we kind of in just historically we kind of lose both after
the end of the school day because people kind of tune out from us for July and August, even the parents. Um so if we wanted to try to do uh something maybe between now and the next meeting I could see if there are any surveys that other districts have already kind of used to
not start from scratch on something um for both. Um let me see what I can find. Yeah, if there's a there's there's a model out there that's great. I can also see, you know, through my day job if I can find any examples of surveys that have been issued in districts like ours.
Um, but yeah, I I I am completely happy to get more data. If if we can get data from parents and and caregivers, that would be lovely. Um, you probably have the best understanding of the timing around that. Um, but I was just thinking for sure it
would be very hard to get educator feedback in the summer. So, okay. Good. Any other new items people want to add? Can I say something that I did not say during one of the presentations which by
Katie Sims I was extremely happy to see this education pathway. Um and also the signing that they're doing and acknowledging the students who want to move forward. Um so
great this is terrific. Absolutely fantastic. All right. Uh, there's nobody else for public comment, so we will take a motion to adjurnn. Oh, I make a motion that we adjourn. Second. All in favor? I 5-0.
All right.