To the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you. This meeting is being livereamed by Chson televia and posted
to the CPS website for interested community members to access and watch. Inerson public participation will be taking place tonight in accordance with the Chson School Committee public participation policy. Anyone speaking tonight during the public input portion of the meeting is notified the superintendent's office of the desire to speak and been provided with these
guidelines. Upon request, written comments received no later than 12 p.m. on the day of this meeting will also be read and made part of the record of the meeting during the second public comment session. So, welcome to this meeting of the ch school committee. Uh first order of business to approve our minutes from our meeting on August 5th.
Okay. I move that we approve the minutes of the regular school committee meeting from August 5th to 2025. Second, you got it. You were there this time, right? Everybody was here, right? Okay. Any corrections on the minutes? All right. All those in favor?
I a 5-0. All right. Any good news to share? Yeah, good news. So, the teachers are back in the school starting to set up because we opened it up for them. And tomorrow and on Thursday, we have new teacher orientation. Wow. All righty. Great. Anybody else?
All right. I'm sure next time we meet, we'll have even more good news. Yes. All right. Uh, nobody's here to speak, so we can move on to new business. Sure. Yeah. We'll jump right into a little update uh for our return to school for 2526. Um, tonight's meeting, as I looked,
historically is not a typically long meeting. It's just an opportunity for us to kind of touch base before the um school year really starts. We talk a little bit about um student enrollment, uh some of our transportation for the year. Um highlight some of the capital projects that we completed over the summer. Um so I'll just walk you through
um through that information this evening. And then when we get back together next in September, uh we'll really start to kind of hone in on our um you know, the regular running of the the district, but our goals and objectives and things like that for the school year. So that will start um immediately when we come into September.
So uh this is our district enrollment. Um this is consistent with what you've seen previously. It's just our little internal tracking sheet um to kind of monitor the enrollment uh grade to grade within the uh schools. Um so overall uh we're looking at about uh 51 uh20 as far
as our total enrollment. And this is just based on yesterday's numbers. We do get a little bit of fluctuation over the first couple of weeks in school. Um, obviously in August, we always kind of wait until after August 1st because if we do have individuals in town like leasing and things like that, the leases are up, people move in. Um, so we start
to see the numbers fluctuate a little bit, but um, this is the numbers that we're using to begin the school year. And then after we hit the October one numbers, those are kind of the official numbers we use as a district. Um, I'll report back to you on that. Other than that, if there were any significant um, you know, increases or decreases, I'll
um, I'll flag that for you. um at the elementaryaries and the middle schools. Obviously, because we know the number of home rooms that they have, it's not quite like the high school where they have an actual schedule and kids are taking classes based on um you know, their interests and electives and core and things like that. It's it's harder
to produce. When we um do our uh true October one uh report later in the fall, I I will include the high school numbers like we have previously. Um but for right now, this just gives you a sense of um number-wise where we're at, how many sections we're opening the school year up at each um grade level. Um I
will say just because I'm sure someone will ask, and I had talked to Joanna about this previously, we're really not seeing um significant enrollment from the West Campus uh I forget the name of it, but from the West Campus site, um we only have four students who have registered um in total from that
development to date. So we have a prek student over at um at CHIPS. We have two students at um Harrington. I believe one's third grade, one is first grade. So, it's not even like they're in the same grade. And then we have a ninth grader at the high school. So, we're really we're not negatively impacted at
all or any more than, you know, any other developments in town by that um housing complex, but we are obviously tracking the address and we'll keep an eye on that in case things change as they continue to um more fully um enroll. Do we know how much rental they've
I don't? No. um if if and when like we talk with them, if they ever um you know call or whatn not, we can just inquire as to like what their capacity is, but um I don't think they have to share it with us. I don't see why they wouldn't, but um I do know that they're still actively leasing. Um but we've only had
the four so far, so I I knew that would be a question, but I just wanted to um kind of head that one off, but it's not not negatively again impacting us. And at our elementary schools, uh, you know, our numbers are in the high teens, um, low 20s. Um, you know, we try to for,
you know, K1 and two, obviously have those be, um, in the 22 23-ish range. When we hit third and fourth grade, we go up as high as, um, 25. It's hard, you know, we don't have any schools that have over five sections. Five is kind of the the max for us. And typically again
that happens when our enrollment is approaching that hundred not $100 the hundred uh the 100 student count is when we consider adding a section. The um the one section that um surprised me a little bit um when we had started the year was kindergarten at Bayium. You can
see that number is actually the um the third lowest at 89 as of yesterday. Um after the spring enrollment that they were actually um projected to go into the 100 plus mark. So, I don't exactly know what's happening with that. I'd authorize them to have a fifth section
at the time. And it's honestly just even though, you know, they don't necessarily need it right now, um it's too difficult to pull out of the schedule and have them go back to having just the four sections, it would just be too disruptive. So, we're going to monitor that um for the school year. BIM is
again a school that's been pretty consistently running at around the hundred uh students. So I would not be surprised as we get closer to uh September if that increases. If that ever actually stayed, you know, below 90, then if we were going to make an adjustment, we would consider an adjustment for the following year. Um
but we wouldn't do it after the uh school year gets started and the kids get situated in classes. Um and then at the middle school level, Parker and um McCarthy um McCarthy has about um I don't know why I listed that one first because that's seventh and eighth grade, but they have about 800 students over
there at McCarthy. And then Parker has about 840. Um we did have them add a um kind of a flex se um section for this year and fifth because fourth going to fifth were our biggest numbers and so that will kind of bubble up next year. It's anticipated to sixth and then uh we
will see how it actually will impact things when we get to seventh and eighth grade at um at McCarthy. But that's why you see 18 home rooms instead of 16 over at Parker for fifth grade. Can I just ask a quick question? those new hires or are those teachers that had
been moved from another grade that was no longer open? No. So those um anytime we have that particularly that grade level, we just post them as like one year in positions. So they're a regular permanent uh teacher for the year. They have all the credentiing and everything. Um but we just do them as one-year positions. So
then next year if they move up to sixth grade, we would readvertise those positions. Those individuals may or may not be interested in sixth grade. they might look at say other opportunities in the district, but we would post again likely for two positions for sixth grade and then it would wash out afterward.
U but I'm happy to take any um questions you may have on the numbers. Again, this is something we monitor closely. We'll continue to do that and if I ever saw any significant spikes, I'd obviously will adjust and then I would report to you. Okay, questions? Mine is just with the chart just the
numbers like if you look at the numbers like say just look at this one the top line chil public schools seventh grade 406 and enroll McCarthy is 402 and then same thing with the eighth grade 405 and 399. Same thing on the bigger chart. So the numbers underneath
the the top line are if you look at your your first chart too same thing is true. Maybe I didn't carry a formula through. Yeah. I don't um He's never gonna look. He's never going to forget this. I want you just
I'm disappointed in myself on TV. No, I just I just noticed in the main I didn't know if there were students that were somehow not listed. Yeah, I was none of them works in number of grades that All right, I think we just wrap it up now. Good catch. None of them.
Interesting. Yeah, I'm going to have to go take a peek at that. Um, obviously it's off by a couple kids. There's there must be something with the formula line that I'm not grabbing. But um when I come off the projection, I can pull up the spreadsheet and I can tell you quickly where it is. Okay. No, not not a huge change. Just
wondering. Okay. Right. Any other questions on enrollment? I had the same one as you appreciate calling me out for that. I just noticed short meeting Jay. We're going to be all right.
It's less kids. No. You see, Linda, you're finding the highlight right in the beginning. This is your chance to tell us that AI did it. Sadly, Maria, this was me. This is your chance. We'll make that uh we'll make that correction.
Um transportation. Joanna, do you want to just touch on your transportation numbers? Sure. We have in a typical year 3,400 students ride the bus and we have 29 buses running the three um tiers. You know that they do the high school run and the
middle school run and then the elementary run. Um 3,194 students have registered to ride the bus and we mailed out the bus passes August 15th. That was the number um that
Friday. And then just a reminder, all students must register to ride the bus. Even if there is no fee, we need to know who you are and um so we can get you your bus stop and your bus pass. Over to the right is how many people
registered in June, which was a nice um big chunk, 2,110. Good number. And then in July and then August. But um we know you know approximately 200 or more students still need to register
before next Tuesday. It's crunch time. Any questions? Is that a better number than last year? I was just curious each year about the same. This is great. Yep. And all the pickup drop off times are
the same. We I know when we changed from McCarthy Parker that's all. Yeah. The school sat and stops didn't change this year. We changed them um what was it two years ago? Yeah. When we did the realignment, we had to shift the schools by like 10 minutes. Uh but nothing has changed this year. It's the same as last year. Right.
Thank you. Right. Great. Good. Um and then we'll just touch on some of the capital projects that we actually either completed or are um are underway for this year. Um starting at the um the middle schools. um several of the
schools, five of them in total, um having those secure entries um built out. So, we're in um pretty good shape overall uh with regard to those. Um there are many components to them, but the two biggest components like from the public perspective. Um all five of them
have interior vestibial areas that have been built out. So, those are just about complete. Um I've got to go check on a couple tonight after we leave here. Um they were at like paint and things along those lines. So the inside is good. Um three of the schools the um Parker, the
Harrington and center. No, not center. Parker Harrington. What's the other school? By Parker Harrington and Baym also have the uh the front storefront in a little sectional window has to be um replaced
and taken out. that is going to occur next um Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. So, by the time we get into the Labor Day weekend, by the time we get back from that 4-day weekend, it should be 99% complete. We might just have like a little bit of touch-up uh paint and things like that. But, um
center and south row did not have to have any external work done. So, those should be pretty much complete by Friday. Um so, I'll report back. I'll share some pictures the next time we get together at the at the meetings, but I'm very happy with how those are coming along. they've been turned over to uh Bill and technology at this point
because he's got to integrate all of the access control and cameras have already been installed. So, so that'll all actually work work out nicely. But over the next two weeks, that should be um really fine-tuned. At uh Parker, we also installed um a split AC air conditioning system in the teachers room, which again
will be welcomed. Typically, that's in the springtime. You know how the buildings get a little hot during the springtime. That'll be um I think a welcomed addition over there. Um, on a positive note, the long-term projection for forecast over the next couple weeks is actually pretty reasonable. So, that's good for our staff and students
coming back to school. It won't be too too hot in the buildings. Um, at Parker, we also did install some acoustical panels in the band and cor bandon orchestra room. Uh, just hide everywhere, man. 10 years. We still find those things and remove them. It's great. No, this we're putting these in in the
Yeah, this we actually want to put in. It's the accordion walls we want to take out. Yeah, the accordion walls we want out. It's the acoustical. So, the acoustical panels. It's just to help with the sound reverberation and things like that. So, so those went in over there. And then at um well, here's your walls, John. At McCarthy, we
removed two of the permanent walls. We talked about this when we did the capital for the year, but there are four remaining. Two are upstairs, two are downstairs. Because of the bidding timelines and requirements, we were able only able to do two. So, we did the two that are actually on the second floor of the building in anticipation that next
summer is likely when the elevator will be replaced at McCarthy. And we'll be able to access the first floor without needing the elevator, but not the second floor. So, uh on next year's list, you'll likely see the last two accordion walls at McCarthy uh being proposed to come uh turned into permanent walls. And
again, it's nice where it's on the first floor. We don't need the elevator for that work. So, uh there was some thought that went into that. Um, the SRO's office when you walk in on the left, it used to kind of have a half wall. So now, uh, it's kind of fully built out to be an office just for privacy and and things like that. So, uh, that was a
welcomed addition. Um, they rebuilt the interior ramp in the building, uh, down in the nur nurs's office. It was kind of getting a little spongy. It had a little bit too much play to it. So, the town DPW guys did a very nice job rebuilding that. Uh, Brian helped them with some of the overlay on the top. Um Gary Persetti
actually who'd retired who's come back to kind of oversee a few projects uh did some work over at McCarthy um upgrading the electrical switch gear. So the electrical service to the building is original. Um and you know you always kind of fear that you know the power is going to go out and you can't get the piece to get it back on. So the town has
been proactively addressing some of the switch gear and doing maintenance and switching it out. So that happened this summer at McCarthy. I think they're going to probably try to do almost like a school a year. Um, and when they did that, they also replaced the electrical panels. So, kind of a a full electric upgrade over at McCarthy, which is
great. At the same time, in the boiler room, they replaced the boilers. So, uh, those boilers really had to be replaced. They were on their last leg. And, uh, so really now heating should be um, excellent at the high school. I do believe the McCarthy boilers were the last set of big boilers we had to do. We
did the high school a summer ago. So, from a heating perspective, we're really in good shape um, in all the schools at this point. Um, if you see at the beginning of McCarthy or the front of McCarthy, they have the giant island. Parking has always been an issue at McCarthy, not only for parents, but even to access like the police department,
the community room, or if you happen to be if you ever go there for like a play or performance, you just can never have enough parking. So, they um actually pretty creatively they cut into the island in the front and it was either 42 or 43 new parking spaces that they created. So, it'll be great for like parents if you're coming in quickly to a
meeting. You don't have to park out in the back and come into the front. It'll be helpful for like after hours um shows, performances, even the police department if they happen to be hosting an event at the community center. It's closed and you can kind of walk over. So, um that got completed u this year
through the help of the um DPW. That was a welcomed addition. And then if you've driven by McCarthy uh recently, I wish it would have started about a month ago, but uh they are pretty deep into the um renovation of the sports space. So the basketball, the street hockey, the
tennis pickle ball combo. They're deep in work at this point. Um all the safety fencing is up. Um they've actually cut out the new sidewalk that's going to be going in and they're doing all the leveling. Um they looked to me like they're pretty close to the hot top uh going in. So, I would imagine over the
next two or three weeks, um, a lot of that work will get buttoned up and there is a nice little walkway that they're integrating, a little play area for like families and things like that. We had talked about when the committee met. Um, so that again, the entire project will be done before um, you know, the the first frost and things like that this
uh, this fall, but um, that's going to look very nice when it's done. And that'll be another nice recreational area for the town. The school will use it during the day, but residents can use it in the evening. Any questions in particular about the two middle schools? Just more of a general question. Uh the
new the the new front entry vestibules. Are each one going to have an individual person assigned to it? I know like at the high school there is obviously McCarthy asked because it's separate or is it is it No. So the nice thing about these five is they're actually um the window goes
right into the main office. So the secretary was already sitting there um and it was just a bigger window. So we've actually standardized the window size of the mall but the staff was already on the other side of the wall. Okay. So it was like McCarthy unfortunately someone had to be stationed there and then the high school because it was in a different location they had to. But at
the other five schools the check-in window is basically the new window. So the staff is already there. So no one has to no one has to move. So that'll actually be much more seamless. I do have a quick question. Um I uh I heard from a parent who was at the tour today at Parker. Mhm.
I think they had school tours um for some of the new coming kids. Um that there was leaking in the gym. Is there a serious roof issue happening at Parker? That I haven't heard about that. Okay. There was a very concerned parent that
there was imminent disaster happening in the gym at Park Roof though. Uh apparently that was what she said. She said on the tour they went to the gym and there was leaking coming from the roof. I'll find out why because to be honest with you, it really hasn't rained lately, so I don't know.
Yeah, I don't know if it would be a pipe or something. I'm just I was curious if we had a known issue that was going on, but um unknown to me, but I will certainly uh certainly find out for you. You go. We're order. Yeah. No, we'll take a look when I'm I
got to hit Parker anyway, so I'll take a peek and see if there's anything on the ground. I'll shoot you an email just to follow up. Yeah. All right. Right. So then if we take a peek at the elementary schools, a lot of um consistent themes here. So Baym again that front entry um secure vestibil
area. Um Bay had the library renovation this summer. If you recall last summer we did Harrington. So Bill's able to kind of do a school a year. Um looks beautiful. I was over there yesterday. Um really came up very nice. So, um they're getting that all um set up, but it was complete new furnishings and
lighting and paint and it it really looks um like a great space for the kids. And then you'll see this consistent theme, too. All the elementary schools have had the gymnasium basketball hoops motorized. So, the hoops and baskets used to always just be at like a standard height, but when you have the little guys, and I
forget exactly what they call them for the little leagues that they play, but you need to lower the baskets for them. So, now they're all motorized. So, it's much safer that they can actually just use the regular rims. You don't have to use portable rims and things like that. So, all the uh the basketball hoops have been motorized. Mini mites. Cool,
I think, is what they call them. The mini mites. Mini mites. It very well could be. So, I have no idea. I just learned something new. That's great. Yeah. So, that'll be um so that'll be So, I could possibly dunk. I don't know. It's still at least eight or nine feet. I'm not I'm not sure, but we'll maybe
with a little boost we can get you up there. Um Center Elementary School, the front entry again, uh security. Now, that's a completely different look than all the other schools just because of the the lobby there. So, when you get a chance, you know, gladly take anyone over there, take a peek at it. But, um
it was a very nice um kind of three/4er wall that was constructed at the top of the stairs. And then we had to reconfigure the entrance, the doorway to the office and the window to the office got moved to the back side of the hall so that when you come up, there's now just like kind of the secure entry to check into. You get buzzed into the main building and
you have to access the office through the back corridor. Um, so that was a bit of construction work that had to take place there, but um, it it really is. So, they have to put a like there was a ramp and stairs. Did they have to put a wall? Yep. So, there's a wall actually going right across the top. So, you can still access the ramp or the stairs and
but you can't get further than that without Correct. But you have to go over to the window get buzzed in, but we also didn't want to have just the office door there. Yeah. So, we moved the office door to the back of the wall. So, now there's just a window there. Um, so you can have your service and then you can come into the school for your
business. So just a a different design than those in the other buildings. Yeah, I can imagine that being pretty involved. Yeah, but that one uh that is actually coming out um nicely. Um they also which really look nice. So they I know this is a small thing sometimes to people, but the window
shades in the building um were really old and dilapitated, ripped. They didn't always work uh the way the teachers probably intended them to. So the entire building this year, Brian worked with the um contractor and did complete new installation of window shades through
the building. It looks wonderful. So at center that's actually a necessity at center. That front side is the solar Yes. Um effect of the heat coming in. You get a lot of sun. So the shades make a big difference. Yeah. So take a peek at those when they're over there. I think everyone is
very happy with them and they're very easy to maneuver too. So, um, they're going to be durable for the long term. And, uh, Dennis is going to be able to play basketball in that gym as well. So, uh, so that's good. Uh, over at Harrington, again, we have the front entry, uh, being finished up now. Uh,
the gymnasium floor, that's interestingly enough, that's one of our hardwood gym floors. We don't have a lot of those. Most of them are the poured rubber floors, but that one's a hardwood floor. Had a little bit of damage last year. So, over the summer, that was completely refinished. It was stripped down, um, sanded down, refinished,
repainted, restriped. Um, looks really nice. That came out excellent. And they have the basketball hoops being motorized. Um, south row, same. So, the front entry vestibule. This isn't quite as elaborate as centerus just because of the hallway. But, um, basically they
also had a a wall that was constructed across the main corridor. So, when you're going to come in, you're going to check in and then you're going to come in a door to get into the building. Um, so that looked um looked very nice as well. They also got a new split AC system in the teachers room. So the teachers will be happy about that. And a
handful of the water bubbles at the school had been uh already converted to like bottle filling stations. So now the back half of the school was as well. Again, a small thing, but over there they really like it for the kids and their basketball hoops were um were motorized.
Any questions? I'm sorry. On the elementary schools, I would just like to commend you for using the word bubbler. I think that is a legitimate term for it's a bubbler, but no, if you're outside, not anymore. It's not. Now it's bottle. where you're from. It depends where you're from. But thank you. Now it's a bottle. I was going to ask at the elementary
schools, do they foresee any problems like in the morning when all the kids come in now, they have a smaller area to get into the building like so say it's center school, they had to double doors in both ways. Yeah, I know because like even at center school kids actually if you're bus you
stay on the bus, you went around the back of the school and you came in one of the side doors anyway. Um there were a handful of like parent drop offs at the front door, but it's really not going to be significant. They still have the same exterior door that they had. It's just the interior door is now uh single, but it basically whatever
your outside door is, it matches your interior door. So if you had a single door, you have a single on the inside. If you had a double door, we built a double on the inside. Okay. So for fire code, you have to do that. So I It's true. It was only a single door to get in anyway. Yeah. It's not going to It's not going to bother. So it's still the same door.
Okay. Yeah. It It really should be fine. Did you have something? No, I'm just envisioning it in my mind. Yeah. And again, if you want to take a ride, I'm happy to show you. This is great. And um I'm happy with how they're run. This is really great for these updates
on the vestibules. That that was part of our uh plan for um you know, the security systems and so on. Y I think you had the the team re return and update that that study that. Yeah. It was about 3 years ago that we
had the Davis group come in and help us do like an initial assessment of the district safety, security, all the planning piece of it. And they gave us a bunch of recommendations. You know, they liked how we actually had done the secure entrance at the high school. Um they help, you know, they identified and we we kind of knew we needed to do
something with the radio system. We didn't have a unified radio system across the district. So, we have that. So they gave us a bunch of recommendations and then um we actually had them come back this spring uh before we built out the five new uh vestibial areas to take a look at the two we already had to take a look at the the
way they function to also help us just kind of standardize and streamline the whole screening process of the school. So if you present as a parent or visitor, you know, you're going to be um greeted with the same script whether you come into center or you go into McCarthy. Um, you know, they're going to
do some work with our own staff around um, you know, we're very fortunate that, you know, most people that come to the school have a true purpose for being there. We don't have any issues even when we were on the license, but if you ever did, you know, how are you going to respond? So, they're going to help us with some PD. Um, they also came back to observe our
Alice um, safety drills this springtime because it's nice to have a third party who's not associated with either the schools or, you know, like the police and fire are wonderful to work with. Yeah. Um sometimes you do just get too familiar seeing the the drills because it's common to you. So I had to have a third party come in and debrief is
helpful. Um they actually came to our leadership, our administrative retreat this summer and did a whole exercise with the um building administrators around um what they kind of saw this spring uh things to think about for improvements for this coming year. Um they'll come back and do some more observations. So they've been a good
partner and they're a group that we're going to keep on to consult with on the security front. Okay. Good. Yeah. That's important. I I'm glad we we did this. Yeah, they're very good. And they're always welcome and eager to even if you wanted to have an executive session at some point and talk about some of the um
security stuff. We wouldn't do it in a public format, but you could do it in a private setting and have a meeting to just talk about exactly what uh some of our upgrades have been and what our response protocols are. Um so you feel very comfortable with what we're doing. I think that's a great idea. Thank you for the update. That's super.
No, no problem. And then at the high school, our last school, um we did a complete um had anticipated it was going to be this, but we ended up getting into a lot more work than we thought about when we were doing the athletic trainer room uh renovation. It actually involves some underground plumbing again that we were anticipating, but um came out
beautiful. Uh they're putting all the finishing touches on that now. So, that's going to be a great space for our um our athletes and our uh training staff as they're working with all the different um student athletes. The pave classroom got a complete overhaul at the high school. Um, so that classroom is
one of our special education classrooms. It had the um the kitchen, so it had a couple of stoves and and uh you know, the dishwashers and and refrigerators and things like that, as well as some classroom space. So, that area got completely gutted. Um, you know, new floors, um, walls painted, you know,
ceiling lights. They got all brand new kitchen cabinetry, appliances, um, that actually just got installed yesterday. So, the paved classroom looks great. Uh the staff are very excited about that. I can't wait to see the kids um when they come back. Um and then also one of the things uh appearance-wise I think could
really jump out to you when you pull up to the high school. All the metal uh facade of the building has been painted the true maroon color. Um it had been just kind of faded and deteriorated. And over the years you actually saw like some of the blue that was under the red even peeling through in certain areas. So uh we had a company come in and paint
the uh the entire anything maroon on the outside of the high school and it it really pops. So when you pull up to the high school now, it all the grates and any of the metal work is uh is freshly painted. So it really looks excellent. Um and then last, I mean, Bill obviously in technology was very involved with um
all the secure entry spaces because once it's physically uh built, he's got to put all the technology in to make it work. And then we also did the enhanced um kind of safety uh clock intercom security pilot at Harrington uh this summer. So this may serve as a pilot for
the district. Um this is an integrated um uh clock intercom in every classroom with uh an LED display. Um you know how when we did the Alice alerts, we had certain ones like in the gym or the calf based on like loud noises and things. He now has it like integrated through the
hallways as well as in each of the different classrooms. So we wanted to pick a school that was close for us um you know so that we could actually kind of monitor the project but um test this new system before we would think about rolling it out to the rest of the district. But uh that went very well and we can also go over to Harrington
someday and you can see a little test of that system. Uh but his staff was they did the installation themselves. So uh they were very busy over there at Harrington this summer doing that amount of work. I think one of the things that we would have to think about is if we were to blow this out and expand it to additional schools. Um I don't know that
they would have the bandwidth to necessarily do it all themselves and we would just have to figure out how to best do that. But um he's very happy with how it's coming along so far. So, um, we can definitely do a little test on that at some point. Not a test to have you come over and visit it so you
can see it. All right. So, that kind of in a nutshell of the highlights. Any questions on capital or anything else? Yeah. Good work. So, we're ready. We're ready to open. We are ready for the staff. As Linda mentioned, we have orientation tomorrow and Thursday for all the new uh teachers
in the district. And then Monday, we have a full orientation day um directly to the schools. All the staff are going to report back, do a little bit of building based um kickoff um PD in the buildings, classroom setup, you know, work with your colleagues, and then the kids are coming on Tuesday. So, we're
excited about that. Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, we have kids in the buildings, and then we'll break for the 4day Labor Day weekend and come back at it the following Tuesday, um regular schooling. So, when we meet that Tuesday night, we'll let you know how the first week went. But I'm excited to get all the kids back and get back into the fall
routine. Great. Is this my perception? I may be wrong, but it seems like this year we have less new staff than we did last year. New teachers about the same number. Um I think it's maybe slightly less, not
marketkedly, maybe by like four or five the same. Um but it's it's been pretty similar, you know, each um each year. One thing I did not mention on the uh on the staffing front because I didn't have a slide on this, but overall we're doing well. Um staffing, we had a um job fair today. I haven't heard the exact
results, but we always have a a few last minute like paraprofessionals or lunch and recess aids to hire and we were able to get a bunch uh last summer by having a job fair like right as this uh summer gets started. So, we'll get some feedback on that. Um we were fully staffed last week uh but we ended up
having two resignations um right at the tail end of last week. So, um there was not anything I could anticipate. So, we do have two openings. was still actively trying to u fill um uh classroom teacher wise for the start of the school year. Um actively posting, actively
interviewing u but those are the last two um professional positions we have to fill. Everything else is uh filled and we're looking forward to meeting all the staff tomorrow, the new staff at orientation. Were you able to get a new vice principal for McCarthy or No. So that's that's the third. When I
said professional, I was thinking more teaching staff. So we have ministry is professional. minister. They're very professional, but they weren't in my mix. So, um, we have the AP at McCarthy that's still hanging out there. They're doing additional interviews this week. Um, we have a seventh grade science teacher at
McCarthy and we have a math science uh, teacher, sixth grade at Parker. Those are our three, I guess, full professional openings. Everything else has been um, hired and accounted for, and we're ready to roll.
Any questions on personnel or All right, great. Thank you. And again, we'll we'll report out how the first week goes after we get the staff and students back, but we're going to have a great year and we're looking forward to it. All right. Um, any liaison reports? I wouldn't think
so. Nothing. Anybody have any upcoming meetings? They not yet. Not yet. I've started noting the dates of the first PTO meetings of the year, but you know, we have building committee Thursday night, right? We got to do my personal report. We just did, didn't we? No.
Did we? Yeah, we just went over it. Oh, right. Okay. I didn't really say it was a report. I thought you I was just talking. No, we we throw it. Anybody questions on the personal report? No. All right. Thank you.
Um, yeah. So, we meet Thursday night for the building committee here. Yeah. Th Yeah, we building committee Thursday and then we were talking a little bit before the meeting. Um, next Tuesday we have the designer selection panel. um that's when we're going to narrow down the the six applicants to likely two or three and then in two
weeks from then we actually have the selection meeting with the MSBA. So by the time um probably our second meeting in September comes around we'll be able to say who the designer for the project is going to be and then right you know early October we're going to be jumping full steam ahead into the planning.
Wonderful. Yeah. All right. Uh any new items people have? It's not really a a new item for tonight, but um I just wanted to express my interest in potentially as a group talking at some point in the next couple
of months about whether there are so I know we've talked about smartphones and things like that, but the other side of technology AI is something I've been spending the last couple of uh months focused on quite a bit. And I would love
to have some conversations about if there's any immediate implications around AI policies. I know the state um in the commissioner's newsletter that went out yesterday had some guidance for educators um but I've
seen in other spaces that there has been very little in terms of guidance for policy makers and um that being said I have been looking into what is out there around it and I do think there are some things we may want to consider um as
sort baby steps on the policy side around AI in our schools. So, I'd love to have that discussion in the near future. I did um my day job, we had a two-day conference around AI in schools that I was brand new at the job and I
was mostly there as a learner and um I was able to sit in on a few sessions that were specifically focused on policy. It was aimed at Massachusetts educators, but most of them were from a little east of us. Um, and I left with a lot of good resources and ideas that I'm
happy to talk through. Um, including some suggested activities for school committees to do together to help them figure out what um, they feel like their communities need in terms of policy around the issue. Has the task force, the governor's task
force issued recommendations? I haven't seen those come out yet. That's what came out yesterday, but it was just a limited uh thing. Right. Is that what this is? Uh, right. So, that that came out yesterday. Um, it was I don't know if
you the commissioners one focused on um education. They had a task force that met through last year. They're seeking new people to be part of a second iteration of the task force that will be um more focused on kind of actionable
classroombased um kind of steps to take. But um yeah, I definitely know this is this is definitely uh being talked about at a lot of levels. Um but I I do think I'm not saying we definitely need a policy.
I am saying it would be worth having the conversation. So yeah, so I do get the commissioner's um weekly newsletter and there were two links, one for the policies and one just for educators that were noteworthy to me. So I've downloaded them and saved them so I can because I think it's things we need to
know more about. Mask has stopped short of recommending any policies. I did read up on what mask said about it. Um but you can find some examples of what some districts have done. And a lot of them have added to
like pointed to the existing policies that feel relevant. So you know instead of creating a whole new policy around AI, they would point to specific existing clauses in their existing policy handbook that are relevant to AI
um or maybe adding a little to it. For example, around intellectual property, student privacy um around um academic integrity. There may, you know, there may be ways in which we could be explicit about the AI implications or just say explicitly that
those apply to this context. How about at the federal level? I think there's an executive order, right, on education and yeah, pretty sure there is. So, I don't know what that implication is, too. I think we'd have
to think about that. uh there were going to be I think it was actually more funding supposedly going to be available if um you did integrate more AI into the schools. Um so I think we'd have to look
at that too. Both the state and the the federal Yeah. Right. I know Bill has been doing work on this, you know, in the in the background. Yeah, Bill, I know there's been different documents that have floated back and forth, but I mean over the next, you know, few meetings, I'm sure
we can put something on to have an initial talk about like where we're at or where we potentially can go short term even. Yeah. I mean, it might be nice to hear if anything has come up from the staff about, you know, specific concerns that may have policy implications. I think that would be really helpful for us to
at least be apprised of that and then we could determine, you know, where we need to go next in terms of thinking about it. All right. Any other new items people have? I just had a a question. Um, have we heard back from that private school that came before? Well, we had paperwork come
before us a couple weeks ago. I know they're still advertising, but I assume that they would try to get everything in line for at least this meeting and and I did I did too. No. So, um, after the meeting where we, um, I think it was two meetings ago, we put the application on.
I had given you some feedback after like my initial review of like what um we should be asking for as follow-up. I conveyed that to the um to the school's director. Um they indicated that they would certainly address each of the comments or each of the areas that had to be done. Um they had indicated also
that they should have all of their signoffs and and licenses and things like that by mid August. I gave them the dates of our school committee meetings in August and the dates when they would have to get me stuff so that I could put it on the agenda. Um I anticipated I would have received it last week, but to
date they've received no communication. So there's been nothing um from them. I have just observed on, you know, Facebook um originally they looked like they were trying to enroll for grades 1 to five, then all of a sudden it jumped down to 1 to three and then back up to 1 to five. I honestly don't know what's
happening with it, but um I will reach out again tomorrow and just inquire as to the status what they're doing. My big concern would be and I think we've mentioned this is if if families are interested or even looking at that as an option. I think any of us feel families should do whatever option is going to be
best you know for their particular child. I just don't want uh families to be led astray or to think something's going to happen and then it doesn't happen timeliness wise because there's no opportunity for them to come back to us until after our school year begins. And I have no idea what they were even
thinking about for their school year as far as a start is concerned. So, I will um I had given them the dates through August. So, I'll now give them the dates through September and try to um engage them in a conversation to just see, you know, what they're thinking at this point. Um but no, I've received no
communication from them. Any other things? All right. No emails that we received. So, I will take a motion to adjurnn. I move that we adjourn. Second. All those in favor? I I zero. Great. Thank you.
Thank you.