Welcome to the Thursday, September 18th, 2025 meeting of the Margarite E. Small Building Committee. Please stand and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation
under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Good afternoon and welcome. We're going to start with introductions. Uh for those of you who have not been to one of our meetings before, on the microphone there's a green button that says push. When the light goes on, um it is ready
for you. If you're not speaking, make sure the light is off. I'm gonna start with myself um and then we'll go around the room from there. My name is Samas Tolantino. I'm the chair of the Dennis Jarmath Regional School Committee and will serve as the chair for the Margarit Mall uh building committee. So, I appreciate all of you here. Um we're
going to start in the corner and we'll work right around this way. >> My name is Samantha Buron and I am the physical education teacher over at Margaret Eall Elementary School. >> Thank you. And then as we go around if we can say our our role, our connection and also maybe uh why you wanted to
join. But you did perfect on yours. So as we continue, >> I am Beth Hollister and I was at Emmy Small for a very long time. I've been moved to station AB, but I'm still very passionate about that building and would love to see some changes made position.
I'm sorry. I am the team chair over at Station AB Elementary School. And then we just want to make sure we're closer to the microphone so he doesn't have to raise the volume too much. This is so that everyone can see us on TV and uh on our broadcast channel afterwards and on YouTube.
>> Glenn Martin. Um I'm the secretary of the uh Dennis Yarmouth School Committee. Um and I feel like Emmy Small is sorely in need of a of a doover. So I you know I'm I'm looking to make some good improvements. I'm excited about um I'm excited about
what we can get done. >> Good afternoon. I'm Steve Focher, director of facilities for Dennis Sharmath Regional School District. I have a lot of history uh going back for Emmy Small. My wife worked there for quite some time and both my boys uh went
through the district uh some years ago. Uh and I'm excited to see a new building. >> Susan, here we go. I'm Susan Gillson. I'm the director of finance and operations and I
am excited about what journey that this will take us to hopefully get a new Margaret E. Small building. >> Sorry, you already went. >> Uh Mark Smith, superintendent of schools
for uh Dennis Yarmmouth. Um and I'm joined this project uh because I'm pretty sure it's in my job description. Um but all joking aside, um I actually started my professional career at Emmy Small. It was my first teaching job. Um
and Emmy Small was tired then. Um that was uh 25 plus years ago. Um it's definitely a school, you know, as we revamped the SOI going into last year. uh you know, we really focused on some
of our uh most vulnerable students in the district are at Emmy Small and it it is our facility that is in the most need of uh help. And so I'm really excited that MSBA invited us in and that we're able to really give the attention that that facility needs.
>> I'm Carol Mahade. I'm the principal of Emmy Small, so it's probably in my job description, too. But um I'm here because I want Emmy Small to have the building that its students, families, and faculty deserves.
Uh Neilie Martin, first grade teacher at Emmy Small. Um and it's my hope that our students have a healthy and safe place to be learning. >> Emily Willenberg, special education team chair at Emmy Small. Um, and you know, I'm passionate about Emmy Small because
I work there and I love the kids that go there and my children go there. So, it means a lot to me. >> Richard Simon. I'm the chair of the finance committee for the town of Yarmouth. Uh, this project has been on our radar screen for quite a while. Um,
I'm also very interested in be obviously from a financial perspective making sure that uh u not only is it done well, but it's done uh cost-effectively. Oops. >> Okay, Richard. Nathan Ladley. Uh, I'm on
the finance committee for Yarmouth. Um, I was also worked with the regional school, the Votech when they built that. Uh, interested in seeing this project move forward in a safe and um cost
effective manner. Thank you. Hi. Uh, Will Rubenstein. I am a parent of a DY uh, freshman. Um, I served on the school building committee for this building that we're in. Um, and I guess, oh, sorry. I was also a big
brother when there was a school-based Big Brother program. I'm not sure if it's still there. Well, I'm glad to hear that it is. So, I spent every week lunch and recess inside Emmy Small for probably three years, maybe two. Um, and that was really insightful. Um, and Carlos is now
a senior at DY High School. Um, and I guess I recognize the building's issues, but I also have an incredibly open mind about this district as a whole and how we can best serve all the kids in our district. And I hope that others will
join me on that open-mindedness journey. Thank you. Thank you so much. And I know uh we have a member of the select board and our town administrator who are on their way. Um so we will have some more people join us. But I appreciate everyone being here uh today. Uh the next uh Dr. Smith will
try and walk us through what the what our role is um and what the role of a building committee is. Uh so actually in the very just last page of the packet that everybody has is just a a actually I guess it's technically a two-pager but it's on one
page just double-sided is uh from the MSBA uh gives the their page for school building committee. So it gives an overview at the top and then has some general uh FAQs for specific questions that tend to come up fairly often about
uh members of the school building committee. Generally speaking, the role of the school building committee is to oversee the building project. Um, at different times that will uh require the building committee to take specific
votes. Uh, if we're fortunate enough to get all the way through different phases of the project. It'll include voting for an OPM. It'll be voting to move different phases of the project forward. Again, I'm putting the cart sort of way in front of the horse here, but um but
the this body uh will uh have important roles to play in different phases of the of the project. But essentially that to oversee and and facilitate this project as it moves through different phases. The first one of our first things that we needed to do as a school district was
form a committee. Right? So, um that was the recruitment that went out for you all and then this is our official first official meeting. Um and as you'll see, um a little bit later in the agenda, I'll update you on everything that's sort of been happening up until now. Um
but this committee will as and and now we're sort of in this phase where it's uh we're in what's called the eligibility period. um where there isn't other than us having to provide MSBA with some information which again I'm I'm going to update on a later agenda
item. Uh there's not a lot a ton for this committee to do. There's a couple of things one more that we'll talk about again on a later agenda item. But um but as if hope which I'm hoping it will um if the project continues and moves forward then this committee will become
active in a lot of different phases. Uh and it is it is a long project and some of us who are here now will see it all the way through and some who are on the other committee um know that sometimes some members come and some members go um but the committee as a whole will see the project all the way through from
start to finish. >> Perfect. Um and as Dr. Smith has mentioned and some of you have uh maybe aware um you know we're going to discuss work that's been completed. A lot of stuff has been done over several years. Uh we've applied uh for this for
numerous years to be to be welcomed into the program. Um and this is you know the furthest that we've got. Um which brings us to where we are now. So next we'll discuss um you know all the work that's been completed up to date today.
>> So in your packet you have lots of um documents. Uh so the first two things that you have are uh statements of interest SOI for short. So uh statements of interest are essentially our application to MSBA
uh to have them consider the school project. So the first one and the one that makes the most amount of sense is the one for Emmy Small. Uh and that's the one that got us invited into this project. So, there's one in here for Emmy Small uh that had been in the um
uh queue for lack or that had been submitted multiple times. Um actually going back I think it was somewhere around eight or nine years it had been submitted at the same time. the ones for Wixon and Madakis had been submitted but the ones for Wixon and Madakis were um
brought into MSBA where this one um the Emmy small one was not at that time. Uh so but this final one, the one in 2024 was invited in as part of that meeting. Um and you can see the that application
again is in here in all of its all of its detail and it includes different parts about you know why do we think it was important from a facility standpoint? Why do we think it's important from an educational standpoint? And I know it was my first time writing it. Some of it I was using
work that had been done by previous folks and then a big portion of it uh I was able to work with Miss Mahadei and she put together a team of educators from the building and we were able to really sort of I don't know re-ervey I think the staff would be maybe the best
way and just sort of get a uh bring the questions back to the staff and and sort of refreshen the application I guess I would say and I think it was part of what what put the application over the edge and part of that was probably a little bit to do with timing But I think um it was it was a a different we took a
different lens on the application. Now as part of the uh the meetings that came with MSBA uh after we were invited and told we were going to be invited in one of the things that we were asked to consider uh
because the next phase is going to be after eligibility is the feasibility study and it was what would be studied as part of the feasibility study. So would we just study a just Emmy small alone or would the town
want to consider um a the possibility of some type of consolidation? Um and ultimately through meetings with the school committee and with the select board in the town of Yarmouth uh both boards board committee decided that if
we're going to study this we should study all the options and put all the options on the table and then make the best decision um from there. So, uh, in order for that our feasibility study to be able to include all the options, uh, the district had to submit a separate,
uh, statement of interest for, uh, Station Avenue, which would allow the the feasibility study phase to study all to study two, oh, is it three options? uh which is a rebuild of or a renovation
of Emmy Small, a rebuild of Emmy like a a new fully new construction of a standalone building or some type of consolidation and that can take multiple forms. It could be a a a new a new site alto together that consolidates the two
schools, some type of an addition onto station a brings me small over to station a but but it it can explore all those options and then put those options in front of the committee and in front of the voters etc etc. So that is why there's a second submission for it's
really like a it's a technicality that was necessary with MSBA. So, um because as a standalone school, um Station AB doesn't need to be renovated or, uh replaced in the same way that Emmy Small
does. Uh any questions on that before I move on? Okay. All right. So then next is uh what's called the first thing we had to submit was an initial compliance letter which is basically a list of things um
and legal um statutes all that uh so that starts you know several pages in but it literally says initial compliance certification on the top. So this was a several things that we as a district have to attest to under regulation and code for within the state. All that
gives deter uh says you know what we're responsible for as a district and what MSBA is responsible for uh and so that was uh in and was required in order for us to move forward in this project. Then
the next uh piece was the educational profile questionnaire. Um and so the educational profile questionnaire was completed by myself, uh Miss Mahadei, and her assistant principal at the time. Trying to think of anybody else. I think it was just the three of us. And
and again, it's it asks a little bit of information around the district. um you can see in the top there which is um around the grades and the grade spans when the buildings were originally opened some square footage information but then it really focuses on Emmy small
as a um school but then it also has to consider some of the consolidation potential so you'll see if you spend some time looking through here it it it asks about Emmy small as its current configuration but then potentially if
the school was to be consolidated what might be some of the grade um like uh like how many classrooms might be at a particular grade level if you were to combine. Um and it asks about um like how will specialty spaces be used
in the new school? How are they being used in the current school? What are some of the space limitations in the current school? How would they be alleviated in a new school? Um how will there be any um any benefits to a new space? Like I know one of the things that uh Miss Mahi and
I talk about at Emmy Small is that there's no space for gathering um at Emmy Small. Um that's like one simple example, but we also in here talk about need for um like to find occupational and physical therapy space for students
with needs. And again, it goes I'm not going to read this entire document to you. You can um all the details are in here and this is what was submitted to MSBA. But it looks at this the educational profile questionnaire is our very very first thoughts on I guess like
preliminary very very very preliminary visioning on what might a new what would be the the benefits of the new school and the new school configuration. It's like very very preliminary um because um this group along with focus groups again
should we get all the way this far down the path um all that work will be done in much more depth with focus groups through an architect through um uh through work in the schematic design phase like we're that'll get all get
done in much more detail this is just a very preliminary ask from MSBA Any questions on that? >> I do have some questions on this one. >> Uh if you go to page number three, section two, it's the third page, uh current uh priority statement of
interest. Um I was intrigued by the number of rooms and room count for some of the specific sub items. Uh under preK, it says there are four rooms assigned. There are currently 61 students enrolled in prek which is split
between two morning and afternoon. So that means that there's 30 kids in the building at any one time in four rooms. That would be like a seven people per room. >> Miss Mahi allow you to answer that one.
>> Okay. There's um more than that currently. There's either 11 or 12 in every morning session and similar numbers in the afternoon. And that's three classrooms. And then there's another room where occupational therapy,
physical therapy, and speech takes place for our um >> for specifically that >> early education early because it's right next to them. >> Right. So in addition to that then that the there are uh three more rooms that
are associated with PTO is that so that doesn't duplicate that piece of it. So those are three rooms for the rest of the grades. >> No. So OT, PT, and SLP are all in that same those three service related services are all in the same room with
early education. And then the ELD is for English language development instruction, our ESL programs. And that was two classrooms. >> So it's so one of the classrooms that's listed in three is the same as one of
the rooms that is in four. >> Yes. uh under special ed. Um one of the things I don't see a lot of in the data that's been presented so far is more of the detail on special and we've talked
about this in budget reviews um that um there's a wide range of special ed needs. You know, some are mainstream, some are separate classrooms, some are split time split classrooms. Um and I
know specifically in >> I mean small I mean there's a lot of speech pathology there's uh uh um basic uh you know uh mild uh learning disabilities you know dyslexia dcalcia
disgraphia um but we have never seen any of the the details behind it uh so at some point I think that's going to be useful uh as we look into that in more detail We currently have three classrooms what we classify as
subsparate for students with autism ranging from age three to grade three. >> Thank you very Thank you very much for that clarification. >> You're welcome. >> Any any other questions? >> All right. Super. Moving on. The next
section was uh some prelim there's like there were two um enrollment questionnaires that needed to be completed. Uh so there was a preliminary enrollment questionnaire and then a follow-up enrollment questionnaire. Um some of this information was provided from by MSBA and we just had to confirm
it um from like state level data and then some of it uh we had to submit. So most of the preliminary stuff was submitted uh or was just confirmed by the district uh based upon data that
they uh were pulling off of like district profiles etc etc. So um that was the enrollment data the birth data um quite frankly I just there was it was
very hard data to get going all the way back to 1990. So, I just presumed that they were accurate. Um, but I did have to get from the towns the birth data from 203, 24, and 25. Those were voids. Um, so I did get that those counts. I mean, 25 is
as of I'd have to go back and see my emails um exactly to know um Oh, actually, no, it's right there on the bottom. Never mind. Um so Yarmouth those births birth um births are as of June 6th and Dennis's it was as of June 25th because that was when I received the
data from the two respective towns. Um but uh but the the 23 24 and 25 data uh I had I were blanks when I got the form. So I had to I had to get that data from um from the two respective towns. And
then same for the building permits. um most of the the 2015 through 24 data was provided um to us but then the 20 actually no that's not accurate I I had to get most of this data from the two towns um as well um the past data and
the future projected data um what they what the two towns were presuming building was going to happen in 25 and out into 26. Um and then as well as both towns were helpful in getting some of the housing
project descriptions on the next page and the housing sale data or that information would have um uh there wasn't any information to provide from
there or I didn't have any information there to provide. And then the next again is um enrollment data for the district going back to 2015. And um and then um
then there's some projection data based up that MSBA has um on the la the last page. Yeah, the the last page and then well not the last page. The last page is just the signature pages. Um the I lost my train of thought there for a
second. Um there were oh and then we have um a meeting with MSBA. That's the basic information. Then the follow-up questionnaire starts on well I don't know these total pages aren't number but they it starts on the page that says follow-up questionnaire for
enrollment projections. Um and we had to take um the beginning we had to make some estimates on what we presumed the enrollment for me would be based upon uh what it currently is. Um
and then um we had to give some outofd district data to um the department of ed not to to MSBA excuse me. Some of this again was backfilled from uh uh from data going back to um previous years.
And then some of it is um this particular um uh or and some of it we had to we had to provide based upon um data that we have currently on on number of students that we have that
are enrolled out of district. they and I think part of that is because they want to know who potentially could be coming back into district and what the percentage of students are that are moving in and out of district. Um the next page gets into special education
um and how we provide special education services in the district. Um they wanted a sense of what the delivery models are inside the district so that you can see there they have some special they have some um specific questions. They first
just wanted an overview on the programming. Um they wanted to have a an understanding of our relationship with our local collaboratives. Some districts is not the way the Cape Cod collaborative works. The Cape Cod collaborative houses programming in their own facilities. However, other
collaboratives around the state operate where um programming the collaborative programming is housed in a building like in a district building. So these are questions that are asked to get a sense of um you know so for example if Emmy small
was housing it may not have district students occupying let's say two rooms they're technically students from other districts but if we weren't to account for those students then we would be affecting students in other districts because a collaborative is using that
space they want to they want to know and understand that but that isn't the case however I just you'll see I have comment in there. I know our collaborative is undergoing strategic planning. There's a new director and that director has signaled that she may be exploring
different options and I know um there's some other related conversations in the town of Yarmouth about the space that the collaborative is currently using. So I just wanted to be mindful of all of that. Um and then there's questions. The last page deals with preK and
kindergarten. Um, and again, I think it's to help them with projections. And the final piece on enrollment will be we have a meeting scheduled. Sarah, help me. The 29th. Yes, thank you. Um, so the final piece of this is that
they'll they take all this information and then we have a final enrollment meeting with MSBA scheduled for the 29th. Um, so that'll be myself. uh Dr. Gillson, uh Miss Mahadei, and then uh the town
planner, and uh Mr. for written hour uh to have a conversation with MSBA to it helps MSBA get a a well-rounded picture on future enrollment to help and ultimately comes for them as they
determine what's the potential realistic size for the the building project that they're talking about. You know, is is enrollment going to remain likely steady? Is it likely going to increase? Is it likely going to decrease? So that you know I think to your point you know
both we have actually to several points both we have the right size building but we're also not saying oh yeah we need a you know it's currently a 375 school kid school but we need a 500 kid school. Well no there's nothing to say that your enrollment is going to you know almost
double. Um so that's uh the purpose of this upcoming meeting. And oh and then the last piece p piece was we formed a building committee. The evidence is sitting in front of you. >> Any questions about anything on any of
the SOIS or the enrollment questionnaires? >> I have quite a few questions on enrollment. Um so but I don't want to dominate the questions. So uh just hold just know that I want to ask a series of questions. >> See no others. You can you can begin.
Okay. Um, thank you very much. Uh, I have a couple of things. One is I think the uh what is not in this package which I think is very important to factor in is the changing nature of our
housing. So I mean we have information on building permits but one of our biggest issues is the conversion of our yearround housing into seasonal housing. uh the the uh UMass Donahue uh issued a
report recently where they projected that uh our year- round housing was going to drop from like 10,000 units to to I think it was like 8,500 a 15% decline. Um so that's thing one. I think that's a very important factor to provide some
context for some of the numbers. I think the second set of uh data that should be perhaps enhanced and extended is the birth data. I mean there's a lot of information that's shows that u births
plus 5 years equals kindergarten enrollment shock. Um so I think the data that is presented in you know the u uh data that was presented it's it's a graph that sort of stops uh at 2022 because that was the
official department of public health data but there is a clear trend line in that data and I think it's important to extend that data and then also contrast and compare that data with the projections uh in terms of year- round
housing. So those that's another important factor related to what our enrollment could or would be. Uh finally uh there's some demographic factors at play. Um so even among the yearround housing we have a very significant shift
from uh uh families with children and ch and families that without children basically empty nesters. Um and so that's another factor. So, uh, in the most recent UMass Donahghue projections,
they were calling for again a very significant drop. And the most significant drop was in our neighbor town where they're saying that the uh, school age population is going to plummet 40%. 2050.
Um, now that creates another set of opportunities basically because at that point their school district is going to be so small. So that's another I think it's a it's it's outside of Yarmmouth, but it's a relevant factor to consider as part of
the total as Mr. Rubenstein referenced um as part of looking at the whole the bigger picture for all students. Uh I would urge as part of this presentation to extend the enrollment data back another 15 years
and part of the reason for that is the district has done a number of things over the years and our school buildings are really fundamentally were were sort of in place in the year year 2000. Um
and so it's very useful to see uh how we have taken some schools off the line. We've taken four schools off the line and added only one but we still have several of the schools that were uh at you know had enrollment you know at the
same point in time. Um so it's important I think to provide that context as well in addition to the I think the a much more robust set of data related to uh the other piece that's missing here is in district and in district as well as
out of district because um we have this enrollment uh the bursts really sort of get to the other side of it which is um and the data is pretty clear upwards of 40% of our students because we live in I call education nirvana here. So the high
school in particular, the students have a lot of choices uh right around, you know, Cape Cod Tech, uh the Monway School, uh the charter schools. And so what we see in the data is about 40% of our um high school students, their
parents take advantage of all of that plethora of opportunity. As well as as Mr. Rubenstein again noted a lot of people saying this is a this school is a great school but it's just that you have a it's it's you when you
have a wealth of options you take ad some parents would take advantage of those uh those schools also have recently expanded or enhanced. So for example, Cape Cod Tech is relatively new and they continue to expand their offerings and
they are continuing to expand their enrollment. NSET, which was one of the biggest schools where our students went, just completed $170 million renovation project for 750 a school that I think is for 750 kids. So that piece of it I
think on the enrollment is important. Finally, what is not in here, and I know it's preliminary, is potentially some of the we'll get to this in the feasibility study, but one of the other things that struck me was the decision by Barnstable
specifically to um move away from um keeping their prek program in the schools and they spent um they developed a separate school tailored to prek.
Uh they spent I think it was $2.5 million for a 9,000 squarefoot facility that is capable of supporting 223 students. That is about $10 about $10,000 per student for
construction. Now that contrasts with the cost of construction of new school buildings which is upwards of $220,000 per student. So it's a huge differential. So I think one of the things that this committee should consider is those types of factors as
well. And potentially if depending on the capabilities it might also extend into the not just prek but the K because they do design these facilities uh to basically they're smaller sized you know
appropriate for that for those age groups. So those are all factors which I think might be interested to to look at as we move forward. Thank you, >> Mr. Mr. Rstein. >> Yes. >> Great. Oh, thank you. Um on page two of
the follow-up questionnaire under general information, it says, "What is the district's anticipated design enrollment for the proposed project?" It says 375. on the statement of interest that was submitted in 2024 to the state of
Massachusetts MSBA. It says the total school st student enrollment at M Small is 301. So can you please help me understand given some of the demographics that um Richard just described and some that we just know anecdotally
how we are reconciling that and projecting to have a bigger school in this outcome rather than where we are today. Thank you. >> Yeah. So part of if you read the SOI application uh in detail for me small part of the if we end up with a
standalone Emmy small building part of and and if again if you read the application in detail part of the application includes the fact that Station Avenue is overcrowded. So we don't have any subseppparate programming at Station Avenue not by
choice but by the fact that we have nowhere to put it. Um and we at as early as last year we had um and actually this year still we have class grade level classrooms in classrooms that are not or
in spaces that are not classrooms. Um so we have an overcrowding issue by decisions that were made a long time ago on the way Yarmouth is district. Um, so the plan would be to if we end up with two separate schools would be to build a
slightly larger elementary school on that side of town and redistrict the district in a way that makes two more balanced elementary schools. So you end up with a slightly larger elementary school in West Yarmouth and a slightly smaller rightsized Station Avenue
Elementary School. Any other questions? Because right now station abs a little over 500. >> No, it's a little more like uh I don't know. I don't know the numbers off the top of my head. It's not it's not quite 500 that much. No.
>> Uh by the way, Dr. Smith, uh we are rapidly approaching uh October 1st when the official >> uh final count is available for the 2025 2026 school year. Uh will that information be available shortly to us?
>> Yeah, I mean I if I had my com computer, I could tell you exactly how many kids are sitting in the classrooms right now. >> Um but the so the and >> and just I wanted to respond to a couple things. So first one these and
this is what MSBA asked for, right? So this that what you have is exactly what the application asked for. Yeah. Um, as far as the data that's that was presented tonight, this is the exact application that was submitted based upon the questions they asked and the data that they requested. Um, the second
piece um around the the the Donahghue report and the year-round housing, I guess my I would the only thing I would caution against that would be two things would be one, did the Donahue report get Nantucket's enrollment right? Because if
you look at Nantucket, Nantucket everything would tell you that Nantucket's enrollment should have gone down and Nucket's enrollment went up. Um, and what we're seeing here is a similar pattern in DY. And what that comes back to is families that look at
single family single family housing units not the same way that traditional American valued families look at single family housing. we have multiple families sharing a single family home, right? And which is
uh which has resulted in enrollment. And then the third piece, which I know the superintendent, the Cape superintendent and the Cape um town administrators are planning a joint meeting just to have a conversation around this is what's the long-term impact of all the sewering
that is happening because with sewering becomes the ability for highdensity housing. And so what are the town's long-term plans for highdensity housing? Because when you have highdensity housing now you have the ability to for families to afford now and is the high
density housing going to be all single unit housing or is it going to be multi-unit housing? If it's going to be multi-unit housing now you have the opportunity for families which and if we don't plan for if we plan only for contraction then we're going to find ourselves in a problem 10 years from
now. Now, that'll be somebody else's problem because I'll pro I'll be creeping up on retirement at that point. But I don't think it's fiscally responsible for me to at least not bring that conversation to the table here and say if we're not thinking about, you know, once this phase six I think is the
last phase of the Armouth project or maybe it's phase 12, whatever the whatever the last phase of Yeah. Yeah. phase eight is done, what does that mean, right? What does that mean for housing opportunity in in the town? and what will that ultimately mean for
school age children in the town? >> Again, I think it's good that you're that that they're having that conversation because again, the plan at least in Yarmouth is to focus on phase one and two, which is essentially the route 28 corridor where there could be
some significant opportunities. So worth worth that conversation. >> And I think it just if we look just to Barnstable, you already see development happening in Barnstable. And so is is that a sort of a sign for what's coming potentially to Yarmouth? Again, I don't
know. I'm not I'm definitely not as keyed in to what's going on for those conversations. And that's where I, you know, I hope a well-rounded building committee can help us understand that as we move forward. >> Yeah. And I also think you know our our committee has to be parallel with what's
discussions are happening in the Madakis committees as well. Um because as Madakis discussions come on on what goes on that land. If if something like housing is is built there next to where we're looking to put our school then the
proximity would then put those students in our school. Um so you know those are things that we keep an eye on as well. Again, we have all the permits currently in all the talks, but between now and then things can change. So, you know, we
continue to look at those things and that's why we have the town as partners and so that we can be aware of, you know, what plans are happening. Um because every time there's more housing that that can develop more students, right? So, um so that's all the work
that's completed uh so far, which has been a lot. Um I appreciate all the work that Dr. Smith, Miss Mahadei, her team, Miss Foucher, all the things that you guys have done between giving tours over the last couple of years to getting data. Um, it really has brought us to
where we are today, right? The we we now have the possibility of of making some changes that are well needed. Um, so now the next steps, you know, what's going to happen now uh between now and December 26 are, you know, we have a lot of important things coming up over the
next couple weeks. Um so next we have uh the next form that looks similar to these ones that have been submitted to MSBA is one on our maintenance and capital planning. Uh and
so actually uh Steve and Susan are working on this one. Uh we met a week ago maybe I don't know times a flat circle but um we met uh just a little while ago um and went over the form and most of it falls in uh one of their two
camps. It's either asking for financial data surrounded um surrounding like they want to one simple question is uh around how much um uh how the district has funded a capital stabilization fund. They want questions around uh a history
around uh funding from the respective towns for or or for capital um funding. They want a copy of our uh maintenance plans. They want a copy of our maintenance job descriptions, things like that, right? Um and uh and then and
then a whole bunch of things that get into much more detail. Uh so the so uh they're working on that and it's due by the 29th and by all um indications we are on track to have that submitted on time on time. Uh and then the next big
thing um is and really one of the last steps uh is uh we the um we need to have uh the town vote at uh the fall town meeting or to be placed in front of the voters will be a vote for authorization
for the next phase which is the feasibility study which is a little bit more than the feasibility study actually includes the OPM and the schematic design But what the town has to authorize is the funds for that phase. So again, they're not authorizing the whole project. They're just authorizing
the funds for the feasibility study and um the OPM and the schematic design. So if the and we need to have that along with all these other steps um in order to get invited into the next phase by MSBA
which is the last step. Um that'll happen on or before I can't imagine it's going to happen on December 26th but who knows. Um but that's when our eligibility period ends is December 26th. Um so it all needs to be accomplished before December 26th. Uh so
you know in working with the uh town manager town administrator we have uh it'll be on the uh fall town meeting uh uh what'll be a warrant article and so
that is currently in process and I was just going through my email here to find I know he just sent me a draft of the potential article. Um, I was trying to find it real quick. Um, because it just sent it to me either yesterday or late either early this morning or late last
night. Um, and uh, so those are the next upcoming steps. Take any questions through the chair while I try to find that. >> Yep. >> If you wouldn't mind, I actually have some additional uh, context for the dates. Uh so on October 7th uh the
select board is uh going to finalize the draft warrant articles for town meeting on October so it's October 7th. On October 15th the finance committee is going to meet to uh vote on a recommendation to whether approve that
or not. And then on October 21st, the select board meets to finalize the warrant and make their recommendations. So those are key dates. So uh um we
would want to plan to have probably because the finance committee in particular is going to be very interested in some of the details behind the numbers uh for the feasibility study cost. So, um we would uh anticipate that we will be inviting Dr. Smith and others
to that meeting on October 15th. Um yes, sorry, I'm still trying to find it, but I can't find it. So, I'm gonna stop looking um because I can't multitask. Um the uh Yeah, and I know Dr. Gillson had a meeting with a capital
planning committee chair today. Right. So, and I don't know if you want to share any um information from that meeting related to this specific topic because I believe there was some brief conversation around this as well. >> Okay. Um we had a very good meeting um
with uh George and Danielle um of the of the Yarmouth um capital planning committee. Um the main the main point that we're going to make in the warrant this year is we're going to advocate the one for 1.5 million for
this study. Um and so uh we will be communicating the aspects of the study so that it can be posted on the easy CIP so that the uh there the town can view it and consider that and um so that the
language can be finalized and prepared. So, we talked about that today. >> Any other questions on that part? >> On what? I think we have more steps ahead. Well, no, those are all of them. And then the fall town meeting date is
>> 17th. So, Monday. It's it's important that people actually mark their calendars because it had to do with the availability of the town clerk. So, it will be on Monday the 17th, not Tuesday the 18th. So, if please don't show up on Tuesday the
18th. >> And then the school committee will relocate there and relocate and change their November 17th meeting. So, we'll make sure that's updated as well. >> Perfect. Um, also some of the next steps um are it's not necessarily on here, but
our meetings I know we're going to get there. Um, our goal is to meet on the third Thursday of every month at 4:30 here. Um, because this not a lot of steps, but we just want to be able to give you updates and changes. So, our goal right now is to meet monthly. Um,
and then for the rest of this year and then as you know, we get busier, we'll increase meetings. If there's no information, we're we will not meet. Um, we're not going to meet just to meet if we want to make sure that we have updates and we have information. If
nothing's changed since we last met or there's not enough to have a meeting, then we will cancel it. But um our goal is to at least have all the next the third Thursday of every month blocked off if you can and then um we'll notify you in advance if there's no new updates if that works for everyone. I know
between our budget season and budget season for other people there's time is important. So we will make sure that our our meetings are are worth having. Um and then you know that goes into the the next part of it the local board authorization. Um we have discussed and
I'll let Dr. Smith uh go into some detail discussions on what the funding strategy will be. >> Um so I had um I think Mr. Written Hour got tied up but um so he and I have had some preliminary conversations about the appropriate um and it you know again has
to go still through m multiple channels. Um, so I don't want to speak out of turn, so I won't. Um, but as Dr. Gilson said, based upon um, similarsized districts in recent years,
um, or similar size projects, not districts, similarized projects in recent years, uh, uh, we, uh, that and data that we got from MSBA, that's where the 1.5 million number comes from. Um an
important um uh two important details for the building committee to be aware of is one our current base um reimbursement rate for the district um is 57.11%.
Um so there will be other opportunities for us to increase that but um as a base number that's actually pretty high for MSBA. Um and then this uh because because there was some conversation very early on about you know do we just start
the feasibility study much earlier. Um it was really early conversations around when we were in front of the select board I believe uh about trying to match the timelines better up with the with the madakis utilization committee project. Um, but if we had gone out and
done it separately and done it on our own and not been invited in by the MSBA, then the feasibility funds would not have been eligible for reimbursement. But by going through the process in the way we are and taking our time and by
being invited in to that feasibility phase, then those funds are then eligible for reimbursement at that minimum of 57.11%. Um, so again, I I know again I just couldn't pull it up real quick. I know
uh we've uh um MSBA has like some template language that they need for to meet some of their legal requirements that we have to start with as a base for the for the motion language. I've shared that with Mr. Writtenower. He I know I just couldn't pull it up on my phone. He
sent me back some iterations that he's run through um town council. So, we're anyways, we're we're doing some of the work in the background and then, you know, Mr. Simon already shared with us some of the progressive dates that'll have to happen. Um, so we're in we're doing the work in the background to get everything in front of all the right people in order to get it onto the
ballot in front of the voters uh at the right time. >> Perfect. Any other questions? Questions about that? >> So, obviously our next scheduled meeting is October 16th. Um, all this will >> Sorry, I just wanted to Oh, sorry. I didn't I didn't want you to blow by the
last Sorry. >> So, so all of this will be done in time in the background. Um, so we'll have answers for everyone hopefully at our next meeting about where we are. It would have been the day after. Um, we're hoping the finance committee would have
approved this. Um, but so these this is all going to be done between Dr. Gilson, Dr. Smith, and all between there. So and then next is our message >> and I should uh we do not approve we just recommend >> I recommend
>> um yeah so the last bit to maybe build off of um what Mr. Simon was saying. there's, you know, definite like I'm trying to think of the right um word that I know like boxes we have to check like in order to appropriately get it
onto the onto the ballot. And so what I'm hoping that we can have just a little bit of a discussion and I'm really looking for the the expertise of the committee uh is and um is is how to because there's one
we need to make sure we're informing the appropriate boards in the appropriate way. So that's that part I I'm interested in and ultimately the legislative body is the are the taxpayers of Yarmouth, right? So
um and we've done some messaging around this, you know, and I think I have um the opportunity to speak directly, so to speak, with with our school community. Uh but they're not the only people who
vote. Uh so really thinking about ways in which between now and November 17th, what do we need to get out as far so that people can make an informed decision and how best to do
that? And um cuz we need to start >> today, >> tomorrow. Um and you know, we again we've done some stuff, you know, we did get an article out in the in the Cape Cod Times to make sure people were aware that hey, Emmy Small, there is there are
some issues over there. Um and again, we've been putting some information out, but now before we're actually asking to for people to vote for dollars here, we want to make sure that that people have um have somewhere they can go for information. what type of information do we want to be able to provide to people?
We do have a website where we're putting you know this building committee stuff out but you know this also you know all this stuff is there or in the process of being there it's pretty dense right I mean some people are going to want all this level of detail and some people are
going to open up one of these PDFs and be like that's a little bit more than what I need >> need the executive summary >> right right so so I guess my question so I'm really looking for for at least for me I'm looking for some thoughts from the committee around, you know, what
what what else could we do um and because then I'll turn that into action um over the next over the coming weeks and months. >> Yeah, >> I would say confine it to one page >> and maybe 300 words.
>> Yeah. I I think I think our our goal is to get this out because my experience from town meeting is the average person at town meeting does not have children in the district. So our goal is to tell all of our parents and and our families, but the people that are showing up to
vote and showing up at town meeting are unfortunately not the majority of the people that are in that room. So we we need to figure out like you said what so one page with all the specifics of the information and then how how do we get that to to the people that are going to be at this meeting? I guess that's the next question, right?
>> Can I suggest social media? >> Yes, >> social media. That's where most of our families get most of their information. >> Yeah. Well, that Well, that's it. our our district what part of our goals was to to rebrand what you know what DUI is and getting the information to our families is is helpful but um as I said
the the parents are not showing up at town meeting for a variety of reasons could be child care could be they're working could be a variety of different things um so there's a there's another part of the population that is in our town that are not families and parents and and a lot of them are the ones who
who are getting voting so you know the information of what we get out but yes so we will definitely as a district be be promoting it. But again, this could be working with the town to to help get out the information. Whether it's a mailer, I I I don't know. We have we have to think about that's why I'm
asking um from experience what what works. >> And again, I think u uh unfortunately uh Selectman Forest, neither Selectman Forest or Bob could be here tonight. um I would sort of work with and through them because again this is not the first
time that we've asked the town to tackle tough issues whether that be the sewer whether that be um you know the override for the firefighters again I it's just a matter of be having your compelling story uh and that again people are
comfortable that it is a wellthought through financial decision and we'll and I think we but I I would work closely with those two because they are so tuned into uh the right type of messaging. >> Yeah. And I think it's important to have the right message, right? Because we've
already heard um at select board meetings, at on social media, you know, why does Yarmouth need everything brand new and shiny and we're not saying we do, we're looking at all the options, but anyone who's been in that building knows why we're doing what we're doing,
but a lot of people haven't, right? Um and and they've done a great job. open house. I I heard of great success and the amount of work that uh Steve's team has had did over the summer to getting our buildings to look great and we really appreciate that. Um but more
needs to be done. So, um you know what else? Anyone else have any other ideas of what we can do or what what is the message, you know, that we can put out there? You know, what works for you? Again, social media. Great. That's definitely something we have our our new person uh
in that role that you know we'll be feeding these things through working on again uploading uh information on our website. You know part of the reason that we wanted to be in this room and and have it filmed is to have a YouTube of this meeting and um be able to put
this on the public access channel um so you know the people who are using those have the opportunity to see it. We're really trying to to hit all of the the avenues. I am curious um if we're going to do or I shouldn't say
if when when we're going to do a one pager, what key questions do you think it should answer? >> Yeah, I'm interested in what is it? Yeah, I'd be interested to hear what you think the qu what qu you know what question should that answer?
>> One would be to me um why you need to replace it. the equip the equipment's 50 60 years old. People understand that. Um the asbestous aspect in it. Uh then no
fire protection in it. Uh probably no security or minimal security in the building in this day and age would be a selling feature. uh you know things that stick to the to
both the older adult and the adult with children. So it would be a nice spread and everybody understands you know it's worn out and to bring it up to
let's call code it would cost more than to knock it down and put a new one up and maybe the number there that okay if we had to rehab it would be arbitrarily 300 million. If we put up a new one it's
100 million. That's very basic, you know, but that's all that's just my two cents. >> So Simon, >> yeah, I think um I think because we have
what a couple of months before um before the vote, we have uh when we when we whatever we put out, we have to kind of hammer home. So I I do believe that we need to the it small kind of out of sight out of mind for people who don't
have kids. So um the the the the senior public um if we do a mailer then I think the mailer should have a lot of the points that you know from the from the single page but it also should have a QR code for people who can use a QR code to go to the website and be like this is all the information but these are the
these are the high points. Um it we should also hammer home what's wrong with the building. This is why we need, you know, and not just once. Do it, you know, a few times before before the vote. Just like, you know, let me let me tell you, you know, ceiling tiles are falling down and the teachers have to catch them and, you know, this whatever
or there's a pothole in the middle of the cafeteria or whatever. You know, I mean, we just we we we don't we don't we don't have to play it up. I mean, we don't have to overexaggerate because the building's holding on by duct tape and prayers, you know? So, uh we just need to make sure
that the public understands. And what better way to bring that home by than by repetition. You know, the more people hear it, the more that they'll remember it. And so we do that with mailers. We do it with social media. We do it by directing people to the the the website
which will give them, you know, all of the all of this. And you know, but we, you know, the mailer will have, you know, have it in bite-size, you know, so that we can, you know, so that it's easily digestible. And inevitably there will be people that will want the the
the deep dive and that'll be available too. But for people like me, I just want the QR code. Take me there. I'll read it and you know it people want you know sound bites and easily digestible content. So you know that's that's important to think about as well and not
drowning them in in information and details. >> Yep. I have I have one other suggestion which would be when the DPW building was up for a vote. Uh the folks that were on that committee provided I want to say at
least two or three opportunities for people to come see the old DPW building because it had very similar concerns and helped make the case for why there should be a new one directly next to it. Now, we don't necessarily know at this
point in our in our process where any new building or any new construction would be going, but we certainly have the ability to educate folks again who maybe don't absorb information through social media. I'll say that nicely. Uh that's fine. But some people need to get in their car
and see it. And I I found it actually quite helpful. And maybe some people in this room had the opportunity to walk through the DPW building and actually see and hear from the staff and also the committee that was involved in getting the vote up and eventually passed and eventually you know to a level that was
I don't know was it a hundred million? I don't know. It was a lot of money. Um so we're not even talking about at you know a decision that's involving hund00 million right now. We're talking about a decision for a million dollars. And I still think it would be beneficial for the kinds of people like you said, Mr. Tolantino, who may be in the room on
November 17th who uh would like the opportunity to actually see it for themselves. Thank you, >> Simon. Mr. Chair, um, another thought is also take a look at the um, warrant articles that are going to be in there.
There's going to be two significant u articles related to zoning which are going to be attract a lot of people. So think about that the group of people who are going to be attracted to those very specific votes
um because that would be another um group that would be there and so you might want to think again it's you're going to have a concentration a disproportionate number of people who are have a special interest at heart >> and if I can just to take it one step
further then you have to then discuss >> about what the order of those warrant articles is going to be Because as anybody who's been to town meeting knows, there are lots of people that are there for a single vote and then they leave. So depending on where the school vote falls on the warrant will also help follow up with what what Richard's
saying is who might be in the room at that point. Whereas let's just say the school vote is first, you'll have a packed room. Um if the school vote is last, it may be a very different cast of characters. Something to consider as you're looking at the warrant with the select board. Thank you.
And I think the article that the Cape Cod Times did uh with the pictures, I think, you know, making sure that we have that available, you know, the the anyone who's who's seen it, it really sees what's behind walls and and and what's happening there. Um, so I think
making sure and and even to the point of the presentation for the warrant is is just putting one of those up on the screen and and read it and that's all we'll need to do. I hope. I hope. But Miss Mahadei, >> um I echo the thoughts of having people
see the building. That's actually how we got a great deal of traction from this. And um I somewhat manipulatively invited Senator Seir and the people from MSBA that were here the day of the
ribbon cutting for this building on a rainy Saturday afternoon to come over and have a tour of Emmy Small and that had it was a profound experience. Steve was there. Um and I'm more than happy to
think about Saturdays. I don't obviously want people parading through the building while children are there, but I'm happy to um think about times that we can invite people in. I also, and I know this is a little aside from
this, but I I don't want to paint a picture of a building that's falling in around children either. like because we do love that space and we do incredible work in that building and we take really good care of people and I'm looking down
at Steve because when tiles come up from the floor with the asbestous or it starts to rain in a new spot on our heads they're there. So, I want to just balance that, too, so that the families who do send their
children to our building don't feel like we're not minding them, I guess. >> Yeah. And there and there's been work that's been done over the years. We've worked on the roof. Um, but even the the ability of just having to walk upstairs to the cafeteria. So, so again, has
nothing to do with the quality of it, but it's stairs only. Um, and then the gym as soon as you someone my size, as soon as you walk in, the walls are closing on me. Um, and then the the fact of not having an auditorium or not having a space to gather. So again, it
may not be what's behind the walls, but they'll they'll see these things that, you know, the school doesn't have. Um, the the school used to walk over from um Emmy Small to Madakis for their their presentations. Um, and last year I had
the benefit of seeing this auditorium packed by the parents. Um, and it's great for them to have somewhere to go, but I'm not saying they they need an auditorium like we have, but to have have space in each school is is important and to see what they don't
have and how amazing things they do with what they do have. Um, and what more we could give them. Um, again, the the building that's an amazing job that has been done uh all year and then specifically over the summer. But again, just to see the space, see the difference. Um, and again, yes, it it's
not unsafe for our kids students to be there each day. Mr. Simon, >> one last point I think is related to special ed. Um we have seen and I and I have heard the stories from uh many of the teachers
how um in order to have the one-on-one space that they need for these very specialized skills including speech pathology in particular you know they have to commandeer closets they have to commandeer a corner of the library uh it is
just not optimal and I think that's another potentially U area where again we can we can paint a picture of the of how we can improve our outcomes with the right product. Thank
you. >> Any other feedback or ideas for messaging? Okay. That was very helpful. Thank you. >> Okay. Seeing any other questions before we conclude for today?
>> Mr. Um I I know it's not on the agenda, but we do have members of the public here. And I I recall, I don't remember exactly how and when, but during the previous school building committee, there were opportunities via the agenda for the public to interact at these
meetings. Um so it's something I don't know if you've contemplated that with Dr. Smith about how that's going to work going forward. Thank you. >> Yeah, I've talked to Miss Miller. We talked briefly about it. Uh making sure that we do have the opportunity for public comment. Um, it is not currently on the agenda. Um, and I'm not sure if
there's anyone that does want to speak. I we can add it. Anyone in the public looking to speak at this point? Looks like not. Okay. So, but we'll we'll make sure that there is the opportunity. Um, and again, the school committee does put public comment at the end. I know the select board puts it at the beginning.
Um, but we will make sure there's opportunities on our next agenda to make sure that it's available. But yes, it was brought. Thank you. Another potential topic of for the future meeting would be uh additional positions. So right now there's only one officer which is you as the chair.
Typically there is a vice chair and some other uh dign or people who can assume roles if need be. So I think it would be appropriate for a committee of this type to have additional uh officers and so adding that as an agenda item would be
important. >> Excellent. Thank you. Any questions or comments? Seeing none. Does anyone want to make the last motion? >> I motion to adjurnn. >> I second. >> A motion in a second. All those in favor
say I. I. Any opposed? Any of Saint