Welcome to the Monday, May 18th, 2026 meeting of the Dennis Sharmath Regional School Committee. The Dennis Yarmouth Regional School Committee will enter an executive session to return to public session to discuss strategy with respect to litigation. Executive session is necessary to protect the litigation of position of the body. May have a motion to enter an executive session.
>> Oh, I've got one. I move to go into executive session to discuss strategy with respect to litigation and to reconvene an open session. >> We have a motion in a second. Do we have any discussion? >> Seeing none, uh, we will take a roll
call vote. Um, I believe that's Mr. Phil Morris on the end. >> Okay. Miss Martin. >> Yes. >> Uh, Mr. New and I vote yes. We will return. Thank you. Welcome back. May I please have everyone
stand and join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America to the standy for all. Thank you. Uh now that everyone's been
waiting for we have a huge crowd today. Uh we'll have a presentation for the transitions uh program pathways to independence regional high school. >> Good evening. My name is Melissa O'Reilly and I'm the special education department chair at the high school. It
is my pleasure to welcome you to our second annual community partnership award celebration for Pathways to Independence Transition Program. This evening provides us with opportunities to recognize and thank members of our community who generously donate their
time, resources, and facilities to help our students develop essential life and vocational skills. I am joined tonight by our new lead teacher, Mr. Kyle Merrill, as well as our job coaches, Miss Lori Richards, Miss Deb Kaitton,
and Miss Jerry Maloney. I would also like to introduce some of our members of our classroom. Over here we have Kira Stewart, Dakota Souza, Rashad Dennis, Mai Dennis,
Jasmine Cruz, Ryan Walsh, Nali Rosario, and Cell L. Together, this dedicated team create an environment where young adults can continue to strengthen their academic, social, and vocational and independent
living skills. Within the classroom and school setting, students receive direct instruction and guided practice and skill development. Then they are able to apply and generalize those skills within realworld community settings with
support of their teachers. Through collaboration, our program continues to evolve, driven by student needs, career interests, and opportunities made possible by our community. This year, our team welcomed four additional job
sites, and established a relationship with Cape Cod Community College, further expanding experiences available to our students as they prepare for the greater independence. It's our goal to continue to grow these relationships each year.
I would now like to invite Mr. Ryan Walsh up with me to share a message from Principal Bennett who unfortunately was unable to join tonight. Dear school committee, Pathways to Independence program members and
community members, I'm sorry I can't be with you this evening to celebrate our Pathways to Independence program and to recognize the incredible work our community partners have done with our students. Even though I'm not there in person, I wanted to share my heartfelt
gratitude through this letter. First, I want to thank the dedicated staff who support our students each day, helping them develop the vocational skills they will carry into their futures. Your commitment, patience, and belief in our
students make a lasting difference in their lives. I also wanted to extend my deep appreciation to the businesses and community partners that welcome our students into their workplaces. Thank
you for your patience and understanding, for setting high expectations, and for giving our students meaningful opportunities to put their skills into practice. You are true partners in their growth and success. Most of all, I want to thank our students for representing
Dennis Yarmouth with such dedication, motivation, and respect. You truly embody our core values and our vision of a graduate. Your hard work, perseverance, and pride in you in what you do are inspiring to all of us. Thank
you for all that you've done and continue to do. Your futures are bright and full of achievements, and I'm honored to be a small part of your journey. Sincerely, Kendra Bennett, DYHS principal. I would now like to introduce you
to the the wonderful teacher of the way program, Mr. Kyle Merrill. Ryan's words weren't as kind earlier when we practiced, but thank you. Uh, thank you, Ryan, and thank you to the
school committee for having us. Uh once again, we welcome you to the 2025 2026 Community Partnership Awards, our second annual of what we hope to maintain a continuing tradition. Uh quick introduction of myself. Sorry
guys, you hear my monotone voice a little more tonight. Um I'm Kyle Merrill, lead teacher of the Pathways Independence Program. Uh my first year back at DY. Um, and it has been an honor to become part of such an amazing
program, group of students and staff. So, up on this screen here, we just have our our working mission statement. And Melissa already gave a nice overview of our program, so I won't go too far, but um you know, we are postsecary transition program working to develop
the skills and tools needed um to live independently and be successful in the union workplace. Um all that aside, we love to stress in our program that we are a team, but even though we're a team, uh our program is focused on the
individual, their needs, goals, and vision. very important to us. Um, and we could achieve none of this without uh all our wonderful um contribution, time, and dedication from
our community partners. So, before we get into any official awards, we just want to recognize all our partners up on the screen there. These include our work experience partners uh Ocean State Job Lot, Capeguard Crearyy, Freestyle
Living, The Cove at Yarmouth, uh Taylor Berry Farm, Veterary Associates of Cape Cod, and of course our own schools, the DY Intermediate School, uh the library and gym classes for them, Emmy Small and Station AB Elementary. So, thank you to
all those partners for work experiences as well as those who provide enrichment experiences such as the Yarmouth Fire Department, uh, Cape Cod 5, uh, Cultural Center of Cape Cod, and our favorite, uh, furry friends from Salty Paws
therapy dogs. Last Thursday of the month, if you ever need a a dog fix, you can come down to room 217 in uh, DY High School. All right.
So, now on to the awards that we're going to present tonight. We have three different awards that we are establishing this year. First is our community collaboration award and that award is going to go to a longstanding partner that has consistently offered positive
experiences to our students. Next, we have the community leadership award. And this award is going to a partner or partners that demonstrate what it is to be a community role model and engage with our students in a way
that they look up to. And last on our list is the community impact award which is going to go to a new partner within the school year uh that has stepped right in and made immediate contributions improving our student experience and program.
So, without any further ado, we'll get right into the awards. Um, with that, for our first award, I'd like to introduce uh Miss Lorie Richards, Naelli Rosario, Kira Stewart, and Ryan Walsh.
Good evening. I'm Lori Richards and I'm a parah and job coach at the high school and it's my pleasure to help present these students present the first award of the evening. This year's community collaboration award goes to a group of community members who have wholeheartedly welcomed
our students with kindness and reasonable expectations since the fall of 2024. Working here with these community members has fully given our students a positive learning and training experience. Our students are very proud of the work they do and the skills they have learned
at this very special shared community space. This space and the people who care for it have given our students immeasurable life experiences. Not only have the students learned to use landscaping tools and how to care
for farm animals, they also have welcomed baby lambs, baby chickens. They interact with families who are there with their young children or people walking their dogs. And they've even experienced the passing of some of
the farm's beloved animals. All of these experiences are true real life community experiences. We are very pleased to present our community collaboration award to Taylor
Brave Farm. We would especially like to thank Liz and Catherine who are here with us tonight and also Lisa. They are with us every th sorry every Tuesday. Every Tuesday morning. Could be 17
degrees outside with snow on the ground. It could be 70 and hot and sunny. As long as it's not pouring rain, we're there. They have worked very hard and guided us every Tuesday for two years.
Catherine and Liz, thank you for your patience, your generosity, and for giving our students real life work experiences in both landscaping and animal care. We are so very grateful for and proud of our shared collaboration
and friendship. I would like >> we didn't do the video yet. >> We just have a short video uh that accompanies each of the awards. I would like to introduce the people who present our community collaboration
award. Payton, Stella Lenel, Dakota Souza, and Jasmine Cruz. >> I'm Deb Kaitton, also a job coach and para with all these students. Um, as you said, we know of the Pathways to
Independence program. This year's community leadership award will be going to three incredible DY district teachers. These teachers have been so kind to allow the Pathway students into their classrooms where they learn to lead and engage with elementary students. Starting with Station Nav
Elementary, Pathway students have worked with second grade teacher Miss Ostram and first grade teacher Miss Andre for a couple of years now. Here they've learned how to organize classroom paperwork as well as to work one-on-one with students who need extra ear or
reading assignments or extra attention to students who need help staying on task. Our students come out of these classrooms with confidence and pride. Their smiles when they leave the classroom each week shows you how much they appreciate the independence given to them at Station Avenue Elementary
School. At the Dennis Yarmmouth Intermediate School, Pathway students worked alongside Miss Malcasian with her fourth and fifth grade gym classes. In this internship, our students have been taught patience and leadership. In some
classes, there are students with special needs, albeit physical or behavioral. Miss occasion has paired the program students side by side to be mentors. This makes our students learn patience, never knowing how long it might take for a young one to either focus or join in.
Our students inspire the younger students and get them to participate in their PE class. Miss Malcasian has taught them so well to be leaders that she has even said she could sit back and let our students run the class. Thank you, Tina, Tammy, and Kathy, for your
time and skills, helping the Pathway students become better leaders in their community. You have given them space and time to be independent and learn what it's like to have a boss that allows you to become your own boss. Thank you.
I learned how to help the students with their reading and help them with their focus. I get to help them with their rainbow writing and reading and spelling and stuff. And shows me how
papers and likeastic news magazines. Miss Andrea is very kind to me and her student. So it's it feels good to work in the community in the school. like to introduce Kyle Maro, Rashad
Dennis, and Mai Dennis to come up. For our final award of the evening, we would like to recognize a combination of partners that have certainly made our Friday mornings busier, more productive, and meaningful. We've also noticed some uh bigger biceps in our group from the
heavy furniture moving. Um couldn't help myself. Um but in seriousness, each Friday our students have been receiving a crash course in hospitality, learning to work quickly, efficiently, with detail, and
as a team. From busing tables to folding chairs to restocking dishes and breaking down buffet tables, thanks to the partnership of the Yarmouth Rotary Club and Freestyle Living, our partnership has grown into an experience that helps our students not only learn valuable skills, but feel a part of the community
as well. And thanks to a generous donation from the Rotary Club, uh they are additionally helping our students achieve goals outside of work and vocational skills with an upcoming travel training and cultural experience field trip to Boston. So again, thank
you for all you do for the students in community. And that's our final award, community impact award to Freestyle Living and Yarmouth Rotary Club. We got And we just have one final video from our um one of our students who couldn't
be with us tonight, Mr. Dominic Antinucci. The skills that they teach me for the freestyle living job site is to be very efficient for the job and also to be very careful with the furniture so I don't get myself hurt or anyone else got hurt. And we also learn to do this stuff
correctly. And the reason why I actually do like the job site is because I get to give the workers a break. And also also we get to learn to do the stuff ourselves. And also I like to make the rooms very neat and very nice. and
>> my very novice uh production skills, but you know, Dom said it there himself. You know, really learning how to do things ourselves is what we're all about. And again, without our community partners, we wouldn't be able to do that. So, thank you again. One more round of applause and then we just have a little
photo loop to play for you guys and we'll be done. Thank goodness I didn't pre-record our singing on the bus cuz then we'd all be leaving. That was it again. Thank you guys. >> Yeah, if we can have the the students from Pathways, we can take a picture on
the stage since we all got dressed up would be great. And the recipients of the awards as well. Just be very careful of the wires, especially those in a boot. Congratulations and thank you. It's the first time I received award for
leaving a mess on a table and letting someone else clean it up. I know he got it. I appreciate it. Uh next we will move into our student representative report. Hi. Um I don't know how I can follow
that but uh we start with AP testing. No. Um we've got yeah AP and MCCAST testing. Um, AP testing ended. Um, I don't know if it was last week or Yeah, I think last week, but um, MCAST testing is still going on. Um, the spring
musical was a huge success. So, yeah, I wish I got to go, but I have my own show. Anyways, um, the Pops concert is this Wednesday at 700 p.m. at the high school. Um, the Interact Club is hosting
the Yarmouth Rotary on Friday. Friday morning for breakfast. Boys track were undefeated and league champions. They competed last Monday. Um seniors have eight days left and yeah.
Um I also am going to Harvard. >> Yeah. >> Stop that. Thank you. Um, I got off the wait list at Harvard. So, >> did you save >> Sorry, I just wanted to sneak that in
there. >> Ava, did you did you save the receipt from the hoodie that you were wearing the other day? >> I We have so much Duke stuff. It's bad. I'm like, yeah. Well, on behalf of everyone here at the school committee, we want to thank you
for your years of service, not only to our committee, uh, but to our schools, um, from the, uh, community garden, um, and everything that you've done for our community. Um, we really want to say thank you and appreciate you and have a small token
And as Sarah pointed out, you also get to take your name plate with you. We know that you'll have it in front of you for many future things as you continue to run the country. Uh so just remember little uh little uh DY school committee, we gave you your first name plate.
So thank you so much. Uh next we'll move into the superintendent evaluation which I believe Sarah's going to pass out. Just kidding. Just kidding. It was in the back. Do we
have it on the screen? We don't have Okay. So, this is going to be verbally. Uh so, um throughout the year, uh beginning of the year, the superintendent creates goals. Um and throughout the year, um he provides what
we call evidence on where he is on those goals. Um evidence of how proceeding in it and what he's accomplished in it. Um, and one of the main goals of the the school committee other than budget is to evaluate the superintendent. Um, and all
of us evaluate the superintendent individually. Uh, it's all then submitted with comments and then put together with the help of Sarah. Uh, we then put it together um and then um do a cumulative uh
evaluation report. together. I'm not going to read the entire um evaluation, but we'll go through what his ratings are uh which are most most important. Um in the first part of it is the step one to assess the progress towards
goals. Um the first goal is professional practice goal and the options as I talk slower and they come on the screen. um start with did not meet some progress significant progress met or exceeded um
and Dr. Smith received uh the rating of exceeded for his prof professional practice goal uh for student learning um he received the um the evaluation of met and district improvement goal uh also
received the evaluation of met. The step two is the assess performance on standards. Um these are specifically towards the standards of the thing for instructional leadership. Uh the options are unsatisfactory,
needs improvement, proficient or exemplary as you can now see on the screen. Uh for instructional leadership, she received the rating of proficient. For standard two, management and operation received the rating of exemplary. For standard three, family and community
engagement received the uh rating of proficient and standard four, professional culture uh received the um score of proficient. Um again the comments are are made will be made public. Um but overall um you
know Dr. Smith demonstrated strong, thoughtful and highly collaborative leadership across all the areas. um regardless of what um part of his goals that we look at that was definitely uh seen throughout.
On the next page for performance goals um professional practice goals was exceeded. Student learning goal was met. His district improvement goal uh one was met and district uh well professional practice goal was
increasing communication building upon the uh existing communication structure and expanding that definitely saw uh increased communications and his feedback you know discussed all the different ways he used data and all the different ways he worked to communicate with people. The student learning goal
was to in improve tier one instruction for every student. Um you know with high quality feedback and the learning walks which he's talked about the district improvement goal one organizational effectiveness uh you know one of the things that Dr. Smith uh talked about since he started with the district was
so many things were, you know, antiquated or needed to be changed. And uh him and his team have been working on digit digitizing things that most of us in the professional workplace have digitized already like requests off and um getting rid of carbon copy papers uh in the district. And then district
improvement goal two, district and school safety planning. um a lot has been done to ensure that our schools are safe and a plan is put in place um in the event that something happens. Um and he's worked very hard with community leaders uh in both towns to make sure we
got there. Again, the score for that was exceeded. Page five, uh student performance rating management operations environment um develops and execute effective plans. um was proficient. Human resource management implementing inclusive
approach to recruiting was proficient. Fiscali systems developing a budget that supports the district's vision, mission, and goals was exceeded. Uh we've had a tough year and he's worked with his team to make sure that we put the best um you
know financial budget that we could. Uh then the overall rating for management operation was exceeded. um talks about the modernizing and streamlined district systems and operations and then I think being able to communicate uh the reasoning behind our budget has been key
on page six uh engagement actively ensures that all families are welcome members of the classroom and school community was proficient engages in regular two-way culturally proficient communication was exceeded um through the many different types of ways
uh from in person to online to uh YouTube updates to the uh Yarmouth uh meeting with members of Yarmouth and have on a podcast. Uh always looking at new ways overall rating for family engagement was proficient.
And then the last one uh communication strong inspirational written. So these are you know things that how he communicates to people uh other than you know communicating words was proficient. His shared vision successfully continually engage all stakeholders was proficient. and then
overall rating for professional culture was proficient. Um Dr. Smith is recognized as an effective, transparent and accountable leader who communicates clearly and consistently with staff, families, the school committee and the broad broader community. Um that first line explains it all and um just want to
thank Dr. Smith for this last year. We look forward to many years together. Any any other comments from the committee? I know there's a lot of words that he'll have time to read that everyone put time in but see um so we'll take a motion to
evaluation >> I'll make a motion to approve the evaluation with great thanks to you Mark for everything you are doing for this district um the improvements are um helpable and
uh impressive and your dedication is outstanding. So, thank you so much. >> We have a motion to Mr. Morris. Remember, had a second. Thank you, Mr. Morris. Any further discussion? >> Mr. Morris.
Even though I wasn't as effective as I've had been in the past by attendance, nevertheless, I was kept up to date by staff, particularly the superintendent, but also the central office and members,
my friends here on the school committee. So, I am blessed by the people that I've been able to interact with starting with DY and working way to the community. So my second has a lot of meaning behind
it. Thank you. >> And yes, Mr. Baris, we appreciate uh your your many years of service to the committee. We know that tomorrow is election day, so we know you are not running. So we appreciate those many
years and we look forward to seeing you many. Thank you. So we have a motion, a second, you know, further discussion. All those in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Any abstain?
Thank you. And again, I appreciate the feedback and I'll I will take some time to um digest it, read through it, and uh but I you know, the only comment that I will make immediately is I'm one employee of 630, right? So any
uh improvement the district has made only one person. It's a testament to work of the other 629 employees. So any small piece that I've had and it is really a reflection of the work that everybody else has done. I mean I do think leadership is important and I do
think the superintendent plays a role in setting a strategic vision but if all the other folks in the district hadn't done the work to get behind that vision then you know it would all be for not. So, um, I just want to make sure that, you know, while this, you know, I appreciate the praise, the phrase also
needs to make sure it travels appropriately from myself all the way to every single employee. Thank >> Thank you. You know, as Mr. Morris said, there's so many great people that help provide us information, answer our
questions, and we know it takes a lot of people to get done all the great things that have been done in the district. So, we're grateful for a great year. Um and then next uh we have uh the appointment uh request for director of finance and operations
again. >> Uh all right. Yes. Thank you. So we're going to have actually there's two agenda items back toback appointments. So there are as the committee is well aware there a couple of positions that um the committee also has appointment authority to right based upon the
recommendation of the superintendent. So uh there going to be two here back to back. um that I'm going to ask for your appointment. Yes, I think I phrased that English correctly. Um based upon my recommendation, so we completed search. Um unfortunately, as I've previously
mentioned in communications, um Dr. Gilson has uh taken uh a different assignment um closer to home and we wish her all the best and that meant we needed a different search process um which we concluded again with the help of a internal committee um and some uh I
want to thank u our both in the search for Dr. Gillson and the search for Miss Clemens who I'm going to introduce here in just a second. Um we had partners not only internal but uh town of Arth uh their finance team was very helpful in helping in the search uh process just
bringing a level of expertise you know from the finance side um which I'm very grateful to uh so I just want to you know just another example of continued partnership and helping us in um I don't know I don't know finding and just continued partnership in a wide
variety of ways this being another one. So anyways, uh uh today I'd like to get the uh asking the committee to officially appoint uh Miss Jesse Clemens to the position of uh director of finance and operations effective July 1. Uh Jesse's coming to us from the Bourne
uh public schools uh where she's sitting in administrative position in the central office. Prior to that, working in the Aington public schools uh in a school level position as a principal assistant principal. prior that being a dean uh in the Fall River Schools for mathematics has a strong mathematics
background had very high recommendations from uh several people that I spoke to uh that are colleagues that I've worked to in other districts one that particularly that stands out is uh current superintendent uh Dr. Joe in uh
Bourne uh had recruited Jesse to come to Bourne um and had her lined up as their next app parent to their business and finance position. So um Jesse and I have had some conversations which I have later in the superintendent report about effectively supporting her in the
transition into the new role. But um you know we're excited uh to have her in the position. We're excited to get her in and get her started and support her um effectively into this role. So, I look for the committee's appointment. And if you so choose to make that motion in that vote, then I'll ask Jesse to come up and just briefly introduce herself uh
to you all before you all get the pleasure of working with her in a couple months. >> Take a motion from the floor. >> Um I move that we appoint Miss Jesse Clemus to the position of director of finance and operations effective July 1, 2026 as recommended by the
superintendent. We have a motion in a second. Um any discussion? I will say I had the pleasure of being in the interview process. Um and had some really great uh attitude and we you
know the feeling from everyone in the room was that she'll bring the energy that uh is you know the Dolphin way um and help create um some great energy in the office um and help us continue the great things that uh those before have
have done and uh really work hard to get us where we need fiscally. So very excited for that. So a motion and a second. All those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Any of congratulations and
we'll welcome you to say a few words. And I think you had some surprised visitors. Um thank you. I appreciate the appointment. Um it's nice to see familiar faces um along with brand new faces that I'll be seeing quite regularly. Um, very excited for the
opportunity, very excited to get started. Um, I know there are some good systems in place um that I hope to uh help continue. Um, if anyone has any questions, I'm just really excited to get >> any questions for anyone on the committee.
>> Seeing congratulations. >> Thank you. Thank you again. And moving on, next we have uh discussion about the director of special education and student services. >> All right. So, uh the committee may remember as we're working through the budgeting process, uh we have a like
sort of a two-part restructuring at central office. So, one is a reduction of a position at the central office and with that reduction of position comes a need to restructure uh within the special education department. So currently in the current school year uh
for the special education department um the assistant superintendent uh Miss Lopes is assistant superintendent for pupil services and instruction and then underneath the office of pupil services there are two assistant directors for special education uh one focused on prek
to five and the other 6 to 12 uh and uh out of district uh placements. Uh so with the reduction of the uh one of the assistant director positions and the launch and the goal is to remove uh
the assistant superintendent from pupil services to do more true assistant superintendent work because if you're in pupil services you're never not in pupil services. Um and so this would be to reduce the assistant director position and create a director of pupil services
position. Special education and people services is technically the title. or student services is the title. U so the recommend again this is another position that the committee uh appoints based upon the recommendation of the uh superintendent. So uh u we have a
retirement from one of the assistant directors and then the other assistant director has been working in the district for the last couple of years. Um has been doing a fabulous job has been key in supporting several of our initiatives in the district. comes from us comes came to us two years ago uh
with extensive special education expertise uh in in a couple of other districts um doing a lot of similar work to what she's been doing here but has also grown into the role especially as we've given her more and more challenges has really taken on uh we've been part
of our strategic initiative implementation has been focusing on our programs in the prek to uh five level has really taken significant lead in that role and uh I feel that she's ready to now take this step into the director
role. Um so my recommendation is that we appoint uh Miss Laura Nudi to the role special director of special education and student services for uh next school year effective July. >> I'll take a motion this one.
Um a motion to appoint Ms. Laura Nuti to the P position of director of special education and student services effective July 1st, 2026 as recommended by the superintendent. >> We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Miss Beus.
>> So my only question is I'm assuming now this is a K12 position. >> PreK to 12 district. actually actually >> to 22 technically. So including including the folks that were just here
earlier. >> Think that was a great segue having them go first and then making this an easy decision for us. Uh so we have a motion in second. All those in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Any abstain? Congratulations. >> And then similarly like just like to
invite Laura up briefly to introduce herself to the group. Thank you, Dr. Smith and the committee. I'm really looking forward. Can you hear me? >> Yes. >> How about that? All right. Well, thank you all for um the appointment. I am
really excited to move forward in this new position and follow the work that Maria Lopes has done over the past 11 years. Um my p the two years that I have been here, I've actually learned so much from her and
toward her being a mentor to me as I take on this new role. Um, I just want to share with you my foundational belief as an educator has always been that all students can learn and succeed. And I think in this role, it's really
important that we are mindful of the work that needs to be done, not only as educators, leaders, but also as community members to make sure that we have the appropriate supports and programs in place for our students to make the most effective progress that
they can. So, with that being said, I am excited to bring my work to the district and uh support all of our students and continuing um the work that's already been done, but also um hopefully
creating more opportunities in the future for all of our students to be successful. Um so, thank you again and I look forward to working with all of you. Thank you. >> Thank you again. Great. Uh, subcommittee representatives
leazison report uh, school comma on to the select board. Miss Business is to my right. So, congratulations on your reelection. >> So, thank you to the voters and my fellow neighbors in Dennis. And thank you again to my fellow neighbors and
voters in Dennis who on March 4th overwhelmingly March 5th, sorry, overwhelmingly supported the school budget in the override and then did it again on March 12th. I thank you. I think it was in May for
um for the for the town of Yarmouth. Uh what's important is tomorrow is election day. Um there is the override vote for the school budget uh which passed at town meeting and then there's two positions open for um
school committee. So please make sure you get out and vote. Um you know town of Dennis had 14% was the final final number 14% of voters um Yarmouth let's show them how to do it and let's get that number up.
Next superintendent report recognition recognition of donations and acknowledgements. >> All right. Thank you. First just uh quick starting with an acknowledgement. I got an email on Friday which uh Sarah made copies and
passed out. Just I'm going to I haven't had a chance to dig specifically into the numbers yet. Um but I and I'll share those with the committee separately. But I just want um I know I had shared and I'll when I do a end of the year report on this strategic plan I can share that
data as well. But we had a focus on chronic absenteeism this year and we did get an email from the commissioner based upon our March data um that we were able to reduce chronic absenteeism. Uh we're one of 55 districts that uh reduce our chronic absenteeism by at least five percentage points. So, uh, you know,
just again, other than me sending out a couple of messages districtwide, this isn't like my accomplishment. This is an accomplishment of, you know, the principles, assistant principles, social workers, and teachers all doing the work
at the student level to really in the family level to really bolster the importance of chronic absentism. And then we have plans this summer to continue to dig into this work. But, you know, everything starts with the first step. This is a focus area for us and we firmly believe that you know and the
research supports it and the data supports it that there's a connection between uh presence and achievement right so this work us working on our chronic absenteeism wasn't just spec wasn't only about addressing chronic absenteeism was also as a mechanism to address some of our achievement issues
so um this is this is good news you know it's great to get good news so I just wanted to make sure we shared this with everybody else so uh that's acknowledgement uh Then moving on a couple different items. So I had a meeting with the Capeen Islands Veteran
Outreach Council. It was last week. Um they are uh they've been working to coordinate to bring uh what's called the Wall That Heels to Yarmouth. Um for folks that aren't unfamiliar with the wall that he heels, it's a I think it's
two/3s. I might have that wrong. either two or three quarter size replica of the Vietnam uh war memorial. Um the travels across the country. I think the last time I was on the Cape they told me was 20 or 25 years ago. U and so it will be
going to the Parker River Landing between the 15th of September and the 20th of September. And so it's, you know, there it's going to be a big community event, you know, not only for Yarmouth, but obviously with the surrounding Cape community. Uh, and from the school side, you know, they're
looking to partner on a couple different fronts. Uh, it's obviously an educational opportunity for students. So, there's a curriculum that's tied to it as well as um while it's there, it's an opportunity for excursions, for learning, like a field trip type
experience. But then they're also looking volunteer opportunity uh for our students. This need for constructing the wall, deconstructing the wall plus uh volunteer um other volunteer opportunities. So, you know, especially
looking more towards for the volunteer pieces, more looking towards some of our older age students perhaps working with some of our teams um around especially the construction deconstruction. You know, you have to imagine it comes in a big truck and then they can assemble the wall, right? This is big pieces with all
the individual names on it. you know, like I said, it's a replic of the actual wall. Um, but so we're working with them on how DY can be a big part of this experience because it's a, you know, for several of our students, it'll be the only experience in their sort of lifetime.
They probably may for them here on the Cape and then, you know, once every for any uh Hunger Games fan fans, you know, once in the quarter quell um it comes around. So, to get
it's every 25 years quotequote anyways. So um to get to get it get an opportunity to experience this um and for you know several people who don't get the opportunity to go to DC again it's an opportunity to um get that experience here
that is September 15th to the 20th and like I said right over on the Parker the new uh revamped Parker River landing um area. Uh next uh as I mentioned uh our director uh finance will be starting in uh January I mean yeah not January July
1. Yeah I know I know we got the J's right. Um okay so uh so a couple different things. So you know first starts with uh Dr. Gillson. Dr. and I
have been in discussions around closing out this year. uh making sure that as much information is uh I don't know positioned maybe is the right verb uh to be transitioned on to
uh Miss Clemens and that both it's ready to be handed on directly as well as being positioned like so that I have the right information that I need and the rest of the business office staff has the information that they need in order to support a smooth transition. So we're working collaboratively on that piece.
Um and then there are a couple different organizations that help support um not only school district transitions but help support new um finance u professionals. So uh which we are members of. So there's the MARS which is
the Massachusetts Association of Regional School Districts um because regional schools have their own finance nuances I guess for lack of a better word. Um so they they run several trainings. The first one um is on end of
the year reporting. So, uh, our existing team plus, um, Miss Clemens are going to participate in the end of the year training, um, that starts in June and then has a followup in September. And then, um, the
Massachusetts School Business Officials, NASBO, um, has a support mechanism in place for new business officials. That's a year, a multi-year mentoring program. Um, and then we're also in conversation
with a retired school business official to also provide another layer of additional support just to make sure this transition goes because if you really think about it as a school district, you know, we've had since I've been here, this will be the fourth school business official in four year or three years. So, really trying to
support as much as possible. um you know a real smooth transition for end of the year start closing out FY26 as clean as possible starting FY27 and before you know it we're going to be building FY28 right so really trying to
make sure all of that is um as secure you know we're having treasurer in in place um accountant position is changing over so really trying to put as many safeguards in place in order to support um all those as well
Um and then lastly, uh legislative breakfast. Uh this morning, uh was a legislative breakfast. We hosted the 25 2025 2026 legislative breakfast, uh at the high school in the library. Uh this is the Cape Cod collaborative. So all
the districts that participate in or that are members of the Cape Cod collaborative, this is our legislative breakfast. We had four five legislated doors or their offices represented at the meeting. Um I
first want to thank Rooney u for making sure we had great food all set up and ready to go right at the beginning. This is breakfast after all. I want to thank Sarah and the high school administrative staff um for making the event go off without a hitch. Um all I had to do was show up. Uh, and the Cape Cod
collaborative administrative assistant said um to me after the whole event was over, she wanted me to thank Sarah, Judy, the rest of the staff up at the high school just for making everything completely flawless and seamless. She said all she had show up and really didn't have to do anything because our staff made it so easy for her. So again,
thank you um to everybody who makes my job so much easier. Um and then so we start the day started or the morning started um well the morning started with a little bit of a slowdown as we're trying to integrate one of our new check-in systems. So kind of slowed
things down a little bit um with our new Raptor system. But once we got everybody in, uh, we had a presentation on, um, that, uh, four of our superintendents had gotten together to do an overall presentation sort of on the state of
finances. You know, again, the Cape isn't really in any different position. So, sort of the budget challenges we had this year, pretty much almost every school district was facing some version of that. So we presented an overall state of the budget plus a couple of school districts then gave some uh specific breakdowns. So you
know I did a breakdown on what we were facing this year as DY Barnstable did the same thing. Cape Cod collaborative sort of talked about it from their perspective. Uh and then we broke out into breakout groups uh where one was focused on funding, one was focused on
special education uh student discipline and then the other one was like a hodgepodge um uh because the collaboratively collected uh questions from everybody about topics. So the last one was sort of the catchall group. It included AI, housing, declining enrollment and cell phones. So it's kind
of all over the place. Um but there was about 45 minutes to an hour in those breakouts. Uh and then we came back and debriefed. Uh you know I think there was some decent motion. Uh the legislators were able to share some of the things that they have on the agenda for future.
You know chapter 70 was a big topic in the funding group. Um you representative Diggs who's has a portion of Yarmouth is on ways and means. So it was good to get you know get uh Rep. Dig's ear for a bit of time on chapter 70 in particular. Um
and they are coming to a time where they need to revisit chapter 70 as part of the um the normal sort of cycle for chapter 70. Uh and then there were some you know some commitments to really uh especially from the legislators that were present to make sure that everybody
is um having ongoing conversations with their with their legislators about some of these key issues that are coming up whether um not only about some of the funding pieces but some of the other um items that are coming down the pike related to cell phones. Uh there was
another um topic on trying to remember uh oh yeah the cell phone one particular Rep. Mowgli who isn't us but um Rep. Moley brought that up because there's a there's a House version of that bill. There's a Senate version of that bill. Um so they're looking for you know feedback as they go to conference
committee to what will ultimately come out and ultimately impact schools. So um some some good conversation better you know from my perspective more organ we were more organized this year than we were last year and we'll only improve uh as we move forward for next year.
>> Thank you so much. Any questions? Seeing none. Uh next we'll move to school committee business. Uh we have one two three four five policies. This is the first readings so there will be no votes. Um, and I believe Miss Beimis
is going to lead the the section. So, in terms of um what we did sort of the second half of this year because last year and this year we've been looking at new policies or new situations. Uh, but our policy manual could use a little bit in different
spots of an uh update. So section E seemed to have the most items that were sort of hadn't been looked at for a number of years and that's why we selected it. So this is sort of a deep dive into section E. You'll notice at the end of it, we got rid of some
policies that are no longer necessary and we reviewed and what you see before you are those that we needed to update. Uh I'm particularly proud to say we could update our uh school meals policy. So that's what it is. The only thing I
want to add for clarity, there's one where it says we're renaming it. Got to find it. >> Yeah. E, we're not only renaming it, but we're adding that opening paragraph. Great. So, we all it's all been
provided. We will have a probably we'll have a second reading and vote in the future. Any questions on anything before we do that? Okay. Plenty of reading. Thank you so much. Next, uh summer summer school committee meetings, dates,
and and topics. Um I met with Dr. Smith and we talked about the summer. Um you know, I know we all agreed to have possibly at least two meetings. Um, but there is a memo that I'm missing somewhere.
Um, but we we wanted to kind of get a collaboration of uh ideas for the summer topics. So, um, at Monday, May 4th meeting, we had a consensus that we were looking to do two meetings. Um, one of
the dates was that we selected was in July, Monday, July 20th. This is about midmon and it avoids the holiday. Um and at that time we'll have our new director of finance um who would have
been in the role for a couple weeks and uh we'll be ready for her first school committee and also allows uh Warren to remain on schedule that support district operations. Um when we looked at the August calendar, we kind of noticed something that there's five Mondays in August. Um
and if we had a meeting August 20th, um we felt that we might need another meeting uh August 31st, August 10th, sorry, August 10th to maintain consistency. Um at that meeting, we could approve the
superintendent's goals based on the meetings he had with his team. Um but the recommendation that him and I had would be to also add a meeting August 31st otherwise between the opening of school and open houses we wouldn't meet
for almost seven weeks um which there may be committee business and it might not be a long meeting um but you know we felt that it would be important not to have such a long gap um and then for the topics of meetings um
things that we thought for our workshops. Uh one option uh was uh regional agreement. Um one option uh was goal setting. We talked about how the school committee goals. Um and then yeah, I'll get to that afterwards. Um
one would be the superintendent evaluation. Um there was topics about how to it was brought up in our May 4th meeting like how do we measure certain of certain goals right like is there a way uh to put a percentage or a numerical and then any other topics um
and then uh Dr. Smith pointed out to me we also in the past when we do summer meetings we don't necessarily meet as late um so the recommendation to start early I think in the past we've met at 5 uh instead of 6:30 um but wanted to again these are all recommendations that we have in front of us from the memo
from Dr. Smith and just wanted to bring these out to the committee so that we can solidify our calendars now. Um, so first, are we okay with the Monday, July 20th meeting? Okay, looks like we're all look okay. And are we okay with the five o'clock
start? So, we look like we're okay for the first one. And then for the August 10th meeting, are we okay for that for also for a five o'clock start? Yes, looks like we're okay so far. And any discussion on the August 31st,
Miss Landers? Miss Landers, >> I would say we put it on there and then we can determine closer to the date whether we actually need it or not. If you know if we need to sign items or, you know, if there's stuff, but I also
would recognize that that's the week before school starts and your efforts might be better spent other places than preparing for a school committee meeting. But >> so we'll we'll So it sounds like we can add that as a business meeting as a normal meeting and then um look at that. Also included in here which is later in
the thing um right after it is the school calendar and then when our proposed meeting dates are for the for the next calendar year. So as I said if we meet the 31st uh if we don't meet the 31st our first meeting will be September 14th. So that's where we get the one,
two, three, four, it would be five weeks. Um so I think if we add that um and then we can just decide from there if it's needed and then next would be topics. So um we talked about the last on May 4th possibly doing one as a
workshop um and then you know one as a business meeting. Of the four topics is there any of the topics that we want to put to the front? So again, I know u it sounds far away, but it'll be here before we know it. It will give Dr. Smith and his team time to be able to
prepare. Um so >> um my preference would be for the superintendent evaluation portion to talk about um establishing metrics for monitoring performance, multi-year trend analysis,
multi-year goals and evaluations. That would be my preference. >> Okay. I'm not going to go to the end of the table because those members will not be with us this summer unfortunately. But Mr. New, Mr. Martin, any particular things that jump out at you,
Mr. New says, "No, Mr. Martin's thinking. I see the light bulb." >> Yeah. Did you Did you smell the burning? >> Um, no. I think I would uh I would definitely I mean I wouldn't be opposed to doing the superintendent evaluation talking
about that, but I would we definitely need to to hammer down the goal setting for the year, talk about the strategic plan. I mean, I think that was kind of what we were going to do anyway. Um but especially, you know, since this year we didn't get to really address anything in the strategic plan, so that's got to
kind of be, you know, pushed or adjusted. So, I mean, I think, you know, um I think that's that's definitely something that we need to uh kind of dial in on. >> Okay, Miss Beimis. >> Yeah. And along the goal setting, um I
think there may be a good time if we look at within ourselves, what are our goals in our group norms because we're, you know, changing memberships and we haven't discussed that for, you know, what guides us and what do we really want to hold on to and all of that.
Perfect. So, it looks like we have, you know, two two topics to look at and um we can go from there. Um so, thank you. I I appreciate this is a committee. So, Dr. Smith, so um trying to remember I think it was my
first year we might have done it. I I can't remember. Sorry. I apologize. But and I'm trying to think and speak at the same time, which is never a good thing. So in at some date before today um with a committee we brought MASC in. I think
it was just once we did or maybe it was twice. We might have done roles and responsibilities and then we did goal setting. I think we might we might have done two separate times. Right. So but so we if the committee wants I could work with MASC and have them come in. We could organize it around a single
workshop with two f Whoops. two focus areas where um you know it would be looking at revisiting the superintendent evaluation but with a more narrow focus like the first time was like a general training
um but I think the committees got a much more solid understanding of the process right so but then it could be focused on the the the the topics that came up under the last um discussion and then you know in either order but then it
could be then around goal setting um as well with with some MASSC facilitation I guess is what I was saying which would give to the chair's point some time for me to reach out to MASC make sure they're available for one of those two dates.
>> Sounds perfect. Thank you. >> Uh >> sorry we have a new field rep. >> Yes, we have a retirement. Yes. Um and then as I stated the 2026 2027 school year calendars provided the red circles will be um our meeting dates. Um
we haven't really again the whoever whoever ends up being chair in July 1st which is our next meeting. We will have a reorganization um you know we'll work on with the superintendent uh comm the you know calendar and how it will look for each time. Yes, Dr. Smith.
>> Yeah. Yeah. And that was just meant to clearly just be a draft, work with the next chair to solidify, but that was meant to give the committee a sense of sort of a map on what it would look like mostly as you were considering the summer dates too to just sort of see how
everything lined up and progressed into the next year. Um but also, you know, to start some of that work so that's um laid out a little bit for the next year. >> Yeah. Yeah. And obviously if there's any, you know, big things that are on the calendar that may have been
forgotten or missed or unknown or um Yeah. Like if there's something that Yeah. birthday is your time away in Costa Rica or wherever we're going. Yeah. Just uh you know, stuff like that. But like if there for whatever reason there'd be something that multiple
members would not be available um and town meetings and if they move stuff like that, van trips, driving trucks. Yeah. We want to make sure we have a quorum at all times. So again, this is proposed. This is not uh permanent. Perfect. Uh the consent agenda which has
the meetings uh from the minutes of March 9th. Are we in the right month? So many papers on my desk today. March 9th. Look at that. That was March. I got the month right. March 9th. Someone want to move the consent agenda.
Motion cons. We have a second. Mr. Moore seconded. I heard you. I heard you. Mr. One more second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Any abstain? Thank you. Bill's requisition and payrolls. I hope uh with Dr. Kilson leaving that doesn't mean
that we're going to have this giant stack every week. I hope we're going to still be able to approve online, but we will sign if we have to. EOC, please. This reminder that you should check your emails to make sure that you have are signing when they're
necessary. bills, requisition, and payroll. We just talked about calendar, school committee topics. Um, our next meeting will be June 1st and we have the retiree reception. Um, Mr. Morris, you are officially invited uh to the retiree
reception. We want to make sure that uh you are available in here. >> I consider myself being invited. Thank you. Um, again, Yarmouth Town election tomorrow from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 PM. Um,
Monday the 25th is a Memorial Day holiday. There will be no school. Again, retire reception will start on Monday the 1st at 6 p.m. Then we will have our normal business meeting after. Um, senior awards night I believe is th is always on a Thursday, Thursday, June 4th
and high school graduation for our seniors will be Saturday, June 6th. Um, very exciting. Very exciting. Public comment. Is there anyone looking to speak in public comment? Seeing none, we have a motion to adjurnn. Do we have
a second? Miss Marshall, thank you for that second. And uh I thank Mr. Morris and Miss Marshall for your service this year. We appreciate you both. Um and we hope to see you guys again in the future. and we look forward to welcoming
uh two new members in July June 1st. So we have a motion and we have a second. All those in favor say I. I. Any oppose? Any abstain? Thank you and have a great night.