Mhm. >> Welcome to the Monday, April 27th, 2026 meeting of the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School 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. Thank you. And today we have two student representatives. We have Ava and Eva, not to get me all confused on one day. So, I'll pass it over to you young ladies.
Hi, thank you so much. Um, so we have a a good little list to tell you guys today. Um, so as you guys probably know, it's the final quarter. Um, AP tests begin next week. Seniors have to decide about their colleges by
May 1st, so that's very exciting. Um, and then we seniors, we get out of school at the end of May. Um, that starts like senior week and graduation. Um, and then spring sports are also in full swing right now. And then I'll hand it off to Eva to tell
you the rest of our news. Um, so school's back in session from spring break. Um, the week of May 4th is teacher and nurse appreciation week. Class officer speeches are next week and 8th grade MCAS is coming up.
Thank you so much, Eva. And uh, with Ava discussing uh, people making final choices, we all see that you're wearing a sweatshirt. Um, and and we would like to congratulate you
on your acceptance to Duke. We know you've done so many great things for our our school, and uh, we're excited for everything that you bring down to them. So, congratulations. Uh, next we have uh, the Margaret E. Small Elementary School Principal
announcement. All right, thank you. Uh, Mark Smith, Superintendent, Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District. And it is my distinct pleasure to formally introduce uh, Mr. Jesse Craddock, uh, who is the newly appointed principal to the Margaret E. Small Elementary
School effective July 1st, 2026. Uh, Mr. Craddock joins our district with a wealth of leadership experience and an impressive educational background. He earned his master's degree in school administration from Gordon College, holds a bachelor's of science uh, from Springfield College.
Most recently, Jesse served as the head principal at the Cushing Elementary School in Scituate. And prior to that, he led Cedar Elementary School in Hanover, and has has served as an assistant principal in Franklin as well. Throughout his career, Jesse's had has
distinguished himself uh, as a leader who leads with both heart and high expectations. Going through his letters of recommendation, his colleagues and former supervisors consistently highlighted several key strengths.
First, uh, in the development of culture a culture of a as being a culture builder. Uh, he has a proven track record of fostering vibrant, inclusive school environments through creating uh, community events in creative ways.
Second, his instructional excellence. He is deeply committed to data data-driven instruction, and has successfully led initiatives to improve early literacy and math performance. He has a strong social-emotional focus. Jesse brings a comprehensive understanding of social-emotional
learning and restorative practices, ensuring that every student feels safe, supported, and valued. And finally, he has and leads with visible leadership. He believes in being an active, visible presence in the school, whether greeting students at arrival,
visiting classrooms, or engaging with families during school events. Jesse's appointment follows a rigorous selection process that included a diverse panel of parents, educators, and school leaders. He emerged as a standout candidate because of his collect
collaborative spirit, his focus on academic excellence, and his genuine dedication to student success. Jesse has already expressed his eagerness to listen and learn as he gets to know the MES community and build upon his strong foundation. Please
join me in welcoming Jesse Craddock to the Dennis-Yarmouth Regional School District. All right, thank you, Superintendent Smith. And uh, good evening, everyone. Um, uh, I was told um, I could have maybe a minute just to share a little bit maybe
more about myself. Uh, I am uh, the proud father of two um, young boys, uh, James and Colby. James is 5 years old in the Duxbury Public Schools, and Colby um, uh, takes the uh, trip in with my wife
to downtown Boston every day. He's three. Uh, and he goes to the um, CCC, which is a state daycare facility, and my wife works on Beacon Hill. So, um, they have a nice uh, opportunity to share 3 hours in the car together every day.
Um, but I certainly um, am um, uh, very lucky to have um, both of them and also my uh, wonderful wife uh, in my life. Um, I uh, grew up in a family of educators. Both of my parents taught in Connecticut
uh, for 40 years. My sister is currently a third grade teacher in Connecticut. Um, I taught in Newburyport up in the North Shore before becoming uh, an an administrator. Uh, in the fall, this will be my ninth year as a uh, school administrator.
Um, so just very excited. Um, I um, am really as Superintendent Smith had shared, very eager to start. Uh, we kind of have a plan in place in terms of uh, you know, helping with the transition. I'm very, very um, grateful for all the early work that um, Sarah has been doing
in terms of getting me kind of uh, situated uh, for that transition. Um, and really excited to hopefully call Dennis Yarmouth a home for a long time here. So, I would also like to thank Assistant Superintendent Lopes and everyone else
that was on the interview committee. It was um, having only gone through just a few interview processes, this this but having conducted many myself, um, I learned a lot from this interview process. It was extremely extensive.
Great opportunity to be able to come in and see the kids and see the building and meet staff. Uh, and from a candidate's perspective, it made me made me feel really comfortable and confident about wanting to work here. So, from the other side of things as a
candidate, I appreciate all the work that went into that process and again, I am very proud to be the principal of MES starting this fall. So, thank you for having me this evening and have a great rest of school year.
Thank you. Any Any questions from the committee? We'll We'll just send our congratulations and we look forward to to welcoming you. And then next on the agenda that we have a memo from Superintendent Smith regarding scholarships. All right, so
I'm not going to read the memo to you verbatim, but it is in your packet. And essentially, in a nutshell, what the memo is asking the committee to consider is a change in financial policy related to scholarships. So, the general
practice for scholarships is that even though the students who are awarded scholarships earn those scholarships based upon the work that they do in high school. So, take Ava here as an example, right? So, Ava's potentially going to apply for some
scholarships and she could be very well deserving for those scholarships, but our general practice in the district is to withhold those scholarships until after the first semester of college. And essentially, make this for lack of a better
term, essentially, make the students prove again that they've earned those scholarships. They have to submit their their tuition bill, which is that that part's just the tuition bill, but then they also have to submit their grades and they get the bill in the second for
the second semester. Now, so there's that sort of one part of it. The second part of it is it becomes uh, a like a mechanical mechanical's not the right word, but like a process challenge for both the student and for the family
and for the district. So, you know, the awards happen, the student gets awarded the scholarship in June and now we're talking like somewhere in the ballpark of eight-ish months later is when we're starting to process these actual awards
and send the checks out to the school to the schools or wires out to the schools that are that are getting the scholarship award. And by then, like a lot has happened. Sometimes there's personnel changes and so the the sort of the connection between the student who was awarded it and the and the the
things that are coming little bit of touch with the student as well as ensuring that the student's sending the appropriate documentation back. You know, the student's away in college. The parents sometimes are trying to figure this out in the middle. It just becomes really clunky. Sometimes
students forget that they were awarded the money. And then also you add another layer onto it is by the time they, you know, we're a bureaucracy just like any other bureaucracy. So, the student hands it in, it has to go through our internal system, then it has to come to you all
to get the warrant to get approved. So, by the time it comes in and goes out the door, the second tuition bill's already due and payments have had to be made. So, for the students actually get the financial benefit, it's even further delayed for the student. So, long story
short, what we're asking the committee to consider is to shift our policy to actually allow the student to be awarded the benefit in the first semester unless the donor makes explicit um, request for it to be done differently. But in the cases where it isn't, where
it's been our policy that, you know, again, I'll just use Ava as an example because she was here, that if she was given an award that and she earned it from being a student that it would be part of her fall tuition bill. Right? She submits the tuition bill
and then we can process that payment right out the door in, you know, August-ish so that it's part of her fall reducing her fall tuition bill. So, that is again a little bit more detail in the memo, but that is essentially what the memo is getting at.
So, if the committee feels like this is something that you would like to consider, then we just would seek a motion to approve this change in practice. Uh, Mr. Martin. Is it okay if I make the motion or do you want to take questions first? >> We can do discussion after motion.
>> Okay. Um, I'd like to make a motion to approve and enact the proposed changes to the practice of uh, scholarship disbursement as presented. Second. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion?
Ms. Bemis. So, it's one of the parts of that was also the option of just sending the the bill directly. I mean, the payment directly to the university or college. Yeah, and that's the general practice is, you know, and then is it by check or by wire? That's
just about, you know, financial whether the institution takes the wire or not. Generally speaking, um, with a few exceptions, especially for like the really small awards, some of the really small awards do go directly to the student, but generally speaking, from a tax purpose for the student, especially for some of the bigger awards, it's
better for it to go to the institution because if not, then the student has to claim it. If it goes to the student and then the student pays, then it's it's income for the student, right? So, from a tax benefit perspective, it's better for it to go right to the institution. There's a couple of exceptions based upon the way the institutions do it
because sometimes it reduces their overall aid for a couple of institutions we've learned, but generally speaking, it goes directly to the institution. I'm on the board of directors of an organization that gives around $24,000 a
year to DY students and we were in this practice of waiting till the second semester and on average, four or five thousand dollars a year was not claimed from students and we we reached out to the school to find the student. We tried
to find students. They just weren't doing the work to your point of either they forgot or they didn't meet the needs and we I last year we adjusted ours as well to give the check at the night of the awards because, you know, the purpose was for the student to get this and
again, it's based on what they earned in this school, not maybe what happened in the future. So, checks were made. Moving forward, checks were made at given at that night for the same reason. It's, you know, I don't know why so many, but you would think four or five students a year at a
thousand dollars is a lot of money. And our organization didn't want to keep that money. So, we just gave larger what as of last year we just gave a couple more scholarships for money that wasn't used after the last couple years, but it makes sense.
Okay. So, all those in favor, say I. I. Any opposed? Any abstained? Passes unanimously. >> Thank you. Thank you. Uh, next we have our FY26 quarter three report and general ledger. Uh, I would think it would be Dr. Gilson. She's
excited to to teach us >> I am. finances again? >> I always look forward to this moment. Um, I have highlighted all of the things that I'm going to talk about tonight and I think one thing that you'll notice is
that I've kept the report structure consistent since the very first one that I talked about so that it makes it easy to read. Um, so this is a summary of the district's financial position from July 1 through
through April 13th, 2026 and I've also included for your bedtime reading a general ledger of several pages to actually share with you every single
account that the district holds. Um, and so again, things that I've emphasized all year, budget appropriation, which is the total amount approved by the school committee for each major account. Um, the word expended, the amount that's
already been paid out for salaries, goods and services, the amount that is encumbered, which means that encumbrances are funds that have been committed through purchase orders, contracts or salary obligations, but
they haven't yet been paid out. Um, amount remaining and percent of total budget remaining. Um, the total percent of the total budget tells you how much of each budget category is still available and
and then I look at patterning across all accounts. So, again, a number that we started with um, Excuse me. I'm going to get rid of the my husband called. He does not know I had a meeting right
now. I'll talk to him later. Um Um so, um the Oh dear. >> [laughter] >> Okay, we just let it go. Um Okay. So, um
the amount of that we started with that was approved um was $84.4 million um to be spent across all major accounts. And as the at the end of the third quarter, um the district has
expended $56.2 million and encumbered $24 uh uh $24.1 million of the $84.4 million budget. So, the amount remaining essentially um at
the end of quarter three, we have uh we had 4.69% um of the total budget remaining. Um and I also did a comparison in terms of where we were at this same point last year, and I will give you that exact
number, but there was 6.41% remaining at the same point in time um last year. So, um to the uh other point that I want to make, too, is um when we started, I um
mentioned that um this and I uh showing you back I'm taking you back to uh the first quarter budget summary, um and basically, here's the the budget appropriation, but I mentioned at the start of the year, you would see that we had um
some funds expended, and you'd have a more significant number that was encumbered or waiting to be spent. And we had 11.17% of the total budget remaining at the end of the first quarter. Now, I mentioned
that over the year, the progression, you'd see a shift um in terms of the amount of funds expended would rise, and the amount of encumbrances left would would decrease. And that has really happened, and you can see that clearly
um here. Um again, um going back to um the amount expended by the end of first quarter, now to the amount of expended um $56.2 million expended here, and um
you see also $24.1 um million expended. The amount remaining, um total budget, 4.84% um and in dollars, it it winds out to be about $4 million. Um
so, now I feel like an announcer at a ball field um because I like to, you know, give you highlights um related to all of the different accounts. Um but um you know, the budget position um it we
we're tightening we're tightening up. Um and um most funds at this point have either been spent or are committed. Um what the overall report shows is that um we have a transportation deficit emerging,
um and you can see that as you look at um here's the uh here are all the DESI major accounts, and you can see the transportation um line item is um moving now into the negative.
Um and we we have a a way or motion that I'm going to ask you to make to approve some transfers um to that uh function. Um instruction remains our largest pressure point, um
but we do we have a we have about $1 million remaining out of a um a $43.4 million budget for this area. Um and um at this at this point, we have applied
the school choice tuition revenue, um and that was applied to um both the instruction um teaching um and administration category. Um and um stable but tight functional areas
include um administration. Um that's essentially fully spent. Operations and maintenance, um we have uh uh basically um a moderate amount of funds remaining. Uh so, um that's tracking appropriately.
Benefits, um our uh we have $709,000 remaining. Um and and uh debt is on track. Um private school transportation is fully committed. Um it's inconsistent it it's
consistent with known contractual obligations. Uh debt service is on track reflecting scheduled timing of principal and interest payments later in the fiscal year. Tuition to other schools, um we have now also applied $1.6 million
to the circuit breaker revenue. Um so, um we and pupil services has um $313,000 remaining. That's 0.37%. Okay. So, um I've been
continuing to watch the fixed assets category, and we have an entire $365,000 sitting there remaining um remaining to be used.
Um and so, um in keeping with the the policy for the regional school district um for reconciliation, right now we are in need of a reconciliation there. Um and so, um
what I'm going to recommend is that um I would like the school committee to make this motion um in keeping with this uh this policy. Um it's it's it's the policy actually allows the school
committee to approve a transfer of a certain amount to bring a line or a function out of the negative. And right now, um transport at the end of quarter three, transportation was falling negative. So, um
so, um do I need talk to us to suggest So, any questions up to this point about where we are in quarter three or reasoning of having to ask for a transfer?
Ms. Landers. I'll just make the motion. I move that we transfer $365,000 from fixed assets function code 7000 and 13302 from operations maintenance and utilities function code 4000 to
transportation to address the current deficit at the end of the third quarter. We have a motion, do we have a second? Second. Any discussion? Ms. Landers. What was any idea what was intended
for that fixed asset category? Were there plans for that that we haven't No. Um as I understood it, um looking at it, the uh previous finance director had um
indicated that that was more of like a parking lot um in case the district had a need um and had overspent in other areas. So, right now, there was nothing planned for the fixed asset category. So, I felt very comfortable moving it to
resolve this deficit. So, um moving along Any other questions? Seeing none. Do we need a roll call vote or just a No, okay. So, all those in favor, say I. I. Any opposed? Any abstain?
So, that carries. Um I also have approached this report very practically, and um looking at the total budget, I have provided data um that shows the um comparison the historical comparison
from FY24 and FY25 and FY26. So, that's in a table form, um and basically, it shows that we've been relatively stable in our spending habits. Um I will say that um
the difference right now that we didn't complete the fourth month yet, and so the the payrolls that were encumbered um haven't been run. So, so this amount by the end of the month will be a little different. Um looking at um I ran two
graphs because basically, I try to do a comparison to make sure that as we spend our money, that we're going to land on our feet, um which means in the black and not in the red. Um which means that um we've budgeted
appropriately and spent wisely. And so, if you look at um I I'm showing you um the graph as of March 31, um and um the graph actually in green shows you the comparison um
up to the end of the third month, and um when I actually ended up taking the data for the full report, you can see that the um the graph almost flatlines, but that is really not concerning to me at
all because it will um continue along when when I look at the report at the end of the month. So, I'm not at all concerned with that. I'm interested you know the last quarter
does seem to be a period where there there's a sharper or steeper curve in the amount of money that's being spent out. So, I'm going to expect that that will will pretty much maintain the same pattern.
So, what was interesting also I always like to provide you with a verification and that's to show you every single one of the 1200 account lines and
what what it looks like for the amounts that have been spent, the amounts that are encumbered and the percent that's remaining in each line. And so, you know, the operating budget began with 84.4
and at the time of the report when I bundled everything together it we had 4.84% remaining. This is the perspective it shows a summary at the end of that general ledger report that I gave you
after all the accounts all 1200 of them are there and it gives the exact same amount to the to the dollar. So, so that's pretty accurate. Um and the other I continue to look at
historical comparisons. This is the one that I mentioned at the start when I ran on the same date last year in terms of looking at amounts we actually had
6.31% or $5 remaining of the total operating budget. So, I I feel that well last year we had 6.31% I feel like we will be able to
definitely land on our feet with 4.84% and 4 million because I've been encouraging people all year long on the leadership team to remember to create requisitions which
is the prerequisite to turning money into a purchase order which is a contract with the vendor. So, all the leadership team has been encouraged to do that and we've also spent established some very
solid dates to bring everything to closure. So, people are thinking about and have already submitted most of the purchase requisitions that have turned into POs that will fund the end of year
activities. So, I feel like that's been very stable and people have been graded asking questions and wanting to know how to wrap up the end of the year and so so I feel very confident in this report.
Great. Any questions? I know the question came up you know in a discussion earlier about you know being a freeze on spending in February but to your point regardless of now until the end of the year the leadership has and people are
aware that they should have filled out paperwork including POs even if the money was going to be spent after that date. If they it's an expense that they're aware or know of that will be spent anytime after that date. Yes and I will also say this the timing of the
budget freeze was exactly a match with the timing in the budget freeze last year. Okay. So, Perfect. Pretty good. Perfect. Any other questions? Great. Thank you so much Dr. Gilson.
Next we will move to the DY Middle School Student and Family Handbook update Ms. Lopes. So, recently the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education issued a finding through the problem resolution system which is the PRS
department and it was regarding an investigation that was conducted at the middle school and although the investigation was conducted appropriately what they noticed is that the the student and family handbook did not have the procedures for the
investigation outlined in their handbook. So, based on their review and the information that we submitted we have that clearly outlined in our high school handbook. So, what we've inserted in the packet here is we've adopted our high
school handbook information into the middle school handbook information and so that parents now have a place where they can land to ensure that what they've asked we are doing appropriately.
And so we bring this to you not for a vote or a motion but so that you can see that we have updated our handbook and we will keep it consistent as we move forward. And it's specific to pages 38
moving forward as we go to page 38 I believe it starts with incident investigations and it's that entire section that we are updating. It's not the green. My next question was there's there's green >> highlights. Well, there's green from
page two from page seven on so there's lots of green throughout the entire handbook. That's Yeah. So, is all green all changes that have been made? So, these are yes, they're all changes that have been made but the specific piece that we needed to include was around the
investigations. Okay. So, in essence there's the green was a lot of the green in the beginning must be information specific to the middle school versus the high school and other stuff. Just trying to make sure that
I mean we're doing this as a district and I think this actually outlines it that we're just trying to make sure that what we do is consistent especially at the secondary level and that has just been a missing piece for us. So, things were outlined but they
weren't as succinct as the high school handbook has been. And I think when Mr. Bevino has spoken uh in the beginning of the year when they talked about the the middle school and talked with the high school that to your point a lot of their guidelines
are similar to the high school whereas the intermediate is similar to the elementary school. Right. I know he had talked about that so I guess this is in essence putting that into play and making sure that families and students are aware of the
the policies you know there is a change at the middle school level which is similar to the high school level. And we're currently doing this type of like I guess aerial view and more robust for pre-K through 12. Any other questions or comments?
I know it's a lot of stuff. Okay, seeing none again this is and this is uploaded to our website as of now and >> It is. And everything's updated there so families have access to it and then moving forward it'll just be what's what we have. Right. Perfect. And moving forward you will see a much
more consistent process for our pre-K through three schools and the intermediate school will be more aligned to that and then you'll see consistency six through 12. Ms. Landers. So, when do all these changes take
effect? Immediately. >> Immediately. So, is there a special communication going out to all the middle school parents? And if not I would ask that there be a special communication to all parents
saying these changes effective immediately please review you know I mean you guys know what to say but so that no one you know comes back and says hey we didn't know that these were the new rules. So, I want to make sure >> student case but yes, I think that's a
great idea and we'll make sure we do that. >> Thank you. Because as a middle school parent I was required to acknowledge the the handbook. >> Right. But that was required in September. So, therefore >> Same at the high school you do it at the beginning of the year. So, everybody should know that it's changed.
>> unaware that there was a change. So, we can do an updated memo. We won't require a signature at this point of the year but we will definitely let them know it was updated when it was updated when it was posted and if they have any further questions and the link and if they have any further questions to reach out.
>> Perfect. And I will add the link. Ms. Bemis question or comment? Okay. Perfect. Thank you for >> Dr. Smith any comments or feedback? Just to Ms. Lopes' point going forward we are it's like one of the features that our
new website allows is to right now the way our handbooks are accessed are Google Docs right? And so what we will be transitioning to is for lack of a better phrase accordion
style handbooks on the website. So, you'll go and the there'll be the same headings where like the elementary schools just go ahead and they don't have as much content as the like the high school, right? You don't have graduation requirements at the
elementary school. So, the high school's going to have more. Um but where but everybody has a principal's message. Everybody has to have the harassment policy. Everybody has to have certain things, right? And so where everything everybody has to have the same thing, there's a lot of things that the schools call the same, but then there's a lot of things that
the schools have synonyms for, but they're not exactly the same right for their headings, etc. So, we've already started the work um on coming up with the common headings, and then the text is then going to be under there and and then anywhere it can be the same it's going
to be the same, but you know, arrival and dismissal at Station Avenue is different than arrival and dismissal at the high school, and that has to be unique to each of those unique schools. Um and then but the format will look very consistent for families, and then it again it'll be the headings, and then
when you want to read that heading, you click and then it opens up as a like an accordion, and then that makes it more accessible for a couple different pieces. One is it's uh translateable. Like these documents can be translated, but they're just a
little bit harder. The website automatically, if your language preference is, you know, Spanish, it's already in Spanish. So, now everything will be in Spanish. Um and then we're also This is a little bit like probably more technical than anybody needs, but there's
been new requirements Department of Justice I think it is. I might have the wrong agency cuz it's an alphabet soup out there, but I'm pretty sure it's Department of Justice. Um there's new requirements coming for organizations like public schools around accessibility
um for public-facing things like websites, right? And so we need to be able to have like an accessibility reader be able to access um the website. And so like the Google Doc is outs it's linked to our
website, but so then that would have to be accessible, and so it's easier if we have everything on our website and it's using our accessibility tools already, and we can work it into the format as we're starting to build everything on our new website to meet these guidelines
that are coming down the road. We know what they are, and so we're just building everything from the ground up to already meet this standard. So, just a I don't know, a side. Who's Vimes? So, I was hoping to see the core values here. Maybe it is and I missed it and
it's further into the document, but that would be great to see it on all handbooks. Yeah, so again, so these are all things where it's going to be the same place. It's some of them have you know, is labeled a little bit differently and they're not all exactly in the same place, so those are all
things that'll be that'll be the consistent in all the handbooks in the front at the top. Um so those are all things that yes, we've noticed that they're a little bit different or they're missing in some places and you
know, um so that's part all also part of of this is to get make sure we have consistency across all the handbooks for for I don't want to call them simple, but um you know, this came from uh making sure
that we have a um you know, a the the procedure for what we go through is clear to families around if you have if you're involved in a investigation, but something as um I don't maybe less
legal as a as the core values. Those should also be what's how's that consistently laid out and it's more from like a a values and branding standpoint from the from the district perspective, but that's also important, so. Great. Thank you. Uh next subcommittee reports, school
committee liaison to select board. Anything from the town of Dennis? Please attend the Dennis town meeting May 5th 6:00 this building. No better place to enjoy your Cinco de Mayo than uh right next door in the auditorium.
Um and with that the Yarmouth uh town meeting is tomorrow at 6:00 p.m. in the uh Ken Jenkins Performing Arts Center as well as overflow will be located here in the cafeteria. Right before we tested the video monitor, we could see the
stage and hear what was being said in there, so um we hope that we get to utilize this room. We hope that people will come out um and use their voice. Um I think they believe there's 29 items on uh the docket. Uh two regarding schools,
one for our budget, and one for Cape Tech. Um so please come out and vote. Uh next we have superintendent's report, recognition of donations and acknowledgements. All right, thank you very much. So, starting with our recognitions,
uh there is at the Cape Cod Cultural Center um a few of our students have some artwork on a on display. So, the Dennis-Yarmouth uh K-12 Art Journey uh it's featuring work by three students,
three middle school students, Riley Silva the seventh grade, Caleb Kelly in the seventh Uh there's a reception on Friday, May 1st uh from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m., but the exhibit will run um or I shouldn't say
but and the exhibit will run from April 23rd to May 30th. Um it's open from Monday through Fridays from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and on Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. So, if anybody is in the area down by the Cultural Center and
can avoid a detour, uh please stop by and see our students uh uh display. Um it's great to see the Cultural Center has been a great partner for us as a district um and this is I know something that we've talked about uh getting our students' artwork out in the
public, so it's great to see it come to life. Um and so please swing by and uh check out our students' artwork on display in the public. Uh next acknowledgement of just a couple donations you'll see in the packet. Uh it was a $50 donation
and a $2,100 donation both to the high school. Um one supporting the Hope Squad. I actually happened to be at an event uh recently where the Hope Squad was discussed. It's just a great uh program started by an organization well, the Hope Squad itself is a bigger thing, but
brought to the Cape by um a local organization Sharing Kindness. Um it's designed around suicide prevention. Um and so we have one at the high school, and we're working on starting one here at the interme- uh at the middle school rather. Um start up costs are covered
initial startup costs are covered by the local organization. Um but the the ongoing costs associated with it um this these donations help to support that. Did you have We'd check to see if we had any students that wanted to say anything
about the Hope Squad. I'm seeing I can't see seeing none. We're talking. Deciding. Nope. Okay. Continue on. Moving on. All right. Um then moving on to the other two items on the list. Uh so I had the second of my
two listening sessions on April 15th. Um this was in person up here in the uh it was a busy day that day cuz the two items that on the agenda here are were both on the same day, but the so it was on the end of being on the 15th up here
in the library. Um it was a smaller group. Um it's a handful of families that were present. We did again and we had our uh family liaisons uh present. Um what was nice about this event as well um was we were able to have some of the students from the high school come over
from the video media production class and videotape it. It's been edited down with the with the vacation in place. I just haven't got it out yet on um uh on like our YouTube channel, and it'll run on channel 11 as well.
Uh but that's it's it's in final production. Not that I need final production, but you know what I mean. It it's about ready to go out. Um but anyways, uh so we the participants, you know, highlighted strong offerings for our students in offer opportunities for
leadership, music, and the arts. Um opportunities to develop their leadership skills, serve as role models, and really pursue a wide range of diverse interests from academics to athletics to design and the arts. Um there was a couple suggestions made
around expanding access to college credit opportunities and not having that I've heard this one before around like if a student takes dual enrollment, uh it's weighted as an honors credit versus like if they stay and take an AP credit, that's weighted higher, so maybe
something to consider there with our high school program. Um and then there was a strong interest especially among families with younger students, so like elementary, intermediate and age students around more after school activities, whether
that's related around world languages, around uh sports, and then even just things like Lego clubs, arts and crafts, etc. And then there was a uh a discussion around uh opportunities to uh create connections between families
that are not native English speaking and families that are native English speaking um it's a uh form bonds, and then the the benefits that come from those intercultural relationships. Um and then then one particular parent uh spoke uh
and this is just this is actually something I realized I haven't learned a lot about and something that an area that I need to learn more about is she spoke about uh the e-sports program in the district and how much it's helped her son uh integrate into the school district uh and sort of come out of his
shell. Um, and I and I'm just wasn't even familiar yeah, video game sports. It's like a organized sports activity around video games. Um, yeah, and I know we have it at the middle school level and at the high school level and that's about all I know about it. Um, so it's something I
need to learn a little bit more about. Um, and then and then um uh um actually one of our the teacher that was there helping support the the students talked about, you know, some of the work that we've been doing to recognize
student achievement um and student success and that we do a lot of it sort of at the culmination of the year or the culmination of the high school experience, but then, you know, could we be doing more to recognize that, you know, throughout the year and and as these things happen more sort of
naturally. Um, and then also about bringing back uh and this is something I know that we've been talking about internally, particularly Leila and I around branding, but you know, this particular person's been in the district for a long time and remembers, you know,
like the just the DY gear was like everywhere, right? When they when they earlier in their professional career and that sort of thing has gone away and I I mentioned that like I'll go to other school districts, you know, in my travels as a superintendent and you'll see, you know, the colors everywhere. And so how do we
sort of bring that back um to DY cuz this person had the perspective of the history, right? That that it was that way at one point in time. So how do we sort of get back to that point in time? So some some really good feedback from from those sessions even though it was um you know, smaller in number, it was
big in conversation. Um, all right. And then the last bit was around the information center sessions around the the budget. We had a the um we had one on April 15th at the night a night and a couple school committee members were there. Um, we had I don't know
estimating about I didn't count but about 30 people probably in physical attendance. I just went on and checked tonight. We've had 411 people view it online. So um you know, for those that didn't see, we had an opportunity for people live to text
in questions. So we were able to uh take and that actually comes from me going on a college visit where they had that feature set up. That's where I got that idea from. So thank you to Berkeley College for that one. Um, but uh
the the um anyways, I I that was a that was the first night and then again, I think we got some good questions. We got that night had like sort of pre-loaded questions in the sense the flyer had an opportunity for people to share their thoughts ahead of time. So we're able to construct an initial
presentation around that. Um, and then since then last week uh Thursday of last week, I did a presentation at the Yarmouth Senior Center uh in front of I don't know, probably about 20 15 to 20 people or so at the Senior Center.
And then uh I was also invited on Friday last week to go present to the Yarmouth Rotary um and I don't know, it was probably 40 or 50 people or so at the Yarmouth Rotary. Um, and uh and then I also was on the
the town of Yarmouth has a podcast. I was on the podcast that aired last week, I think it was. Um, so again, just trying to get the word out and get information out as many different ways as possible um regarding the the upcoming budget votes this week
and that next week as was uh previously shared. And I will I do have presentations for both of those town meetings as well. And then and uh tangentially related due to all of this, I'm was a the original calendar and
schedule had tonight I was supposed to present my um evidence for my superintendent evaluation and I'm not prepared. Um, so I will have it for the next meeting. Um, I know Sarah's going to send you all um the the
the editable PDF if you maybe have lost access to it uh and a link to the folders um that has my evidence in it and then I'll have that organized in a presentation for the next meeting. Um, but I I I just got behind the eight
ball. So I don't I didn't have it for tonight. Yes, Ms. B Ms. So in in those uh presentations, Dr. Smith, were were was there ever like a new question that hasn't been asked along the way or sort of a
new understanding between members of the community and us that any reflection you want to share? It's a good question. Um a new question. Um I think, you know,
a I would say there's been a couple of consistent questions which have been around um you know, when we're looking at potential cuts if the override fails, like how come there
aren't more administrators on the cut, right? And so my answer consistently is that as I presented to the committee, it's around percentage of staff is the way the formula that we've used. Um, a
uh administrative cut is 3.3% of the um total workforce for administrators and as by comparison, a teacher is 0.2% of that total workforce, right? So, you know, just trying to balance that from
that perspective. And that for whatever reason generally speaking, people look at our particular profession and and don't think management is necessary. Like it's an easy place to cut from. Um, you know, we have 630 employees and
on and next year because we're already cutting an administrator in the um in the reduced service budget that the committee approved, we'll be down to 32 leadership positions for 630 employees. And that disregards the fact that several of those leadership positions are also
responsible for direct service work with students, right? So like it all the assistant principals and a lot of the principal well, a lot of the assistant principals direct service work with students. And then the principals are community facing as well, right? So every parent complaint that can't get resolved at the classroom level ends up
on their desk. You know, they're also responsible for human human resources work. Like there's a the whole huge other parts of their jobs that um stretch beyond just supervising some staff. Which I guess human resources is, but
um and then so that's one piece and then another piece uh another question that came up with some fairly fair regularity is around, you know, the cost the big
cost factors and just sort of under trying to people trying to understand why our budget is going up and why like why do we even need an override? And so there are, you know, I have a whole slide on the major cost drivers from transportation, you know, Dr. Gilson
just present presented we're in a deficit now on transportation, right? And um and those costs are not going down for next year. And health insurance, we all buy all of us buy meaning all the school districts
minus I think one on the Cape and then generally all the municipalities all buy health insurance from the same place. So we're all seeing the same cost inflation when it comes to health insurance and it's 8%, you know, that's well above um a 2.5%
increase. Um, and we're positioned in a way where when costs increase at that rate and there's a belief that
everything else is staying under 2.5% and I stress the word belief that everything else is staying under 2.5% that we're somehow not staying inside of our our spending, right? And
that's it's just not accurate. And if people are willing to spend some time and look at, you know, where we are relative to um general expenditures, where we are relative to the rest of the Cape as far as school districts go, just look at our
spending. We are not Dennis-Yarmouth is not spending outside of its means. I actually went back and looked at last year's budget presentations, last year's budget, we Dennis-Yarmouth was third when it came to per pupil expenditure on the third from the bottom
when it came to per pupil expenditure. And then going into this year, we're second from the bottom. So we're actually become cheaper, you know, as a by comparison. So it's the school district is not this out of control spending beast um
that we somehow get painted as. Ms. Landers. Yeah, I thought it was interesting the night that we had the information session here that, you know, some of the questions that came through either mostly by text or I I were coming through.
I think exposed some big misunderstandings in the community about why our budget looks the way it does. Questions about Well, you know, how many positions have you added? Well, none, right? Or two or whatever it was. And you know, what
about you know, how much did it cost us, you know, to educate all the kids that were here in the shelter? Nothing, right? Like we had state funding for that. So, there are a lot of misconceptions in the community about how we spend and you know, why the override is needed. And I It was a good
opportunity to just dispel those rumors and myths. I really appreciated that. Um I also wanted to see um if you wanted to say anything about the um athletic Hall of Fame induction ceremony that we went to the other night. Yes, thank you. That was fabulous.
Um and so, yeah, just for the general public, our uh this is the fourth um uh year of this fairly new tradition to DY. Um the first one I had have been able to attend. Um
and so, the Dennis Yarmouth athletic There's a separate group, but they um they created a Hall of Fame. And so, there was so, I should have uh I'm probably going to screw the number
up. I think there was seven. My I might I might be plus or minus one inductees into the class of 2026. Um and they've got a nice little selection group that works off a criteria. And I wish I had it with me. I'm I'm not prepared. But I know they look at the athletic achievements
of the What I heard through the night was not only is it based on the athletic achievements of the of the individuals, but also sort of who they then became in the community, right? And and and how they carried their athletic achievements um with them um
post high school. So, and you know, there were um what I really liked about it is there was you know, the most recent inductee, I think was class of 2013, right? And then but it stretched all the way back to like 1960,
I think was the maybe the the class of 1960, right? So, and just a you know, so there was a it was a nice dinner at the Seaview. And then um and then the way the evening worked is uh as each inductee
uh came or was I don't know. As each inductee's moment came, I guess, for lack of a better phrase, the there was an an individual or some in some cases like a a duo or whatever that would come up and and introduce the
person, right? So, talk about their accomplishments, talk about why they were selected. Uh and then that individual come up and had a moment to, you know, share a speech. And just to listen to the people talk not only about the person, but then to hear um each of
these individuals talk about, you know, their time in DY and talk talk about what it meant to them, talk about their coaches, talk about their teammates. It was just really um I know Jenny and I talked We sat together at the table and uh just say it was like really just a
great time to be at a DY event and just like hear all this pride in the room. And just it was it was really a great um great way to spend an evening. Great, thank you. And congratulations to all those inductees. Um next School Committee business, uh we
have the Cape Cod Collaborative Q3 report, which is included in the packet. Um Mr. Morris usually gets to tell us all those things and hands us a giant book. I'm glad it's just a couple slides. I know Superintendent Smith is on the board. Yeah, I'm a superintendent
representative. Um you know, and and again, the the the collaborative just puts out a quarterly report. I know this this one there spotlighted their STAR program, um which is the program for their uh younger uh students, so at the Osterville
campus. Um you know, uh the new director has been doing a good job of making sure this quarterly report gets out to um the committees, right? Cuz the the collaborative
is us. You know, that's sort of the collaborative statement, right? They're they're designed to support us as school districts. There is a School Committee member that serves um from each of the school committees. One member from each of the school committees. Um and uh
and um But anyways, and it's part of their charter that that this report comes back to you all. Um and again, like I said, I serve as a superintendent. I'm not technically on the board. I'm just a liaison to the superintendents. Um but I know they have
a new Waypoint director for a while. So, that's that Waypoint's the one that's here in Yarmouth um for the older students. Um I know for a while they've been in search of a director. It's a you know, a their principal version of a principal, right? They've been in search of a a new principal for a while um and had um some interim
people stepping in. Um but they've finally got a new director in place. And I know that um he's done a great job of stabilizing that school and really set setting it on a new path. Um and I know in speaking with Maria and by listening to the meetings,
they uh due to sort of just not having steady leadership, they hadn't been able to to really uh take as many students in as well as the onboarding process for new students have been slowed down. Um and I know they've they've worked to really now having steady leadership really pick
that back up. So. And then they're the another big thing in here is is transportation. We don't get transportation through the collaborative, but they do provide bus transportation for several other school districts on the Cape. So, there's a section in here on on transportation, but you can skip that cuz it doesn't really apply to us.
Any questions about the Q3? Thank you so much. Next to the consent agenda, um the donation of $2,142 from Ahold Delhaize USA to the DY RHS High School as per Principal Bennett's memo.
Um a donation of $50 from Mr. Dooley as for the Hope Squad. And then the minutes of February 9th, 2026. Move the consent agenda. And I just Googled Ahold Delhaize, and that's the parent company of Stop & Shop, apparently. Okay. So, in case anyone was
curious. Perfect. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Any abstained? Perfect. Uh next we have bills, requisition, and payrolls. We did get to sign some. I don't know how we are with the online
ones. Are we still looking for signatures? We're good. I see thumbs up. Perfect. Again, try to keep a lookout for those in between meetings. Um Calendars. So, for the calendar, tomorrow, Yarmouth Town Meeting, 6:00 p.m., Dennis-Yarmouth Intermediate Middle School.
On Thursday, the MES Building Committee meeting has been canceled. There's some still some paperwork we're doing, so there's no updates. So, um as we've said at our meetings, if we don't need to have a meeting, we're not going to have a meeting till we have updates. So, uh we should have some more information by our next meeting, so we'll meet in May.
Uh next week Is it already May? We have our another School Committee meeting a week from today, followed by the Dennis Town Meeting at 6:00 p.m. I believe they have 42 items on there. 47 items on their list. Um and after that, that's what you're
going to need. You're going to need an hour and a half early release the next day. Um It'd be better if it was an hour and a half later start than an hour and a half early release. Um and then again, important dates, uh Tuesday, December 12th is the Dennis Town election. And then uh the 19th is the Yarmouth
Town election, which we do have two seats for the Yarmouth and one seat up for re-election in Dennis. So, good luck to everyone for that. Um and then School Committee topics as next week, we will do the evidence
presentation. Um again, uh Sarah will send out the email with the PDF. It's very helpful if you start filling it out now so that you don't have to cram it all in before the due date. Um and what will happen is it will have you fill out a bubble of where you feel the superintendent meets. And
then you can put comments about it. And as uh Dr. Smith alluded to, uh when they send out it, there'll be a blue hyperlink to click, and it'll have all the folders for each of the areas. So, you can If you don't remember if you did it or didn't do it, it will uh give you information on it.
And then what we do is Sarah and I get to have lunch, and then we compile everyone's comments. And we uh do a scoring. And then we will uh give Dr. Smith his official evaluation on uh May 18th. And then after that, we get to do our retiree reception. Um and then we
get to do our School Committee review with the with the the seven members. Um and maybe June 1st, we also invite Phil for that date. Yeah. Perfect. Um Public comment. Anyone looking to speak for public comments? Still looking in the crowd. Seeing none.
Perfect. Anyone would like to make the final >> Motion to adjourn. >> motion to adjourn. Do we have a second? Any discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor say I. I. Any opposed? Any abstained? We'll see everyone tomorrow next door or then next week for our meeting. Thank you.