This government meeting is brought to you by Eastworks and our local cable subscribers. Good evening, East Hampton. Welcome to a regular session meeting of the East Hampton Public School Committee. We are going to roll call
Megan Harvey here. Oh, sorry. Sorry, I thought you were looking at me to do it. No, I was I'm going to Walter, what you're going to kick us off, my friend. We're going to begin with our student representative who is joining us at the big table with a placard. Walter Baker, you can say here, present
or any other term of your choosing. Present. Thank you, Alter. Tim Tim St. John present. Thank you, Eric. Eric's here. Megan Megan Harvey here. Laura Scott, present. Linda Linda here. Mayor Derby uh here.
Uh Sam Hunter is joining us remotely. Sam Sam Hunter present. Yes. So for the audience at home and joining us in person. Sam is say again. Did you say yourself? I did. Okay. I think Laura Scott present remains present. Will continue to be present. Uh
Sam Hunter will be joining us remotely. will be fully participating in the meeting except cannot vote because that's the law in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts that if you're joining us remotely, you can't vote. I know that. So, just so there's no confusion. Uh we are going to begin with announcements.
Secretary, that's me. Um I don't have any correspondence to report and we do have something that's giftish. We don't have to vote to approve it, but we wanted to recognize uh we just wanted to thank uh the Polish National Credit Union who provided lunch
to staff at Mountain View and to here at the central office staff at 50 PAC on September 2nd during a professional development day. It's one way that they um wanted to reach out and to support the work of East Hinton Public Schools since food is something we typically can't pay for and provide for our staff
and it's something that they can do. So, we just wanted to publicly thank um Polish National Credit Union for supporting the work of East Hampton Public Schools. Great. Thank you. Their closest branch is right in Southampton on College Highway. Everybody, that kind of stuff makes a big difference if you're going to be at professional training all day.
Yeah. Get some good food. It really makes a big difference. Wonderful. Student representative update. Do you want a drum roll? Should I get a glitter cannon? What do you mean? Have at it, Walter. All right. First, you can just explain who you are,
where you're from, what you're doing here. Hi, my name is Walter Baker. I'm the president of the East Hampton High School Student Council, and I'm here to give a activity report um for what our council's up to. Excellent work. So, we've only been in for like a couple
of days now. So, you know, I'll just kind of give like a little overview of what we're thinking the year should look like. Sure. So this year we're having we're centering all of our projects around four main committees. We have the student voice committee which is pretty
self-explanatory. Um we're they're going to have more of a job this year to be focused on surveying the entire school and we'd also like to uh we'd also like to run a student summit u which was an idea that was brought um by our new super
superintendent Dr. Bal. And then we have the service committee which is going to be focused on our pretty popular kids night out uh fundraisers. And actually with that um we're hoping to run seven kids night outs this year. And
can you remind us what the kids night out is, Walter? Sure. The kids night out is an event where parents can drop off their kids and we essentially provide structured child care and we have um activities, you know, kind of going on all over the place. There's structured games in the
gym, games out in the cafe commons of the high school. We have a movie and they get food and it's pretty great. Everybody really enjoys having those. But since we're hoping to run seven separate events this year of just kids
night out, we'd like to take the profits from one of those um nights and donate to the Special Olympics of Massachusetts. Um, another project that this service committee is really dedicated to is the mobile polar plunge, which is also with
the same organization. And we would bring that to the school and students would get all like dressed up and, you know, hop into the cold water to raise money for the Special Olympics. And then we have our spirit committee which is working on right now it's
working on homecoming, spirit week, and our pep rally. And the spirit committee is really the purpose of the spirit committee is really to improve the culture and climate of East Hampton High School. Um what else do we have? Uh in November on November 6th we'll be
hosting the WASC fall conference. You're hosting. We're hosting. Congrats. Which is very cool. I don't know they did it like a couple years ago but I haven't been there for that. Yeah. And so the WC fall conference, well, first of all, WSD stands for the Western
Massachusetts, oh my goodness, the Western Massachusetts Association of Student Councils, which is a smaller regional organization that's part of our state organization, MASC, which is the Massachusetts Association. November 6th.
Yes. Um and basically what it is is uh schools from all over western Massachusetts that are part of the organization bring their councils to this year our school and the regional executive board runs a day of leadership
based workshops. So we'll be hosting all of them in November. And then we are also um continuing our affiliation with those organizations WSC, MASC and NASC,
the National Association. And then speaking of the National Association, we're currently investigating attending the National Vision Leadership Conference in June of 2026. That's excellent. Great. uh for the public. So, Walter will be sitting at the table with us. Walter will be free
to make comments and raise questions. The only we thing we can't give Walter, you are not yet at the age of majority, my friend, but you're getting there. So, you will not be a voting member, but he is uh a contributing member to our school committee for this school year. And we are really excited to have you
and look forward to all of your input. Thank you. Great report. Uh we are going to move on to public comment. Um if anyone um remotely or in the audience tonight has anything they'd like to share with us, please either come to the podium or
raise your virtual hand. We'll give that just a minute. The requisite awkward 45 seconds. Let me see. I don't think so. Seeing no interest, we are going to close public comment and
take things just a bit out of order from our agenda and invite our director of business services to the podium to offer the finance and personnel update. Good evening, Julia. Good evening. Um, first topic is the FY25 end of year financial report. Um,
at last meeting I told you that Jesse was uh on the verge of releasing files. files have been released and we've begun gathering information to do the end of year financial report. It is due on September 30th. So once that um report is filed, I will be able to present to the school committee um sort of the the
final close on the numbers for FY25. Um second item is the summer food program. So the summer food service program concluded on August 15th and they serve 1,256 breakfastes breakfasts. Yes. And 1545 lunches for a total of
2,81 meals. What is the percentage increase from last we have we've beat our record every year and this year you went and blew it out of the water. It's a great question. I didn't crunch those numbers, but I can bring that to you next time. I think it I think we served Sam, were
we around 1,400 something total meals last summer? I I think it was around 1,400 because I remember thinking that the last time we had this presentation, we had already hit our our numbers from really cool to see this program growing. So, thank you for that.
So, if it was400 last year of our recol we doubled our enrollment, which is I just excellent work. That's great. Yep. I haven't had a chance to meet with Ken Leage um because he's busy opening schools and getting the food service program up and running for the start of the school year. Um but prior to um the
next school committee meeting, I'll meet with him and we'll be able to sort of determine because I know last year we were excited about the program's launch, but it was also um not a how do I say we lost money on the program last summer um just because of the the way claims and things are run for that program that's
different than our normal school lunch program. Um so I'll be able to have some numbers for you and the impact on that in terms of the revolving fund balance for the food service fund um at the next meeting. Can you just briefly speak to the public about when you say lost money, can you just touch on the separation of the money that we have the
kitty that we have for food services and how that can't be intermingled? Yes. So any money that is earned by the food service program that money can only be spent by the food service program. So for the past couple of years um right we've been either a C district or um
there have been um either fally funded or accommodation of state and fally funded meals. So we have not charged students for meals for the past several years. So any money that um is brought in by that program, those revenues have to stay with that program. So we've been able to use those funds to replace aging
equipment, to improve menu offerings. Um but the the math behind the reimbursements for the summer program is slightly different. Um so it's it's the the numbers are just a little tougher. And so a lot of times districts are able to run that program at a deficit because they make enough revenue during the
school year to support the that program and believe that eating that deficit is important based on the service that it provides to our community. And I I have one more question. So currently and looking forward at what we expect to happen next summer for the summer food funding, is that still is
that now and will that still be federal funds? Have we already made some sort of transition to that being a state fund? Um everything is up in the air. Okay. Next year. So currently it is still federal funding. Yep. And the reason I ask is I would love for us to join with other neighboring
communities to begin a petition to the government to have create the allowance for grab and go which was something that was available during COVID and that's a regulation that I understand that's set by USDA. It is a USDA reg. So the question would be does the petition go to the federal or state level? For now it would still go to the federal level.
Yep. Okay. Okay. And my understanding is that because all of our food service programs are actually run at the federal level, the state is an administrator of that. So they're sort of a pass through to use grant language. And so in Massachusetts, right, our meals are fully reimburseable because the federal
government is continuing to pay the rates they've always paid. Our state government is picking up the difference between the cost of that meal and the federal reimbursement rate. And the state has thus far committed to fully funding that program. Right? there was a supplemental line item in the FY25 and
the FY26 budget to fund right full free universal school meals to all students in Massachusetts. My understanding is that the state government has voiced their continuing commitment to that, but we don't we won't know what FY27 looks like until they start budget discussions in the spring. Great. Thank you for that deep dive
going down that rabbit hole with me. Yep. Uh second or next item on the agenda are some grant updates. Um last month's meeting I told you about Prism 2 which supported grades four and five. We've also been awarded Prism 3. Um in the
amount of $274,000 right to support um elementary literacy initiatives in grades preK through 3. Um that's going to include um the literacy curriculum evaluation implementation, a lot of rigorous coaching and a lot of professional development for our staff.
So we're very excited about that. um program. Uh we also received a grant uh the FY26 hate pri kind hate crimes prevention grant in the amount of $40,000. Um we're going to be using that grant to implement an evidence-based plan focused on initiatives including the
bridgebuilders mediation program for elementary students, intergroup dialogue for middle and high school students, and customized bias response toolkit development with the district equity team. where it says intergroup dialogue for middle and high school GSA students.
Um is it just particular to those to those club members or how do we know what that looks like? So for that that particular aspect of the grant it is focused on those two GSAs and remind me I know that I think that the the algorithm is the or the I'm
sorry the acronym is the same that the words behind it have been updated. So can somebody Walter can you remind me what GSA stands for today? Nope. Caught you with pants down. Anybody else? Sam GSA. It used to be the gay student alliance, but I believe gay student gender and sexuality allian.
Thank you. I knew it was something else. Gender and sexuality. I had that answer, but Okay, good job. Yeah. Okay. Thanks, Jess. So, excellent. That's very exciting. That's right. Um, next item on the agenda is substitute custodial hourly rates. So, I
was approached by uh Larry KS, our director of facilities and maintenance. They have an open substitute custodial position because our substitute custodian has been promoted to fill a vacancy in the department and he has not been able to recruit anybody into that position. Currently, that position pays
$15.30 an hour. Mhm. And so, he has requested me to approach you all um in your role to um consider increasing that rate. So, I um put out a survey um through my lister to other regional business managers and asked
them what they currently pay their substitute custodians. Um rates in the area range anywhere from $15 an hour to $24.91. At the top, there's a range. Um uh Larry has requested that we perhaps think somewhere in the $18 an hour range
in order to get people um into those positions. Um the substitute custodian rate is not included in the collective bargaining agreement for the custodians. What is the Can you remind me of the base hourly pay that we agreed to in uh 2314 and that's as of year two or
that's currently for this year is 2314 correct. And so he's asking for the substitute position to be raised to 18. When did you have a question? Yeah. How often do we need to hire a substitute custo custodian? How frequently? It's to cover vacations and it's
frequent. So fairly frequently. So this is almost like a full-time position for someone. I no um I don't think it's full-time, but there there are going to be like in the beginning of the year a little bit heavier and if we have after school activities, we can use the substitute
instead of paying over. Just trying to see what we really looking at in terms of hours in a year. I think it's probably fluctuated year to year based on right people's right how much vacation time they take if there's overlap if you know if the flu goes through a building and all the
custodians are out. Yep. Is it a per DM? Oh, is it an hourly rate? And is it on call or is it? Yep. Yeah. Yep. And they have no other no other benefits offered. It's just the hourly rate. Correct. Okay. Right. Um so I
think there's two different approaches to it. we can sort of discuss a specific number and vote on and approve a specific number that then goes into the policy or the list that we have of approved substitute rates. Um, another option which some districts have used is they choose a percentage
begged or pegged to um the first step rate in the contract and that way that number advances over time, right? to sort of keep pace with inflation, cost of living, and those things. And without me having to come back to you all as a group to approve that rate and you know,
spoiler alert, um, this is the approach I'm going to suggest that we take for a lot of our substitute rates. And reminding again of what you said, the base starting rate is 24 234 234. So, I've crunched the numbers for you. You can put your calculator away, Laura. Yes.
Thank you. Um, so 70% of that rate would be 1620. 75% of that rate would be 1736, which is what two other districts use that benchmark number. Um 80% would be 1851. 85% would be 1967. 90% would be 2083.
And 95% would be 2198. Okay. And I apologize for not including this in your packet, but I forgot. That's quite all right. We're good. Can you read me the 80% one more time? 80% is 1851. I would be a terrible poker player.
What would we be basing the the idea of so the idea is that the substitute custodian rate for each year would be based on 80% or whatever percent you guys choose of the step one rate in the custodial contract. So as that contract
advances the substitute rate would advance to also to keep pace with inflation cost of living and those things. So the rate would roll over every year to a new rate based on that new rate in the contract without us having to have this conversation every year. Right. Right. I I what I I guess what I mean is what what are we bas what are we
basing the idea of of what percentage we're going to want to achieve every year like the percentage would be would be the same so I guess the question to us is where where do we set that value right what like why would we think that the substian 70% of
70 or 80 so we're being given the only information we have today is that neighboring communities often strike 75% which would put us below Oh, what Larry is recommending of $18 an hour, slightly less competitive, and it's a difficult position to fill and hold because it's
weird hours. It's on call. It's, you know, and often it's the entry door to get them fully on staff. All of the same work that would be done just in as a different human and probably not. And also not being a member of the collective bargaining unit
and having other benefits that members of the bargaining unit have. Right. Right. Okay. Yeah. So they'd be the first person promoted or brought in presumably, you know, presumably. Yeah, for sure. Um, to give you some context, right, local districts around us, Lello, their current rate is 17. Westfield, it is
1734. South Hadley, it is 18. Pittsfield it is 1954 for first shift and it is 21.49 for second shift. Just to give you some close comps. I have some other Eastern Mass comps as well, but I don't think they're relevant to us. Oh, those are the hourly rates.
Yes. Anybody else have a question? Say Oh, Sam, I'm sorry. I totally forgot you were there. Go ahead. It's It's so unusual that somebody said that about me. Um I uh I was just wondering is there a um I hear that the
recommendation is about $21 an hour, but as you pointed out, um that if we were going to do 70% 80% that would be significantly below that. And I'm just wondering, is there any downside to having to just do that? um just 100% of
that starting um amount for the entry group. I think members of the bargaining unit might not like that someone who's not a member of the bargaining unit is getting paid the same rate potentially. I don't want to speak for them though.
Yeah. Yeah. No, I'm just trying to think of like because from my perspective that it just seems like that's a position that we always have trouble filling and um I I mean I feel like I've heard about it every year that I've been involved here and so my inclination is I like the idea of tying it to anyway and that way
you don't have to change it. I I don't really, you know, I I personally it's if my budget supports it, we're fine with it just being 100% great. But I think somewhere when you're, you know, 95.
Okay. Couple of thoughts as somebody who sat on that collective bargaining session. Uh firstly, the custodians was one of very few areas that we targeted because of the inequity of their pay compared to neighboring communities. So they recently had one of the most
significant increases in that new three-year contract that we signed. So I think when we are looking at that current rate being so low, that's part of what that was. That substitute position was of a piece with the entire custodial staff um that was underpaid to put it frankly.
I will also say I absolutely agree with Julia that the collective bargaining unit will not support the idea that um a probationary employee or a substitute employee be paid what they paid. They will circle back to us immediately and demand another increase and we just
offered one that we felt was really substantial and really fair. So that would be my argument about so I would like to sit somewhere around 80% but I'm I'm not tied to that and I'd be interested to hear other people's perspectives. Go ahead. for whatever reason 80% is just was kind of sticky with me. I feel that and I kind of based
that on I I originally had already thought that the collective marketing unit is not going to want to have the same salary as that. I was kind of looking at what I felt just in my mind based on only you know these discussions is that 80% seems to me that's pretty
close to what you know that is that that seems to be a fair salary in terms of what the recommendation is and that's that's kind of where I am and I but I really want to say I really like doing this so that we don't have to keep coming back year after year after year
and talking about numbers because that number will just be increasing along with the others. So that's fine. Sure, Sam. I'll get to you in just a second. Go ahead, Mayor. I was just thinking, I mean, it sounds like there's difficulty retaining and and keeping this position filled. Um, is
would it make sense to look at having a a starting point, say 75 or 80, and then if the person stays over, you know, a year or, you know, whatever period of time, then they get a a bump up to the next like 5%. So start off at 75%, they
stay and and are reliable for a year of subbing. The next year they would bump up to 80. So that way we could like work in that retention piece. I don't know if that's too complicated, but it just seems like it might be a way to help the retention piece having a a a carrot at the end of the stick.
I have thoughts, Julia. Go ahead. So if we set it at that rate, when the year changes and the new contract goes into place July 1, they would automatically get a raise. Right. Right. So they would get the same COLA adjustment in the salary scale as the other custodians. So that that 80% or
whatever number we settle at will be a moving target. So if they're here for a full year or even a partial year, they're as long as they continue with us every July one, they would potentially get a raise. Also, the incentive in my conversations with these folks was to
get some not to retain, but to attract. That's been the problem. Once they attract that person, they're almost always promoted up and into the staff. The problem has been attracting them initially. Um, that was my is that what Larry communicated with you?
Yeah. Any uh go ahead, Tim D. Yeah, I have two thoughts. First is I for me I completely agree with tying it to um whatever percentage it is, tying it to the graduating um rates as they go. But also, um, my my thoughts are a
bit like squirrels, so I might get this other one back. Um, but I I feel that as as as high as we can tolerate and realistically think that we're not offending the people who are who are doing this completely for a living. Um,
and then as high as the budget will tolerate within that, I think is a safe thing instead of just kind of winging out a number, you know, I think that we should just really consider to give, of course, as much as we can because the money isn't, you know, the money's there
for people to to make living. I'm sorry, Tim. That's Thanks. That's a great point, Sam. I was I was just wondering if somebody could remind me what the what the rate that we're tying it to is because I didn't spit. You got to say that again. That was a little Say that.
What's the number that we're tying it to? Did you say it was 20 now or is that is the step one rate? 23. 2314 is the step one rate in this year's custodial contract. It will go up next year because we also gave them a cola. So, a year-over-year increase. Yeah.
Tied to Right. So the 80% for me how I landed at that that was a bit higher than one of our closest competitor is the wrong word sister city badly. So we very similar demographics we have similar tax base we
have similar assess value all of that kind of of a piece. So, we'd be beating them a little bit in that percentage, which feels good and also not so high again cuz the custodians that we talked with talked a lot about a lot of years
on the job and it took them a long time in working with us to get where we felt they were being paid fairly. Sure. So, we don't I I don't want to to buoy the probationary position up too far too fast. Yeah. Sure. I don't in my opinion I don't like I agree with that and I think
that's great but I and I think that achieving something going forward means that it's kind of you know the new benchmark forever. I'll tell you what they would rather they would rather we create another position another full-time position. We don't have it in the budget today but I've been begging for it for three years
and that's my next agenda. So every increase we give for this just looking at the face robs from the opportunity like that delays when we can get what they really really want which is another full-time position on the custodial st. Yeah. I mean I'll do one I'll just it
sounds like we're pretty far below right now our competitors around us. So, I think if we're going to make a move, it should be something if we can withstand it that's substantial enough that if we make this move and then jump it up and it's still slightly below our competitors, it it's not going to draw
people still. I mean, if you're looking for a job and you have two choices and one pays more, you know, that's where you're going to go most likely. So, if we could make it somewhat above, you know, in that $18 range, which seems like 80% fits nicely, if that's something we can swing, I think that makes the most sense to me.
Sam was first and then you too, Sam. Um, so just looking at my calculator, um, if we do 80% it's like $1860ish and 1851. 1851
1851, right? And then 85% is 1961. So, um, it's feels like to me there's a pretty big bump between those two. Um, I I would be okay with either. I mean, if it's 85, obviously.
Um, but you're right that these are the ones being on Tim. The only question I have is, is this going to be reviewed again next year? It can be reviewed however often we want to because this doesn't go in a contract. So, we don't go back to the union. This is just a decision at our discretion.
Goes on the agenda. I think it's on the agenda. Yeah, that's the thing that I was concerned. It would have to be brought. So let's say tonight we vote on a certain percentage. Somebody it wouldn't automatically come back on the agenda. Somebody would have to remember it and raise it as an issue. Otherwise, it's set up to be something that just kind of
tracks in perpetuity as a percentage of that base salary. Something that the um the union would have on their um they might have an opinion on it, but would they want to discuss it next year? I mean, are they It's not a union position. The substitute isn't
But they will use it. They will use it. The higher we go, the higher they'll Exactly. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Cool. Thanks. And again, what I know their top priority concern is another staff position, right? So, they'll want to keep it competitive, but also say, you know, they want both as they
should. That's their job is advocate for every benefit they can get. We can't afford both. So, yeah. Great. Anybody else questions? I would entertain a motion. I'd be happy to make a motion to tie the custodial substitution substitute rate to 80% of
the step one custodial rate. I'm going to take a second and then I'll explain how this works. Linda second. Thank you. So there's a motion on the table for an 80%. What we're going to do now are questions and discussion and then we can vote when questions and discussion are closed. So if you're not
comfortable with 80%, you can abstain or vote no or we can talk it out through discussion and questions now that the motion's on the floor. Mhm. Do you have any thoughts? You don't have to have thoughts. This deep waters to jump into. Sam, you had your hand up.
Yeah. Since I can't vote, I'm just going to say uh I'm u I would be voting yes if I could vote. So sorry, at 80%. At 80%. Sam Tim was asking for clarification. You would vote yes at 80%. Question mark. Yeah, I would vote yes at 80%.
Anyone else? My only question was now that I think about it, am I allowed to vote? Yes. All right. This is not contract based. This is very specific position. Is your wife planning on becoming a substitute custodian? Not to your knowledge. Yeah, I mentioned it.
Maybe one of your kids. Okay. Okay. Hi. Anyone else? Yeah, Linda. I guess my only comment to that between the 80 and the 85 that was somewhat discussed before that is if we now find that we still haven't attracted anyone can we come back
it wouldn't be automatic one of us would have to bring it forward or Julia might hear from Larry again who says nice try try again and then we could revisit it we can revisit it at any point that's okay that's it just as long as we could it's not automatic I understand it's I
got the knock on the matter. Do you know if but if one of us says okay we still don't have anybody let's rethink this. Absolutely at any time. Okay that's all Tim. Oh just is there should we just set is there a window that we'll use for that
or is is that just something that instead of just arbitrarily leaving it to like well we'll look at it if it doesn't work like within what period that is not in the motion on the floor. So, one opportunity available to you is to amend that motion to include and
trigger a review in a set amount of time. So, right now, I'm just putting it to Yes. Sorry, Julia. I'm so sorry. It's okay. Um, you can keep an eye on the personnel report and I will let you know that that will be your way of knowing whether or not we filled that position, right? Which might
be an indicator of whether or not we need to have another discussion. So on the personnel report all of you you can see on the second page where it says current vacancies and that will change if it'll either continue in the current vacancies or you'll see it then in new hires. So I think is what Julie and we
get this every month. M I guess the only thing that I would ask at that point is is would it be um logical just to make a motion to keep uh to review that report in whatever set
amount of time. Here's what I would suggest. This committee doesn't exist after December. So if you were interested in that request to have it put on the December agenda just for a second look to check in if it hasn't been resolved up till then. Mhm. Yeah,
I would add in it not to be it difficult in any way. I think it would be make more sense for you to put it in your calendar like if you feel strongly about it and then remember like December let's look at it again, February, let's check again. That way the you know what I mean? I hear you. I already have a note is what I can tell
you, but I won't preclude you from adding that to the motion if you're interested in doing that. But I now have a note in my notes from this meeting that we'll all bring in in December and say I guess I'm more interested in seeing what the most common sense or sensible way to move forward with that is if we add that to 16 ways to skin a cat. It's about your
preference. Yeah. Um that's fine with me. Anyone else have any thoughts, concerns? Sam? No. So we do have a motion on the floor. So we are going to call we are going to roll call the vote. Um Tim, you okay if I start with you?
Yeah, absolutely. Um, am I yay or nay? A yay or nay. Or you can also abstain. I'm a yay. A yay. Eric. Eric. Yay. Yay. Megan. Uh, excited. All right, Sam, I have to ignore you for this. Linda, yay. Mayor, hi. Okay. Laura Scott,
I uh motion passes unanimously. So, that is 80%. Do I assume because we didn't state this in the motion, that's effective immediately? Sure. Great. Yeah. Duh. I just literally said, "Duh." Well, do you have anything else?
Um, the last item on my report is the personnel report. You can see that this month's report is lengthy, right, which is expected as we open a new school year, right? So, at the top of it, we have all of our new educators that we are excited and staff members we are excited to welcome to the district um who are settling into their new roles.
Um, there are a few separations listed for people that um departed the district in during the month of August. And then transfers. So we have had some um employees that change positions, change roles, change bargaining units. So the transfers there are listed. Um the
current vacancies as of August 31st. Um last year one of the requests in our budget for FY26 was a new position of 6ft FTEC special education coordinator. That position is still vacant. Um any updates on that? Any leads on that?
They're interviewing people currently. Excellent. Great. Yep. Um there is one para educator position uh vacant at Mountain View, one lunch monitor position vacant at Mountain View, one PAR educator position at EHS. They they have hired and appointed somebody who will be starting next week to that position for the parah at EHS.
Yes. And the substitute custodian. So that is a tight Well done crew. I don't think I've ever seen such a short list of vacancies in September. It usually Well done. Yes. And that um the night custodian, I don't want to call him out.
Uh but the night custodian that we see as a transfer, is that was that the substitute? Correct. Right. Yep. That is everything I have for the committee. Thank you so much. Oh, I have a question. I don't know if you're the appropriate person to ask this question to, but it came up um in my we were talking about the summer food
program. Yep. Are is that also like somewhat similar to the weekend food program? I saw the the flyers went out again in my kids yellow folders. Does anyone know is that a It looks like it's not part of your It is not territory the like power the
weekend power packs. Anyone know what I'm talking about? I saw something somewhere but I don't know the details and I don't think it's a great program. I'm just curious. So it comes home in the kids folders and you can sign up and if you would like to every Friday just anonymously a picture of that.
Absolutely. A bag of food is given to your child's. It is fantastic. Dean could also push it every once in a while on parent square as a reminder. Yeah. Yeah. It's an amazing program and it it just reminds me of the summer food. Like it's an opportunity. You don't have to be any
income level. You can just say yes. Sometimes you get tighter in the winter and people might forget about it. So maybe we should just have it to like to push it out every other month. There's fun snacks in it. Like my kids did it last year. I wanted to test the program out and my kids loved it. There was um not on school grounds, but as
they walked off school grounds, there'd be some trading of some good snacks. No, it was a it was great. It's just like the summer food program. It's awesome to have, but it's not in your area. So, not that I'm aware of. We'll find out. All set. Thank you so much. Have a great
evening. Thank you. Thank you, Julia. So, we are going to revert back to the superintendent update. All right. Excellent. Um in your packet you received preliminary enrollment numbers and we did this uh for transparency. Just looking at um
enrollment numbers this year was a little bit tricky with kindergarten. We we hit our max pretty much at kindergarten and we were toying with having to open another classroom, but we were really solid there. But, you know, we have a it's great to see a large K
class that makes me really excited about, you know, the future and keeping our enrollment numbers up. Um, and you'll see here uh for every grade, the number of students in each grade. So, you know, really just excited, I think,
in particular about the K increasing those preK slots as well. Um, we want to continue that for next year. that is going to be something that we look in um to doing particularly the prek but just seeing some strong numbers um and you
know even the grade six numbers are impressive we often see a drop there in the middle yes cuz that's our first year of middle school now we used to see that drop at grade five it was the dreaded white the curse of whitebrook um but that looks like it's recovering
yeah and um you know overall though we we have you know I think year-over-year year we do see some declining enrollment and that is sort of um parallel to the rest of Massachusetts and and in the region. So um and on the back of the
page you have um enrollment numbers at EHS um we're seeing and we saw even last year less of our students leaving to go to vocational. I think it speaks to the quality programming at the high school. So excited to see those trends and
looking forward to you know voca offering the vocational but also building programs within the school um to keep our students and district and keep that community really trending in the right direction. So good news all around there on enrollment. Great.
I just want to make a comment. Yes, of course. just that with all of the things that have happened in in the the in this district in the past few years with people having differing opinions of the direction that we're going to see this is is a really positive thing.
Sure. I think it's a, you know, actual data, right? It's actual data and it's a great job, guys. It's really incredible. I have a question because I probably haven't paid attention to this up until, but I just noticed that grade 12 is considerably smaller. Has that always been historically?
No, that's a weirdly low year. That bubble has been small for years. Okay. Yeah, because I was just like our current grade 12 as an enrollment through the years. It had always been a small 90 to 105. That one's always small.
Well, yeah, it's interesting that that Yeah. So, we're we're um really taking a look at our graduation rate and dropout rate. So that is going to you know that low number 73. So we want to make sure that we're being
no excuse not to get everybody over the line with 73. Yeah. Megan for that large K class which is amazing to see. Is it school choice or is it just East Hampton residents? We we um we did open a couple I don't know the number off the I thought we'd
open it. Oh it was minimal. Maybe. Yeah. Very very minimal. Right. Yeah, because I remember we got that report. I think I remember more talking about I'll bring it next. I think it was two and K and two in one or two and K and two and two and that was it, but there was very little. There
were very lots. So, we definitely opened more at the upper grades. Yeah, I'm really proud of all of you. Likewise. Could we ask too I'm curious to hear how much of that grade nine is choice in at the high school? I I'll I'll bring an update.
Um, do we want to talk about your entry plan? Yeah, sure. Um, I first I'm going to introduce my mentor. So, um, does Sam have Oh, wait. Um, so, let me Sam, do you have that hand raised or was that up
before? I do have a hand raised. Um, I just have a question about Yes. Yeah. And I I was just wondering, I hear um I just get get a lot of feedback from uh families about kind of uh wishing that preschool had more options
for full day. Um and I was just wondering kind of are we still doing mostly AM PM? Is there full day options for some kids? Where are we at with that? Yeah. So most of it is AM and PM, but we h we're exploring uh full day for sure.
So currently we have how many classes of AM? How many PM? Okay. We'll ask for that next time. So, just get a prek touchin for October would be great. Thanks, Sam. Anything else? No, I just wanted to ask about that just
because um I I feel like I'm excited to see the larger kindergarten class. One of one of the ways that I think we could continue to grow kindergarten at this point growing for kids. So, solid. Yep. And that readiness. Good stuff. All right. Great. Apologies for stepping on you. I am having a really hard time
paying attention to the tiny green icon that signifies interest. Okay. All right. Awesome. Um, so you all uh graciously allowed me to attend new superintendent induction program through my contract. So I appreciate that and
that allows me three years of mentorship and training and meeting with um first year superintendent across the state and I had a meeting today. So we are all together talking about opening of schools and really just learning from my
peers across the state and it's been a really so far it's been awesome and through that process I'm given a mentor um and my mentor is joining me this evening um Dr. Kenneth Salem who has served as a superintendent in Cambridge
in Weimouth. He's an adjunct professor and most importantly he's my mentor. He is helping me um look at my entry plan, giving me advice um and really helping to shape me as a leader. So um come to the stand. Dr. Thank you so much for joining us.
Absolutely. Well, great to be here this evening and really just wanted to be here to share a little bit about the new superintendent induction program which was launched actually um over 15 years ago now. So, there have actually been 15 cohorts of superintendents that have participated in that. I did I think in
some maybe the third or fourth cohort uh when I began as a superintendent um a while ago and um there are 28 other new superintendents this year um in the Commonwealth and so Dr. BGE is able to to join those uh folks on a monthly
basis. Um they come together for a total of 48 hours in the first year. Uh then continues into the second year uh with 39 hours and the third year is actually more in small regional consultancy groups uh where there are other superintendents um in the geographic
area. In addition, there are um uh my role as an executive coach with Dr. Bosch is to um uh do on-site coaching. Uh we also connect over Zoom. Uh I'll be doing uh school visits. Uh coming to some leadership team meetings. Um providing feedback and observations and
continuing to focus on the work of advancing um outcomes for students. And this is what um the work is all about. It's also a central piece of a central tenant is is the work around equity and advancing equity um in the system in the
district. Um and MASS uh Massachusetts Association of School Superintendent worked with Department of Elementary and Secondary Education along with MASC in developing this. And so it's evolved over time. Um in addition to being a coach, I'm also a content facilitator. So I work um uh facilitating these
sessions as well. And it's been um really uh great feedback from superintendent over over many years that they found value not just in the content but as Dr. Dr. B said just the collegiality that develops and the camaraderie and the uh resources that
they become with one another. I know that as I was uh superintendent over 90 years uh continue to connect with many of my colleagues over that course of time and it's important not just for snow days but for many of the challenges that that that come um over the course of of time in any in any district
leadership role. Um the relationship between the NISUB coach and the superintendent is one that is confidential and so the feedback that I provide is is for her and that's that's designed very intentionally and as you'll hear tonight um I also work with Dr. B to support the development of an
entry plan later on this year. There'll be a report and entry findings based on that entry work and then ultimately the development of a strategy for the district to guide the work forward. So excited to be here. happy to answer any questions, but I know also um everyone's looking forward to hearing about Dr. Bentry as well.
Thank you so much. Does anybody have any questions? We're all on our best behavior now that there's a real professional in the room. Thank you so much for that. Thank you for coming. It's it's helpful to hear about this program. Um as Dr. Bal gets ready, we can share
anecdotally that Moren Bernenda, our prior interim, raved about this program. She also was in a cohort as a new superintendent and talked a lot about the the connection she made and how heavily she relied on that, how useful it was. Well, I would say as a as a teacher when you get to meet with your colleagues, it's super valuable. And I know that the
higher you go up, you know, especially in a small district, we don't have an assistant superintendent, so it's a it could be an isolating position. So, it's great to get to talk to people that are in the same boat, and that's going to be super valuable for our district and for Dr. Balch. Tim, go ahead. What I would also say is
that have knowing that this um this exists, these connections exist will for people in the community who are aware who or who get this information in whatever way they get it, it would help them to understand that some of the
things that they are accepting as truths and what's being brought forth in their in their education system. are things that we have people from all over the state and in the community that
are all looking at our curriculums that are all looking at how we apply our curriculums and they're guiding our curriculum. So there is no we're looking in every closet. Everybody's looking everywhere to make sure that we're doing the best work we can do. And that I think could give some people some
comfort that you know we're not there's not a bunch of boogeymen in this school. Yeah. you know, that's a good point. Yeah. All right. Take it away, Dr. Balsh. All right. So, in front of you, you have my entry plan, and part of my interview
process, um, I presented a 90-day entry plan, and on card stock in our school color. I'm being cognizant of budgets now. Um, but it and it's funny, you know, I look back at that and I was like, "Wow,
it it was a good start, but I I really took some time to think about, you know, who who I've had the opportunity to meet with, speak with, learn as you learn more about the district and, you know, the the key players in the district and the work that we need to do." Um, this
really reshaped this plan and I think it's a it's a little it's a little bit more concrete. we have a lot of more specificity in who I'm looking to talk to, the ways in which we're going to move forward, and the information that I'm going to present to you. So, I have
this little infographic. It was actually taken from um the budget book, but I I kind of put it in a little bit more of a visual representation. And here's just a visual overview of our our district. So, it's a little data data infographic. Um,
and you know, it just really gives a quick snapshot of our district profile, demographics, where our students are going, um, our licensed staff, our teacher student ratio, and you know, the important changes for 2026 and, um,
Julia talked a little bit about one through the Prism grant and that's the new ELA or literacy curriculum. Really excited to launch that work. CKLA. It It's going to be very impactful for our district. Um, and we have our life
skills program at EHS. So, we're really excited to launch that. So, those are two of the highlights for this upcoming year. That should go on the website. It's going to and as will the superintendent entry plan because but I mean even just that graphic is
great. We are we are making some um wonderful new changes to the district website. So staging love that I put down on my phone. I know. I wanted to take a minute to highlight sort of my beliefs and my values um and
how it aligns very much with the work and the belief system of East Hampton. And it really centers around students thriving if they're given the right opportunities, if we're meeting them where they are and pushing them forward and they're they're going to be empowered to succeed. And it is my
responsibility as the superintendent to make sure that they have access to what they need when they need it. Um, and I truly believe in building these inclusive communities within our community. Um, that students need to feel like they belong here. Um, I know
we say you belong here, but we need to demonstrate consistently that everybody does belong here, that they have spaces that they can enter, that they are part of a larger community, and that's very important. They need to be able to be
seen, heard, and valued. And Walter talked a little bit about some of the work that the student council is doing and I'm very proud of that work and I hope to work alongside them to make sure um and you'll see that through the superintendent um plan as well and
growth and excellence requires that shared commitment. We need to invest in one another. I think it that spoke to our convocation theme that steps that inspire. We we need to make sure that we're using data to inform our practices that we're using innovation that we're
not just, you know, sort of stuck in the way we've always done things that we have to look at what other people are doing, what has been successful, what the research is telling us and what the evidence and our data and what our students are telling us as well. Um, creating those safe and welcoming
environments important. You know, kids, Rita Pearson, kids can't learn from people they don't like. So, we need to make sure that kids feel loved when they come into our schools, and it is our responsibility to make sure that they feel safe and welcomed. So, those are
just my beliefs. Those are deeply embedded into the work that I I do and who I am as a person. And here you'll see um our this is from East Hampton Public Schools strategic plan. We have a a little bit of an outdated strategic plan. I think our
strategic plan ended in uh 2023. So, we have an opportunity to revisit our strategic plan um and take an opportunity to revisit our vision, our mission, and our values as a community. And that is really the work of the listening sessions. We have our first
listening session tomorrow from 5:00 to 7:00 here at 50 PAC. I'm really excited about that. And through those conversations and the conversations um that I'm having, we're really going to shape our mission and our vision. And I'm going to be taking notes. We're
going to be doing some data analysis of that. And it it's going to be a vision and a mission that is representative of the community and the words and the values of the community. So I'm excited to lead that work. I had a wonderful opportunity to do that some of that work
um in my previous role. So carrying that forward. I'm very excited about that. Um and it all starts with listening. Step one is really listening and learning. I've been um at the helm since July 1, but I did have an opportunity to
um spend that month with Moren, which was incredible. Really learning from her. Um and then going out into the community to really get and listen to where do we need to go? like in all of the work that we need, what do we need? We did a a protocol with the leadership
team. What do we need to keep doing, stop doing, start doing? And that's going to be the theme of the listening sessions. You know, we're going to be following sort of a protocol like what is going great, what do we need to fix, and what how can we innovate and make change within the district. So, I'm
going to be doing um this listening and learning through one-on-one conversations, group sessions. Um I'm going to be doing classroom visits. I asked the principles to set up dates um for me. One I I want to meet with some of the staffs, break down MBS into
smaller groups. Really excited to hear from the educators. Really excited to hear from students about their experiences and looking at our district policies and our practices because those also speak to who we are and our belief systems and you know, our budget and all
of um our policies. Again, our handbooks really speak and we need them to represent who we are as a community. Um, we also are going to be doing some online surveys. I ran some draft surveys through the leadership team. I'm going to have the students look at them next.
Um, and we have a set of surveys that are going to go out to students, to staff, and to the community. So, really excited about that. We're going to be pushing everything out through Parent Square. So, if you haven't signed up for Parent Square yet, I encourage you to do so because you're going to be missing out on some important communication and
we want everybody to be able to get a consistent messaging through um Parent Square as well. So, did we send something home? I'm sorry. We did. Okay. Yes. Yep. Um and again, just sort of taking a look at what I'm going to be
doing in the next, you know, over the next few months. Um here are some of the groups that I'm planning on meeting with. Um they're here. It's broken out by students, families, community members, talking to educators and staff, and then district and school leadership as well. So, again, going to be, you
know, doing those one-on-one whole group um doing some surveys as well to collect that data. And I I talked briefly about some data review, but what am I actually what is some of what is some of the data that I'm going to be looking at? looking at
our old strategic plan, our priorities, looking at um school improvement plans, spending plans, looking at our policy manual, um looking at our MCCAST, STAR, early bird data, looking at student discipline data, very important data
tells us the story, um special education programmatic reviews, are the programs that we have established meeting the needs of our students, um looking at our collective bargaining and looking at our budget and grants. So that's all going to be happening sort
of as I enter this space um through the fall early winter that work is going to happen. Um and then in here you'll see on um the next page step two and I'll I'll report out as I conclude my um
listening sessions and my data analysis. I'm going to present to you some early findings and then you know step two of the uh the process is you know creating some action plans and some you know sort
of early thoughts about where we are and where we where we're going to head. I'm happy to answer any questions. Um we will be publishing this on the website. Like I said, our first sessioning, a plug for our listening session is going
to be tomorrow, our first one. Um those dates are also on um the website. We we will have child's care for families. Um and if there is a need for an interpreter, we're have we we have the capacity to bring in an interpreter as well.
That's great. Anybody a question? Tim, the the previous strategic plan that you're going to be using, you said it was from 2023. Is that correct? Yeah. So, it um it was I think it was a 2-year plan. I think it went from 2021
to 2023. Um so that was the last year that um there was a strategic plan for the district. Who um and I apologize for not knowing, but who was responsible at that time for the previous superintendent Alison? Dr. Clair.
Yeah. Thank you. Any other questions? Um I have a quick question and maybe this is something we can't decide it. So it highlights in here that by December that data collection is going to be complete. So we do have a meeting on December 9th, but I'm wondering if we
might want to do a different type of presentation for something like that. Perhaps host a secondary meeting at the high school in the auditorium or something like that. if we want to look at that and invite more of the public to just kind of really become engaged and yeah, we can talk about that off off mic as
they say. Okay. Yeah, happy to happy to do that too. Great. Anyone else? I don't really have a question. I just um am going to try to hold it together really well because first of all, I have a reputation for crying and so I'm not going to cry every single time. But I
really hope that everyone who's here will go and tell people to watch this. This is recorded. Um, this is the most comprehensive entry strategic plan that we have ever had in my I can't say ever because I haven't been here 100 years, but um, in
my time as a parent and on school committee, this is the most comprehensive, thoughtful plan that I have seen. Um, and as a parent, like taking off my school committee hat, it just makes me really happy. I have three kids who were all very different. Um, some of them fit in easier and some of
them less so. And this is what I was dying to hear. Mhm. They were like years. So, I can tell you I'm so excited to get to work on this. Like, I I can't wait. I cannot wait.
Yes, Linda. I I won't. Um, it just happened that earlier today someone spoke to me and they asked me and they said that they had gone to school in East Hampton many, many, many years ago. And they asked me about some
of the concerns that they had had over that and had those been addressed and whatever. and just sitting here tonight listening to your plans, I feel like seeing some of the data that you put there, some of the things you presented,
I just want to say that um this is a very exciting time to be here in East Hampton. It's exciting time to be on the school committee and I'm very excited for you to be here and your plans. Thank you,
Sam. I saw your hand this time. I made a point to look. Go ahead. Appreciate it. Um I just wanted to say I um like my colleagues have said, I really appreciate this plan. I feel like this has been um such a positive uh
start to the school year for us. Um I I feel like we're kind of entering a new era in East Hampton and and part of this is because we've come to superintendent and part of this is also just because I feel like new school I guess with the new school um we're
we're far farther away from the u the the co um you know the virtual learning stuff. So, uh I just um I just feel like I'm just very excited to kind of be doing this with with all of you. Uh and um with uh sorry, I just said my mic is
it's actually um I I did I also just wanted to say I'm finding parents where personally as a parent I'm finding parents where they thought much include the way of communicating and I was just wondering if you've
gotten any feedback. Did you catch that feedback on Parent Square, Dr. Balch? I I've heard great great things from parent square. They're um teachers um I talked to a couple teachers um the other day MBS. They're just able to quickly
connect with parents, you know, they're getting messages. So, and so morning was a little rough. All right. Parents just being able to check in really quickly with um educators and that's so important. And you know, you send your kid off to school and if they're not like if they're not having a great
morning and you then you lose them for I I know as a parent you're like I wonder all day if they're okay. And just to be able to get that quick message back, all right, all good here. You know, we're it's a good morning. It's just what a sense of relief it is for parents. And
having consistent communication, I think, is so important. You know, it's not like, oh, you heard this, I you got this, I didn't get this. And we know that if you have an account, you're you have access to the information. Y it has worked. I have to say getting getting the there
were three forms that had to be like filled out and and sent back in on the first day of school and I did all of them within like 2 minutes, but they all appeared on parent square and I just clicked through all of them and it was super easy. And um so anybody who's having I don't want to like I don't want people to feel like oh no I you know
this isn't as intuitive to me like I must be missing something. If you're having trouble with it or if it's not making sense to you, it's not working, please reach out to um to to somebody. We definitely like to help you. Reach out to Jean uh cuz she will uh she could set something up at the open
houses too, like a little help station or something. That's a good idea. Yep. Jean has been incredible. She is handling both the parent and family piece, but also the tech aspect of it. And I I am very proud of her work. Yeah.
And one more question on on that. Are we able to track like when you send out an announcement like are we able to track how many people have seen it or opened it? You know, is there a way to make sure that people are using it? Yes. And Jean is going to do a presentation for us later on in the year. That's great. Wonderful.
Back in data is a beautiful thing. Go ahead, Mayor. So, that the risk of taking us into midnight here, I just I I think it's, you know, this this presentation is is really great. So, thank you for this. Um, you know, now we can truly say that we have like amazing schools. Um, which
when I first started in city government was not necessarily the case. Um, we have amazing teachers and staff and and seeing this, you know, we're on we're positioned to have an amazing leadership team that really is focused on hearing
what the needs of of the parents and the students and the community are. And I think that piece stands out to me, the ability to hear what people need and be responsive to that and and be open to that. I think that's just so critical and and I think it's really going to make a difference as we kind of move
forward and as your tenure builds um to really create East Hampton as a destination of education and to really position us. Somebody write that down. I know. Oh, sorry. Um I got it. Okay, good. But I mean and and really
like I think that you know Massachusetts schools are the top in the country and we can be a piece of that and and I think if we continue this work we'll be a a shining piece of that. Absolutely. And so I you know I I just am super
appreciative. So thank you. Thank you. One thing I know I I cannot No, I think this is a very comprehensive ambitious plan. I want to say that when I became a member of the school committee there were some you know you work with people in various ways and
when people work with you it's much easier to make the change in growth. So to the community at large all these listening sessions um Dr. Balch is has been amazing thus far but she's not a magician and it's challenging there will be challenges. There will be bumps in the roads. There will be things that
don't work perfectly, but with that mindset that she has for these listening sessions, this is an opportunity to say instead of being frustrated, be a part of our solution. Be a part of our of our team just as a community member at large. You can just join us and we can
hear you and we can help you help us make the change faster and more efficient. Great point, Kim. Yeah, at the risk of being redundant again, um I did want to say as well that we got here on the
backs of a lot of people who have come and gone and have put in a lot of work dragging the whole community through this experience um with them. um a lot of them have struggled and suffered in their
positions and I think it would be we'd be remiss not to acknowledge um the shoulders that we are kind of standing on you know and we're fortunate enough to be here in this like really fantastic new period and you can you can
tell the sense of of what we're coming into and you can also see uh some of the remnants of where we've come from some of the people who have really um done a lot for this community and they've given a lot for this community. So, I just wanted to I wanted to acknowledge that.
Um and I also just wanted to say how great it feels. It there's a difference in when you feel that there's comprehensive leadership. Um and everybody has a goal regardless of whether or not you know it's completely 100% done and tidy. It's there and we're
all now we all have some input towards it and everybody's striving in the same direction. people and rowing in the same direction and it's just really wonderful to see and uh yeah it feels great and I'm looking forward to my son's future here.
That's nice. Um yeah I okay we're going to wrap this up. I joined the school committee in 2013 and I'll tell you this city couldn't have put it couldn't have enacted a plan like this then. So this is of two things. First of all, there were people who over the past 20 years have put in the effort to make the city
a little bit better every single year and some of them are no longer in that capacity, but that is the work we built on. So now the city is stronger, which allows the schools to thrive the way they should have. And excited doesn't cover it because we're in the know of
what's in the works. And buckle up, y'all. Buckle up. It's going to be pretty freaking great. All right. We're going to talk about convocation. Yeah. I mean, not much to say there, but it was an awesome, awesome convocation.
Um, we had tremendous guest speakers. We had Laura Scott as a guest speaker. We had Walter Baker as a guest speaker. And we had Devon Sheen as a guest speaker. And they all shared about their experiences um and the impact that educators have
had on their lives and the lives of their children. And it was a very empowering session. Um people there was energy in the room. People were excited to come back for the school year. Um it was it was great. Um and as the year as
we opened schools, it it was it was really strong start. We have a very strong start. Transportation was seamless. Um, I thanked um Durham Bus Company for their work with Maria, our transportation director, making sure
that, you know, we had all the students on the right buses at the stops and they weren't late and um dismissal at Mountain View was incredible. Um, it was a welloiled machine. So, it w it's been a great start. Um, I'm really looking
forward, you know, to building on this this strong start. But um so far we are moving along quite nicely and it feels really good. Um one more boost. The So I was there at convocation.
Walter was there. Uh the energy was incredible. Yes or no? Oh, I don't know. I recorded it. Oh, that's right. Oh, that's right. Oh, that was a riot. It was so good. It was really good. It was a good speech. Um the energy was incredible. I've never felt anything like that in this city.
And the school district in particular has had bumps and bruises and there's been, you know, it was an incredible feeling. And the 20 minutes after I had left that I the messages start coming in. That's what I was going to say. Before the day was over, I don't want to say they were texting during anything, but
all of my teacher friends I had heard how great Laura was and how great the day was. Well, I texted you midday. This is about Dr. Balch. But I'm just saying the whole day. I'd already heard before the day was over that it was like never gone to like a competition like that before. It just great
that universally. And then we had some union leadership meet with us tonight who said the same thing. They've heard the same thing. They feel the same thing. It's a new dawn. It's a new day. There we go. All right. We're so in awe. We're so grateful and we're so so so excited. I appreciate the
support. Thank you. They were not texting during convocation though. They were definitely All right. Do you want do we have more? I'm good. Do you want to get out from behind that podium? Yes. Yes. Yes. Uh we are going to move on to school
committee discussion. Um Sam, your mic I love you dearly. Your mic's a little bit wonky. Do you want me to just talk about why we're pushing AI back a month? Uh sure. Oh, wait. No, now you're sounding clear. Do you want to take a whack at it?
Okay. Okay. Go ahead. Yeah. Um, so we're pushing AI back a month because uh, so we've been working on this um, artificial intelligence policy which is very exciting. It's very comprehensive. We've been working very hard on it. Um, the student council would like to take a look at it and give
us some feedback and we're very excited uh, to get their feedback because they're the ones who are going to be uh, using it uh, a lot more than I will anyway. So um, so I believe they are meeting tomorrow night is my understanding. Um, and so after they
look through it and give us feedback, we will uh roll away. Yeah, I'm adding that to the agenda. Bring it up at our next uh at our next meeting. Walter concurs. Mhm. Okay. It's official. So um we are not going to have the second reading tonight. We are going to take put that um shove that back to the
October agenda so that we can integrate the feedback from the students. It may or may not require some additional revision um but we will be discussing it further in October. um finance subcommittee update. So, we have not met, but we have a meeting scheduled on Monday, uh
September 29th at 4:00 in the second floor conference room in person. See you there. It's going to be back at it. Really fun. This is we are working on our short, medium, long-term planning. That's what we're doing. We are um so regardless of who sits in
these seats beginning in January, we are hoping to get everything as clean and tight and ready to rock. Absolutely. for January as possible. Y um CES update. Sam, have you met since we last met? So, um we have uh there was a meeting. I was
not able to Oh, no, there was not a meeting. Never mind. No, we have not. Yeah, I didn't think so. There they are. We are working on moving. We have um selected a search uh agency to uh to do the uh the search for the new director of CPS. That's right.
Sam, I don't have more of an update about that kind of. Okay, great. So, Sam, just for your awareness, we're going to move on to action items and you don't have to vote, so we don't have to wait for that super awkward hear. Okay, cool. All right. Excellent. Then I will head out.
Thanks everybody. We have a couple comments. Uh, go ahead, Eric. Oh, no. I didn't I was just waving goodbye to Sam, which which I don't even know if that makes sense. Sam is in England. Everybody Sam, did you have a No, everybody's just waving. Okay, great. Megan, do you want to touch
on the playground quickly? Playground update. We had a second walk through. Well, another first walkthrough is we have two companies. We have no estimates, no like concrete stuff, but two different groups are working on estimates of a variety of like low, medium, high. It's going to be great. It's ongoing. The wheels of
a rough idea from them about when you think quotes are going to come in. I know you can't contractors. I know. I can't I I would have said by now, but I also thought the playground would be installed by now. We did say that. table. So, um it's it's all going great. We've had great support from um the district
and from parents and from leadership. So, okay, we're going to move you right into action items. I have a motion to approve the minutes of the A12 2025 regular session minutes. We got a second. Second.
Thank you, Eric. Uh all those in favor? I opposed abstensions. Motion carries. Motion to approve the school payroll dated 872025 in the amount of $422,38.80. Thank you, Linda. So, mayor, if I could
ask for your vote because we don't have Sam here and Eric has to abstain. I was planning to. Excellent. Thank you so much. Okay. All those in favor? I opposed. Abstensions. Abstain. Thank you, Eric. Motion carries. Motion to approve the accounts payable authorization for
payment dated872025 in the amount of $183,07242 cents. Second. Thank you, Linda. All those in favor? Opposed? Abstensions. Thank you, Eric. Motion carries. Motion to approve the school payroll
dated 821 2025 in the amount of $46,8784. Second. Thank you, Linda. All those in favor? I I opposed. Extensions. Abstain. Thank you, Eric. Motion to approve the accounts payable
authorization for payment dated 872025 in the amount of $210,291.32. Second. Thank you, Linda. All those in favor? I opposed extensions. Thank you, Eric. Motion carries. That's it for our action items. Okay, everyone.
So, we have four meetings left in this calendar year in this term. Uh we'll be meeting on October 7th, October 21st, November 18th, and December 9th. And I will discuss with our superintendent whether or not we want to schedule
another meeting in December after the 9th for a separate presentation. Um that is all for us. I would entertain a motion to adjurnn. So moved. Thank you, Linda. All the we're going to roll out. Sorry. at 10
from St. John out. Good night. God bless. Whatever your flavor. Good night and God bless. There you go. Good night. Megan Harvey, good night. Linda, good night from Linda. Good night. All right, Laura Scott, we are finished. Good evening. See you later.
Thank you.