We stand for the pledge of allegiance. America to the republic which stands >> proc vote. Bad secretary >> stat >> here. Hitchen >> here. >> Tret >> here. >> Barrow
>> here. >> Marlin here. >> A mental >> here. Executive session will go at the end of the meeting. >> Okay. have the notice.
Just to notify, a regular meeting of the Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School District Committee will be held on Tuesday, December 9th, 2025
at 11:21 Ashley Boulevard, New Bedford, Massachusetts at 6:30 in the Student Forum. Public comment. Comments are welcome during the public comment segments. Please forward
comments to the recording secretary that at gnbvt.edu no later than 300 p.m. on Monday, December 8th, 2025. Do we have any
not received any reading in acceptance of the minutes of the November 10th, 2025 meeting. Committee members have received the copy of the minutes of the November 10th, 2000 meeting. Request approval.
>> Move. >> Second. >> All those in favor? I >> oppose abstensions passes. >> Okay. Our reports approval of the bills
move approval. >> Second. Second. >> All those in favor? >> Opposed. Quest is approved. aviation program update. Included in your backup material is a copy of the site visit report
explaining the visits of Greater Lawrence, Greater Lel and Westfield Tech Academy. Thank you, Madam Chair. I I'll start this off before I hand it over to Dr. Maron um and members of the aviation subcommittee. So in your packet uh is
the staff report that was uh the deliverable that we had talked about last April when we began some of this work around an aviation subcommittee. As you know through some of my presentations over the summer and into September, we met with an aviation subcommittee two to three times between
May and September. Uh in October uh member Alivera and Dr. Marlin uh joined uh members of the district administrative team on an aviation tour of Greater Lawrence and uh Westfield Tech. As part of that trip, we also looked at Greater LOL and their capacity building as we think about other program
expansion opportunities. Uh this report pretty much highlights what we saw at both Greater Lawrence Technical School and Westfield Academy. During the slideshow presentation that you'll see momentarily, you'll see different photographs that were taken. We'll talk more about the programs, answer questions that members may have, and
consider what the next steps and directive of the committee will be. Um, I've also included on the last segment uh the visit to Greater Alo, which was the final leg of that piece where we looked at operational efficiencies, staffing, and innovation at the uh close to it's actually the largest vocational
school in the Commonwealth right now, and sort of back and forth between us and and Lel uh to take a look at what their model looked like while we were out that way. Okay. And with that, I'll turn it over, I think, to Dr. Marlin and also to Mike Joseph who was on the aviation committee. They're going to lead us through the presentation and
then we'll take questions and comments from good >> and Wayne if Wayne's going to speak first. Yeah. screen. Yep. >> So, um the first leg of our trip was to um Lawrence
uh Lawrence Tech, a great kind of a a nice facility. Everything was brand new. we go. Um there's kind of an overall photo of of the school itself. Fairly large facility. Um what we're going to be
talking about is on the the left side of the the school. Um almost in line with the football field is where a brand new hanger was built. And this is the hanger. Um so their program is not up and running yet. Although all the plans have been gone
through, all the everything's been written. I believe the FIA has approved their program and this is their brand new facility. This was a hanger uh costing somewhere around uh 5.1 5.2 million um
you know will support the app the um uh the planes as well the thickness of the floor everything was done according to FAA standards. Uh so we toured this facility first and um to the left there is are some of the
simulators uh that they were the students will be using to uh kind of go over different systems in the aircraft. There's a close-up view of that. So it it basically um is a simulator of all the different types of systems within
the aircraft that they'll be repairing. And again, this when we talk about the aviation program, we're talking about mechanics. Uh we're not talking about flight. So, just to be clear on that again, there's another view of the hanger. Uh so, you have some of the student
workts over to the right. Uh some of the planes that you see there, the helicopter and and one of the planes was in there were donated uh through partnerships with uh various uh airlines, you know, whatever partnerships we can uh we can come up
with uh obviously our superintendent and um Mr. Watson, the name of >> John Lavoy, he's the superintendent >> superintendent up at Greater Lawrence. This was another facility that was built on site uh just short of the hangar or
just on the other side of the hanger. This is their classroom workspace. Uh this was approximately $130,000 uh done by the students at Greater Lawrence. So, you know, similar to what our students could do here as far as
building facilities, this was done by them as well. Um, so this will be their classroom space and then the hanger space would obviously be their their shop area. Again, some uh some of the other simulators and uh Mr. Joseph can can
speak to some of the not only the simulators that we saw here that were brand new at Greater Lawrence, but also at Westfield. Uh that same building, the workspace again, all of their workbenches, everything again is brand new. So, uh, it's all ready to go as soon as their
program, you know, gets gets going and there was the crew. >> That was Yeah. Yeah. Looks like we're ready to take it up >> and then um turn this over to Dr. Milin for um that was again the greater Lawrence being a brand new facility. um
looks like state-of-the-art, but I think then what you'll see is at Westfield a little bit different type of program. Um not the plentiful space that you saw at Lawrence. So you'll be able to have a little bit of a comparison and um it really was a good comparison of
brand new, state-of-the-art, really big, brand new, spacious, and then Dr. Milin will walk you through the Westfield part of it. Yes, Mr. Shay, >> you said it looks like it's ready to go. When are they anticipating it? Next September or even this year,
>> they say. >> So, freshman students are going through the exploratory process this year. >> Okay. >> All right. But no pro no students have been selected at this point to be in the aviation program because that wouldn't happen till after the exploratory process. But they will enroll freshmen at some point this year,
>> right? >> Uh in aviation. >> We do half a year maybe. And >> yeah, they'll do the what we would do. So there there were kids I don't know if they had gone through the aviation rotation yet because we were there earlier in the year. Uh but that was the plan for this year. >> Thank you. >> So they'll be bringing their first group
in. So it's Yeah. You know >> Yes. This year >> from the ground up. >> Yeah. >> This is fun begins. >> I love this part of the tour. Uh Westfield's been
um active for quite a few years. Their program, they really kind of started this ball rolling and um it's great to be in the same path as all these other folks because they're really driving the way for us. Here's um the uh instructor
to the left and some of our folks to the right. He gave us a great tour. He is um retired military um and uh did a lot of the curriculum. He said that he would share the curriculum with us. So, we're in really
good hands. Um very very positive person and uh very encouraging to our group. Mike, you wanna I have three people from the airport who are actually um involved with this.
Uh this is Mike Joseph and he's going to actually talk about so many machines because he's kind of lived this for quite a few years. Um I'm kind of in the back door somewhere. Um so it's uh Mr.
Joseph, Chris Cunningham, and Mike Kenabi who are on this committee. And what happened to uh Cunningham? Chris busy working. uh with a very huge shortage of aircraft mechanics. Anything
that flies has to have a certified aircraft mechanic license to touch anything on an airplane with drones or anything else that's going to be flying in and around public people. They're going to have to have mechanics. Uh
Chris is is is so short-handed he's got to be working six, seven days a week just to keep up. Um and uh uh it the last check I had when we first got involved with this about five six years ago was there was 65,000 job openings at
that time for mechanics for aircraft mechanics industrywide taking it from a little place like New Bedford right up to aircraft flying out of Logan or Miami or whatever. Uh there was that much of a shortage. So uh everybody has to do
double duty extra long hours etc. So there's a great demand for aircraft mechanics and they have to be certified by the FAA and all the training facility all these things you're looking at right now these simulate systems so that the students will be engaging with real uh
real time real life uh exercises uh through hydraulics through electrical systems uh air driven systems uh then jet engines uh piston powered aircraft so uh most of these uh like here's a cutaway view of a jet engine. Uh so that
the students will learn how you know the combination of air being squeezed into that through the compressor and and ignited with fuel. How you get so much thrust out of all those working parts. But to maintain those um is is a long uh
road to get certified as a um at first uh a uh initial in inspection uh an inspe an an initial&p was airframe and power plant and then they can work their way up to become an IIA which is an inspecting authority. So like Chris
Cunningham uh that's on our team here is is an IIA. He runs Colonial Aviation and he is also the NTSB person they call when they have to recover aircraft and things like that and safely uh handle a
part so that the investigators can figure out what goes wrong. So um these students, you just can't take a mechanic from automotive and say, "Okay, you're going to go fix airplanes now." Uh you have to pass the test the FAA administers. Uh Mr. Cunningham actually
is the mechanic uh side of things. He is the in uh inspector that handles giving the tests for the FAA in this region down here. So we get the highest caliber person on your team here working as far as
uh it's when you look at the airplanes a lot of these planes are donated. Um they're not really at times flyable or maybe costing too much money to overhaul an engine. So the people donate the plane rather than spending the 40 50
60,000 that's required to put a new engine on. They'll say here take the plane and uh have fun with it. So the kids can take the part the motor 100 times put it back together. They'll learn how to work on the systems and the planes. So getting planes for your
program will not be a problem. Um and uh the training facility, the building of the structures and whatnot uh naturally it costs money. I got to say the one we saw at launch was over the top. Uh it's probably twice as costly as it needed to
be. I don't know how they achieved that. I build buildings for a living. Um I don't know how they reach that kind of number, but I can assure you the buildings that most aircraft mechanics are working out of nowhere they're that fancy. So, um I don't know if budget's
an issue down the road, but there are ways to get this program launched with a fair fair uh budget. And um I think uh I know the need is there. I've been flying for 47 years. I've owned a dozen
airplanes and getting them fixed is a problem um because there's nobody doing the work. So, you have to wait. uh you want something fixed, uh as soon as they're able to, they'll get to it. But uh right now there's a big shortage right here in New Bedford for aircraft
mechanics. So um >> so this is um the classroom. It's um really exciting for me. This was more of the um freshman and sophomore classes took place here. And they, as Mike said,
they restored a building. This is a very I think it was over a hundred years old. Um, but they made it work and they have all the, you know, a lot of the tools in there. These kids start at a different level. What would this be, Mike? >> This is an early probably 40s or 50s,
uh, fuselage, which would be covered with fabric uh, like you, if everybody's familiar with a yellow Piper Cub, well, that's the era of this plane. It would be covered with a with a fabric which they tighten up with a chemical and uh but the inside is all metal tubing
welded. >> So here's more of the shops. >> Yeah. And they have presses here. They have uh um rolling equipment to roll metal or they have uh um somewhere they have a break in there I would think. And
uh it's like a machine shop that uh uh you'd see in your regular automotive or uh auto body machine shop. a lot of tools uh can go back and forth. >> And then we traveled to um the airport
at Westfield and this was uh quite amazing for us to see. They actually um own two hangers. Um they're very ingenious because they found a way to get additional money through the historic commission because Amelia
Heheart had actually been to this airport. Um, so what are these planes, Mike? >> And these are typical uh single engine general aviation as we call it. It's not commercial. It's uh it's what I would
fly for fun. Um some people could do sightseeing in them, but basically this is the basic trainers that even all commercial pilots have to start somewhere. They'll start in a single engine aircraft like this. These are um pretty common. And then they'll work
their way up to something like this. This is an old uh looks like an old leer jet that was donated by NASA. Again, too expensive to maintain and operate. Uh too old, too many flight hours, but they could give the kids a world of uh of knowledge by working taking it apart and
putting it back together. So, here's um the inside of one of the hangers. And as you can see, all these students are working cooperatively. They're solving problems. Uh very interesting group. They did want to engage with us, but they wanted to know
exactly where we were coming from because they weren't going to give out any information. You know, it was conf confidential. So, um you know, working on all different different sort of projects. Here's some
of the other planes that are right in the uh hanger there. Um this was a group that was kind of intense and working on um uh various projects that they were really engaged in, very very serious and very
proud of themselves. Most of them have on their um their outfits. Uh they're all um very professionally dressed. Um here's one of the classrooms. You can see way in the distance there. Um
they're trying to use the space so they have a uh a second floor that they have a lot of things stored and again the testing things test hydraulic system pressure regulation stuff. So gives the
kids a chance to >> Yeah. Here's another classroom. Pretty simple, straightforward. Here's the instructor on the left. What's his name? Mr. Independent. Uh >> Steven.
>> I have too many mics in my line. >> We had a call. >> I won't tell you who I said should. >> And here's a second hanger which was really interesting. Again, part of a partnership.
Um many of the old planes. What would this be? And that that could be I mean I'm not recognized exact but that's the same thing. It's a cloth cup uh like you saw before the steel pipe and covered that's
an old ste from 1940s that was like an original World War II trainer. Um so it's all cloth covered steel tubing. Uh but but they're still they're still flying. So kids will learn how to how to repair these that you know
it's >> Yeah. Um and the the second hanger which has all the antique planes in it, they actually have an open house a couple times a year and all the community comes and you know the kids look at the airplanes which is
a great way to kind of set the tone for many um many activities in the future involving education. So, um, this particular group that we, Westfield had a lot of partnerships. I talked about the historic group that
they partnered with. Um, they also had a partnership with JetBlue. He blotted out like all these things. We couldn't even keep up with, you know, what these guys were engaged with. But luckily, they're on our side, so we got this folks. Um,
what else? I was just blown away by how engaged these students were and how excited they were about learning and with Amelia Heheart there she was a quote from her preparation I have always
said that it is rightly twothirds of any venture so our venture our next venture is just to continue researching come back with some numbers from you for you folks and proceed and maybe in a few
years. This is not going to happen tomorrow. We'd like it to do to be that way, but um if we keep the research up, we may >> go ahead. Just a couple questions. I know years ago when trying to get more
nurses certified through BCC, they had a tough time finding instructors to get at that level. Is it going to be difficult to find someone that would be a teacher? Because
to me that that is a especially you mentioned about the maintenance person who would work seven days a week and all that. So first question was to finding a person to teach this you got to have an idea who it's going to be or who who who we go. Second of all you
said certified they have to get certified can they get certified in four years or does that go on like electrical they have to be internship and all that you know Mike So they're willing to partner up with you too once this thing becomes
more of a reality to someone like uh you know the airlines the major airlines then they'll start sitting down talking to you how fun things or whatnot. So, >> getting the ball started is half the battle, I guess, more than half the battle. But once you get it rolling,
you're going to get people jumping on board. To answer your first part of your question, mechanics, you're going to get a lot of people now starting to retire. They they'd love to have a little part-time job or transition from working in a shop to working as teachers as you
do in your carpentry or your architectural class, any other things you have. You have people that at that age like I don't want to do the grind anymore but I'd like to put out another five 10 years. >> No, not >> so you're not going to have a problem getting instructors and I know at least
a couple of guys would be willing to talk to you if you were happening today. Um but the thing is um there's a big need. The industry needs to work the workers. Um they're not available. The only place you're going to get them right now is through the vocational
process and the airlines. And the airlines would much rather have someone that's already got their feet wet in it that they can pick up and teach them their way and finish get them licensed rather than starting from scratch because they're not in the educational business. That's where you fit in
nicely. So you can you can provide uh it's like a a ball team with minor league players. They develop it their skills, then they get into the majors. That's what's going to happen. Um, and they they've been doing it with the pilots uh out of Bridgewater State College. As soon as these guys graduate
from there, they're bringing them right into the airlines. They're giving them jobs and uh it'll be right seat for a while, then next thing you know, they're left seat. So, uh it'll happen in the mechanics. I think the superintendent would agree with me that a lot of the military folks
are perfect fit for some of the teaching staff as um actually uh Westfield had that he's a retired military. >> All three programs today that are running in the state have a retired military Westfield uh Franklin County
and uh great alarms. Uh it's a process, right? So, and I think the next I think Dr. Maron did a fantastic job kind of laying out we wanted to give you the presentation today. This will be back on the agenda by February. Give you a chance to digest this report a little bit. Um, without question, if we decide
to go down this pathway at some point this year, next year, two years, three years, whatever it is, we will need to onboard the teacher per se, the person prior to there is there is no one on the team today that is capable of being able to absorb the amount of work that is
required to even get this out of the gate. like we I we could talk about and I could put you in touch with all three superintendents. You it's a at least a four-year process to get the program off in all those areas and you must have somebody there to do the day-to-day work. This is not like opening a
construction craft labor program or opening an electrical program. There there are FAA requirements. There is a lot more involved in the preparation of that. That person would have the time to be able to solicit some of the additional fundings as this program began to grow. uh and look at those pieces and that'll be part of the next
phase of the presentation and the conversation for us. We really wanted to take some time tonight just to show you what we saw so that you have a chance to digest that, formulate questions and then we can continue uh kind of the dialogue around that. >> Thank you. Good answers. Thank you. >> Just through you through you, Madam
Chair. Just a just a quick question. The oldest one here, the chapter 70 obviously is West is it Westfield? Okay. And how long have they been running? >> 11 or 12 years. Okay. And they were chapter 70 because >> 74. Yep. >> 74. I'm saying but in the past I heard
that we didn't have any uh chapter 74 in. >> Yeah. And that's a bit of a funny story because I don't know how they've been able to do that all these years. I will tell you that the department will not issue the program lensure without the FA regulations which is a huge and there's
a lot of rules there. Right. So today a kid could be in our copy program and get a C. You cannot get a C. Right? So I think it will be very interesting to see what happens with the new process for admissions and how that rolls out at greater Lawrence. There's a lot of talk around the exploratory process that will
be a factor, right? Because that the FAA has a very different set of standards than any other program that has that is recognized by the department. U so I don't know how that will play out. I don't think anyone knows how that will play out till we get there. I mean certainly there'll be students but what
happens to the students if after their sophomore year they get a 78? because that doesn't meet the threshold of the FAA. That is not an issue in any other one of the 26 programs that we have. Right. And and I I think I will Gayen will happily zoom in if we ask him to, but he will tell you that you you can't
fall behind. There isn't enough time in the 4-year period with the program to fall behind. So, what happens to those students? Westfield is servicing one group in the western part of the state where there are two airfields that are there. Lawrence is getting off the ground. And I think it'll be a very interesting study to see what happens
with Greater Alliance's program in the next couple of years. I don't think that's a reason why we should or shouldn't advance the ball, but I think it is something to watch to see how they navigate through some of the challenges that we're hearing in all of those schools. >> Well, the only reason I brought that up is because it seems interesting that we
had a program in the state that's been running for 11 years >> and no one else could get the license. >> Right. Right. >> And that's what I >> And I don't have a good answer for that. I don't I don't know why. >> Yeah. But that is I I think that that question is true. >> Why not? >> I I don't want to stay on here. I know
we move on. But the at Westfield the grad once they graduate, what are these kids actually doing? >> We well some are going to work right at the No, you saw the the companies that are there. They actually have a second hanger going out. Westfield Technical Academy is building a second funded
hanger now. Uh which I don't know if you had some pictures of. We visited it really quickly, but that was off into the back of that spot. It wasn't there the year before. not certified, right? That when they graduate, they're not certified in any area. They have to go on like a like a internship
>> like a certification company. >> There are definitely graduates of Westfield that are in the industry. They may not be immediate graduates, but within the last six to eight years as graduates have come out, there have been some in the industry. It's interesting because I've had this conversation
especially around chapter 74 and how right been >> and Franklin County I don't think has been certified yet or had their approval for chapter 74 yet they've enrolled a freshman class there's a lot of like questions like yeah I don't know what's what's going to happen with that and again there's that extra layer we'll see
it as you go through some of the part B applications open just a regular program uh the department wants to see the space wants to see where all of that stuff is in place for do you have all the equipment you you have a licensed educator, but this is another level. They won't even look at it until the FAA has signed off on the program.
>> You know, as a vocational school, >> the jobs are out there. Yeah. And that's our duty is fill the jobs that are out there. So, >> um I'm very excited about this. I just want to see >> how we can get it expedited and um work
towards that as a goal. >> Yeah. And I think that's the next phase of the conversation. France. Um, tech doesn't need to be the first one out of the gate because we're going to let these other guys go out there and >> make the pass. >> Yeah. >> Yes.
>> Very good. >> Thank you for the presentation. >> Thanks. >> Perfect. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Thanks, Mike. >> Seeing you again. >> Thank you. >> You too, Mike. >> Hope to see you around soon again.
Come on back. Come on back. >> Take care. Thank you. >> Thanks. saying >> ended up putting our game. Our score was about 46 to 13 and everyone enjoyed games as all of our other teachers back.
Also had our open house which seemed successful. We had many volunteers building as well as students in honor society, skills USA and students in those programs acted as tour guides for freshman and families. We also had many
students acting as translators for various languages for the families that came in that English wasn't their language. >> Our spirit days came out today and they are starting tomorrow December 10th on cycle the 18th through 22nd. We also
have a special day. So, we have our holiday duo day, which is part of duos groups and they'll dress as anything that has to do with like holidays all together. We have our color wars. Seniors wear red, sophomores wear
blue, juniors wear green, and freshman wear silver. And we have holiday character day. Also on the 23rd of December, which is a the half day before Christmas break, we will have holiday pajama day, which is new, having a
spirit extra spirit day on the half day as the students that are in shop participate without teachers permission or without permission from their academy director. But we'll cross that bridge when we get there. >> Thank you. Thank you.
>> Good job. >> Okay, superintendent shout out. >> Just a quick shout out. I want to call out the HVAC shop this uh month. Um so I' I've been in some classrooms over the last couple of weeks and I I've noticed it over the last couple of year or so, but what an amazing job they've done
kind of cleaning up the space, really making it uh you know, they have a new house in there where they're kind of building out some of the HVAC equipment. The new equipment they've got through the skills capital grants well positioned. A lot of the stuff around the periphery of the shop have been kind of cleaned. It just it's really
inviting. It's a really energetic space. The new teachers are really doing a great job. Some of the veteran folks have really really helped to lead the way there. Um the program is growing. It's expanding. More and more kids are interested in it. And I just want to take a minute uh to kind of thank them publicly for their work. Uh lots of
programs are doing a great job in their space, but it's exactly what we want to see uh internally with folks taking a lot of pride in their work environments and trying to uh clean and make them inviting spaces for kids to learn and we see a lot of great examples of that outside of HVAC as well. But I noticed it uh it was an area that we really
focused on over the last couple years and they've really delivered and so I just want to thank the folks who've been involved in that work. >> Thank you. Okay. The Addison report, including your backup material, is a copy of the Addison report. Principal Williams will
bring members up to date on the events taking place in the classrooms. Seniors, your hard work sh the electrical sophomore students under Mr. Thompson while certain
see some of our students on ladders illustrated in the house senior students that you guys Okay, we got some students on scissors
of circuits illustrations students. Sunday. exercise small to robot through a specialty laser illuminatum and that's in that huge water basement down in shop
on your way through HVAC. at this secret. I'm southern with our junior engineering project over at Cuddy. I'm going to replace the electrical generator on the wind with that collaboration. Moving on to freshman,
we have our students out of credit. sophomore working smoke testing the car high school project um on a product that students I did pass around the punch creative with a new
collaboration with You get to see the whole process of the power through program. and the juniors and seed is in culinary >> Kelly. Take a look at those pictures
news as well. Um, our kids were actually up on the stage dancing and and having the time of their life. They took a coding bus up to New York. I really wish I could have went to go. Um, but that was really great. I know the kids when they came back the next day, they were raving about it. I
always say high school is just like a compilation of great experiences. Um the early from the UMass Awards extension youth development program. Um she will be working to nature
based teaching. Now our health services and then our lead teacher Mr. Go. Collection techniques. If you allow specifically processing and handling
substrates including dirt bof those side please. Okay. Is she All right. Sure.
Any questions? Watch out. Watch out, Mr. Principal. Okay. Uh the parent communications superintendent Waltz. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. In your packet is the twoe possip report uh from families for all four grades with
comments. >> Okay. >> Superintendent weekly updates. >> The last four weekly updates uh from November 10th through December 1st are in your packets. Um, again, these are sent every week. Just try to update the faculty and staff on all the events that
we're working on every week. >> Okay, moving on. New business. Uh, vote to adopt the updated admissions policy. >> Perfect. So, as you know, you approved the admissions policy in October. We
submitted it. It was reviewed uh by the department through their third party vendor. They sent some clarifying questions which are listed on page one. We clarified the questions, adjusted them in our admissions policy um and are just bringing it back to you to make sure you are in the loop. See, this is
the policy of the school committee that we are executing. Um so all the changes that were made were in response to some of the uh clarification requests by the department. >> Okay, >> question. >> I wrote up this one pretty good.
>> I love when they open up the paragraph. Please note these reviews are intended to provide assistance. >> Yep. >> They tell you what to do. >> The first bullet cannot be rescended based on these records. And I was a little confused because acceptance may
be resended based upon failure to meet the eligible requirements. Then you have a tenants discipline record should only be shared when relevant to lottery weights and acceptance and not be rescended. So does that mean that they
met the requirements in now we picked them in February but they don't do the guidelines and we that means we can't take it away once you say yes you can't say no is that correct >> so I interpret that as that the attendance and discipline records can only be shared relative to lottery
weights which I guess and some we did have some references to report cards right report cards would be irrelevant to the two weights that we provided so I took the first part is okay I understand that what we needed is just attendance and discipline records. The second part of that I do interpret that way is that
we're allowed to count 270 days of attendance, which is all seventh grade and the first half of 8th grade as qualifying criteria to for potential additional weight into the lottery. If the student is selected, right, it would not matter with what happens from March to June. But in fairness with the way
the guidelines are put in place, it doesn't, you know, a student's going to get selected this year who has more than 27 unexcused absences because they're going to get one opportunity in the lottery compared to someone who does and has two. Well, so there's a one out of three chance that that student is going to come in, which does in my opinion
nullify the importance of the March to June, right? So if I have 23 absences, get two balls in the lottery and go on and miss 15 days in from March to June, are you really going to rescend my acceptance when someone else also got in and had 53 unexcused absences? Had only
one chance, but their ball got changed. I think that's what they're trying to say. >> I could speak to that on the other end. Being in a middle school for the last seven years, that's exactly what happens is the kids get accepted and then you see attendance drop. They're not coming
to school. I already got into my vocational choice. The grades start to slip. Work completion starts to slip. You know, >> I I do want to say one more thing. And again, we're early on, but I I want you folks to understand the work that we're doing every day, right? So, at the end of the first trimester, the chronic
absenteeism rate for this district was about 6.5%. Which is very good, continues to be very good. Uh, but as you know, we have a daily metrics that we're monitoring that I can break down by grade. Chronic absenteeism rate for freshmen as of that point was 3.1%.
Still very good, right? Uh, a testament to the work that we're doing every day. Now, I'm I'm not going to go on a limb and tell you it's going to be 3.1% in June. I don't know. I don't know if it'll be like that in a year, but what I can promise you is we're going to continue to monitor that number the way that we are and we'll continue to report back and we'll continue to make
adjustments and argue for adjustments in policy relative to that. But at this moment, the attendance criteria for any grade has no different than what it was at this point a year ago. It may be at the end of the year and I'll tell you if it is, but at this point it is it is
not. So, want to share that as well. And the last comment then I throws awayation on how the district plans to retain students after enrollment. >> Yeah. >> My question here is should it mean what do they want you to do? I don't
understand that what they're asking you to do. You should you know retain students after enrollment you do everything you can to keep the students in. >> Right. >> But do they want to spell then you box yourself in? >> They you put in writing. >> Yeah. in the student handbook. >> Yeah, it's not the policy. It's a
student handbook. >> Yeah, >> they they asked for us to include in the policy. Yolanda went ahead and we we adopted it's in the back of the packet. We did add a retention policy in um towards the back kind of the four pillars there, the pillar one, pillar two, pillar three, pillar four. It is something that we're working on as part
of the strategic plan anyway that you'll hear about in uh February. Our increased involvement around student support teams, which is going very well. Uh Mr. Williams and the team's continued efforts around UDL practices for instruction and MTSS sports systems in place. All of that would factor into our
what our retention committee is currently doing and they they've been meeting they continue to meet every month to monitor those kind of hardship cases whether they're attendance, discipline or behavioral. Um so we have a retention policy that's in place and developing and I think enhancing as part
of our strategic plan which we will update you folks on in February. But we just kind of quantified that. they asked and we kind of quantified that in a way uh in the policy to a point where I'm comfortable with the adjustments that we've put in place that we'll be able to deliver on that. And again, I think it's a great question. Uh it has never been
part of the admissions policy before. They asked, we included it. We'll see where it goes. >> Just recommended. >> Yeah. >> Recommendation. >> Any other questions? >> I'm good. Thank you very much for explaining it.
>> Absolutely. I I would take a I'm just going to keep asking for votes on this because every time we update it, I want to have a record. So, I would ask committion to accept the >> second. All right, Mike. >> Second. >> Well, those in favor >> I >> oppose.
>> I remain opposed. >> Extensions hearing. None. Right. Motion passes. Going to get you. All right. Vote to adopt district wellness policy. Move that in your
backup material is a copy of the district wellness policy. Vote to adopt district wellness. >> Move to adopt. >> Second. >> Favor. >> Personal appointment retirements
be received and placed on file. Motion to receive and place on fail. >> I oppose. >> Just one quick question. >> Can you let us know where they're coming from? Like and most of them don't tell us
the math teacher. >> Uh both of these positions are custodial. >> Okay. Well, I saw it and went to Ze so I assumed it but a lot of times it's it's you know we don't know. So it's nice to know if there's their academic shop or >> fair point cafeteria. >> Mrs. Fet, what we'll do when I sign it,
just if I forget, remind me and I will note uh the position that the person is resigning from. We'll absolutely do that. It's a very good point. >> Thank you very much. >> Okay. Communication next monthly meeting Tuesday, January 20th,
2026 at 6:00 p.m. >> That is the third Tuesday of the month. So there's an adjustment. And I just want to make sure the committee understands that. >> Okay. Mass, excuse me. Conference feedback. From Susan Sedllo,
October 31st, 2025. Donation from New Befford Police Department, November 10th, 2025. Place on >> file. second. >> Okay. Should we move on?
>> Yeah. We're going to need a motion to go into executive session. It'll need to be a roll call vote and we won't session. >> Yeah, they have. >> We will not be coming back. >> Open to go into executive session.
Second those that know us call vote. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. is
13,000.