Good evening and welcome to the November business meeting of the Hatfield School Committee. I'm Christy Budro, chair of the committee, joined by Kathy Inglehart, Rebecca Bench, and Adam Sullivan along with our administrative team. And as we call this meeting to order, we want to open up uh first for
public comment. There's no one with us here at town hall this evening, but is there anyone joining us with by Zoom that would like to make a public comment this evening? Okay, not seeing anything coming through there on the chat and so we will move on to
mission moments and um we typically don't keep Zoom open uh for the rest of the meeting but you are able um to join the meeting through Hatfield Community YouTube which is streaming live and so um if you're looking for that link. It's
on the top of the agenda. So, last chance for public comment. You open the chat. Just make sure there's nothing in the chat. Okay. Thank you folks. And so with that, we'll move on to
mission moments. >> Yes, please. So, we had some I don't know a total headcount, but we definitely had a fair amount of third, fourth, and fifth graders running for student council. We held elections and we have voted in a representative for
each classroom. And I have met with them for the first time last week and plan on meeting with them weekly um to better our school. >> That's awesome. I saw posters, pictures of the posters. They were delightful. >> They were amazing >> and varied. There was a wide reason to
vote for every candidate. >> Fun. >> Others? >> Sure. I'll go next. Um, so on uh November 8th, the uh Legion hosted their uh veterans dinner. Uh this year we had more students than have volunteered
since I've been there um to serve dinner to the veterans. We had 10 students from Smith Academy who um went down there in um and served dinner. It was great. It was nice to nice to have that um that level of volunteerism. >> That's awesome. >> Kudos to the kids for you know finding
that important and and a valuable use of time. >> Do you think the increase in volunteers was due to um the veterans coming in to speak or the volunteer requirement?
>> I I don't think it is I don't necessarily think it was either of those things. Um I think be because we've had other volunteer opportunities that haven't generated quite that response. Um I think students generally found that as a you know something that they would
like to do and and saw value in. Um and we had that level of response prior to the veterans coming in to speak students >> and a shout out to them for coming to shout out to awesome to come. >> I was really pleased to see that. Yeah, it was great
>> and I was glad our social media covered that as well. >> Anything else for mission moments? Okay. Um, is there I'd like take a motion for the consent agenda which approves the minutes for October 20th.
>> So moved. >> I will second that. All in favor? >> I. None opposed. Um we are going to move into district reports starting with Dr. Driscoll. All >> right. So I will start with um the
district-wide report. Uh we recently had a PD day. Uh we had PD at both schools. We at Smith Academy hosted uh youth mental health first aid. Uh that's kind of the uh the adult version of the um uh teen mental health first aid that we do
with our our older students. uh get basically training teachers to recognize signs of kind of a mental health um crisis or um you know issue that someone might be having and and giving them appropriate tools to help that student
uh deal with it. Um HS hosted training on restorative practices um as well as training for the front office staff around visitor screening. Uh we also hosted CPR at our at Smith Academy as well. Uh recently the district PD committee met for the first time uh to
review and recommend a calendar for next year. We'll talk about that in a little bit. Um we uh currently are interviewing in the final rounds of interviews for the final position ESP positions at Smith Academy. So we're looking forward to filling that. Um we have conducting
our evaluations at both schools. Um and coming soon we are fortunate to uh be having a desi district review this year. So these are kind of um they happen every kind of seven to 10 yearsish with districts. Desi will come in. This is
different than the tiered focus monitoring review which we did last year. Um this is a different kind of review. They review policies and procedures uh and provide recommendations um and in a report. So we are getting that started uh soon.
committee meeting, we heard about a um some some public comment about a uh incident at the elementary school. The district has conducted an internal review of the incident. The review found no evidence of wrongdoing or failure to follow established procedures on behalf of um the elementary school or any
personnel at the elementary school. Nonetheless, we uh took the opportunity to review and reinforce our safety practices uh to ensure that we continue to do everything possible to keep our students safe. that included the recent PD that we had at the elementary school for front office staff. Um we are
looking forward to the community entrance door project uh being completed. So we're uh we have recent mo most recent we heard was that in we intend to have that completed over Thanksgiving break. Um so we'll follow up with our uh with our contractor on
that as well. Um slight HVAC issue at Hatfield Elementary. Um there were two blockages in the duct work that they found. Uh, one was fixable. The other, uh, they need to shut things down, um, in order to do that. So, I think they're planning to do that over Christmas
>> Christmas. Yep. >> Um, and we have new gas meters at Smith Academy. I talked about the uh that that's just something that they came to do. Um, I talked about the volunteers that we had for uh the veterans dinner at Smith Academy. Um, we also welcome
the veterans into our schools. uh recently I think there was a recent uh Gazette article about this too um that we uh the mass mammals project is going again uh with the elementary school so they came in last week to do that uh
that's tracking animals wildlife around Hatfield which is a pretty cool project that uh is in conjunction with um UMass Ammerst uh Ammerst students correct okay >> yes >> um I called some Ammerst students UMass Ammerst students once
>> did you hear about Yeah, they didn't they didn't appreciate it. Um, it's now time uh for winter sport signups at Smith Academy. So, we have our uh basketball teams are being um kind of formed as we speak. Um it looks like we'll have at least five teams at Smith
Academy. So, that'll be great. That's a robust turnout. Um and the Smith Academy trustees are looking to uh donate a new sign out front for us. So, we have currently the sign that you need to switch the letters on every so often. Um, this will be an electronic sign that
we can we can do remotely. So, in the event of a snow day, I can put the announcement up on the sign as well from home. Um, but we, you know, we can also put announcements for things going on in the district and the school, which would be great. So, huge thank you to them um for their generosity.
>> It's a great gift. >> Yeah, it is a great gift. Um, we are working uh with the town and the CPA on the day pond uh restoration and rejuvenation project. I think I wrote rejuvenation, but it's the restoration project. Um, so that [clears throat]
uh it looks like they're going to be working on that through the winter. They're going to dredge it, deepen it, airate it, um, and make it so those fish can survive through the summer, which be wonderful. Um, [clears throat] I continue to participate in the new
student induction new superintendent induction [laughter] program in the Connecticut River Valley Superintendent Round Table. Uh recent topics of those uh have been policy advocacy for schools um strategic planning for districts and uh of
particular note um funding. Uh so advocate advocacy for funding at the state level. Actually, tomorrow uh I'm scheduled to testify, uh in one of the the several hearings that the the state is holding, uh about the kind of
inadequacies of the chapter 70 funding formula. Um and I think what I'll be sharing is fairly similar to what uh districts statewide and certainly Western Masswide have been sharing, which is sort of just a um that right
now the formula is missing the mark. um particularly for for us around special education and uh reimbursements for special education. That's the district report. >> Um can I just ask a quick question on
your incident report followup in that investigation? Did you was part of that reaching out to DCF and also Hatfield police? >> Did you speak with them? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> Thank you. Um, so the HVAC at the elementary
school, this is separate from the boilers. >> Yes, connected. Um, but separate. Yeah. >> Okay. How are the boilers coming? >> Uh, >> it's getting cold out. >> My understanding is that they're still the project is still on track to be done
over the winter. They'll be able to take the boilers out one at a time uh to have the school function um under one boiler, install one, switch it over to the new boiler, install the second boiler. >> We love to hear it. >> Perfect. >> I'm hearing it's quite warm in many
rooms. >> We were told to send shorts. >> Incredible. >> Part of that is the blockage. >> Some are my my child's rooms that he says it's good that his new winter coat fits because he needs it in class. Yeah, that that has to do with >> the problem with the blockage, right?
So, the heat is not moving through some rooms and then it's like super blasting other rooms. >> Correct. Okay. So, the blockage fix will help. >> Yes, absolutely. >> Okay, >> great. >> Is it improved after the first blockage was fixed >> a little bit in some rooms? What's
happening right now is there's like a w like an elbow joint and that's part of the reason why it can't move. So, it's just impacting that ability for that air flow to continue. >> Okay. So, it'll still be a little irregular until at least Christmas. >> Yes. >> Okay.
>> Some of the rooms are running really hot and then others have no heat. Very little heat. >> I have two questions. >> Uh I'm getting a feeling of deja vu about the electronic sign. Right. This was like a like >> Yes. So, there there has been a bit of a
saga um with the electronic sign. We originally had uh found a quote from a company in Texas um and had had paid a deposit to that company um and saw the trustees. Yes.
>> Just to clarify, it's not a school budget expenditure. >> Yes. So when I say we, I mean the trustees and I have been working on it. So they're they are fully funding this project um start to finish. uh there there'll be no impact on the school budgets whatsoever from it. Um but yeah,
they they had um we had gone with that company because they had the best quote. Uh that company stopped talking with us completely. Um didn't have any uh anything to show for it after a year. So we requested a refund. They're still
waiting refund. >> Okay. >> But the sign the company we're going with now is wonderful. They've come out several times to they even put a mockup sign. >> I was going to say, was that at at like homecoming? There was like a sign on a truck. >> Yep. Yeah, they they did that at the trustees meeting so they could see what
it would look like with the different options. >> Nice. It looked really good. >> Yeah, it it did look good. And uh even though they stuck my face on there, I didn't [laughter] love that. But they um but the company is local as well. So, anything we need, we can really just get
on the phone or even drive up there. >> Great. That's really kind of the trustees. >> It is. It's wonderful. >> My second question is you just you mentioned talking about the inadequacy of chapter 70 funds. >> Um our chapter 7 funds for this year I think it's about $3,400 per student or
take wondering how that compares to other towns. How do we >> So for our purposes um in in most surrounding towns for us, we are all kind of in the same category of what's called hold harmless. Um so basically
right now the chapter 70 is really dependent on your population. Um and it it was population's decline in this region which is happening kind of throughout. Uh the state has said okay at this point we're not going to we're not going to take more chapter 7 funding
away. So it's kind of like we're at that at that low threshold and we've been kind of there and we'll be staying there. And most districts in the area are are in similar boats. Yeah. So, we're getting generally just like a token amount more per student.
>> So, it's like $75 a >> Yeah, it was I think last year was 70 bucks a student. >> I But we're also spending more than the foundation level. >> Correct. >> So, we're we're already past what the state requires, >> which is low, >> right?
>> Yeah. The foundation level is a >> foundation I don't know what's going to run on the foundation level. So, I have a couple questions. >> Uh, when was the last time we had a desi review? You said it was every >> I think our most recent one was seven or
eight years ago. Um, so it's been a while and these they uh, >> but it's not to be confused with the tiered focus monitoring review which we had uh, those come in kind of three piece chunks and so we had one chunk last year. Those tend to come about
every three years. Um and those are more in depth really focused on kind of student facing um student facing things. DeSie uh the DESI review is really focused on uh procedures and policies. So they'll take a look at our policies. They'll
take a look at um procedure manuals we have. They'll take a look at evaluations. They'll take a look at all that stuff um and kind of make recommendations based on what they find. They'll interview our administrative team. um staff, they'll probably want to interview some of you as well.
>> When is that happening? >> Uh we are looking at a December uh December date to start um the submission process and I think they'll be out here in January or February. Okay. Um, regarding the sports teams,
>> I heard that there may not be enough interested people in cheering and I was going to ask what has been done to drum up interest in that. >> Yeah. So, we we keep sending information out. I know um Jenny uh Sheret is really
talking talking it up uh among folks that that she talks with um and among the students uh and we announced daily that um you know signups are happening. I think at last count there were there were two students who had signed up and I think even if it doesn't run as a um
as a team, we're hoping to have some kind of some kind of club um that you know that that does that. But but we may still I mean signups are still open so we may still get more students as well. >> Haley said there were three that showed up to the meeting today and they need a
minimum of five. >> Okay, >> so we're getting we're close. >> We're close. Uh last question. Um which is kind of something that I've brought up before. Um, for the folks at home and for anybody
else, uh, can you just describe the restorative practices training because I think that word restorative practices kind of nobody's absolutely sure what it means and and what action is being done.
>> Sure. So to describe the training, Melissa might be more able to provide details on exactly what was what was shared, but but in general restorative practices is a way that when something happens um well there's there's two
parts. One is kind of setting the culture up in in a way that facilitates discussion among individuals, among pairs and groups where when something happens. So um rather than just saying um you know don't do that again or you
know having a consequence that might or might not be kind of related to what happened and then moving on it opens the space to say here's what happened here's how it impacted everyone here's what we're going to do about it. Um individuals can have that conversation and then and then you know as bigger things happens happen groups can have
those conversations. Um, and so the training, the initial training is typically uh about how to set the how to set the stage for that, how to set the culture up in the classroom, how to put the structures in place to make sure that there is space and time designated
to um to to doing that. And and truthfully, most of it is around um kind of community building, building a community in the classroom that is kind, that is welcoming um and that's open
with each other. Uh which really pairs nicely with what is already happening. And so this kind of formalizes that in a way so that there are you know when when something you know if if groups of students are comfortable with each other and they are comfortable having
conversations when something does happen they can they they have experience having those conversations already and it put structures in place to do that. Um when it comes to kind of disciplinary outcomes, um it can be it can be kind of
done in kind of coordination with with what would I guess be called kind of traditional discipline um or or in kind of a mediation form where uh students who have had conflict or something has happened um if they've bought into it
and would like to take part something like this. Um, you know, you would never force someone to do kind of a mediation or something like this. Um, where you have the opportunity for someone who has done something wrong, made a mistake, caused some harm either to a person or
to a community uh to repair that in some way um in a kind of in in a in a concrete way where they know that they're kind of making repairs and moving on. Um and and those that that have are on the on the receiving end uh
acknowledge that that things are you know that this is going to be put in place to to make things better and move on. >> Thank you. >> Anything else? That was it for me. Okay. >> That's all I have. And I touched on all of my school-based um pieces as well in
the in the districtwide report. Principal Peter. >> So we have completed our first through fifth grade teachers completed their second full day SRSD writing training um in October. Kindergarten had completed one and they will complete a second one
in January. Um we partnered with families to help hold our second parent teacher conference at the end of October. Uh PTA sponsored Spooktacular, which was a huge success as families came out to enjoy dressing up and trunk-or-treating. Um Grain Five, as you've heard, has begun working again
with UMass to be tracking mammals in the area. So, they've been working with them just to continue keeping count of numbers. They've put up some cameras um around the in behind the building to track the animal movement. Um veterans came to our school as well. They
participated in the first grade classrooms. Um, and then we had both Kit and Becky from the collaborative resolutions group, which is a a group out of based out of Greenfield that came down to do the restorative practices work with our staff um on November 10th.
Um, and just to kind of piggyback um the training that we did with the staff was really important because one of the shifts that we do responsive classroom with our students in which students participate in a morning meeting where there's a greeting so students get comfortable and understand about how to greet each other. there's usually a
sharing. In the sharing though, there's always a place where people can make comments or ask questions. When we're doing the restorative um practice work, it's really about being an active listener and not really this is all about just hearing hearing someone and listening to someone. it's not building
on their experience and it's an opportunity for people to kind of build community through the means of being able to hear each other's stories um and how they feel about something or how um you know we were in the group that we were working with it was like you know
why why did you get into education you know what are you proud of so just being able to hear each person share their own personal values on certain things um is a way to kind of again build community but then you're putting in those extra time to solidify your group so that as
Connor said if there's harm done then you have an opportunity to have people feel comfortable to sit around and talk about those kinds of things. So that was the big first step and then we're inviting them back two more times to come in and do coaching with te with teachers and staff. So um that's not it
was not just a oneandone and it was very well received by the staff. >> That was all grades. >> Yes. and all staff. That was ESPs. That was the entire school. >> Nice. >> Minus the few people that did the CPR training. [laughter] >> Follow us.
>> Sure. >> So, actually, one of the things that we've been able to work on relevant to the CPAC is getting our first Zoom meeting uh actually scheduled. and our membership to the Federation for Children with Special Needs actually has
changed a little bit or their process has changed. We used to have to schedule these meetings and now they're just basically available to us to sign up for and they will send us the link within a very short time. Uh so we do have the basic rights meeting coming up on
November 20th at 6:30. We've sent notices out to parents and there is also posting on the website. We've had probably close to I think five or six families actually contact us just asking us some simple questions about the the link. [snorts] One of the opportunities
I had last month was to actually visit the JS Bryant school which is actually part of what I need to do as a director for our out ofdist programs. So right now we have four different out of district programs where we send
students. So, I've been able to so far actually attend three of them uh to actually do site visits. And so, JS Bryant was actually kind of an opening celebration for them. They officially started on September 2nd. Uh this was more of a formal event and it was really
well attended by uh legislators in the area, different professionals from different organizations and a lot of parents and community members that actually attended as well. Uh so like I said that was just kind of an opportunity for me to go and actually
visit the program and that does count for one of my site visits. One of the other things that we've been working on following up on the TFM is essentially our next report is actually due at the end of this month and we still have two
things that we uh need to finish up on. Uh one is the uh the bias review. We did actually send an updated version of work that staff at Smith Academy and the elementary school had done relevant to the bias review and I think they're actually uh okay with that. The last
thing that we're I I believe that we're going to have to present to them is really kind of like a write up as to how the bias review will be done each year time of year what staff the process that we're going to use. We we've already introduced to them that we're using a
version of the Washington model which was essentially endorsed by DESIE as what districts should use. So I think we're pretty close to getting that done. Uh the certification piece um with ELR for one teacher there is like one
question that we're trying to get answered and it's kind of vague from ELR basically asking about evaluation status of of the the employee. We're trying to figure out what they're actually asking for so we can give that to the employee so they can in turn download that to to
El. Uh besides that, we do also have the position that was recently vacated uh for a tutor for essentially a medically homebound student and we have been in the process of filling that position. Do have a candidate and I believe we're
probably close to getting that that person started. And besides that, I did just give you an update on how many meetings so far this year. And for IEP focus meetings, it's been 69 >> 69 miles. >> And are all the December?
Are they booked? >> We're actually scheduled up until mid January right now. >> Excellent. [snorts] You can ask about the boilers every month and I will ask if I need those. [laughter] Listen, I got certain things I just really want to know. We're on
track. >> Excellent. Okay. Thank you all for the updates. Appreciate that. >> Um I don't think there is an update on the district improvement plan. >> Uh not not that I submitted, but I can speak a little bit to it. Um we're in the process of putting together our
school councils. Um so we've sent notices at both schools out to families uh as well as staff to try to get members. Um we're looking still looking for some uh some parent members at both schools. I think um the PD committee has met to have the first meeting the our
next meeting is scheduled I think it's actually this week uh to talk about kind of focus areas for professional development. So uh once we have you know we've recommended the the calendar and then we're going to recommend sort of um for each of those those days what kind
of the professional development should look like. Um, so that's kind of what we're going to get into at the next meeting. Um, in terms of of academic rigor, uh, we had a recent meeting with MCLA, um, to look at, uh, opportunities
for, uh, continuing our dual or concurrent enrollment programs for instate Massachusetts schools. Um, of particular incest is the arts for uh, for that program. So, we'd love to have some college level art courses um that
we can we can offer in inhouse for credit at MCLA. Um and that's in in coordination with the the VSU courses that we already have >> with the elementary school. I know they >> vote on the district improvement plan yet.
>> Nope, we have not. >> Okay. >> So, that needs to come back through. Okay. Tighten that up. >> Vote on it. So with that, let's move on and take a look at the first draft of the 2627
calendar for the school district. Um, just as a quick recap, and I think I can do this off top of my head, it is, I have double checked, it's 180 days. It's 10 half days, which is one more half day than we have this year. And the reason
that is is the December holiday. Um, so this year we have that whole week just the way the dates fell. Um, this would give the 23rd as a half day. So we have fewer vacation days in the middle of that window. Um, and picked up the extra
half day there. Um, it has the required number of PD days and curriculum development days per our contract. And um this started with the PD
committee as Connor just mentioned. I think there is a little bit of a question about um when the recognition of Junth is because the federal guidance and the state guidance don't align. So
we're just going to doublech check that. Um, so it it falls past what we assume our last day will be, but could come into play dependent on if there were snow days, >> which happens every year anyway.
>> I don't know. Dr. Driscoll is not real keen on snow days is my experience. >> No, I mean this could be the year. >> It falls into that snow days. We were gonna have five snow days. I'm not going to make any bets, but >> starting [clears throat] on Wednesday this year,
>> usually usually start on Thursday and September, right? >> I >> and and we're collecting some feedback from the HTA about that as well. Um the the PD committee had recommended having the first uh two days start the 27th and 28th. Um there is there has been some
advocacy to start for the first day on the 28th and then the um the 30th, 1st and sec uh >> and do three days together for PD >> and then start on the 3rd [snorts] which would bump the final day until the 17th. Um so we're we're collecting some
feedback from >> I like the >> two days on the two days. >> Yeah. Yeah. 27th and 28th and then the two days the next week and then having the kids start on a Wednesday I think is great. >> Three days then four days and then a
full week. >> Yeah, that's what the PD committee was thinking as well. >> That's >> but it it will still be good to hear back from >> a broad group of staff >> um because there might be some
opportunities to [clears throat] sort of shift how that one day works. For example, we could that could the the end of August date that's a so if it went to one day instead of two days that might be the work day right >> and you could have some flexibility over that which would be nice to offer
>> um if anybody was taking last minute last vacation >> and I like the PD day tacked on to the end of Thanksgiving break rather than in early November
because that always felt a little >> that that was the feeling of the PD community too is that November as a whole always feels chopped up. Yeah. Um because if you have Veterans Day, you have Thanksgiving, you have a PD day at the beginning. >> Um and so if we could put it at the toward the end of the month, we could still get the benefit of having it that
time of year. Um while maintaining a little more continuity during the during the month. Just out of curiosity, because this year that particular PE day was tagged with Veterans Day, but Veterans Day was on a Tuesday, so I put
it on a Monday. Y >> how was attendance at PD day on a Monday before a holiday? >> It was great. >> I had only a couple staff out. >> Yeah, >> that was it. >> But like out sick, not out. >> Yes, correct. >> Yeah, that's awesome.
Maybe in other years it would want to shift if Veterans Day is on a Thursday or a Friday that the PD day >> go back up there. >> Right. I think wherever that shifts, it sticks with something to make it a >> second. I'm just [clears throat] glad
it's not like a random Tuesday. I mean, I know it was voting day and I know there was a reason for that at one point, but when we have control over when the day is, it's kind of nice to go on to something else. >> Yeah. It'll be interesting to see the feedback we get if we do this attached
to Thanksgiving. >> Yeah, >> I think it looks good. >> So, this will come back for a vote in December. um but with the advantage
of having additional feedback from staff and from families who >> can take a look and see if there are challenges. >> Anything else on that? >> Okay. Uh so with that we will go into
our school finance update. Mr. Sullivan. >> Hi. [snorts] Um, so just following up on the budget for this year, uh, the transfers that we did at the last meeting, um, everything is still in line for the rest of the year, so we're looking okay. Um, but
we're continuing our work on, uh, next year's budget. We're still expecting the higher special education cost to continue. We're hoping to get more back in circuit breaker than we got this year, uh, which will help with our budget. Um, our contracted increases for staff is 2.7%, so we have to account for
that. Um we are going to estimate our school choice reimbursement from this year to be at a lower rate because we got a lower rate of return this year. Um uh and then we're anticipating uh funding from the town to be uh flat
or less. So, the select board had a meeting this past week. Um, and when they were budgeting for the overall town budget for FY26, there was a a miscalculation. Um, and uh they
initially said they were about $465,000 over the levy limit. Um, so they budgeted beyond what we they're allowed to raise through taxes. Um, it's looking like it's closer to $300,000, but it's still over the limit. So, um, we're going to have a special town meeting in
December to, uh, approve a higher budget than was initially approved. Um, >> I don't think it's a, just to clarify, I I don't think it's going to be to approve a higher budget. I think it's going to be to approve the lower budget because it will have to ship funds. >> Okay.
>> Um, tenatively, I believe, set for December 2nd, 6 o'clock. >> They posted online today. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Which hopefully we'll be able to make. >> Oh, an HS. Yeah. >> Okay. I missed that. >> Um, so yeah, they have a plan to cover the budget for this year. Uh, but we
need to expect that we'll have to make adjustments to accommodate that for next year. Um, a select board meeting discussion suggested that Hatfield public schools might need to accommodate a good portion of that impact. Uh, so we're planning on being down at least $300,000 less than we are currently
budgeted. Um assuming that half of the municipal budget um the school the schools are about half the municipal budget. So the schools might see about $150,000 of that cut um which takes up basically the 2.5% increase for the year. Um the town also has to make other adjustments because of the high
insurance costs that we've been talking about and every town's been talking about the past few months. So that's just another wrench in the gears. So we're a little bit back to the drawing board because we were making progress and then this happened. So, we have to kind of back up.
>> It's there's no sugar coating. It's going to be a tough budget season, tough for schools, tough for the town, but it's the status quo will not be on the table. So, um
and we'll know more. So, we're they're um challenging conversations. and not ones that any of us sitting on school finance enjoy. So questions.
>> I don't envy you. >> I'd be happy to pass the time if anybody else wants to take that on. >> Although I think we all would. >> Yeah. Happy to not do that. But we can just go make the best choices we can
make. So, um, with that, we can move on to policy. We have potentially two votes tonight. >> Yeah, policy is, um, you know, I'm not going to get on my ahead of myself, but I think it's pretty straightforward tonight. Um, we are the
policy subcommittee is continuing our review of the conduct policies. So, we've put forward today JICC student conduct on school buses. This is the second reading. We made no changes from the first reading except I updated the
date at the end. Um we recommend a vote on this tonight. Um depending on how the committee feels about things. Um but if we do decide to vote then we are requesting that we concurrently eliminate JICC-R which was the
associated procedure. We have wrapped the relevant items into this new proposed policy. So any we we are open to any feedback about JIC. >> I think it looks great. I read it today
on my lunch break and um any typos it's very clear and expectations are you know spelled out and yeah >> so I'd like to make a motion that we skip the third reading for JIC student conduct on school buses and to eliminate
JIC-R and um approve this policy this evening >> second. >> Any further discussion? All in favor? I and approved. Thank you. And thank you guys for taking care of that.
>> Yeah, sure. Um the next policy that we have um is a new policy that we are putting forward for first reading today. It is um middle school pathways exploration. Um Desi came out with um requirements that all district have
districts have a policy on this topic. Um so this is our first reading of what we have drafted. Um and we are open to any feedback about that policy. >> Is this just picking up what they have
provided saying that we need to have? >> Basically, yeah. Um I don't know if Dr. Driscoll has anything further he wants to say about that one. We got a notice from MASC and reviewed that, but they are not putting out like a template policy. So,
>> yeah. And this is um like >> edited from another district's draft of this policy. >> Yeah. And it's um it's basically what we are required to do and it's a lot of stuff that we already have been doing.
Um but the state has said that they want it, you know, in policy required by law. Um except for charter schools, right? >> They're exempt from this policy. H. >> Um, so because this is a brand new
policy, you know, um, our subcommittee as a general rule recommends having more than one reading, but we feel good about this policy in general. So, I guess we leave it to the committee unless Kathy, do you have a comment?
>> No, it's pretty straightforward and it's exactly what Desi is asking for and there isn't really anything new that this is saying for us to do. It's everything that we have been doing. >> Yeah, I was just going to actually
clarify the same thing, which is that we are already in compliance with this policy in terms of our practices. There isn't anything in here that we haven't already been doing. >> Right. >> Does anyone see a need to bring this back for a second or third reading?
>> Okay. With that, I'm going to make a motion that we approve this policy this evening and bypass second and third readings. >> That way you guys can move on. >> Is there any further discussion? All in favor?
>> I. Okay, with that we're concluded on policy unless there's anything you else want you guys want to discuss. >> No, they have both been marked as final. >> So they can be >> updated. They can be updated. >> Okay. Well, with that, what time is it?
>> 7:45. I would take a motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. >> Any second? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> I thank you very much. Thanks everyone.