Mhm. >> Good evening, Holliston, and welcome to the April 9th meeting of the Holliston School Committee. Um at this point, I will entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda.
Seconded by Don. Alan Davis. That passes. And we will move right along with a report from student representatives. Good evening. Um so spring sports are well underway, and we have had several athlete of the week nominations, including three for baseball. So Aiden
Kramer, Ben O'Brien, and Henry Lee. And then additionally, Maggie Morton was nominated for lacrosse as well. And then we would also like to share a milestone for one of our lacrosse athletes, Amelia Langin. She got her 500th career save in lacrosse in their game earlier this
week. Um for the performing arts, there's a kind of new event. Holliston High School Chorus is traveling to Medway High School for their Swing and Sing event, performing a cappella songs. And then Medway's also has their jazz band, and this will be Wednesday, April 15th.
And then for some club updates, um again, DECA Nationals is in 2 weeks now, and they're holding a big sale fundraiser on Saturday at Fisk's General Store. As a reminder, they're sending 11 competitors and two leadership positions for 13 students total to Georgia, and they are asking for support in their
fundraising. And then robotics had another successful competition weekend the weekend prior, and they were actually able to climb a ladder with their robot. Um so three-term AP classes are conducting finals this week, and they're finishing up tomorrow. Um prom tickets
being sold till Friday. Prom's in May, yay. Um and then the course selection portal closed April 1st, and overall students felt prepared and supported throughout the whole process um with a new schedule next year. And then on April 7th, the Seal of Biliteracy redo, after there was a
slight mix-up with the testing application, um went out with or went on without a hitch. And then um also, the school has been offering students um to go and learn about the three finalists for the position of director in teaching and learning
um just so they can be more involved. And then for NHS, um there was a March Madness collection drive in March, which was very successful. Over 1,270 items were donated over the course of 3 weeks to Cradles to Crayons and the food pantry.
And then our regional representatives are finishing up their projects and almost ready to send their progress into the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. And then also um students uh were given the opportunity to speak for NEASC earlier this week and share
their experiences with what went goes on around school. Thank you. Great. Thank you so much. Um School Committee comments? Uh no. Tracy? Nothing. How are you?
Uh so I had the opportunity to watch the three finalists for our curriculum position, and um so say we got three really strong candidates. So tough choice ahead. I know they're visiting at different times over the next week or so, but really excited to
see how that process unfolds, but I'm really really strong candidates. So >> Incredibly excited. >> Incredibly excited. Incredibly strong, and I was really It's very impressive. Any additional comments? Okay.
Um looks like we have uh one person for public comment. Um if you want to come up to the microphone and state your name and address and share your thoughts. I'm Don Atkins, 66
Highland Street. Um I came out of curiosity for the math placement for 7th and 8th grade. Um my experience so far has been um mixed. Uh it it's a challenge to to make the the selection. What I've
seen so far is uh has been concerned that it's not in incorporating um motivation and engagement from the students. And those are hard things to measure, but very significant components to success of the
students. And one of the challenges is that the selection process is a feedback loop on driving more motivation and engagement. And so if we fail to include that, it has a kind of a downward pressure on that from from the students we're trying to foster this with. Um so
I'm interested to to see the presentation um and learn more about it. Thank you. Thank you so much. Um anyone else for public comment here, or is there anyone on the Zoom? I don't think so. Okay.
Um with that, we will move right along to Carrie Banning. Hi. Um I did prepare some slides. Just um thinking I sort of understood what um what we're looking for, and I wanted to
be really clear about um communicating that. So oh, there they are. Great. Thank you. Um one more. Just let me know when you're ready to come up. Okay. I'll be ready in about 15 seconds. I
apologize. Okay. >> I I extra apologize cuz my eyes are really old and I know it's up there because I can see it, but I can't read all the words. Uh Um so
you know, the the process is um has been definitely a little bit muddy and so I'm here to to talk about why that is and um I did talk with some members of the school committee who had like great feedback and conversations with the
community and my understanding was tonight we would talk about placement criteria and the process, um communication timeline and then the path forward for families and students. So, that's what I put together today. Um So, if we can head over to the next slide, we'll we'll
talk about the placement criteria first. Um so the the process was definitely not created overnight. Um and the criteria um at least from what I can tell have been in place since
minimally 21-22 um and maybe before that. So, um what I did last year was something different. I did an open choice model as my first year as um interim principal and principal where we
did provide the criteria to students and families. Um and then we just said who wants to to do it. Um and that was sort of uh just a way of of seeing how that would work out. Some things that happened um So, there were 30 students
who met the criteria that was, you know, previously set um for Algebra 1 in other years of Rams. Um they were enrolled and they performed as expected kind of in the class. Um this is the first year, so
we don't have final grades or placements for high school yet. Um and then there were 42 students who didn't meet the criteria, um but they enrolled and we documented some struggles, some stress, some anxiety, um but also some success.
Um and I think this year we had the thing that kind of got in our way was that we had um some subcommittee meetings that went from May of 2025-ish, I think that's
when we started, to like January, so we didn't put criteria into place cuz we weren't sure if we were going to do the open model again or if we were going to do criteria. Um but it was suggested that we do criteria for the course. Um
Uh we sat in the in the meetings with um you know, folks from Rams, from school committee, from the community and it was we definitely understood that that there should be criteria. So, what we did was we went back and we looked at what the previous criteria were for that course
um and noted that uh I I just did a a table here so that you can kind of check it out. Um So, the MCAS IXL or STAR, um common assessments. Sometimes there was teacher recommendation, sometimes there was not.
There's some very strong feelings on both sides of that um and then either an opportunity a test um assessment or a placement test. So, we were just sort of we were filling in um and pulling back what had already existed.
Um and what we what we did decide to do was leave out the teacher recommendation part um because the teachers do have such strong input with the common assessments. They write them, they
deliver them, they give kids their accommodations and modifications, they um allow kids to rework them um so that they felt comfortable with that. Um and where we landed, we didn't give a point value system um in advance because we weren't sure where the group was going
to land. So, where we landed was um for the point system the the math kids um sort of qualifying for the criteria for uh the advanced classes was between 7 and 13 points. 13 was the max. And then for
science, it was 6 to 11 points. Um the data sources we used, I listed them there in case you want to see them separately from the table. And then the process we modeled um exactly after the processes that were in place in
21-22-23-24. Um so, it started with a data review with um either a curriculum specialist or an interventionist and then some more additional explanations of opportunities from an administrator and then um an appointment with the principal and that's how that it had been done
historically. So, that's the process that we um followed as well. Um and these are just some of the things we considered. If we scroll to the considerations, um it it's not easy to we don't I'm sure you understand this,
but we don't just look at the numbers and say that's it. Um these are all the things that we have to consider when making a schedule and choosing courses for the middle school um and and we there's two sides to to each one of these. So,
um we really try to do the best we can to kind of balance everything. And then I also wanted to take a look at the enrollment shift over the last decade. So, I just pulled these numbers um from DESE for us to take a look at. So, this is the last kind of decade at Rams and
in the coming year we do have an enrollment dip. Um we do kind of it looks like we kind of go back up to the to the low 200s um again after that, um but it is a big dip and you'll also know that there is a very large number of
students on IEPs. Um uh a number of students on 504s and then our multilingual learners. We also have high needs kids and culturally um I'm sorry, historically marginalized kids uh to take into consideration. So,
there's a lot of things to think about when you're looking at this data, but if we if we just kind of think about it in in 2016, there were 246 kids. Um in eighth grade this year, there's 219 and then
the rising course, the classes um 183. So, um those are all the things we considered and then if you kind of move into the next slide, I just talked a little bit about the timeline. So, um
Prior to 24-25 was that criteria model which we we brought back this year um because it was suggested. Um some communication was sent earlier in those years. I did not have the ability to send earlier communication um just
because of the timing of the recommendations from um the subcommittee which I was on. There were a lot of conversations in that meeting and I didn't want to put something out to families that I wasn't sure was going to be accurate. Um
so, I think we finished up in December and I think the final um recommendation was voted on in January. Is that correct? I think it was end of December. End of December. Okay. Um so then in January, I think we kind of just started
going through what we could pull for criteria. I sent out the first communication in early February to everybody. I actually went back and double-checked that today. It talked about um the criteria we were using. It talked about the opportunity assessment
and then it announced that there would be a placement test. Um the teachers also went over that information with the students. From that early February um communication, we got one uh question from a parent and responded to it um
and then we sent out the full explanation and criteria to everyone um again in mid-March once the um recommendations were in PowerSchool. Um And then the communication started and
so um immediately we kind of tried to communicate with as many people as possible. Um science was a big topic sort of in the beginning. I had proposed um a an embedded honors um course, but
that wasn't supported by the community. Um so, I did propose a separate honors class which was agreed on. Um it is full right now with 25 students. We haven't received any negative communication on that in about
a week. So, I think people were happy with that um resolution. And um the scheduling reality, just so that everyone is aware, um my my best guess at that time was that we could have um
pretty balanced classes um for the um general science classes. Um but as it turns out, we do have two classes that are currently um as high as
49% IEPs. So, we are in a um uncomfortable situation there. Um you know, and it it it is what it is. We we laid out what the what services all those 55 kids need
and when they can receive them and who we have to deliver them and that's the best we could do. So, um so, we did we did meet that need of the community. Um and that's kind of where science stands.
And then in terms of sort of everything, the math and the science together, um we we did have So, there's 397 um people, right, families that we communicated with. We had 40% or we had
40 families with questions that we received emails from. Um and that's about 10% of the total. Uh we have a tracking sheet. Um 21 of those are resolved. They're all resolved in different ways. Some families were really happy um just to
hear a an explanation about the data. Um and that's again out of that 10%. Um others were concerned about their student being motivated one way or the other. Some were very happy that they their their student was going to have
the chance to to show their motivation and wanted to wait for the spring and and fall assessments and others did not. So, we accommodated everyone. There are still nine um meetings that are that we need to have. And then there are 10 um of those, you
know, that 10% that after they received the initial data, they um there was no reply. So, I started today circling back around to those families just to say, "Hey, we noticed you got your data and we don't want to make the assumption that you're happy, but are you happy or
do you want to talk?" Um so, I heard back from one family already and um so, yeah, we're still finishing up those conversations. Um we have we keep track of everything. We have spreadsheets and pivot tables and everything from from many, many years
and um I did go back and check to see because the criteria is very similar to previous years, I did go back to see um the parent communications. Thank you, David Jordan, because you have very good records of and uh and all the the interventionists that kind of were doing those things. And it looks like the
volume typically ranges from 8 to 12% year-to-year of families that reach out and and have questions in this year is 10%. So, it seems to fall in the in the normal range of volume. Um I also put together a visual and this
this speaks a little bit more to Dr. Jordan's presentation a couple of years ago that just shows kind of what happens when you um have those honors classes and then you have increases in um some of your highest needs kids. So,
if you look on the left, that's your 2016-2017. Would you mind scrolling down a little bit? That's the slide. No, it's all on the same slide. I think it's just long. Yeah. So, on the left is your your 2016
to 2017 data and and that model shows um a typical honors class um in um '16-'17. I think Sorry, can you scroll down a little? That's the bottom. I mean out. Oh. Just we can see all the pictures. Yeah.
So, um if you look across at those two models, you'll see they're they're very similar. So, we haven't had a lot of change, a lot of movement in the honors level classes. We have um a small amount of our highest needs kids. And that includes students on
IEPs, [clears throat] students on 504s, um multilingual language learners, um low-income families, historically marginalized folks. So, there hasn't been a lot of change. Um where there has been a lot of change is what's happening in the general education classes. So, as those needs have increased um and
especially this coming year where the enrollment is lower, we're looking at some significantly different numbers in those um non-honors classes. And unfortunately, you know, the way a schedule works in the middle school um
typically is when you when you add one honors class, it it ripples out because those kids stay together. Then there's only a certain amount of sections they can fill in after that. Um So, like in general, the the honors
class composition is pretty consistent um but the non-honors class density has shifted significantly. Um the enrollment decreased about 25% from um um that, you know, '16-'17 year to
next year. That's a bit of an anomaly um in terms of a low number, that 183. Um but we also had an increase in our 504s by 70%. Um And then in 2016, there were about 34%
of the kids that needed supports spread out through those classes. And in the coming year, we have about 61% requiring supports um in the non-honors classes. So, those are just some shifts. And then the last thing I think I was um
asked to do was to kind of lay out what the upcoming opportunities are for the rising seventh graders and then the rising eighth graders. Um we we had this prepared, but I didn't want to put anything out until everybody got to take a look and discussed it and asked
questions. So, for the rising seventh graders, we have two more opportunities. Um we had a already scheduled spring IXL benchmark um and the target that we're learning from the numbers that we got is um 750 plus. And then the spring
opportunity assessment and there will be a choice of a paper test or a computer-based test. And the target from what we're seeing with the numbers is 92%. Um for the rising eighth graders, the the second opportunity for algebra algebra one placement is the same spring
spring IXL benchmark, same dates, different target, 850 plus. Um and then we we laid this out a little bit differently because it is a different course and at times um that could take students, you know, considerable time. We want to
be able to provide them with um with with work they can do and practice they can do. So, we do have skills practice sent to all families um scheduled for early May. Um it is on IXL. We we don't have another option to give um
you know, prep to families, but it's it's all spelled out. Um so, that will go out to all the families in early May. And then in the fall on the second day of school, um which is the the first full day, um we have anyone who wants to try that
opportunity assessment again. Um the goal is a 92% and then for those that are in algebra and then maybe still need help with the skills, um that's okay, too. We will have one more year of math lab available
for students who are still working on foundational algebra skills. Um ideally and as has been done in the past, I would want to share this at um curriculum night, open house. Um and then four to six weeks before the placements come out. We didn't have
enough information to do that at our curriculum night, so I apologize. Um And then I know there were some some questions um kind of out there still. Um but what I would ask anyone to do who has questions,
especially if they're um philosophical questions, to just reach out to me directly and we can set up a time to talk. Um you can join us at any conversations in the middle. Uh those are all in the newsletter. Um then we can spend a full hour together. No one really ever comes.
Sarah came once. And um you know, the bottom line is that, you know, we'll we'll all sit down together and figure it out. We we don't have an override process like the high school because we're not a high school. We deal with all the kids individually. Um I'm not going to go through what
we've done with the families already because that's private information, but um it it's just a process and um I think everybody will will have what they want in the end, the the best we can. Was there anything I missed?
I have some questions here. Yeah, go back up. Go back up. Kind of thinking about the communication piece. Um I'm definitely still hearing some questions from parents and I'm always directing them back to you and asking them to contact you and hopefully they have. Um but mostly the questions I'm hearing are
either from seventh grade parents with questions about what's happening in uh Sorry, sixth grade parents wondering what's happening for eighth grade or eighth grade parents wondering what's happening for seventh grade because the different emails went out to different groups. So, are there plans to
communicate kind of what um science and math programming looks like to the whole school? I didn't have any plans right now to do it, but I I think that one of the things like we kind of talked about was where
we could put uh like a a platform that people could go, maybe a version of this where people who could go and kind of check things out. Um And then from there, there there might be able like a clickable link where they could see some more data or contact me
or Ron, but I think I was kind of waiting to see what everyone thought tonight so that I would know exactly what to kind of put out there. Um we we don't have a like a program of studies and and what people are seeing um for courses this year are the courses
that are happening this year. So, um I think it would probably be wise in the future to kind of like put something out um for programming in the future like so that people can see it and have that ready. Almost like a I think we we kind of talked with this
almost like a like a public relations, like here's what's going on. And And that way when people have questions, they have a a resource to go to and they don't have to wait to to get meetings with the administrators at the middle school. I might even expand that though to start communicating with fifth grade parents because the fifth grade
MCAS scores are going to be included in the criteria for for placement. At least, you know, you know, not that we want to work our kids all up with it and but they think know going in that that might be something that impacts the future.
Yeah. I worry about that. But I mean, I'll Well, then let's not use the let's not use the the test then in the criteria, I guess. I I think that we need to Yeah. I mean, we were just using what had kind of always been used even when there was seventh grade placement. Like we don't have the current year, so we have to go
back, but I I certainly, you know, don't mind not using it, either. Um I I under- I I understand the piece around removing the teacher recommendation so the bias uh kind of concerned about the
bias piece that you mentioned. Um I I do worry that it is very test heavy. And so thinking about our kids that might perform kind of more in the average range on assessments might be performing below their potential. Is there any
place for where teachers or others can share, you know, this is a kid that can rise to rigorous coursework in the classroom? I mean, there there's a way to do everything, right? I just don't know how to do [clears throat] that and not call it a teacher
recommendation. And I think um you know, another big concern was was um the the amount of emails that the teachers were getting um that were
angry and I I believe you know, some of it was even brought to school committee before. It's It's a level of of stress. Um I mean, I don't I don't know if there can be like a norm
where you you but I saw some of the emails and and then it's really hard, you know, that that trickles down to the student. Um and they have to know something. It just It It creates a really hard dynamic. So,
unless there could be I I I don't know how to do it. And you know, it is there the bias wasn't that the teacher would have a bias. The bias was an accusation. You don't like my child or you do like my child or she always hated me or he
never like So, it was like And that for someone who commits their their That's their life's work to teaching and nobody's perfect, but they did commit their life's work to That's like really hard to hear especially when it's not true. And so
um I am hearing only positive things about that from the teachers. So, I guess I would have to really have to try to balance what people want from teachers with what like they I think they've been hurt in
the process. And so that is also part of my responsibility to try to I guess figure out a way to make that happen where we're not harming relationships along the way. Was that an overwhelming trend? I mean, is that like a one-off or is that an overwhelming trend? I mean, I know the high school recommendations come out and
like it just seems strange that there would be like a large portion of teachers receiving that material from people. Um enough that I like considered it. Yeah. Can I on that point We are still making recommendations for our eighth graders going into ninth
grade, right? Yes. Okay. So, we do still have that component there. >> Yeah. And is sort of the motivation and engagement of the student part of that recommendation? I I don't know because the high school sets it. So, um But the middle school
teachers are making recommendation to the high school. >> the high school. So, I don't know what the criteria is cuz we don't set it. But your middle school teachers are implementing it. They're making the recommendation. >> the criteria because they're making recommendations. Okay. >> [clears throat]
>> So, there's one honors science class then for eighth grade, right? How many accelerated math classes are there for seventh? Three. Three. Okay. Um so, roughly 60 or 65 students?
Probably closer to 70 or 75. And that's in seventh grade. >> Yes. Okay. And then for eighth grade, is it one or two classes? It's two. Okay. I have a follow-up question about that now. So, with slide two where you talk about the process for families in the
community and then slide nine here with the math, um on one it says the process is to go through Ms. Krause, Mr. Taylor, and then you. And then this one seems to sort of tell a different story where students have the opportunity to test in. Are these running sort of side by side? They
can do either Families can do either or. >> Yep. >> Okay. And with the class numbers as Don just mentioned already sort of at their target, do you anticipate that you will be able to actually move students in in the fall? >> Yep. So, you have that capacity. >> We're really good at that. We left Yeah,
that's our jam. We're Yeah. Thinking back and look at the first slide, I don't need to go back to it, but you we went from a model that was almost completely subjective with the open choice uh with the criteria, but anyone can opt in to a model that is completely
objective. And I think that probably like that's where I don't disagree that potentially is some um events of parents being upset with their teachers, students getting upset and then creating, but to go to that model, I think creates a ton of
adversity within like, okay, I missed it by a point. And that I don't know if it's a teacher recommendation or or happy to think through, but having some sort of potential that's listed there cuz a test score doesn't necessarily always show potential. Could have been a
bad day. They didn't know what it was about. They were miscommunicating certain things. So, like missing out there. Again, this is I wouldn't say it's wide scale, but for those those students, it's stressful. So, having that little push to say, "Hey, there's a factor here that is more I know you.
I've worked with you and I see you have potential. You just missed it by a little bit. Let's get you over that hump." Um I think that the massive change from completely subjective to objective though is is what's driving some of this feedback. And Frank, part of the reason why I did that last year
was because Algebra 1 was introduced at the end of the year and we knew we were going to have kids that didn't have eighth grade math and I didn't want to hold anyone back. Um I taught science for a really long time. You You can do honors science in in a
general education class. I mean, I did it forever, but I was less concerned about the science cuz they're the same standards and I wanted to give the opportunity for math in that transition year. Um so, that that that was probably a misstep on my part like in some people's
view. I just didn't know how else to do it at that point. Um And then I guess going back to the criteria does feel pretty severe. I can see that. Yeah, and if you take the one year side, if you look at every other year last 5
years, we haven't removed any criteria. If anything, we've added more, which can help drive some of that range. Like removing something, I think feels like people you're taking something away, an aspect away. Cuz if you just look at the chart, there's no years we took away a criteria. Right. I think it was just the problems that surrounded that and what
that feels like in a middle school. So, I guess that's a part if if we want that back, we would maybe have to create a different way. Okay. I will say Frank, we we have like we have since I mean, I can I can go back to 2005 and
on every year kind of little tweaks to criteria to find that right spot. The reality is in like in your average class sizes of like 220 kids that we have in our school is you're you're looking at in eighth grade uh you're looking at two sections of
algebra, two sections of honors science. That's your That's your eighth grade. That's what we have capacity for. Depending on the makeup, maybe you end up with a third in one section or whatever that would be in a 220 student class. Um But that's what we kind of found was
like our holding point from basically [clears throat] like late '90s through like 2015 um where we started to get into even the conversation of like uh removing levels as we started to see change shifts slowly over time, that trickle effect of
like the students percentage of students we have on IEPs, uh the number of rising ELLs, um high needs students that we have that were shifting those percentages um in our general education classes. And that's kind of where we kind of got to. I think this particular class is going from seventh
to eighth uh being a little bit smaller and having a much higher percentage of students on IEPs poses a unique unique challenge. I think what you're seeing in our in our sixth grade recommendations or seventh grade is you're seeing three sections of accelerated. I think that's
pretty large group of of accelerated, but that's that's but that fits within the realm of where we've historically been. And I think we're seeing that at the high school, too, in going into grade nine. I will say I remember in '21-'22, Dr. Madan and I were called into a multiple meetings on this topic.
We reviewed all the criteria. We met with the curriculum specialist. We met with parents. I you know not the volume and each year as David said I've seen the principals tweak this because every year it's a different group of kids. We look at the needs and then the limitations with trying to keep the
teams together which was so valuable in middle school with the with the kids needing that connection. And that being said we had some angry people in 21-22. We kind of kept revisiting it each year. This year it is unique because of that small cohort so it created a unique
situation that we haven't had to deal with before. And I think that when I was looking back at the data for this chart I we there was another year or two where they didn't have teacher recommendations. >> 22-23 it looks like.
>> Yeah. Um And then prior to 21-22 I think right? Didn't we go We went back in 21-22 I think. >> So that's been kind of going back and forth. What we've used before while not the teacher recommendation was kind of like a readiness rating. I kind of use a
teacher would fill out a rec of like a readiness rating or whatever based off of like essential skills that we'd see that they would need access to. Kind of getting us that point of where you might have a student that might perform struggle on standardized tests or common assessments. [snorts] You would have kind of a readiness rating and some of the other kind of
less more intangibles as far as the skills that they would have and they needed to meet like two out of three of those criteria or three out of four depending on which year we were looking at the criteria. What's interesting is I had my student round table at RIMS today and we talked about this a little bit just trying to I
was trying to feel them out as to you know do they have any thoughts about it? Have they heard anything about it? Do they want to discuss it? And it was interesting to get some of the student perspective. Some of them saying how it's very stressful and not all kids might want to be motivated you know it's that motivation piece we talked about
the student agency the student voice and I I got a quite a mix of kind of what their thoughts were. They're all in different places. They're still maturing so much but they were really it was really nice to talk with them about some feeling very pressured to meet an
expectation and maybe they didn't want to be and they were just fine being you know what I mean. So it was it was kind of all over the place as middle school kids are. >> Is there a wonky place where we were in like 2015 2014 that that space is
where we had full full overriding is one we still landed on like two sections of algebra is still like the final number that we had as far as the number of sections that we have as algebra. The frustration at that point with teachers is that we would we'd have
we'll call it for a lack of better term like half [snorts] 25% of the students 30-40% of students who are override students but then you would have a good 30 to 40% of students that were in maybe the the regular science class math class or whatever
that had all metrics above the students that were overridden into that space and so then like the point of the conversation I go through the notes there and I think you even spoke to me back in 2013-2014 too is that the conversation at that
point was like all right well we need some type of criteria differentiators so that we can have this some type of conversation with families so we can make sure that like algebra becomes like [snorts] this like but you know very challenging class at that at that point. That was just the conversation at that point. And
can I just add I started teaching I'm dating myself at 1994 and I was teaching special education at the middle school level and I was co-teaching some algebra classes and this conversation came up every single year. Do we level? Do we not level? What's our criteria? Teachers
would come to me and say why are you letting parents over you know recommend when the kids aren't ready and all you know this conversation goes back and forth back and forth every year. It's not unique to Holliston. It's always a struggle and there's research every which way that you can kind of
come up pros and cons. Being a small district it gives us additional challenges because we don't have a lot of different places to put kids but I will say our students did very well in the past few years even when we reduce the levels so I feel optimistic about where kids are going
and I think um tonight when I was talking to David List that about a third of our kids do you want to tell me those numbers again? A third were going into algebra one. >> algebra one a quarter are going into the accelerated um algebra geometry and the the rest are
going into geometry. So they're coming up at least from teacher recommendations and how they're scoring criteria they're coming up pretty strong this year. Doesn't mean every year's going to be like that. Different groups are different cohorts every year and we have to assess the kids that are in front of us each year.
And I think like we have certain challenges because we're a small district but we also have the ability at the middle school where it's I think most appropriate to work with the families and work with the kids and really try to do what's best so that that's why we have that process um instead of just an override process
where it just happens. Um They have a lot to think about. Families have a lot to think about and not everybody makes the same decisions for their kids when it you know when it comes down to that process and some people do trust what's there and they're just going with it and other people want to talk about it more and all of that is
okay and we can do it because we're a small district. Um and then just to clarify common assessments have really evolved I would say over the last 10 years. Um you know we don't we don't give tests
and that that's the common assessments. Common assessments are often projects. Common assessments are often posters papers it could be a test as well. You could take the test three times because you needed a little longer to learn some
sections of it and the teacher will help you. So those there are six points that students could get for that where it took into consideration their work ethic their effort their um ability to persist on things at their ability and get full
points. So like when we think of common assessments like when I think of common assessments for me when I was a you know in school well they didn't even call them common assessments they were all tests and so but it isn't like that anymore and I can tell you it isn't it isn't like that at RIMS. So it's it's much more of a of a
well-rounded um approach where you know the whole like academic capacity of the child is really taken into consideration for those those two point categories. So
math common assessments were those tests? They could have been. There would be some tests in there. There would be some projects in there. There'd be some presentations and group work in there. So it's anything [snorts] that the teachers did that was like in common
with the other teachers in there group. Like eighth grade teachers um they have like certain standards that they would have to teach. They have certain targets that they want to meet. They have a maybe a a different way of
teaching some of that material but they [clears throat] do a common assessment. I know one of them is like the kids have to design a vacation. They have to they have to create a vacation that they're going on with a budget and they have to use all these algebraic formulas but it's a you
know can do with a partner you can do by yourself like it's a very involved project with a lot of levels and a lot of layers and a lot of ability to kind of move around and be yourself but that counts in the common assessment category. And does a common assessments are they
included in students' grades? Yeah. Yeah. Um cuz one of the one of the things I'm struggling with is that it none of the criteria here are are is a student's grades. A lot of the parents that I heard from were were saying well my my you know my child
has gotten a 98 in in math. Mhm. How are they not recommended for for honors? And and and so I guess I think in some ways that may be a place where where there's sort of teacher input because after all the teachers are the ones that are doing some some of the
grading. Can can can a place where we could get student grades I guess maybe included because I I I someone's going to have to explain to me how a student could be probably getting a 98 in a class and not be recommended for honors for the for the for the advanced level. >> the cut the the the point value so was
um like you could get one point for as low as a 92 for your common assessments but your common assessments can be 92 your homework can be 100 your classwork can be 100 and you can have a 98 average. Getting a 98 in the class I mean I just
again like if you're then then maybe they're not getting a 98 in in the class but But I think that's all all that's on grade level standards not the advanced standards to me. So some kids can score well at grade level but they may not be able to figure out if they haven't been taught
yet so what I talked about today with the kids. So they haven't been exposed to those higher end standards because they're in the regular class but some kids can problem solve and persist and figure out without having been taught it whereas some kids need that extra instruction to get there. I think we also though have an issue in the district in the whole with our math
curriculum and students receiving outside support. I know a number of families use Kumon and Russian Math School to supplement. So I I understand your point Dr. Kosko but I think that assuming that the students who are reaching that don't have outside support might be a reach cuz a lot of them are getting outside And that is a dilemma
you're right. You mean having that's an inequity that we can't um we we don't have a solution for it. Parents choose to send students to private tutoring. It's it gets to be out of our hands. I understand where you're coming from though and it's it's not something we can >> But that's part of David's point as well though if they're
if they're succeeding so well at grade level standards then it's our job as educators to promote them into those higher levels and that's what we should be doing and giving them access to. I mean looking at the criteria to know that a child's sixth grade math MCAS scores when the state like decided didn't count, I mean we just talked
about this week and the number of kids are like, "Why are we still doing this? It doesn't count for anything." It's like, "Well, hold on." It like this is not coming up in families' minds. Same with like winter i XL, I know why why do they know the communication isn't there and how important these things are if we're not counting with them that they have a B plus as
criteria. I will say the MCAS came up because the students just had MCAS the last 2 days and one particular student was walking with me and we talked about MCAS and and the other kids did and they were telling me how stressful and how exhausted they
were. Today were much You know how I've been met with them a number of times and they've been very upbeat and we've had lovely conversations. Today they were very subdued and I was surprised and they were very tired after MCAS and saying it's very stressful. So I felt like at least the group I was talking to did take it very seriously because they
felt it was still important and they weren't thinking that way but I can't speak for the entire grade just the ones that I know of. I think kind of Tracy kind of You know what everything in education gets kind of sick cyclical and starts coming back to it. You go back to the [snorts] kind of Rick Wormeli, Thomas Guskey like days as far as grade grading
practices or whatever prior to 2015 is some of those conversations is you know based on what I'm hearing as far as this is coming up especially if you're you're looking at classes where minimally where we've got spaces where we've got to what 98% in some classes and students aren't getting into classes that maybe we need
holistically to look at grading practices and how how students are being assessed and what what are being counted as grades. Um and for students. And you have again the sixth grade student math
does there's no accelerated sixth grade. All they can get is a 100, right? And they're getting if they're getting a 98, a 99 why do we think that I mean how I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I
I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I just if you're doing that well with the material that you've been given why aren't you being why do we think that they shouldn't automatically qualify to be to be given sort of the you know
the opportunity to to try to sort of you know stretch themselves the next year in the in the advanced class. It it just I I feel like I I I I don't know I I I I don't think I will be able to totally reconcile that. Um so
and then why isn't even a factor in in in this most of these things I guess you're saying the common assessments are not all tests and I appreciate that that that that that that is great. The MCAS and iXL ones are I know that you know iXL could be particularly tough for for kids with dyslexia and
dysgraphia they can go in and reverse the numbers and the the computer just knows that's wrong and you know you you move on you don't get any credit for for your work obviously that's a smaller piece it but but if we're assessing students based on that that's going to be something that is going to you know just
you know de facto be a hindrance to to to students with higher needs. So that is that. One request I have and I would love to see this data and I would love for us to use our data dashboard and really run
this data is I'd like you you say that students who were over in into eighth grade this year have struggled and have shown some some the cause have easier have struggled with stress and anxiety
but I'd love to see how they're doing not individually obviously but but on a whole and versus their peers with their with their grades again you know or maybe throw in some some iXL scores. And then and then I'd like to you know
go back and see how students over time have also done um those who've been overridden and those who've been placed in it. But then I think almost more importantly taking it a step further how did the students who were overridden into the accelerated math
do the following year ninth grade versus their peers who were not overridden and stayed in the traditional math? Did they just by being in the more accelerated class have a leg up on their peers the next year or was there a problem
because they they were there were some some stress and some anxiety issues that it was actually a hindrance. I mean that could that could be too I you know that's why I want to see the data but I'm I'm wondering if even just being in the more accelerated class benefited them longer term even if maybe they struggled a little bit
Yeah. Um so I don't know if our data dashboard can do that but that would be great. Um if it could We'll see. We'll take a look and see if we can capture what you're asking. You've got that. We we don't have the capacity like I won't be able to come in
4 weeks and be like, "I have it." I don't I What? Um but no I that would be I would love to it would be super interesting. >> I think it would be helpful maybe to also in this to talk principal list as well.
The children that were overridden going into ninth how many ended up going back down. That might be useful I I think Sure that all that kind of stuff is good. So now I'm I'm tasking you as well. Sorry Mr. List. Let's really let's really get in there and and crank that data. We can we'll work on it
and and try to get some of that done. And we also there's a neuroscience piece to it. >> Yes. I'm going to be vulnerable and say that I took Algebra 1 three times. Um it was a long time ago but I I took it the first time in in eighth grade and I was like,
"This I have no idea." And the second time I was like, "Oh, I've seen this before." And when I hit that readiness uh it was like, "How did I not always understand this?" So there is a piece to brain development in early early
adolescence and they don't they just don't all get there at the same time and that's okay. Yep. It's just um like that piece plays a huge role and I don't I if we just look at data I feel like
we're really ignoring that the neuroscience. >> No absolutely I'm just >> Yeah. Let's look at that but but I completely agree and I've seen it personally but so that is absolutely true. But then again then it's up to us to figure out those pathways for students to get between the
classes once it does click. And I'll also be vulnerable I failed my first driving test and some would say I I failed every other driving opportunity I've had since then but anyway um No but I but The info I'm joking a little bit. Yes. That developmental
piece came up with the kids today. We've talked about because some of them we just talked about social emotionally maturity, hormones, all the things that impact them and whether they're ready. There's other factors because then the following year they might be ready and could just pick right up. I've seen that with one of my own children. There's there's absolutely
more than the data absolutely. But but let's start with the data then we can go from there. Um What is are there are there any things that that you've thought about how this year's gone with the criteria and with the different sort of way that the the decisions were
initially made that you're you're thinking about maybe potentially possibly uh changing for for next year? Mhm. Yeah. I mean communication I think is the number one thing. Okay. Um and balancing that with like pressure
and stress. Um and then you know David List and I talked a little bit about like creating opportunities for kids to do things outside school that might not be
like all we have right now is iXL and and we use it as you know we we leverage it as much as we can but just kind of like to to speak to what Tracy was saying earlier like provide more opportunities for kids to take advantage of. We've talked about you know the
potential of that. I think if if we're going to stick with this criteria it's easier for me to communicate knowing what it is before you know December and to kind of like share with families like no MCAS isn't a graduation
requirement but it can be a data point for something like you're spending 4 hours taking a test like do your best. And I know that's the message that comes from the middle school teachers but I also know that when when there was that shift you know where it's not a graduation requirement it doesn't count
that that you know a lot of kids maybe opted out or didn't take it as seriously. So I think things like that those nuances are part of like all the conversations that I want to have with families. Um but I also like this year next year like like all
the years like I love the middle school and I adore those kids and if a family needs something I want to help. So I think if if there's if someone isn't having their needs met right now we just have to talk and I I feel like
we can come to an agreement. So while we're figuring some of the things out and planning like I do want to encourage people to reach out. If you have questions. At the same time that we got to figure out a way for for kids whose parents are not able to meet with you during during the school day or even
surrounding it um maybe Zoom or or something but that might be >> Zoom I've done phone calls I've done in person um Google Meets like I've done you know everything [snorts] but but I know that there are families that just aren't hearing all this communication. Mhm.
And that bothers me. So, you know, I guess creating those opportunities >> I I think sending those I I I went back and checked 210. Definitely an email. But then there was no follow-up email. It said, you know, in the coming weeks or you know, sort of saying, "Hey, you know, they're going to be doing
this on this date, you know." >> Mhm. Maybe suggest your your your your student get some rest or let them know that if they care about their placement for next Some kids might not. It doesn't matter to them. And then they're We shouldn't, you know, necessarily overly hype it, but >> Mhm. uh for for kids that want it >> idea. just kind of uh you know, giving
the parents a heads-up. >> Mhm. I think that would make everyone feel better. Yeah. And then And then it's up to to them. Um I do also think, sorry, the idea of um the I know we're kind of on the fence with teacher input and this, but for
those students that, you know, do have the 90s that work really hard or the referrals to students who might struggle, but are great kids and have that teacher voice like, "This kid has a lot of potential. Like, I see this kid loves this subject area um and push them forward is what our teachers are trained
for. And so, giving them voice I think is important as we sort of move forward with it, too. So, we want to protect them obviously from, you know, from emails that probably shouldn't be sent necessarily, but at the same time I still think teacher voice is just an incredibly important thing that we want to make sure is meeting this process
somehow. We want the teachers to be comfortable with with with how it there, but you know, if a teacher sees a student who they think should be in you know, I I would hope that they would be have at least the opportunity of a conversation, even if it's not like an official one or
or even maybe the parent doesn't even know that it happened. Um just that's team meetings and planning, you know, all that kind of stuff. Um so Uh yeah, I have a couple of little things to go over.
Good ideas. Thank you. Once in a while. And the only other thing I'll add is I think it's also interesting to think about um how this all progresses into high school. So, especially with the schedule changing um it
we have to get math specifically um just thinking about that whole pathway a little differently than, you know, it it was easier to double up on certain things. Um you know, so just helping families understand that progression um
without putting stress on kids, you know, so I it is a delicate balance I think, but um Any other questions? Thank you for answering all of our questions. Oh, sure. Yeah. I really thank you for coming tonight. Um it's helpful to hear
kind of the whole process and how how you went through it. So, um And I think, you know, there's still work to be done, but I I I know you've heard the communication piece and um I just thank you. So, I know it's a lot of work and you've had a lot of
conversations. So, thank you for all of that. Thank you, Kim. >> Thank you. Thanks for having me. Thank you. Okay. Um I just wanted to say that policy for you see Policy, yes. We have policy J L C.
So, I put um a copy of of the middle school pathway exploration, if you recall, um with the changes for um career exploration and CTE programs that were put out by the state and federal. Um we had to develop the middle school pathway exploration and we were given a
template from DESE and I met with our policy sub um Deborah. It was in December, was it? Um and then I sent it to them and I recently heard back that they were concerned that we didn't have all of the dates and the actual name of the program
not on the um Keefe Tech regional that the one that we're a part of collaborative. And so, I just added those. So, I don't need you to vote on it. I just wanted you to be aware of those changes that it was the 15th October 15th and the date for information sharing. And then I
added Keefe Tech where necessary just to show that we are That's our school that our students are usually able to go to. And then obviously, Norfolk Aggie is another option, but it's not our uh we're not a member of that. We're That's something we um pay differently for. So, just to be
aware, I was going to just send the updates in to them and then post it on the website with those updates, but it's really minor changes. So, it's nothing that you have to vote on. I apologize. I forgot to do it as suggested, but it was like any information sharing you'll see a date there. And then, you know, where I anywhere I added Keefe Tech, that was
really the only places. Sure. I will vote. I mean, you don't have to, but I don't know. Say it again. I just wanted We should approve it. It It I mean, you're welcome to. It's just it was non-substantive changes. We didn't change any of the language in there. That's completely up to you.
I move to the Just trying to break the silence. Thank you. Okay. Anything else? through policy then. Okay, great. Um central office updates? Yeah, so I already mentioned that I had round table today, but I thought it's actually a
pertinent conversation. So, I had already spoken with Principal Manning, but since our incoming superintendent is here, I thought he'd like to hear the students wanted to make sure that I let him know that there were a couple of things and they also wanted the school committee to know that there are some things that students are still asking about. They
want to know if we'll reconsider adding recess back at the middle school. And I said, "Well, really that's a school committee kind of policy thing." And this issue is you know, I said to him, Look at that. Is it 3:00 or 4:00? It is 3:00. What do you mean? It's 3:00 or 4:00. Oh, [clears throat] 3:00 or 4:00. Sorry. Sorry, 3:00 or 4:00.
Um but I did say I would relay that. And then um Challenge Day, they talked about the ones that did Challenge Day saying that they wish more children could do Challenge Day. They loved it, the ones that went. Um I know it's something that's also not for every child because some parents opted in or out of that
because there are some kids that aren't ready for it. Some of them mentioned sixth grade. It's not recommended for sixth grade. I know that Ms. Manning shared that with me again. So, I just thought the feedback on that for the kids that went was very positive. They felt that it helped them have more empathy and understanding for their
classmates that they may have been more, let's say, judgmental before they had and their bias was helped by having these interactions. Again, that's why for every student, maybe having it earlier in the year in seventh grade and in eighth grade was another thing. So, I just thought I'd mention that. And then
they also um mentioned that they hope the new superintendent would continue the round tables. The particularly the middle school kids really like that interaction. And so, I said I would relay that. I said I talked to him before. I'm sure he would love to continue that. So, they were all for
that. And the pre-K to kids love it, too. They probably didn't They haven't asked me to let the superintendent know that. Um and same with three to five. They're really active. I will say this year it's been a challenge for me to have the round table meetings at the high school because of the schedule changes and the
minutes added and still having Now that they're assigned to different rooms for They have to choose which room they're going to be in for DSB. So, I don't have a choice. Like, I'm not on the choice list cuz I only do it periodically. So, I sent out emails and said, "This is the day I'll be there." I've only had one or
two kids this year, whereas in the past I've had sometimes 15 or 20, but it's really with the limitations. So, I would encourage um Kimo next year to reinitiate it with the high school kids as well because the schedule should allow for more flexibility with that. So, And then I just a couple of other quick
things. We will be doing the uh sending out the central office community newsletter tomorrow with a lot of different updates between our I know that Dr. Cataldo will tell you about unified basketball. There'll be a lot of information in there that we're sharing this spring. And then also, I did want
to mention I know Dr. Bernard is going to talk about PD on April 3rd. Um We know we made a last-minute change that you voted to move the PD day from March 10th to April 3rd, which is Good Friday. Um staff were aware that they could request a personal day or religious
holiday or potentially a sick day as a result if they already had things scheduled. Um I will say I really want to give credit to our administrators that had to pivot and reinvent our PD day because we had to cancel um some of the vendors that we had hired for that
day. One of them was um Peg Dawson. They didn't get to do that at Reams yet. So, they did that pivoting very well, but they also had a situation where they found out, you know, we we were monitoring attendance and it's slightly over 50% of our teachers that were out that day for religious mostly
religious observation um some personal and a couple of sick days, but that meant the PD day had to be completely reinvented with the small numbers that we had in some schools. And so, thank God I wanted to just acknowledge that. And then Dr. Bernard is going to show you um just what was done that day. As
soon as I put it up. This is our last PD day of the year. There was a lot of incredible learning. The people that were here very positive feedback. The people that were here really wanted to be here and capitalized uh that time they had and collaborated
with their colleagues. Um Sorry, I just wanted to say that. So, we have April 3rd. Okay, in Placentino, you had a lot of different things going on. The preschool really worked on aligning the practice
for instruction, IEP quality, and family engagement. And then the bulk of the learning that was done by classroom teachers, Dr. Slaney spent a lot of time in uh doing a presentation, turning data into instruction that matters. Very
powerful powerful, a lot of very positive feedback that they said made a difference the very next day in their classrooms. Um so some people also attended the presentation that Brenda Morrow did,
Know Thy Impact, really looking at how the teacher can make a difference in how they teach, how they approach teaching, um and then really analyzing data collection and UBD stage two assessments. Some teachers, the UA teachers, worked
on some WIDA training. Remember, that's the organization that does a lot of training for MLLs, and they um explored how they can make language visible in the classroom in their UA classrooms. Next, we saw some teachers at Cosentino,
the top picture. That's interesting. [snorts] I can't see it on mine, but it's very interesting. Okay, um but the top left picture, preschool teachers. Top right teacher picture is your leadership team at Cosentino.
Bottom left is them working on I can't even I can't see it anymore. Um them working on some >> Oh, that was some of our special educators on the bottom left. >> I couldn't even see it. And then just the library group The library group that was working on data. I will say the
pre-K teachers were very engaged when I met with them working with um Elizabeth Fitzmaurice. >> Elizabeth Fitzmaurice. Dr. Fitzmaurice. Dr. Fitzmaurice, yeah. Go to the next slide. At Miller, um Brenda Morrow, like I said, did a presentation, Know Thy Impact. They also
really after she did her presentation, they did a lot of work on um how they could take that presentation and really take that knowledge and integrated into their classrooms and how they can impact students right away.
Um other people worked on application on the unit planning and placement planning. We also data collection and UBD stage two assessments, revising that. And again, the UA teachers were working on that WIDA class that I already talked
about. Next, you can see Again, this is very strange. I can't see all these, but um these were two pictures taken from uh Brenda's presentation. Know Thy Impact. And the right picture, John Hattie is a very renowned educator
um that's very well respected. They watched some videos regarding him. Next. Um and so then Jerry Alvernaz made arrangements for the elementary school counselors, SACS, BCBAs, and school psychologists. They were doing a lot of
different work um on anxiety space treatment, SEL screeners, what to do with students the remainder of the school year, and finally looking at behavior plans and safety plans. Next. Okay, at Rams, they had a lot of
different things going on. They really had choose your own adventure. They break out rooms, and uh some groups were working on UBD stage two documentation. Some were working on planning the grade seven accelerated math class. Others were working on
uh the science pilot work. We uh Others were working on planning the honors science class. We had social studies teachers working on Facing History and Ourselves modules. Others were working on transfer tasks,
differentiated entry points, and the uh UA teachers again were working on that WIDA class. And last but not least, if you go to Holliston High School, they all concentrated, the ones that were here, concentrated on the curriculum shift for
next school year. They were working on revising their UBD stage one maps, their department landing page, as well as stage two teach stage two UBD maps. District nurses, they had three big
presentations, emergency response plan work, stop the bleed training, and really looking at and reviewing and having conversations around their current policies and procedures. And finally, a huge shout-out to the
PTO. They do an amazing job every single PD day, and that's just at Miller, all the wonderful snacks they provided. >> And they even had some really good gluten-free options, which both uh myself and Kaler appreciated, I'm sure others as well. >> for the candy bowl myself. >> [laughter]
>> So a lot of great work did happen for the people that were here. So thanks to everybody that ran the PD. It was very powerful. Uh so I haven't had a chance to kind of publicly thank the uh search committee for director of teaching and learning. Um so I won't thank myself, although I
was part of it, but Hillary Bresnahan, >> [laughter] >> Sorry. I I know. I was cracking small jokes Uh Karen Manning, uh Brenda Morrow, Casey Carnahan, Jenny Mann, Ali Curley, Tom Levesque, Ann Schneider, and Andrew Ail.
Um today we had uh or last night we had uh our um video uh community webinar forums uh with uh Dr. Carter and uh Ms. Fitzgerald was our helping us out. Uh and then uh Lisa DeLuzio was able to
kind of moderate for us uh where we had uh 20-to-30-minute sessions with um our three finalists. Uh and then today uh we had um our first finalist do their site visit uh where they met with administrators and uh curriculum
leadership, um elementary staff, uh secondary staff, uh and then with um Dr. Carter. Uh next week, the 14th and 15th, the 14th uh we have our And And sorry, today was
uh Elizabeth Haskell, um who is uh the director of uh curriculum instruction uh for the Somerset Berkley Regional Schools. Um next week, on the 14th,
uh will be Dr. Karen Rondinone, uh comes to us from Needham, which She is the principal at El Elliott Elementary School. Uh and then lastly, on the 14th or on the 15th, we have Dr. Joel Peterson, uh who is the director of teaching and
learning in Brookline. Um the finally, I think following that same process, you know, this is something we are we are hoping to kind of um have some selections made uh kind of before before spring break. Um I I do have a recording. We'll be sharing that I either out tonight uh or
first thing in the morning [snorts] with um with a survey that goes along with it um so that folks will have an opportunity to kind of watch those videos uh and be able to kind of respond on the things that they uh saw in the candidates that we have. Lastly,
um next week, on the 16th, uh Frank Trabucco, uh James Keefe, and myself are going to MSBA school. So um We going to Worcester, and there's the
MSBA story of a building. I think all three of us realize we're getting a lot of questions that we don't have answers to, and we need to um go check out uh a space and get a get a lot of our questions answered with that. So we'll be doing that, and hopefully we'll be better positioned to kind of support the
town uh in this um generational um decision. Thank you. >> [snorts] >> Multigenerational. Yeah, multigenerational decision. My turn. All right, so we had this week uh WBZ
came to visit our unified basketball game. Uh very energized team came. We played Medfield right here at Rams. And I've never seen so much back-and-forth action, but I have to say some of these kids were making nearly half-court shots and swooping them right into the net
without hitting the rim. Totally impressed. That's nothing I could ever do even in my wildest dreams. But you could tell from the kids that they enjoyed it. We were able to grab a few pictures. Um Brandon Truitt came in from Channel 4. He interviewed the students. He interviewed some of the adults. He took
some time to watch the game. We don't know when it's actually going to be on Channel 4. Uh I keep my eyes out every day. I get up for the 5:00 news to see if it's on yet, and we continue to do so cuz that's the time I get up anyway. But uh we're very excited. It went
really really well, and I think the kids are really pleased, and they're going to be very excited when they see themselves on the screen. So then when is the next really fun activity? Well, that is right after vacation. So we're praying no snow at the end of April.
And on Tuesday, April 28th, is our Special Olympics Day in Medway this year. And as you know, that consists of Accept, Medfield, Ashland, Holliston, Medway, and Millis will all come together. Next year will be right here
in Holliston doing it. It'll be our first time Holliston has charge of it, but it's a most of the day on Tuesday the 28th. The buses will arrive over there somewhere in Medway around 9:15, around 9:30. They'll gather together so
they can do their parade with the police, and then they'll get into their seats at the high school there at Medway High, and be ready for the opening ceremonies at 10:00, followed by the actual activities for about an hour and a half, and then there'll be an award
ceremony from 11:45 to 12:15 and from 12:15 to 12:45 there'll be a lunch, a picnic style lunch, and then the students will get on the buses, they'll come back here and I guarantee you half of them will fall asleep on their way back, no doubt, especially if it's hot
out. But it's a very packed day in just a few hours. I'm really looking forward to it. If you're open and you're not doing anything, I would recommend you come on over to Midway High and cheer on our students. It's going to be a great opportunity. You'll be able to recognize us. We'll be in our lovely gray t-shirts
as the adults. Our children will be in their red t-shirts as students. So, I wanted to bring that up and let you know so you can plan post vacation if you have a moment to get on over there and cheer on the kids. And then other than that, obviously we're continuing work on extended school year. We're really
honing in we really targeted we're trying to target no later than [snorts] mid-May as having the cumulative number of students. That's our goal. I know last year they ran right into June and we're trying to make it so that we have the proper number of adults
to work with the students and we know who's coming as a student at that point to help make sure we have smooth transactions all day long as we [clears throat] work with the kids. And again, I'm also continuing to work on our audit, our special education audit.
I know during vacation I'll be grabbing Dr. George to help me with some of it as there's a piece that he has to contribute as well. But as for the rest it's going very well. They're working with us on many of the items. They said many of the things are that have been entered are already [snorts] in good shape and that we're at a tweaking zone
at this moment where they've asked me to tweak some things and return them out. So, I believe that is it for this week. And we'll share out once we hear about the unified basketball. Yes. >> And get that sent out to families. I
will say I'm not going to share what or when, but there is another event that as a surprise right now that they WPZ will be coming to the district again and I'll let you know more as it gets closer and keep the surprise for now.
Very popular here. It's great. Thank you. Okay, um subcommittees, communications. Uh no updates this week. Policy? Nothing. Budget? So, what we did meet with uh there's no
other [snorts] way around it. The budget on the town side mixed I'd say, but um the um I don't think they actually ended up voting, but the uh the finance committee reviewed our our the whole budget and you know, currently
our Melrose budget the 3 and 1/4% is is what they are using in the model. Um there does not appear to be >> [snorts] >> any extra money. I think the bottom line currently has $4,833 like that which is I think comfortably sort of
tight because if there were changes in things negatively as far as revenue assumptions you could easily find yourself in in the negative. So, um there's even a lot of conversation around whether where they could find additional savings to boost that bottom
line number. Not looking to spend more. Um then we've had a lot of capital discussions. I think I don't know how much we want to get into it, but but it's sort of the um it's all inter-related our capital request and the feasibility study and
how we're going to um find the money to fund the feasibility study while still, you know, meeting the needs of our our capital request items. We're going to have to meet as a as a budget. Something we before break even if we don't meet next week as a
school committee. Um but I think hopefully there's the committee will be flexible with us in in having to make some decisions as we sort of move forward which we'll obviously bring to the committee for for final approval, but um
things are fluid. Okay. Um MSBA update. Yeah, we've been meeting with uh Yeah, the working group. Yeah, in the working group. And we covered select board. Yeah. It was kind of doubled up. So, in the working group
um met with Tina last year with last week. Uh Monday we met with select board. Um a lot of progress made with between us. Few things one tonight we need to talk about um actually I'll double up the second we
we have the school [snorts] building committee aligned upon in terms of all the roles that will exist. Um three of which will be school committee nominated. So, we will and including one school committee member. So, as part of
that we do need to align upon criteria for the other two. Nothing too concrete. I believe Sarah you sent out what we did Yeah. Uh it's a little updated right now from our updates on Monday, but um you know, we had started off in the working group just with ideas around
obviously we wanted to cover someone that has an educational facility background. Now, what does that mean? >> [snorts] >> We should have that discussion tonight. Um also talked we had talked in the previous meeting around sports, music, arts um and then we also put STEM. So, I
think tonight as we look for candidates I can go into the process further, but most of us were there and we were watched. Um we will be stamping this and saying these are the criteria we'll be looking for candidates. So, I think it's important we we do that and I don't think we need to vote
I mean we can. Just for candidate the candidates we are screening or No, the criteria for the nomination. >> the the select board set the criteria in that list. No. That is up to our designation.
Cool. So, if you want some criteria on that. Yeah, there there there are two there are three roles for school committee total. Those are in the orange. Right. And one of which is a school committee member. We can talk about that tonight. But more importantly as we start looking
for nominations for the appointed seats as designated by the school committee we should align on the criteria. That criteria will be used then by the working group in which we'll review the LOI letters of intent and resumes to decide
on who to bring forward as potential nominees. What's the time frame? For our goal is to have appointments in by June 1st. >> [snorts] >> Okay. Yeah. Um so, this says though that the school building committee a resident with knowledge of education mission facility
function. In other words, resident with And that is that is subject to edit. So, it's subject to edit. Okay, I did not Yes. >> [snorts] >> better understand that. Um I look I I think that we want to put out a communication and then seek um parties. So, there will be a
communication going out by the town. We're going to go through the single threaded application process with the volunteer form box in town hall. It will be managed by the town manager. They will be brought to the if letters of intent and resumes will be brought to
the working group to review and bring the slate forward as it aligns with the criteria that we decide on tonight. Can we also as a school committee communicate that out? We can. I I think yeah, I mean we're being honest we want to communicate to the same thing. So, what we didn't want to do is create a two-pronged process
where nominations come in to school committee and select board. So, there's a single threaded process, but I think the more message we get out there the better. So, the working group is going to come up with the slate which will two or three which we will appoint. Yes. So, in theory we're going to be able to number down vote on two people.
We may come with more. It's not settled on we're going to come with two. We don't want to come with 27 for us to review. Just like how we do any other But what we're doing with with like the working Well, can you the working group could We can make them accessible. Yes, but we will put together a recommendation. And then go back in
within the working group. Yeah. Um And I guess my my only when we talk about criteria I guess I'd like to see it fairly broad because it kind of depends on who is up to You could still have >> doing this. We've gotten a few emails
randomly from people who are either art I got one that was from an architect who's been through the process on other projects and then another who is an educator who went through the process at her own district. [clears throat] So, she was there from start to finish.
So, she may not have specific I don't she didn't say if she was STEM or music or you know, sports background, but however her involvement in the process you know, was Yeah, and everyone's going to have you need That's why the criteria
is only a criteria not a line in which we're going to say you can't, but I think we need to think through and select board did select their criteria. So, that's listed on the sheet. So, a legal background, resident over 65 uh I believe an architect are the three criteria that they used. Um
we're doing that just so we get a balanced uh school building committee as well. So, I I know we talked in a previous who is going to represent the interest of like the sports and arts programs and and facilities specifically for those.
Um I do think that's important because that may get lost in everyone we look at it. And just as on the record we would love to add more to the school building committee. We felt 15 was sufficient uh especially in a town our size. Um each school building committee in
their charge will be asked at this point will be mandated to work with different interest groups in town as I think it would be make sense. Like it's I don't think it needs to be mandated. It's kind of inherently put in there. You need to work with groups in town and what they're looking for. So there may be
additional like >> There will be a ton of input. >> groups who have other expertise that will feed information to the school building committee. The recommendation that that was made to have advisory groups. And so you could even have a Yes. a sports facility advisory group, a [snorts] music and
arts, you know, sort of advisory groups. So different people involved in different pieces that then feed information Yeah. the building committee to to allow for for more people to to be involved. I honestly think that the criteria
should be a a a parent guardian of a student in the Hollis schools. Okay. We did talk about that. And actually went back and forth. And again this is this open to debate. This work is also in communication we'll send out. We'll have the expectation of
this role. Um meaning it's expected to serve the duration of the committee which could be between 5 and 7 years. We want to Yes. We want Obviously >> [laughter]
>> Obviously we should be looking for a parent that has vested interest in the district. However, we don't want to over index on that cuz once they leave point if they're towards the you know, tail end making sure they're signing up for the full duration. So it could be a piece of criteria we look at.
But I don't know putting it saying the criteria we're looking for is a is a parent. Well that's who we're going to take out, you know. Get the pool from and then it would be up to the working group and us to to filter through and Yes. make a decision
on that. So I don't I wouldn't want someone not to sort of put in their their name into that if they don't do they fit with some sort of high level criteria that we put out there. >> I think we can again model what the select board you know, looked at is a resident over 65
they were choosing a representative council agent and they want that represented on the school building committee. What do we want represented? Parent guardian. I'm I'm serious. I don't I don't think that we want to be overly prescriptive
with with the high level Okay. thing. I mean I you know, I for Both roles? Just parent guardian? Yeah. Yeah. And in that way you'll get the most amount of candidates and then you can balance the different strengths against
what you think Do we want to think educator and parent guardian? Cuz we here's the thing with the criteria. If we have let's say we have two great letters of intent and backgrounds of two parents we could select them. But I also don't want to use the both roles for the same
criteria. So So yeah, but we do have a lot of parents who are also educators. Um I think that parent and guardian works for me. I do think that we I don't believe that we would be able to appoint a
educator in the Hollis public schools if we're following the sort of the criteria for everyone else because there's no difference between them and all the other non-voting That's fair. members. So it's not I mean if that is the predicate if the I'm still not totally it's not best
practice I would have everyone have a vote but The one thing that I also realized was forgotten here we do need to bring up with the the select board is is the employment of advisory capacity at least for now of the finance committee but um And that was discussed. That was
discussed. Um I I don't see any anything in our bylaws that would prevent them from from serving as a as a ex officio advisory member advisory sort of participant Sure. I don't know where would we put that but
bottom Never mind. They're they're not going to have a vote anyway so it's it's just the day just to get them on the emails and be part of the meeting and have the opportunity to attend >> We'll we'll have a meeting next week likely we got to schedule but But
Yeah, I don't I mean we we can if you want to craft some language around you know, different things that we would be interested in seeing from people people with educational backgrounds or things like that and find a sort of listing like a job description to write you with a title and title here is parent guardian. And then you know,
different sort of um preferred attributes that maybe these people might have, you know, prior experience with an MSBA project or you know, extensive Well why wouldn't we just put that then? Prior experience with an MSBA project. Because that's not
required as part of the And it's not required to apply. We're talking about different who who what type of person we want to list. 20 different things. Well I don't know if we're going to be publishing a 27 page like this is what we're looking for. So that's why trying
to balance out what a cultural fit would be. Okay. Um I am I Yeah, but I'm I'm comfortable with saying if we're going to use both roles saying parent guardian that's fine but you're using both roles to communicate the same thing. Do we want to differentiate them? I think what if we did one that was parent guardian and one that was parent guardian and
educator? And then we we could also under parent guardian one we could put this under both actually. Um prior MSBA experience um preferred but not required something like that that
Well then I mean I mean we could then list both those parent guardian or educator. Right? We don't have to make it too complicated. Okay. The first one would be parent guardian educator and the other would be educator guardian parent. You want to know I will prep something
Um okay. So that was the big thing we need to align on tonight because on Monday the select board voted for the crea- the not like the sub creation of the school building committee. >> a We agree with this but it's not official.
What was surprising to me was that the MSBA came back and said that they will not really entertain conversations with They have to approve the slate but they won't do the legal review until June 1st. I guess I thought they would given that they wanted you know, wanted to to Well they're pushing us to have it ready in
June. Right. That's what our And our charge with Tina is to have this assuming yeah, nominations come in and we can appoint the at large by June 1st have this in place. I think we should wait until the end of May
finalize this new member and then give the That's right. And then June um perhaps there would be a liaison for what? for our meeting the working group? No, if if if I don't know if the select board named a member? No. No, okay then I don't think
the school building committee is meeting in May. I don't think that was the direction. It was just like the I don't even know if we have to ask if they can even meet. Right? Cuz it has to be signed off by the >> because it's not actually technically Wait sure they can meet. They can meet.
Well the good news is David Jordan you were officially put on the committee. I know you were. Got you now. Um But yeah, we I think we need to think through it. Obviously you got to put out. So by mid April mid April. Our goal is to get that communication out.
Or at least officially published so that we can publish it and communicate it out. Um Because also at town meetings also put out a message like we're looking for people. So we may start reviewing before then and we may lock it in or it's a good time to put the message out there.
So Do we have the presentation of David Jordan about the feasibility study up on our website? So we are getting that up. Okay. Um we did that last week. We have a website? On the school district website we're going to post David's presentation.
Okay. Um is that are we final on that or is it Yeah, it was So we're actually trying to make it a website. So including where we can double it out. So not just a more of an interactive website. So that's what they're building out. Um it's easy for us to just put the presentation up. We can do that
immediately but I think what Dan was doing is trying to build a website for the our whole MSBA process that feasibility might be the first part. Maybe put it up for now and then you can put it up The town has built a website. They did it remember Chris Mayo and Dan. The town will be building a school
building committee website once that is officially formed. So that's why we were in the loop creating a website which we actually did try to have a conversation on. It became clear okay, we really can't shouldn't create one before the school building committee is named. Um so they'll create one. We are figuring out with Dan and and
potentially can partner with him how we can link that back to school district site. Yeah, it's kind of a one in the same conversation. So this is a conversation with Chris Mayo and Dan as well. So um this website is specific to the
feasibility study um with some additional expanded resources than just the presentation. Got you. Uh that we are hoping to link there I just believe blend all the way together once we build out the SBC to like a school or a town
MSBA website. Got it. Okay. Now that's perfect. Yeah, let us know hopefully soon so we can publish that out cuz I think for folks interested um one last thing is the MSBA working group. We are We need to plan a
office hours um We talked potentially there one at our favorite place or anywhere else and one virtual and then we do Um we will meet the 28th or 29th. I got to look at the date with Tina um at the
center. So the point of that conversation is we will go together to join board. We will bring the presentation. I think that might help. That's like an artifact. We won't go through it, but if there's questions that pop up and Dr. Jordan any information you get at your school day um
would uh if you could help share that with us today. Questions that come up from the community. So that's kind of our game plan in terms of communicating pre-town meeting. Yeah, I think I think what this is it's called the story of of the building like it's supposed to be soup to nuts
like the whole process what it felt like. I think it's supposed to have school committee members, people members of the SBC from the towns like board members from that community. Oh great. Going through the whole process as part of it in partnership with the MSBA.
So Hopefully we'll learn some good stuff. Yeah, you um one idea just popped in. Once we have our school building committee set up, I don't know what the MSBA does, but potentially asking them could we have a partnership or that could the committee have a partnership with another school building committee just starting to get up off the ground
cuz I think sometimes starting those committees are not easy. That's the update. I was just saying lots of good progress. Yeah. Incredibly exciting. Incredibly exciting. Um we have the administrative assistant
contract. Formerly known as secretary, part of that contract was to update the title to administrative assistant. Um I don't know if we need to talk about it or not at all or anything. >> obviously briefed everyone prior to this
uh in in an executive session. Um If you want to take a second to to review, I think that a lot of what we were we ended up doing was modeling uh a lot of language after where what was in the teacher's contract. So sort of um following them.
Um That's what seems like everyone was was happy coming out of it. Yep. Um Yep. Ready to vote? Yeah, the um entertain a motion to ratify the administrative assistant.
So Second by Dawn. All in favor? It's a roll call. Roll call. Okay. Frank? Yes. Jason? Yes. Hillary? Yes. Dan? Yes. Dawn? Yes. And I mean yes. Okay.
Um What do you want me to let them know that Andy Fowler >> [snorts] >> Sure, I can do it. Um Okay, so we do need to have a discussion. Anyone watching may notice that uh we're missing a member. We did um
receive notice that Joe Peru has resigned from the school committee. He and his family are going to be moving, so um we wanted to talk a little bit about the process for um filling that seat.
So I have I have some concerns because it's one of our busiest times of year and in addition to like a regular year, we also have the MSBA feasibility study going forth at um town meeting. So between that and I
always think of this time for budget as being um incredibly important. Uh I think that I would like to see someone get appointed soon. Um I think we're we're going to reach out and find out a little bit about that process. Right. I I did get some information from the state deal
about the process. Um They received Joe's uh written letter of or email of resignation. Um There's like timelines. I haven't I haven't >> [snorts] >> notified the select board yet, but I
plan to do so soon. Um and then there's you know, number of days we have to kind of um hopefully get people that are interested in you know, someone to fill that seat.
And we don't meet again until April 30th? Uh we haven't gotten there yet. We Yeah, it's going to be the 30th. We could do an ad hoc. We could do an ad hoc if we needed to. Yeah. And the appointment doesn't become a joint appointment. The select board would be
first with the board and sort of the candidate that we So I was engaged in watching school committee meetings at the time, but I wasn't part of the committee, but we've had something similar happen years ago. Um I I believe uh Cynthia had run like
against the select board and had not prevailed with that election, but at some point in that subsequent year um Ian Kelly resigned. The election was like almost as close I think it was pretty close. >> It was it was a little it's some sometime after, but um
I believe the school committee went to like they talked about who they would like to have considered before. I guess I'd like to give Sarah some information that she could then go on um and have those discussions with the
select board. So I think we should talk about potential candidates for the position. Have we had any contact with Jess first though? I was just asking if anybody reached out, but most I haven't had anybody reach out to her new.
Sorry. I mean I I have talked to Jess. Sorry. >> [laughter] >> Here's what he said, but Oh, has anyone reached out on your No one's No one The only person who has brought this up at all was
Joe. And that's actually who I had in mind. I I mean I think one of the criteria I've been looking at is I we all know how hard this is and how much time it takes, but someone that has a true commitment to it in that they took the time to run for the position,
understands the position, stayed engaged afterwards is you know, has shown allegiance to other groups within town where they volunteered their time um and committed to that. Um I I think it's you know, as Keith Bourdieu who was with
us for many years said, you know, he he likes to see he likes to see school committee members stay on for more than just the one term because it takes a lot of time and energy and dedication to understand what your role is and understand how to make
things happen and and um I think so I think an important piece of this is showing an interest and dedication to that position which I think Jess has shown by running last year, running again this year, attending our meetings throughout
this year. So I Jess would be the person I would like to see in this and I know she hasn't she hasn't held this position before, so it's not like she comes to us with years of experience in it, but she has she has engaged in the community in other ways
and dedicated to those positions. So what are what are some of your thoughts on it? I'm aligned. I guess given though it's just new for obviously we received it last week, I think, but it's new to the community. Is there opportunity we want to give for anyone else who may express
interest? I mean they had an opportunity to know that there were two other positions open. Like it didn't bother to pull papers. That's fair. That's fair. No, that's a good point, Tracy. Yeah. And that and it like you may have an interest to have, but I the the dedication to have them run before and
running again and also coming to the meetings is important. I'm I'm obviously a little conflicted, but um it it it generally we now have three people running for a board with three seats. Mhm. So um
I think it it makes a lot of sense. Um Not that I don't relish a campaign. Everyone knows that. Um but uh you know, it's going to be boring. Well I think we all You know I'm okay with boring for a little while.
Um but I think given what what you said with there is so much work to to be done right now that A having a fully staffed committee and um you know, having the ability to just sort of concentrate on the on the things
that we we need to concentrate on to get get the budget sort of you know, in order working with everybody, finalizing that. We all know the budget doesn't stop just once the town meeting approves it. It continues on as we go through the end of the year. Feasibility study um
school building committee all the work involved. I think it's also important um you know, we're a little top heavy with you know, many of us have students that are either at the middle school or high school level. Um Jess has kids in the younger schools,
so she brings that perspective. I know you bring it as well and you will soon, but I I think it's really important to have some of that balance on the committee, too. Being a parent of kids at the elementary level. I think the way to look at it, too, if he uh Joe had resigned earlier, this
would be a three-person race for three open seats. So I think it's a good way to think about it. Just to clarify though for the community and Jess as well, like this would be a one-year appointment though for that open seat, correct? It's not a Yes, correct. Well, there's
only one year left in the term, but in the >> she's taking Joe's term. Yes. Well, but even if even if there are 2 years it would still be 1 year and then you would run for 1 year. That that's the most annoying one when someone resigns after 1 year. Right. Cuz then there's a 1 year appointment and then you run for 1 year and then you run Oh, yeah. No, no, it
doesn't reset the election cycle. You stay on it. That's the That's why it's so annoying. Wait, wait, hold on. How does this work? This is not what we're in right now, but if someone were to resign Within year one? Or after year year one, the person is appointed for for 1 year or till the following election.
They They then >> To be fair, we are in year one. run for a 1 They then run for a 1 year seat. Yeah. Or someone runs for a 1 year seat. And then the following year you run for a 3 year seat. In this instance it would be a 1 year appointment with a 3 year seat to follow. Is it a 1 year appointment though because we're
pre-election? It is a one and a few It is Does it count I'm It is until the next election the next ballot that you get on the ballot. So, doing it quicker now would also give some you know give give Jess or whoever the opportunity to participate in
everything that we're doing. I would make a motion that Jess would be our candidate um that If if she's interested. If she's interested. Honestly, yeah, I would have I would have So, [laughter] have that conversation with her. You have a say in this. Don't worry.
[snorts] Um of course. But in terms of like our meetings, I'm I'm a little bit concerned about the timeline and I want you to be able to reach out to the select board, too. So, I You know I'm concerned about So, the question is do we vote you vote
to select board and they vote online? How does this work? They have to vote with us. Oh, they have to vote with us. It's been handled differently by different boards. It's I won't get into all the details, but
we'll When the finance committee we were planning we would actually have a a joint meeting and there would be a a vote. That being said, um I've seen the library do it where they put forward a candidate um if the board that is appointed the board with the vacancy has more seats
than the select board and the board that has the vacancy is united then the the select board's vote while important is [snorts] is irrelevant. If we got a If she was voted 6-0 here Yeah. and then they present it to the select board. We have a new member by
by the time we have the next meeting which is the part that I think is important. I mean this Okay, so I think the challenge is how do we get a meeting then with the select board? Right. As much as I hear you, [music] Dan, that we could vote tonight 6-0 or whatever it ends up being and then they come in. I
do think we've done a lot of work to work together and I do think I I actually don't think given that that Jess hasn't actually expressed interest that we would we would vote officially tonight, but we we could vote on a on a sort of a
statement of support a general statement of support. Chair. I I Yeah, I I'm going to Yeah, we could convene a meeting before And we we we can meeting and then obviously you have to talk to her, too, after you But we have to get a read kind of a read from the
I I I'm in favor. I'd love to see Jess on, so yeah. Yes. Entertain a motion to show our >> Who's going to take the motion to talk with her? Just to make sure >> [laughter] >> Do you think she knows about it? I don't We'll have Sarah reach out. Okay.
Okay. What is it? So, we just Take a motion. I entertain a motion. Do we need to vote or I think we're in a Let's We're in alignment. Let's vote. Okay, well, you just love voting. And I'll make a motion to vote as our
support interest. In our support for Jess Owen for the replacement seat for Jess for Joe Perruzzi's Seconded by Don. All in favor? That passes.
Okay, so more conversations to come. Um uh The next thing is the Passantino solar lease. Yeah, so um Are you ready to No. Well, so so yes and no. Um This one I want to review a little bit
of the I haven't had a chance to fully read it. I did do a quick uh word search and it it's missing something that I would like it to be in there which is some more language around What cares about? What's that? Does it have language about caring? It has some
language about it. We need to review all of it and I want to hear what Dr. Jordan and Dr. think about some of this stuff. Um what's missing in my view in there is a option for the word a right for the schools to purchase the
the first right the panel the lease should be in in the event of a default. I don't I don't want to purchase I mean I don't necessarily need a purchase option after a certain period of time because I don't think we want to get into the business of it, but if the um provider of the solar panels does default and they go into bankruptcy, we
want to be able to sort of control maybe own that or I don't know if we can control it, but we can purchase it. We can we can have we can have we we we can decide Well, we we can do two things. We can actually add MFN you know most favored we can add the right to to basically meet any purchase or or
any price. But we could also add a a uh language to to veto anybody that are contracts all the time that you know give the give the party the the ability to say no that that we For instance, if they were to sell the the lease to a to a private equity owner or something like
that and we didn't want to have our So, the question that case we say we veto that. What's the other option? We we buy them. No, they then they could put it in they have to go back to to to bid for to selling it. I mean we we don't have to we don't have to go over to the lawyers
about what exactly it is, but I I would like to see some more protections around in the event because the It's a 30 year thing, right? And the lease itself still has value because it's a cat unit in in the bankruptcy because the panels are there, so it's it's still the the the the cash flows, but
um having the opportunity to either purchase it or ensure that it it goes to another sort of you know friendly party. I mean friendly They could they could sell it to an entity that we did not believe our you know our interests were aligned with their and then you
know For instance, they could sell sell to a to someone who had very clear views that didn't align with our our own. I can't disagree with you. I think there These things to language you might be able to Well, I know there's a the town's town
council has has reviewed this and I think we we just need to do a little bit more work around saying So, what I what I would like though is just so because we don't meet and I think that I was speaking with Dr. Jordan earlier today he said you know the sooner we get this done the sooner um they can begin work and then the sooner
they begin work the sooner we start to generate Yeah. Um would be if the committee is okay with me to have a vote to essentially authorize the budget subcommittee to finalize the contract and then and sign it.
Um you know sending that those type of changes and any other input that committee members have or would like. Just to say from my end on a fuel standpoint is we uh we go out to bid as a collaborative
among our communities um at the beginning of May and receive that back on what our fuel per gallon will be which I worst case I don't even call this worst case scenario is going to might be double what it
currently is this year. So, any solar reductions we can get would be very helpful. Yeah. If you are comfortable with that then we just don't have to bring it back to the full committee. We can do it at the budget. But if you want us to bring back
the changes that that's fine too with me. I'm okay. Yeah. All right, so I entertain a motion to have the budget subcommittee um finalize that. So, and approve the um Passantino.
Passantino solar lease. And President and Ram Passantino and Ram. And Ram. Um so Second. All in favor? That passes. And then the last item on our opening
session is um the policy advisory committee. We did receive um uh email from Pooja Pal who is interested in joining the um policy advisory committee
As the school committee Yeah, as the um school committee representative. Um I know she's been super involved in the community and I I think she'd be a great fit. So, um I'll make a motion to
>> appoint Pooja Pal to the policy advisory committee as a as a school committee appointment. Um beginning immediately. Seconded by Don. All in favor? That passes. Thank you, Pooja. And um at this point um Oh, last thing. I think
we will cancel We had a meeting on the books for April 16th, but that would give us three meetings in April which is a lot. So, I'll make a motion that we meet on April 16th. It might just be No. So, I think at this point we're going to
to the April 16th meeting and the next meeting then will be April 30th. And so in the midst of that, everyone will have April vacation and a little bit of time off and um Just a reminder, town meeting May 11th, so fairly soon after that.
>> Yes. And we really need everyone to show up and uh you know, support the the feasibility study and all the other school school requests. Well, I think communications will have more communication Yeah, but not it's final. Well, it will be finalized. May finalize. Yeah.
Okay, so at this point, um I will entertain a motion to adjourn our open session and we will be going into executive session from which we will not return.
Oh, for the purpose to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation if an open meeting may have a detrimental effect on the bargaining or litigating position of the public body and the chair so declares. So, we'll entertain a motion. Moved by Don. Second.
And I believe this is a roll call vote. Okay, Frank? Yes. Tracy? >> Yes. Hillary? Yes. Dan? Yes. Don? Yes. And I'm a yes. All right, good night, Hollis, and thank you very much.