Welcome everybody to the Holio School Committee August 25th, 2025. Calling this meeting to order at 6:13. Roll call please. Miss Feliciano. >> Mayor Garcia. >> Dr. Cologne >> here.
>> Mr. Sheen >> present. >> Mage >> present. >> Mr. Martinez >> here. >> Missy Williams >> here. >> Mr. Willahan >> here. >> Mr. and Miss Wilson >> present. I'll rise for the pledge of allegiance.
>> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, liberty and justice for all. On March 29, 2025, Governor Moro Healey
signed into law bodies to age 62 as amended by section 256 which contains the final form of the bill entitled an active relative to extending certain CO 19 measures adopted during the state of emergency act of interest to all
governmental public bodies in Massachusetts. The act extends until June 2027. the authority for meetings of multiple member bodies to be held in an entirely remote or hybrid format. All public bodies may hold fully remote or hybrid meetings without the physical
presence of a quorum of the public body as long as adequate alternative means of public access is also provided. Pursuant to Mass General Law Chapter 38 section 20, I'm hereby informing all attendees that a video and audio recording is being made of the meeting
and the meeting is being livereamed and run live on the city's community TV channel. Welcome everybody. Is there any It's looks like we don't have any student showcase yet, but happy
first day of school for everybody attending. Madame Vice Chair. >> Yes. >> Um I I I would just like to make a point that I'm I'm hoping that um our schools have a plan for getting our student reps um this year. So I would assume that
they wouldn't be here since it was the first day but going forward. So thank thank you Miss Wilson Miss Feliciano. Public comment. >> Yeah. >> Thank you. Communications and reports. Yes. Seeing that we don't have the student reps yet. Moving on to
superintendence report. Mr. Sto. >> Yeah, I have uh three items on the agenda. First, you know, uh the first day of school went amazing. Thank you to all of you that showed up to welcome and greet our students. I've gotten a ton of positive uh uh debriefs from our
principles. Um I just text each one of them individually on my way here and every everybody reported a strong uh day one. So, uh, shout out to everybody for all the planning that went into it and we were so happy to see our kids and, uh, I was at PE this morning and it was
just amazing to see the the kids smile and light up with, uh, you know, the seeing the building for the first time. Um, I have three items on in my report that I'm hoping um, will will get referred to the finance and operations
subcommittee. The first one being uh, student activities memo. you can see in in your packet there. Uh normally uh we I I have approved all the student activities to date, but um school committee hasn't really seen uh much of
this over the last nine years. So, we wanted to get a fresh start and make sure that um that we we get everything up to date and that all of you know what student activities are out there and uh the Mass General law around the student
activity and the procedures that we have in place to to make sure that um student activities are managed in a way that minimizes risk. Um in 2017 uh one of the things that I I changed uh
drastically with student activities was each school had their own accounts. They were handling cash. they were handling uh you know dispersements and we we you know we changed that procedure so that now everything goes into uh Munice and
um if you're going to be making purchases you do it through the requisition process which was uh just tightened up a lot of our the controls that we have in place. Um, we do plan on coming back to the committee for uh, you
know, to close out inactive accounts. Um, and we look forward to any discussion that we have um, at the the subcommittee. >> Mr. Sheen, >> make a motion to receive and refer the student activity accounts memo to the
finance and operations committee. >> Motion by Mr. Sheen, seconded by Miss Tensley Williams. discussion. Mr. Willian, >> thank you. Um, so what's your expectations for for um the memo for the
uh to land um the finance? Just want us to review the process or review the individual accounts. I had questions just on the inactive accounts myself. Some of them looked really old and dated. Some of it just had nominal nominal values in it. So I I don't know
what your um expectations are. >> Yeah. So the the first thing would be to accept, you know, or to vote to accept Mass General Law Chapter 71, section 47. >> The second would be to review the the procedures that we've established to
help us um manage um the student activity accounts themselves. And in that procedure, it talks about, you know, what we do with inactive accounts over time and what we do, you know, for example, with the graduating class once
they graduate, how much time they have to >> to uh collect the monies and then if they don't like what we do with those funds. So, we've worked um we we've worked on these procedures. So, one of the things that we wanted to do was make sure that you guys had an opportunity to
look at them and authorize them. And then uh part of the part of the MGL is that any new student activity accounts get approved by the school committee first before they're opened. So, uh we
want to get off on the right foot and say like this is a list of all the accounts that we have right now. So, we want to, you know, we want to approve those and then any new ones that come up in the future will come back to the committee prior to creating the the student activity. and any that we
inactivate or that uh don't have activity we would also be coming back to the committee. So um that would be the goal of the discussion that we have. >> Okay. It seemed like a long list. I hope maybe we can condense some of them. You know they had you know the Latin club,
the German club, the French club. Maybe we make that into just like a language club. That's just my initial reaction to it. Thank you >> Mr. Sheen. So, just when these come back,
I'm wondering if in that chart extra columns can be provided that explain what building they're for. And the ones that aren't like I know what wrestling's for, but the ones that aren't self-explanatory, just like what that
may be. Um, also is the motion is to refer it, but you mentioned having to adopt chapter 71 section 47. So, if we don't if we pause on adopting that, does that mean that
schools can't access or utilize fundraising and abilities to use the accounts until we do that? >> That is not how I'm, you know, unless you guys say that that's the expectation. Um, but
>> okay. I just wanted to make sure we don't have to take other action. >> Okay. >> Mr. Colmore >> all together bond bonded. >> So because uh the dispersements are essentially done by the treasurer we
don't have like not each you know uh p uh advisor of the account is bonded. The treasurer of the city is bonded. If we had a situation like when um like when I got here in Holio where the person receiving the funds is also
the person responsible for dispersing the funds and they just had access to do that and that would be a re that would be you know enough for us to uh you know uh get these these individuals bonded but right now um not you know the the dispersements are handled in our
accounting system. It's like a person makes a request and then it goes through a workflow and ultimately the treasurer of the city cuts the checks. >> Miss Wilson, >> I'm just wondering how an account was allowed to go into the negative.
>> Yeah. Um >> if we're doing the checks and balances. >> Yeah. So that the the way that I think an account can go into the negative because um if you're just entering a requisition to purchase items and your
account is in the negative, Ununice will stop you from doing that. But if you if you submit a reimbursement for expenses already paid and it goes through our payroll system, then that that that will, you know, Munice doesn't block payroll because we don't want people not
to get paid. So, we have to go through a process >> um where we clean that up. So, like that's that's uh you know, I recognize that that's a negative account and then I I need to work with Sean to figure out like how are we going to cover that negative expense. It all goes into the
same checking account. So, if you look at the checking account, it's in total. It's the the total that you see there. >> Um but we, you know, we definitely discourage employee reimbursements. We want people to go through the process of entering a requisition. The only time
that comes up is like on an emergency basis. Like we had, you know, we have a dance tonight and like the PO didn't go through and we have to pay the DJ, >> you know, something like that happens where an employee pays the DJ and then
so and then uh gets reimbursement from the um through through the payroll process. Miss Wilson, >> thank you. Um I'm just, you know, um I work in a school district and and you
know getting to a negative value would just not be possible. And while the total is fine, I don't think any of these clubs would appreciate having some of their monies that they've fundraised to cover that cost is is, you know, I
can say if I was the Holio High School football that 100 had $125 and you took that from me, I wouldn't be too happy. Um, so I'm glad that you're looking into that to set something up. Um, and I can tell you, um, at least from the school I work at, reimbursements are not
permitted unless you have, um, the principal's authorization before you do that. So, if that gives any ideas for you, just so you know. Thank you. >> Thank you. And we wouldn't pull from another student activity. So, I think one of the things, and Sean's on, I
don't know if Sean wants to add to this, but one of the things that we have to come back to the committee on is if we have uh some of these accounts may may not have had activity over the past 3 years, and we're going to be looking to close some of those. Mhm. >> Um, you know, that could be a place
where, you know, that that we transfer some of that to cover this negative balance >> or we can, you know, we could be looking to transfer some of the expenses that happened onto another funding source so that it brings that back into balance. But, um, you know, Sean Sean and I will
work together and and make sure we get we bring that back. >> Thank you. >> Mr. Mangano, did you wanted to add something? No. Um, Anony's right. And then there's also there's just been some movement with the schools and the configurations. So, you know, we're going to be like the
METAF one, for example, that would have been closed out. Uh, we would propose a uh shift to that um coming up shortly. Anyway, so uh we'll put together a plan and we'll bring that to the school committee. >> Thank you.
>> See no further discussion. All those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? So moved. >> Um the next item um which I also hope would get sent to finance and and
operation subcommittee is a budget transfer. Um one of the items on there that we're looking to uh transfer funds for is uh software that we came across. Um I met with the police chief of uh the
Holio Police Department and uh came across a product that he thought um would benefit would increase the safety of our of our uh enhance our safety protocols. So, the product essentially is um a a really good blueprint of each
school where they come and they walk in and they create this blueprint of a school so that emergency responders um in the event of a of a of a real life threat or issue. They're trained on how to read these blueprints and they can
easily navigate once they get to a school and you say, "Hey, uh, you know, there's a situation going on in uh, quadrant A11." They know exactly where that is. They understand what A11 means. >> Um, it's not something that we actually,
you know, have to do, but I do think it's a good idea to enhance um, some of our safety protocols that we have in place. So, we're looking to uh fund that right now out of contingency. That the initial lift would be to get this in every single one of our schools. And
then there would be a much smaller recurring fee. I think like $6 or $7,000 a year to keep that um uh update keep that uh on their platform and updated. But we essentially own the blueprints. It's not like um other products that
I've seen out there where you have to pay them and then when the partnership dissolves like they own exclusive rights to anything on there like we we would actually own the blueprints moving forward. Then the second item on there is, and this this came up at our last
school committee meeting about, you know, um being a little more proactive around when we have vacancies for related uh services um to not wait till the middle of the year to get these contracted services in place. So, we are
bring being proactive and uh looking to transfer funds from uh vacant positions to contracted services so that we can um bring in vendors to help support um some of our students. >> Miss Wilson,
>> um so when you were saying these blueprints, so who who brought this information to you? I missed that. It was brought to my attention from the uh Holio police chief >> and have
>> who was probably at a conference and saw this and said, "You know what? This would be really great in Holio." >> Have we put a bid out to see if there's any other um organizations who might do this? So, we're not just going with this one because it was recommended because they were at that event. Yeah, I think
once we get uh we didn't put a bid out because um that would you know uh we would have to get three quotes from you know from three different vendors but right >> we were looking to get initial approval first and then obviously follow the the
procurement pro process but I think that this product is is really a it's unique it's a sole proprietor I would consider it um but you know Sean wouldn't allow us to not make sure we're following following the procurement law >> when it comes to that stuff. So it if
this is something that the committee does want to move forward with, we would follow the the proper procurement channels and Sean has his hand up. >> Go ahead, Mr. Wango. >> Yeah. And they're on a they're on a
group purchasing contract um as it is, which satisfies the procurement rule. So they've already gone through a process to get onto a um a group contract. Miss Wilson. >> So, if I understood that correctly, you're saying that we don't need to go
follow the process and go out to bid. >> We wouldn't need to for them. Again, to uh the point the superintendent made. So, this is a proprietary software like many of the programs we use. So, the likelihood that there's three programs that are just like this um is
unlikely. There could be other programs um and they could be better >> the committee. >> Yeah. No, that to yeah to your point that the will of the committee is for us to um see what else is out there. Um we could do that. >> Okay. Thank you,
>> Mr. Sheen. >> I'll make a motion to um refer the transfer request to the finance and operations committee and they can >> second. discussion miss.
>> So being that that's what the intent was and and the request um from Mr. Sodto then my question would be under new business we have that same request with the recommendation for us to approve the budget transfer
for the same thing. So that >> would that be happening? >> Yeah, we we would skip that because we're hoping that the motion is >> okay >> to go to the >> okay >> subcommittee. >> Mr.
So I guess the only thing I mean reading over the two pages that we got about this what I don't understand about this software is I get the the mapping and having that
information of the uh blueprints. Um I don't understand one why it's only internal and not external as well u facilities related um when it comes to this. What I don't understand is the ongoing cost >> and what would change like I I guess I
just need to understand the what is the year why are we paying a yearly fee if we're getting if you're saying we're getting something that we get to have why do we need to pay every year that's my only and hopefully the subcommittee figures that out
>> Mr. Well, >> yeah. I mean, this kind of seems like it's technical information in terms of safety issues. I don't know whether, you know, the the police department wants to do a presentation to the full the full committee. You know, I mean, we're talking about, you know, you know, the
you know, it's more technology driven decision more than finance. Miss Wilson. >> So, my computer died in the middle of this. Um, uh, so let me just understand. So, we're
looking to send the blueprinting whatever um to finance in order to get the funding for it. >> Yeah, we would need to do a budget transfer in order to fund it. Um so in
order to approve the budget transfer I think that you know um we're first saying what what the what the budget transfer is for >> and uh hoping to answer any questions. >> So if I were to say no
>> then we wouldn't do it if >> because the fact that I it's not that I don't support the idea of you know higher safety in our schools. I'm absolutely for it. And if there's an event that our first responders need to respond to and if this aids them getting there quicker, absolutely. Um for our
families, our students, our you know, our teachers, our staff, everyone. But um but I just want to clarify that I want to see this go out to bid. So would I be voting no? Then if we're
just doing doing a tr a transfer of funds, is that going to supersede then the process? >> A no vote says that this doesn't go to the finance and operations subcommittee at this point. >> Mave.
>> Right. So my understanding is this is going to go to the finance and operations. then they will dig in deeper into what the cost of this program, what is this program going to offer? And obviously
more than likely the question that Mr. Sheen asked in in regards to the ongoing annual fee um and then make their recommendation back to the committee as to what then
how we should proceed. Should we instead seek out three bids um or or whatever? Um but right now, by what I'm understanding, it's just to refer it to finance and operations.
>> Mr. Welling, >> thank you. Yeah, I'm just I'm looking at this um this topic and I'm just looking at what the city council did a couple years ago with the spot the spot shter or the proper name for it I think right um
>> shot spotter >> shot spotter okay you know they went back and forth with that for for months you know they had the um the vendor come in you know they did a presentation you know these these are the statistics you know the um The program was in
Chicago. It was in Las Vegas. You know, they did the stats. They brought those stats back to the city council. They got vetted, you know, back and forth for months on that, you know. So, again, there was a vendor in charge that was providing the
data. You know, who's going to provide the data to the finance committee? A memo from Shawn, you know, is that going to suffice? You know, that's my open-ended question. Mr. Sheen.
>> So, I'm just going to say that we get very narrow scope on this. We can take this as a budgetary matter, but as a school committee, we get to say yes, the transfer can happen and the superintendent has the authority to make the decisions of purchasing. We don't
get to say that yes, this can happen, but you can't buy this software. So we can say no you cannot we are not making this transfer which would in turn mean you are not buying that software but we don't get to put the strings on what is purchased. So just I mean the transfer
is there the request is for the transfer the administration is superintendent said this is the best possible option which would it's a proprietary sole source item that they can say that we've sought out uh advice on this and this is what we want to
purchase. We get to make a decision where the transfer happens. If we don't want the transfer to happen, the purchase doesn't happen. That's our authority here. I was asking about the ongoing costs because there would be ongoing costs and the why because that's something that would need to be budgeted going forward. But we don't get to make
the decisions. We have very narrow scope on what items we get to make decisions for. And this is we so we can say yes or no on the money and that's what the subcommittee can figure out. Uh but the superintendent has said this is the best possible option out there. So we get to
use our authority and budgeting on that. >> You miss Tensley Williams. >> My question to Mr. is after you spoke with the police chief, do you think um we need this? Is it something extra or would it benefit us? I mean, I think it
enhances our safety protocols and allows us in the worst possible case scenario where there is an incident where first responders have to go, it better equips them to handle those situations. If we're if we never have an incident and
we never need to use this, then that's awesome. And like then it would be in some ways uh you know >> a waste. But like in the event that we actually need it, I think that it gives first responders more tools to act more
quickly and address an issue uh um and be better equip equipped to address an issue. So if the transfer doesn't go through, the only the reason I'm bringing it is because we didn't budget for this and if we want to buy it, we we need the school committee to approve
transferring money for it. if the transfer doesn't go through and you know the mayor and the police chief think that this is something that they want to do even if the school department isn't paying for it then then like that is something that may end up happening like
>> so it's better to have it and not need it than to need it and then we're safe >> I I think so okay >> and the police chief thinks so >> okay thank you >> Mr. Mangano, is that a new hand or an old hand? >> Uh, it's a new hand. Um, thank you.
>> Go ahead. >> So, just the the question on the annual cost. So, there could be zero annual cost. There's no requirement for an annual cost. Um, if we wanted to uh they make updates to the platform, there's different types of maintenance they do to the platform. So, if we wanted to
keep the latest version of everything, it's 560 or 580 bucks a school, which is how we get to the 6,000 or 7,000 per year. Um, so it's an option. We we don't have to do that. We could just get the maps, have them, um, we would have them available, and then we could have no
recurring cost in the future. So, it's sort of an option for the district, and we would dig in with a company to find out like what types of enhancements and maintenance are being done to determine if it's if it's worth the annual cost. Um, but we would be able to budget that in the future if need be. Um, and then
to Mr. Wellan's point about information CRG, you know, if if the school committee wants to get more direct information from the company, we could, you know, arrange for them to either present at the finance subcommittee or bring them to a full committee. Um, if the committee feels like it needs that information directly um, they would be
the experts to talk about their product and and how well it works. Thank you, Miss Dler Williams. Uh >> Sean, is this a one-time fee or monthly or yearly? >> The budget transfer request is a onetime
fee to get these maps created and the the basically the layouts established. Um and then as I said said a minute ago, we could have no recurring fee. we would have those and that we would own them or we could opt to pay a recual fee to get
maintenance and updates to the to the program. >> Thank you. >> All right, at this point we'll take a vote. >> All those in favor? >> I. Any opposed? >> So moved.
>> And the the last item in your packet is just us trueing up to the final budget. So, as you all know, we we developed our budget based on the Senate Ways and Means uh numbers and then once it goes through the uh final budget process, um
we often see changes in the charter assessments and the andor school choice. And I've outlined in the memo um the changes that were made to the final budget. And eventually we we have to
true that up um to to stay in line with the net school spending requirement. >> Mr. machine. >> Are we looking for action on this or is this an FY? What's the >> uh eventually it would be uh so we're
looking to move it to the finance and operations subcommittee >> receive and refer to finance and operations. >> Second second by Miss Wilson discussion Mr. Sheen. So, I understand the charter school
stuff and why those numbers decreased so much, but school choice tuition, did we I mean, did we get a huge influx of new enrollment or what I mean for to be 400,000 off on
school choice? Yeah, I I haven't seen the numbers behind how many seats the the state is counting in their in their assessment, but I can tell you that it it gets updated regularly. I want to say it gets updated three times a year, if
not quarterly. Um, so these numbers will fluctuate again. So the charter assessment number and the school school choice number they the throughout the budget process they do they give their best efforts to provide us with what we
need to budget for. But um then throughout the year they actually go and count the number of students that you have in charter seats and the number of students you have that are choicing out of the district and then they you know they basically update their uh the
numbers accordingly. And you know if if it's if it's um a material amount we usually come back to the you know we would come back and and make the adjustment. Um, sometimes it's this in this case it's it's material and in some cases it's it's not and we work with the
uh city treasurer's office to make sure that our numbers are up to date or the sorry the city auditor. All right. See no further discussion. All those in favor I >> any opposed? So moved.
Next up, new business >> uh >> engagement letter. >> Yeah, we have so um as many of you are aware, we went through an RFP process to select the general counsel for the school committee and the council that's
going to represent us for collective bargaining and employee related matters. Um the the other attorney that that we use for special education and for student uh student related matters uh is
the the engagement letter is attached and uh Mr. Matthew Makavoy is here. Um you you uh if if you've read the attachment you see that his bio is in there and the other two partners bio is in there. Um I can tell you from my
experience they've been a great partner. Um, Mr. Makavoy is always always always available if we're in a pinch and we need some legal advice on how to how to handle a specific matter regarding a student or uh special education. He um
you know, he's always available and and has supported us and and continues to support us. So, um, wanted to create an opportunity for you all to meet Matthew. And I'm not sure if there's any action that the school committee would take.
Um, but that's that's what we were hoping to do today. And then one other thing that I want to give as a background is um, when we're seeking for advice, our our we hired our main council Mr. Makavoy
has been from the district side. So when we started working with um the student handbook and we had um issues that we wanted legal review on some of the issues would be referred to Mr. Makavoy
and that's part of the reason why we are talking about this now because we want to make sure that everybody understands who we get advice from, who's representing us and so on and so forth. So this was part of the process to make sure that everybody is informed as we
move forward. >> Thank you, >> Mr. Sheen. So, do we need any type of a motion for the committee to engage on this agreement? >> Is
Miss Wilson, was this just a notice of information because we've already entered into a contract? Was this just more of an informational as to who we're going to be working with so that we're familiar with those individuals and their backgrounds and how relevant they are to our work?
>> Yeah. I mean, yes. So, we had already he's he's been working with the district um and continues to work with us on issues. Uh the reason I got the engagement letter was because it goes through the procurement process and and as part of the process the city needs to
see the engagement letter and um one of the things we recognizes you uh this the committee hasn't had the opportunity to meet uh Matt Makavoy like they did Mark Terry. Um, so I also wanted to create kind of space for Matt to introduce
himself and to talk a little bit about, you know, uh, how he has supported the district and, you know, um, and hopefully, you know, just just give create that opportunity, >> Miss Lefave,
>> right? when we um voted to elect um attorney Terry and that firm, we had also interviewed another firm. So now my question is going to go back to um how long have we been working uh with this
firm and when the initial contract was developed was it developed for a certain period of time or was this going to be like an every year type thing? >> Yeah, I mean we've been working with
Matt um for as long as I you know as long as I can remember. Matt, I don't know if you want to speak to your experience here in Holio >> since 2017. We first came aboard when receiver Zich was uh the receiver for the district. >> Okay. So, it becomes a revolving just
ongoing and there was no expect there wasn't like a term contract end date >> there. There was not. It was we we essentially we represent over 70 clients, 70 districts across Massachusetts with the majority of
districts except for certain districts that have uh specific municipal requirements. We don't actually even require uh contracts or retainer agreements. It's pretty much a call us as you need us uh arrangement.
and >> and I'm I'm happy to talk to you all about, you know, the work we've been provide that we've done with Holio since 2017. Uh I've represented Holio in regards to um Bureau of Special Education Appeals
Matters, student discipline matters, general student related matters, and conduct quite a bit of professional development training for Holy Oak staff. Uh I have been practicing in this area for 32 years. Uh I am a former parent
side attorney, a former Bureau of Special Education Appeals Hearing Officer for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. And for the past 23 years have focused my practice exclusively on representing public
schools, charter schools, and vocational schools kind of all across the state. Uh I represent several districts in central Mass as well, >> Miss Leave. >> Okay. So now here's where the questions are going to come
>> now that we have local control, right? And we sat here and we interviewed the other two firms and then decided and voted on one. The question is going to go back to this was um an agreement or a
contract and a hiring of this firm during um state control and it was through a receiver who chose um the firm. So here's my question. If we're doing
the process correctly, then at the end of the day, wouldn't the contract now have to be developed with the school committee who now has the control of the district with um the
firm Makavoy, Joyce, and Kowalsski? Yeah, it was my understanding during that RFP process that this this uh committee wanted to uh solicit an RFP for a specific purpose which was you
know general counsel and labor relations and uh you know throughout conversations we're aware that we we do use uh a different attorney for uh special education and student matters. So, it was my understanding that that we
weren't going to be going out to RFP for those services because we were um you know, we we already had somebody um that was working on that. So, that that's kind of what I'm hoping to get out of this like if there is any action that
the school committee would like to take around this then, you know, uh to let me know so that we can work through a formal process. But um more so to create you know I wanted to make sure that you had an opportunity because I had mentioned throughout that process that
we do use a different attorney for student related matters in special education. Um and I recognize that this the committee had not had the opportunity to meet this person. >> Mr. Sheen >> like to make a motion that the uh school
committee engage with Makavoy Joyce and Kowalsski for special education and general education uh matters as outlined in the August 19th um what is it engagement letter >> seconded by Mr.
discussion. Seeing none, all those in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? So moved. Is a favor. >> So I just want to go on record just saying that I want to make sure that we're doing the process correctly. Right. It's not that I'm saying that
that's not the firm, that I don't agree with it, whatever. I just want to make sure that we have all our eyes dotted, tees crossed, and making sure that now being that we're back in local control that if the decisions are for us to
hire, then it for us to approve it. So, thank you for the motion, >> Miss Wilson. >> Yeah, I agree um that uh we're in we're in a new world for us. Um, and I I
appreciate um everyone's educating us more and more as we move through our local control. So, I just want to thank everyone for that. >> Thank you so much, Mr. Sheen.
>> Like to make a motion to go out of order to take up the family handbook next. >> Seconded by Miss Densley Williams. discussion. >> Thank you. Uh >> oh, sorry.
>> All those in favor? >> I. Any opposed? >> So moved. Now you can talk. Sorry. >> Thank you for the motion. Um so this item is on the agenda because there was some outstanding questions related to the student handbook and I just want to
say that um you know as as uh Dr. Rivera Cologne mentioned the employee handbook went to Mark Terry and then the student handbook went to Matt Makavoy. Um and this happened right before I went on vacation. So I wanted to make sure that uh as part of the process we got legal
to review the whole handbook and uh Mr. Moguel was uh in uh connecting with Matt Makavoy, sent him the um the student handbook and he was able to go through and review the entire handbook and delete anything that he thought um
shouldn't be in the handbook. Um and there was a miscommunication uh at the last meeting where uh uh Mr. Moguel mentioned that um it was the legal advice that we have to keep the HIV AIDS section in the in the handbook. And as I
was preparing for this meeting, one of the one of my action steps was uh to reach out to the attorney to see if he was available to talk about why. And in talking to him, he uh you know, he mentioned to me that you know it we could actually delete that section. So,
I was hoping um a for you guys to meet him, which you already did, and then b for him to uh briefly talk about uh his process in terms of when we sent the handbook, how um you know, what was what was he looking for, what was his review
process like and if he wants to touch on the uh HIV language section that in question um to create that opportunity for him. So, um Mr. Makavoy, do you want to talk about you know what was your review like of the student handbook and
>> absolutely you know when when we we do numer I do multiple student handbook reviews every year. Um the last time I had reviewed uh Holio um community handbook was in 2018 that that
contained the same language regarding HIV status. Uh generally when I'm reviewing a handbook, what I'm looking for is information that is misleading, legally incorrect, um or information that's, you know, really out ofd or has been superseded by some change in the
law. Uh with regard to the HIV information in question, uh there's really nothing inaccurate about that state the statement in the handbook. Uh it simply provides kind of it reiterates the additional protections provided under Massachusetts law. uh as
far as the confidentiality of student information uh relative to HIV status. Uh but it also provides some procedures for parents to follow if their child is um HIV positive. It is, you know, not information that's required to be in a
student handbook. It's also not information that's, you know, patently inappropriate for a student handbook. And when I'm reviewing student handbooks like this and particularly when there are specific statements about uh certain subgroups of students who may be you
know uh at risk or disproportionately impacted by potential actions. Uh I generally do not you know recommend removal of that language as it can be alarming to members of the community when suddenly that language is gone. Um
and the language in the handbook I did consider legally correct. It was somewhat redundant in that we already have a provision under the student health records section uh referencing the confidentiality of that information under chapter 111 section 70F. Um but it
would it would be totally fine to remove it if the committee were so inclined. >> Mr. machine. >> So, just to make sure that I heard correctly, the district has not had an attorney review the student handbook since 2018. >> I haven't reviewed the community
handbook since 200 I let me just check. There might have been a a quick review by someone in the office in 23, but the primary review came in 2018. >> Okay. So, there's been no legal updates or changes to this handbook since 2018
by the district. Oh, well there are definitely legal updates. Uh the the the discipline statement sections have been updated to reflect changes to well the the you know implementation of mass general law chapter 71 section 37H and 3/4 the
school rules violation statute as well as the amendments to that statute which uh came into play in November 2024 2023 sorry. Okay. So, what's the difference between a
review and additions? I mean, I guess I'm very confused that the district doesn't send >> I I will tell you I can give you some examples in the handbook. like one of the one of the examples of an addition
was uh first of all the the MASC's proposed policy language regarding the recent Supreme Court decision uh in the Mimmude matter uh regarding religious optouts. Uh I also we've also included additional language regarding uh
non-discrimination and food service activities which is now required language. uh and that with that language being contained in the handbooks is being kind of aggressively reviewed by the department of elementary and secondary education for districts all across the state. Uh, I believe I added
some other additional information in various places to kind of clarify what the legal requirement was or if there was a sentence that was misstate, you know, was misrepresenting what the actual obligation of the district was or what
the rights of the student are. So I essentially will go through line by line uh and make red line changes and include uh related comments in the margin where the change uh isn't, you know, kind of obvious in and of itself,
>> Miss Wilson. >> So I don't see any redline changes. I don't see the changes that were made. I know they were made, but I would say in the future I would appreciate a clean
version and a line version so I know what the language was that was updated >> because otherwise we we don't I don't know any anything could have been updated. >> So I would appreciate that in the future a clean and then the redlinined.
>> Yep. Noted. Um, we did create a summary of like here was the old language, here was the new language, but it's not something that's included in the packet. So, I'd be happy, you know, one of the things that I'm hoping to do is bring the student handbook and the employee handbook once because there's still some
unresolved, you know, uh, comments in there that I'm working with Mr. Makavoy and and our team to update. And so, uh, one of the biggest things that's outstanding is we got to work on getting the Spanish translated version of the handbook, but we don't want to do that
until we get final approval. So, I'm hoping at the next meeting um to have all of those comments resolved and to be able to summarize any changes um that um the issue here is that I had two different people managing the process.
So Beth was managing the employee handbook and the way she was doing it, she was using track changes. Moguel was handling the student handbook and the way he did it is he created a chart of like here's what we sent and here are the the recommended changes that the
attorney had. Um, in the future whenever we're soliciting input from legal, I I have to come up with a process with Irene so that we're we're consistent and uh we have like positive confirmation and review of what the legal advice is
from either either one of the attorneys. And I've already talked to Irene about about that. Miss Wilson, >> since the topic is the handbook and since we did just get advice that the um the HIV section is not required, is it
inappropriate for me to make a motion at this time or would we need to wait until the next meeting? Because I would like to make a motion to remove that language from the student handbook. A motion on that.
>> Do we have a second? Mr. Isas on the second. Discussion. >> Miss Densley Williams. >> Microphone. >> I think we need to wait until it's
final. That's just my opinion. >> Thank you, Miss Wilson. >> So, in order to finalize the handbook, um the reason um you know, Mr. Sheen had asked about you know this section is it
is it necessary um you know that the thought process around HIV and AIDS has changed and we don't uh identify any other um you know medical condition separately like that we don't do hepatitis C things of that sort that are
transmittable. So I'm making the motion because I don't want to wait until it's finalized. we we should change it or remove it before it's finalized. And we just heard from our legal counsel that it is not required to be in the handbook.
So that's why I made the motion and then if we if we vote to take it out then that would be removed as part of the final version because we don't want it to be final and then go back and say now we want to change it. So that's why I'm making I made that motion. Thank you,
>> Mr. Sheen. And I'll just say I I support that. But if that doesn't pass, what's in here is also archaic language that I've talked about. And I've made suggestions to make it more inclusive
with it um that are there when we were going through this. And I just think that there's we can do better than what's there if it doesn't pass either. Mr. Colmer, uh, >> how many
times or is it yearly that this handbook is reviewed? >> Yeah, we go through a process where, you know, most of the time there's not a lot of changes. So, um, I can think of, you know,
I can think of a couple of times where we had to made make substantive changes. So like when when the federal government changed the title 9 procedures, we had to update our handbook to reflect that. Um and uh you know there there was a
time where we were talking about the uh retention policy and and and creating that which we talked about last year. Those those were some pretty substantive changes but from year to year we don't see a lot of substantive change changes.
What we do is um we go through a process every year where um at some point during the uh you know during the late June um early July we go through a process of making sure that everything in there is updated and if there were something
substantive that needs to change that we need legal advice on we would reach out to Mr. Makavoy and say, "Hey, um, we we just saw that, you know, um, that this law changed, so we want to make sure that the language is in the handbook is up to date." And he would consult with
us and get us the right language. Um, but most of the changes are, you know, changing the years uh, to reflect the updated school year. if we have some new principles or uh you know a new school
or we change addresses or somebody changes, we want to make sure that those changes are in there. So, we go through that process, but in my experience um it's it's um it's not substantive unless something changed that requires us to change the language. And this year in
particular, we went through, you know, we made sure we sent everything to the relevant uh department heads to review. We made sure that the attorney had an opportunity to go through it all. I don't anticipate that every year it has to be such a substantive review, but um
um it's just minor changes and tweaks unless something requires us to change it. >> Seeing no more discussion, all those in favor? >> I. Any opposed? So moved. Thank you, Mr.
>> Thank you, Mr. Makavoy. >> Thank you, Attorney Makavoy. >> Thank you all. Thank you for having me tonight and have an excellent school year. >> Thank you so much. Have a good one. >> Bye. >> Next up, outofstate field trips.
>> Yes. So, you have in front of you a field trip that we're hoping to get approved for. Um it will be uh two students uh with two straperons from the uh Holy Oak High School and it's building off of the
work that we did with the student summit. It's going to be funded by the bar foundation. So it seems like a a great opportunity for us to engage in this field trip and hopefully bring back some good stuff. Um uh many of you remember the the student summit that we had last year where we had almost 80 of
our high school students you know talk about real school issues and you know how they can uh play an active role in in changing it and we we got a lot of feedback from them on some um on some issues in the school and it was just a a great great way to engage students and
we we just think that this will be a great opportunity uh to continue that work. Miss Lefave >> motion that the school committee vote to accept the out of state field trip for Holio High School North Campus to attend
the Auror the Aurora Institute symposium in New Orleans, Louisiana from October 25th to the 28th. >> Second that. >> Seconded by Miss Leon Martinez. Discussion. Miss Wilson. I think it would be really wonderful if we could
get the students as well as the chaperons to come and just share as one of the you know upcoming after they attend this to share with us. I think it'd be really it's an exciting thing um for them to attend and I I would love to
hear what they learn, you know. Um I think it'd be great. >> Thank you. >> Not required but a request. >> Sounds like a great student showcase. It does. It does. That's why I was saying it. It does sound like a >> Exactly.
>> Right. Give them a little time. Don't do no do the end of November, not the right away. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Sheen. >> Have we received this grant money yet as a committee? >> Uh, yeah, it's a it the the Bar
Foundation is a multi-year grant that we've had. >> It's the same dispersement that we've had or is it a new dispersement? The committee needs to receive the funding. same dispersement that we've had. Yeah. >> Seeing no further discussion, all those in favor? >> I
>> I. Any opposed? >> So moved. Out of state travel. >> Uh >> make a motion the to approve the authorize the out of state travel for Christy Elman, director of recruitment to attend the American Speech Language Association convention November 19th to
the 22nd. Second. seconded by Miss Lefave. Discussion, >> Mr. Willahan. >> Thank you. >> Yeah, this is um one of the ongoing challenges for our budget is funding
these specialized um uh speech pathologists and um psychologists. Um most of the districts out in western Mass are having challenges funding these
positions. So we have to go through um we have to hire them through a contract basis. So hopefully this will um improve that uh our um hiring process. That's what I'm
hoping for. But again, if every other I'm I'm assuming we're not the only district that's going to be attending this. So you might have Amoris might be there in Northampton. So looking at the same looking at the same uh um
um employees. Thank you. >> Right. See no further discussion. All those in favor? I. Any opposed? So moved. budget transfer and reports >> and we're we took this one already. It's
referred to the >> finance subcommittee gifts and grants in Vento. >> Yeah. Um there's uh two grants there and a essentially a gift that was given to
us. The first one, the first grant is our normal Mckin Vento homeless education grant. And the second one is the CPPI grant, the Commonwealth preschool partnership initiative with which helps fund, you know, uh about six
of our prek full day classrooms. Um and the ink kind donation that we have is from a you know health technology company that reached out to our technology director and wanted to donate some devices. So it's not any devices
that we would be uh deploying to uh students or anything because it's not the same devices that um are autoimaged across the district. But if there's ever a need to uh to have a device in in central office or something like that, if there's ever a need, we would deploy.
They're they're brand new devices. So, um we're just hoping that the school committee accepts uh donations and gifts. >> So, do we have a motion? >> Yes. >> Miss Wilson, >> I'd like to make a motion that the school committee accept the gifts and
grants re received. Second >> motion made by Miss Wilson, seconded by Miss Stencley Williams. Discussion, Mr. Shen. >> So I just want to hear more about this donation of the three Dell Optiplex desktop PCs and so and the three Surface
Go computers and it says to support the schools, but it sounds like there's really no plan to to support the schools with those. So, did they just So, it was just a phone call that said, "Hey, we want to give you this stuff and >> but we're just going to have it sit for people in central office like I'm
>> Well, we're going to have it sit until there's a a need for it. I we haven't identified a need. Um they reached out and said we'd like to help the school district. I know it says schools there and um they're brand new devices. Um, so
you know, uh, if if we didn't want to accept these, we would just tell them, "Sorry, we wouldn't, you know, we we can't take these." >> Well, so I mean, I want to accept them and I will vote to accept them, but it's also like I mean,
>> we need to I mean, I also don't know who Pixel Health is, but um, we need to have a plan with this because people are going to give us things like we should at least be getting those resources out. So I mean >> these desktops that we're getting are they things that we can adequately use
on our network? Are they I mean are people using desktop computers? Is there I mean is this going to create a strain on our technology department using a different type of software a different type of hardware that they're not normally used to um having to service.
So I I guess I just I mean >> if we're going to take stuff I want to use it and I want to plan for using it. Yeah. >> When did this call come? >> I agree. Um Sean, do do you have any other information?
>> Yeah. Um so Jenny Malave, who is our director of data services, um she wants them. So that was the first step. The call, she was the one that um received the call about the donation and my first question was like, "Do you want them?" Because they're, you know, a different
model than we have um across the district. So, um, but she does want them. Um, it wasn't solicited. So, I agree with you, uh, Mr. Shane, about having a plan, but it wasn't like a grant we applied for where, um, you know, where we we there was an identified need and we were trying to fill that need. This was sort of just a
generous outreach that was made to us from this company. Um, they're I did some research on them. They are located in Open Square. Um, they do like different types of healthcare technologies in the area. Um, so, so I think the call came in two or three
weeks ago and so we've got it ready for this meeting. >> Thank you, Miss Wilson. >> I was just going to add that they're headquartered in Holio. Pixel Health has provided IT consultation and support services to over 45 healthcare institutions over the past 13 years. So,
um, it is a Holio based business looking to give back to its community, which is nice. Seeing no further discussion, all those in favor? >> I. Any opposed? So moved. >> I'd like to make a motion.
Go ahead. >> Student uh the school committee vote to receive the warrants listed above. >> Second. >> Seconded by Miss Lefave. Discussion. >> Seeing none. All those in favor? I I >> Any opposed?
>> So moved. >> Update subcommittees. Policy and governance subcommittee. Miss Wilson. I'm pulling up my calendar here. I believe it was the uh I was scheduling it for our next meeting is uh Wednesday,
September 3rd um at six o'clock. I do have to verify um if the individual from MASC can attend. I realize on my way here I had not reached out to Miss Lefond um and she's busy. So tenatively it's Wednesday,
September 3rd. If it needs to change it will um yes. >> Thank you. Finance and operations of committee Mr. Willahan. >> Thank you. Um the committee met on
August 21st. Um some of the topics we talked about tonight um we just um our finance director um assisted us with the presentation. We just had a um um final budget report
for fiscal year 25. I think we spent 98% of the budget. So, um, that was good. I know we had some concerns. I'll speak for myself. I know Miss, um, Debron Martinez mentioned
it, too, that, you know, even though we're spending the budget down, a lot of the funds we're transferring, they're they're coming from classroom services. So we're taking revenue from vacancies
and salaries and we're appropriating those to other facets within the budget. So even though the budget is solid and we're not um we're in a good financial situation, there's less money being spent in the classroom. And um so that's
a quote that I went out there. So I'm just it's just a concern because of the vacancies throughout the district. Um, we just had a review of all the budget transfers, many of them that we've been
um covering in. We had a verbal facility report just mentioning all the um improvements to our schools throughout the last couple years. Anything from sidewalk repairs to
playground improvements. Um, we're in the pipeline for five new roofs, either new roofs or partial roofs. Those were discussed at a recent meeting. So, that's in the pipeline
going through the uh the state. And um again, I um just want to thank our um finance director for assisting us throughout the uh meeting.
Thank you, Mr. Willingham. Next up, joint city council school committee, Mr. Colmore and Mr. >> Refer to Mr. Will. >> Perfect. >> I drew the short straw. [Laughter] I think he cheats. Okay.
We We had a longer meeting. This was on Thursday, August 14th. Um, again, we had a full um we had three members of the city council and three members of the school committee. I know Mr. Sodto assisted us and our financial director
assisted us. A lot of topics. I'll go through them real quick. Mr. Soda might want to chime in on some of those. A lot of them dealt with um typical issues, safety issues with the schools. I know um councelor Bartley was concerned that we don't have
a dedicated crossing guard at the medaf. Um so that was discussed in length. Um we talked about um safety issues from the drop off and pickoff perspectives
perspective with um um cars going through um the areas fast and not really giving a lot of consideration to the students and the crossing guards. Um, I kind of chimed in
and I I I had I've received complaints about some of the parents not adherent to um some of the directives in terms of um the drop off and the pickup um pick off. So, I chimed in on that. Um we
talked about the um exit asurances um from the state. So that came up. Um we had a letter from a um
uh Commissioner Tutweiler um his memo as part of the meeting um and just where we are in terms of a district. We're getting out of receiverhip. I know the um city council, they get a lot of um
feedback from their constituents in terms of their nervous about that. Um and again um I think some of the some of the teachers were were calling them with their uh concerns. So we sort of helped
them put them at ease with that. um saying that we have a good team here in place and we're working in the right direction. Um there was a couple orders regarding the PC school, an update on
the progress on that and um signage at the PC school, some of the issues we had a table for future meetings. Um I know um we talked about the uh the grand opening for the PC school. Everyone's
excited about that. Um, we had other issues in terms of the safety. Um, Mr. Sodto explained that we have one um, one dedicated school resource officer that's going to be working between Sullivan and
Peek on a full-time basis. So, I was relieved to hear that. And um there was a question on whether the district would be affected by the
potential lack of federal grants coming into the district and I know Sean gave an overview on that. Um so far so good on that. So those are the issues we talked about. Some of them were tabled um going forward, but um it was a
productive meeting. Thank you. >> Thank you, Mr. Willahing. Stop doing a good job so that you don't get the shortest straw every time. Kidding. Kidding. Next, we have local control subcommittee. Miss Lefab,
>> we're all set. >> Leadership accountability and measurement subcommittee. will be meeting soon to uh discuss with the superintendent about his goals from the last meeting. >> Thank you so much. Announcement, don't forget the pec ribbon cutting ceremony
at 4:15 at Peek Middle School on September 2nd. Miss Leave, >> I know that the Springfield Puerto Rican parade is coming up sometime in September. Did we get information on that one?
>> Yes. Irene sent it out. >> Okay, I'll look through >> three times. >> All right, listen. You don't even have to go there. Got it. >> Maybe you didn't September. >> Send it to the right one. Maybe you sent
it to M Feliciano at HBF. >> Miss Feliciano. >> I will make sure to double your emails. Um, but I'm just waiting also for um confirmation from Garcia to your drop offs and everything else. So, I should have that by the end of the week.
>> Thank you so much. And that is the Springfield Puerto Rican day period September 14th. Mr. Willahan. >> Thank you. It's not on the agenda, but just a quick question on the scope of services for the search um
superintendent search. Did we have homework on that? And I don't know whether when you were expecting our feedback on that. >> So the the we we got the feedback on that and we
have our homework to send for the quotes and then that's going to be sent to the subcommittee. Yeah. No problem. >> Miss Tinsley Williams. >> Um hope we get a ride and Mr. Call more and myself if he's going.
>> We're always taking care of you. >> Okay. >> You need a ride, we'll make it happen. >> Okay. Thanks. All right. >> Any other announcements? >> I have a quick one. I think Go ahead, Miss Williams. >> I've had calls from principles um
wanting me to volunteer and go back into the schools with the children with the poems. So, I just need some I got to show you guys something real quick. Uh this poem is coloring books. and I'll show you what I'm going to do. Have you ever wondered why coloring books are so
much fun? It could be when you color. The crayons do not run. Coloring books have so many pictures and lots of things to do. The crayon colors that you use, they are so pretty, too. Coloring books come in all sizes. Some are large and some are small. When you finish coloring
the pictures, you may frame them for your wall. When coloring time is over and you put the books away, put them where you can find them to color another day. I will be showing the kids after we color. This is something, you know, food came
in, but be a frame for them and they can hang it on their wall. >> Well, I think this a good idea. I do crafts. So I will be going into >> one thing that didn't make it to the to my vice chair report is that we have the
appointment for two members for the negotiations team. That would be Mr. Shien and myself. Just making sure that's out there. >> Oh, teacher contract negotiations. Thank you.
>> We don't need a >> No. So now we need a motion to adjurnn. >> So move second by Miss Olson. All those in favor I. Thank you everybody. Meeting adjourn at
7:30.