Come on. >> Hi, welcome to Thursday, October 30th, the regular school committee meeting. I'm going to call the meeting to order and we'll start with a pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> All right, we have public comment. But seeing nobody in here, I am assuming we have no public comment.
Recognitions, anything? Anybody? No. All right, I think we'll go right in to Spongebob. >> Uh, guys. Um, so I think we'll just start this off with an athletics update. Um, the MIA power rankings have recently
came out. Most of, uh, if not all of our fall teams have gone into the playoffs. So, the power ranking as of right now, field hockey is number 8th. Football is 21st. Boys soccer is 30th. Girls soccer is 11th and girls volleyball is uh 20th.
There is a girls playoffs varsity game today. I couldn't tell you what team they're playing, but hopefully we're looking for a win. And there's a football game tonight. >> I think um sadly the girls volleyball lost. >> Oh, I did not know that.
Um hopefully the boys football game can uh a win. Next up, uh we're going to go into stuff that's happened recently. Uh we're going to bring up the pep rally. The pep rally was especially close to me because I was lucky enough to MC it with Cali Arthur. Uh it was a huge success. Uh there were no slip ups. Nothing bad
happened. Uh the seniors won almost every single event. So that's, you know, what we hope for. Um, side note, after the pep rally, Hall Youth Coalition held a pickleball tournament um to raise awareness about prevention work and I'm pretty active um in that coalition and it was really
effective. >> Uh last Saturday, the 25th, was the homecoming dance. Uh I was able to help set up for it and uh it was set up very beautifully. Of course, it was uh Marty Gra. Uh I wasn't there unfortunately for the whole time. However, for people who were, they said it was a blast and when
I was there, I had a great time. So, >> super fun. Um, and then last night we have the induction ceremony for National Honor Society, National Art Honor Society, Triumph, and Spanish Honor Society. Um, I spoke as a president of National Honor Society, my co-president
is my friend Emerson. Um, and we had a tremendous number of inductees this year, even with race standards. Miss Williams and I make the executive decision to um increase like applications and just like um take into
consideration attendance and tardies um which was new this year but we still have a lot of turnout. Um going into Halloween um today teachers dressed up which was super fun. Um the science department was heavy metals which they
were like different rock artists and stuff and it was fun because they were playing music in the hallways. Um language department was Wizard of Oz. Those are my two highlights. And then which is really cool, science department raises money for um blankets to make for the Serenity House um by asking students
to donate and the more money they raise the better their costumes. And so I think that was pretty successful. Um, obviously we know Halloween is tomorrow, but what else is tomorrow is senior Halloween. Uh, the seniors dress up in costumes, they go all out, and during second period the teachers host.
Uh, you guys, uh, I think you guys could probably guess what I'm going as, uh, for tomorrow. I'm obviously going as Spongebob. >> Yeah. And then, um, I'm a Pillsbury Doughboy. Um, and my friends and I just finished baking like over 100 cookies, um, to pass out tomorrow. >> There's also a Halloween breakfast uh,
that's going to be really good. might you might see me chefing up though. >> I see the spatula. >> Um, and our last our last little uh section is highlights for the month of November. Uh, we have our grade snapshot on November 4th. So, all of our grades uh from Power School get sent to
colleges. Uh, this is big for me because I applied um early action as long as uh along my other peers. So, >> yeah, it's big. >> Um, and then a highlight is girls football on November 24th. Um, the girls sell tickets to fund raise for school
events. Um, and it's seniors versus juniors. And then our practices are held Wednesday, Wednesday mornings at 7 a.m. for seniors and I believe Thursdays for juniors. >> That's all. >> That's all we have. >> Thank you very much. We appreciate it.
>> All right. Going into our superintendent. >> All right. Well, good evening everyone. I noticed that you left out the tugofwar that maybe the juniors beat the seniors. There wasn't a there wasn't a note. >> See, I purple juniors or senior girls. >> Okay, it should be good.
>> All right. Well, uh this is the superintendence report for Thursday, October 30th. We'll start with some highlights from across the district. Uh first, we're excited to launch a new program this year that pairs high school sophomores and juniors with kindergarten and first grade classrooms at Marathon. We're calling it the Hiller mentoring
program. After some initial mentoring training from Marathon counselors, Miss Bent and Mr. low water that you see here on the left. Our high school students will be visiting classrooms at Marathon once a month starting in November. Uh the goal of this program is to strengthen relationships across our schools and to create a sense of
community where every student feels seen, supported, and heard. Uh as Ella just mentioned, uh congratulations to the National Honor Society, National Art Honor Society, Triam, and Spanish Honor Society inductees. Last night, there was the ceremony with over 250 students
recognized for their service, leadership, character, scholarship, and other talents. Uh the ceremony featured a keynote address by history teacher Mr. Spiegel, who encouraged students to travel and to continue making positive impacts on their school and community. Next, we'll be holding the
groundbreaking ceremony for the new Charleswood Elementary School on Tuesday, November 4th from 3:00 to 4:00 at the construction entrance at the Marathon Elementary School. We'll be joined by representatives from the MSBA, the building committee, the school committee, as well as the select board and other local officials, all offering
brief remarks to mark this exciting milestone. Uh the community is all encouraged to attend and we'll have refreshments following the ceremony in the marathon cafeteria. Uh lots have been happening at each building since our last school committee meeting. Uh this past week, our first
grade marathon teachers continued our elementary science PD with Janet McNeel. Students will be soon working on a unit called light and shadows, exploring how light behaves, how it travels, reflects, and creates shadows in different ways. This work is part of our curious science program, an open- source uh science and
engineering program that developed locally here in greater Boston. The pictured here on the slide is our first grade staff collaborating. And I was able to observe it, and it was really fun to see the energy and the excitement in the room as teachers strengthen their science instruction for our students.
It's been a busy and exciting stretch at Elmwood. Uh last week, the school held its first all school assembly of the year centered around school spirit and what it means to be part of the Elmwood community. Also pictured are several second graders uh engaged in some steam activities last week during Steam Week.
As you can see, students were using blocks to design and build a nest for Swoops, the mascot at Elmwood. And second grade teacher Mrs. Rosendale dressed the part as the engineer and builder, so she was a good sport. Uh it's also been an eventful few weeks at Hopkins. Uh last week, fifth grade
students and staff took part in the Nature's Classroom outdoor learning experience. Even in some rainy conditions, the spirit stayed high and the experience was a success. The school also administered the holistic student assessment or the HSA to their students. Uh it's one of our SEAL tools that helps
better understand and support students social emotional needs and wellness. And this week, Hopkins is also celebrating a spirit week with mismatch sock day, jersey day, and home room theme day tomorrow, which is always uh a day that brings out the energy and excitement and creativity. So, I know people are
excited at Hopkins. It's been a great stretch at the middle school as well. Last week, the middle school held its second annual fall fest for the seventh grade. Uh I was able to attend. It was a very fun community building event filled with games and activities and plenty of school spirit. The turnout was fantastic and it was a nice way for students and
staff to connect outside the classroom. And just this afternoon, the middle school hosted its first ever unified botchi jamberee, welcoming teams from surrounding communities for a day of inclusion, teamwork, and celebration. And at the high school, building on Ella and Ryan's report, students also
participated in the holistic student assessment as well as the Metro West adolescent health survey, both important tools that we use across the district. Uh, a special shout out to wellness teacher Miss Mlette and her rad students who enjoyed an exciting class trip to boundless adventures, making memories
while building teamwork and confidence outside of the classroom. And pictured on the right from our spirit week was twin day, our SML for world language, Miss Bell and our SML for English. Mr. Collins got into the spirit. Our 18 to 22 program is also having an
amazing year. Uh students continue building job and life skills, working in the district libraries, helping in the different kitchens around the district, preparing and cooking meals as you see on the right hand side, and taking weekly grocery trips. Uh on Friday, our students and staff connect with neighboring districts for social and
community activities, uh such as touring the Southboro DPW, which is that picture in the middle. They also have a weekly dance and movement class at the HCA, which our students really enjoy. It's a picture of one of our students, Michael and Mr. Sheay on the left. We also have partnerships with the Metro West TAP, which is the transition to adulthood
program and work opportunities unlimited. Both provide our students with pre-employment and transition support while some students are gaining college experience at the Massachusetts inclusive post-secary education program at Framingham State. Overall, the program continues to thrive, giving students meaningful ways to learn, to
connect, and prepare for life after high school. And so, shout out to Miss Hibbert and her staff for all their efforts leading the 18 to 22 program. Just a quick update on my listening tour. Since the last time we met, uh, I've had the pleasure of meeting with the HPTO, uh, CPAC and Esau families as
well as the middle school and Hopkins staff. And most recently, about an hour ago, I had an all parent Zoom call, uh, before tonight's meeting. Uh, and again, the plan remains to compile all these perspectives and share a full summary with all of you in the community sometime in March.
Next, the FY27 budget is underway. We've started meeting individually with departments and buildings. Miss Rothermick and Mr. Labrod and I to review priorities into needs. The town has given us guidance for a level service budget. So, we're being mindful of this as we prepare our presentations. Uh at the same time, we want to make
sure our staff and students have the resources and materials they need to do their best work. Uh at our next school committee meeting, we'll begin our budget presentations with the special education department, central office, curriculum, and buildings and grounds, followed by building principles and technology in early December. And I
believe our joint meeting with the select board will occur right before the winter break. Overall, our focus is on the thoughtful process that balances a fiscal responsibility that we have while also supporting learners across our district. And finally, I want to end on a high note with a staff shout out. I'm
thrilled to share that Miss Carla Crusafully, the subject matter leader for math at the high school, has been recognized by students for her powerful impact she's had on their learning and growth. Each year, juniors that attend the Massachusetts Academy of Mathematics and Science reflect on teachers who shaped them before arriving at the
academy, and the educators they choose are invited to a special teacher lunchon to be personally thanked by the students and staff. Miss Crusapuli's selection is a testament not only to her teaching expertise, but also to the confidence, curiosity, and love of learning she inspires in her students. She'll be
honored at the lunchon on November 19th um in Worcester. So, congratulations again to Miss Crusafulli. Welld deserved. Uh and that is the superintendent's report for October 30th. >> Great. Thank you very much. Going on to the school committee chair report. Uh
payroll warrant S26006B, S2608 have been approved. Warrants number 26042s S 26043S 26044S 2645S 264
046S have been approved and they're included in your folder. I have not heard back from the Mass Association of School Committees on our January dates that we have for training. I prompted them again this week. I also did want to
mention a proactive that in December 4th is when we're going to have our discussion on the school calendar and we will vote that night on the school calendar. So for people who are watching and want to be in attendance or um are have been submitting comments. We thank
you very much. We appreciate and read every single comment although we have not been responding as we have said we are listening at this point. Um but please do continue to email us if you have opinions. On to leazison reports.
>> Turf committee, we met, we meet twice a year. We're going to meet a third time in a few weeks because there was some um question if the meeting was posted. >> Um do we know if it was posted? >> I believe it was. I talked to George after. >> Okay. Um so we're going to meet again uh
in a few weeks. Um but uh things are in good shape. they have um the the um account has 300,000 in it or 280 or 270. So, it's in
a it's in a good place. Uh they're on target um from a revenue standpoint from rentals to meet that about halfway through um fiscal year and they're on track to meet that goal. Um, but it's in good shape and um there's money for
repairs and we're trying to build that uh that fund to replace the turf in four to six years. So, um things are in good shape. >> Great. >> Time flies. >> Yeah, sure does.
>> I was standin for ESBC. I I'm not sure I'm quite measured up because I didn't come back with any aerial photos or anything like that, but uh >> to live up to >> it was but you know I felt the pressure. >> Uh but a lot of housekeeping and then obviously discussion about the um
groundbreaking >> and we're going to have some reports tonight as I believe from the school building. >> Um and Sustainable Green is excited about the groundbreaking next week. um they are sending someone to come and celebrate with us and that I also had a
member reach out to me to chat about the safe routes to school program. So we're going to meet in November. I'll find out what she's thinking and um then I can reach out to probably you um to follow up on that miss. >> Great. Exciting. Thank you. All right.
Going on to new business. We have a request. >> Yes. So, uh, I'm going to be speaking on behalf of, uh, Miss Bey, our director of student services. Um, so, uh, the Marathon School in collaboration with our student service department is requesting the addition of a 1.0 FTE
level C ABA paraprofessional to address growing student needs and ensure that all IEPs remain fully supported and in compliance. The projected cost of this position is approximately $30,000, which will be fully funded through the IDA 240 grant. And looking ahead, the position
is expected to be offset in the FY27 budget through expanded circuit breaking reimbursement. Uh this additional support is critical in meeting the specialized needs of our students, maintaining compliance with federal and state requirements, and ensuring that every child receives the services they are entitled to under their IEP. So we
respectfully request that the school committee approves this important addition. >> I move to approve the 1.0 FTE level C paraprofessional for marathon. Second. >> All right. All in favor? >> I >> I. Any opposed? >> Great.
>> Thank you very much. >> Proud to give that service. >> Uh Mr. Palville, you're going to come and chat with us about a few things. >> Good evening. >> Thank you very much for having me. Hope you're all doing well. Um we do have a
few requests that we're seeking approval this evening. The first one is related to club advisor stipens. So, as you may know, every year we have a lot of clubs at HHS. I think we actually just passed the 80 club mark, which is phenomenal. It's outstanding and shows all the
interests that our students have because they're all student created and student led uh with adviserss obviously. Um, but every year we like to review when you have that many clubs, you have to review those that are no longer meeting and no longer running. So, we did a review of that and we have seven clubs that are no
longer running. However, they have been established club with funded stipens. So, what we're requesting is to reallocate um $4,851 from the existing
advisor stipens to cover $2,780 for four new clubs um that have been running for the last two years but currently do not have advisor stipens. And then in addition to those four clubs, also adding an co-advisor to one
of our other clubs which is growing rapidly. So the seven clubs that we are looking that are no longer running this year are the animal rights club, the games club, the car club, fashion club, HHS TV club, quiz show, and trivia club. And those are just due to students not
not enough students to really hold the meetings. And in addition to that um not having an adviser or not being able to find another faculty adviser, we're looking to create um stipens for or allocate for stipens and those would be for the American Cancer Society Club,
the Poetry Club, the SMART club which is actually an acronym for stress management and anxiety reduction techniques. Yeah. And uh the Spanish Honor Society. So each of those would have a stipen of $556. They've all been running for multiple years. And then our
HOSA or health occupation students of America club has grown dramatically. Right now there's a 190 students that are listed on the schooly page and meetings range from 40 to 70 students per meeting. So we feel as it would be
appropriate to add a co-advisor to that which is also a $556. So we respectfully just request that allocation. a question because the math doesn't line up for doesn't look like it lines up. You're
there's you're not spending as much as what you're transferring back. Is that >> correct? Yes, we uh that is correct. It's not >> not complaining. I just want to make sure. >> Yep. It's not it's not even but with the uh those other clubs, the 4,851 represent the seven clubs that we are no longer running. So, we wanted to move
these to established these other clubs that are running. But there is also some money left over. >> That that that helps me just with the math. But I I also just want to highlight that I really appreciate how the clubs are run based on student interest in that when new interests come
up and old ones aren't being pursued, you're able to flex for that. I think that's great for the students. >> Absolutely. And I think one of the biggest things just to say, you know, assistant principal Laura Ty does a phenomenal job as you can imagine when you start moving up that number of clubs. She's really worked hard in the
last few years to look at the process of how clubs are brought in to kind of formalize how that's all done. And um you still want to be able to have students express themselves, but at the same time when you have all that to manage, you want to make sure that we're just not having clubs that no one does and still and still run that. So she's been doing a great job of having that
process. >> It's great. >> Where does that balance sit? Where do those those monies sit the excess? >> Um just in a club fund. >> Yeah, it stays in. Okay. Yeah. So if another club comes forward later got it
>> and there's um we have definitely like I said Miss Ty has been doing a lot with that. So there are times in which clubs are able to be added beginning of the year, end of the year stuff like that. So it's nice to know if we have that. We don't um generally as you may know fund clubs until they've run for a couple
years and have the necessary enrollment. >> Make a motion move to to I move to approve the proposed stipen changes. Second. >> Great. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Wonderful. >> Thank you very much.
>> So now I have another request. Uh so this request is pertaining to the creation of a new sub account. So um what we are requesting is to create an account for National Honor Society and National Arts Honor Society so that they can use
it to collect funds though and dues. The way that it's currently set up, we just have we've been collecting dues because the National Art Education Association requires dues to be collected for the National Art Honor Society. And in addition to that, we do fundraising for
NHS, NHS, the Music Honor Society, which is Triumph, and the Spanish Honor Society. So, what we've done previously is that's just been in general fundraising. And we think that it would be appropriate knowing that annually it's about $500 that they do for fundraising to cover the costs for the
induction ceremony, flowers, all the things that go along with that. We think it would be appropriate to have an account, a sub account that's just created specifically for that. Uh it's just easy for organizational purposes to have it dedicated instead of having it in general fundraising. >> Kids in all those
clubs or societies have annual dues. Is that what? Yeah, >> correct. >> How much are the dues? Um, >> I paid $10 for NHS. Um, and then NHS they didn't have it due this year. >> Got it. >> The I believe the only one that is
required is the NHS. >> Yeah. And that's from the National Art Education Association, the larger body. >> Got it. >> And I'm assuming um even though it is a low amount, the dues that for families for whom that would be a hardship that
there's a way that that's >> absolutely >> covered. Yeah. We would we would be able to work with those families. I move to approve the creation of a new sub account for the National Honor Society, NHS, and National Arts Honor Society, NAHHS. >> Second. >> Great. All in favor?
>> I. >> Any opposed? >> Wonderful. >> Excellent. Thank you very much. >> Thanks for coming out in the weather. >> Oh, no problem. Two for two. >> Got one more. >> One more. >> Got one more. Um with this this is a little bit of a difference because it has to do with
policy. Is there any introduction that needs to be recommended? >> Yeah. So this would be the uh I guess the first reading of this policy. Um and we'll come back at our next meeting next week for uh the second reading. Um and so this is for the competency determination. Mr. Pome is going to talk us through that. If you remember last
year I came as the high school principal talking about the the new competency determination policy without the MCCAST being required as a graduation requirement. They've also now uh added a few different layers that we need to um make sure that we have in our policy and our handbook. So, Mr. Pom is going to walk us through that.
>> So, for your review and hopeful approval is the additions that have come into play and I think before going into the differences and the new things with the the new law that came um in July. We did look at and I'm fortunate to be a member of a principal job alike and all
districts are looking at this in the same way. So between what the department of education has shared with us and also looking at what other surrounding areas are doing for their competency determination, we tried to make sure that ours matches all that while also having all of the necessary components
for the state's requirements. So um if just a quick reminder of last year in November when um the election occurred, the MCCAST, it really has to do with competency determination previously was determined by the MCCast and results on the MCAST. When that was no longer used,
the state initially had a creation of a competency determination which they reviewed over the course of last year and then during the summer shared additional expectations, a little more clarity. So what they essentially did was they broke it off last year was the
completion of the um coursework and the competency determination would be there. They've now added the concept of showing mastery. So there's two different components. So in order to be successful and to say that you've demonstrated competency, you have to complete all of the required coursework and you have to
show mastery. So the completion of coursework goes with our graduation requirements. There's been no changes there. Those haven't changed at all. So you'll see on the policy those are listed as they were 113 credits with x amount of credits in the necessary disciplines. On the second page of the
policy is where the changes start coming in. The first one would be the completion of US history, a US history course with a passing grade. That's been added to the expectation for coursework requirements. So, um that American history course previously it was for
English passing nth and tth grade English. For math, it was the completion of algebra 1 and or algebra 2 and geometry. And for science, it was the successful completion of a course in biology, chemistry or physics. In addition for the class of 2027, they're
also adding a class uh United States history. Our students um at Huffington High School take US history. So that will be uh a coursework. They're already completing that, but so there won't be a big change there, but we have to have it stated within the the policy. The next
portion that is new has to do with the idea of satisfactory um completion in mastery. So mastery basically means the students have to pass the courses with whatever your grades. Ours is a n 60 plus and then showing mastery. They can demonstrate that either through a final
assessment, a portfolio review or a benchmark assessment. So we did state that that is new. We stated that in the policy in the correction. So students would pass the class and then in addition they have to pass the assessment the final exam for that
class. If they did not do that then it would be look at portfolio or something like that. There are some classes that did that before because if you remember correctly, if you did not pass the MCCAST, there was a portfolio component there. Um or a benchmark assessment which would be something that we create. It's not something the state gives us.
It would be something that we would create in house. Um those would be the uh different options. We have to have all the options even if we don't end up using those options. Final assessments are generally the one we probably be using. So a question if you know students do still take the MCCAST in
10th grade could that be uh successful meets expectations on the MCCAST? Could that be the assessment the mastery portion? >> That's something we could definitely talk about. I think the state really wants to utilize that in very rare cases. Um I in the spirit of the the the
vote that occurred in November, I think that is something that can be used in very rare cases, but um because it's no longer required. I I think there is a little bit >> just talking as one of the options. You're giving a few different options if the students couldn't do the other options, but like hey
>> and that's and that is the requirement is to have those different options. So uh we took that right from the right from the law. So, I get a 62 in the class, but then I get a 50 in the final exam, >> then I'd have to have the portfolio or
something beyond that, >> to show mastery. >> Correct. >> So, even if if a student fails the final exam, I'm sorry, passes the class, gets a six year higher, >> gets a six year higher on the final exam, >> that means they're through. >> They would be fine. Yep. >> Okay. And then if they don't do one of
those two, then it >> it's a benchmark assessment identified by the department. >> Correct. So that could be something like uh a placement test of sorts. That could be something that you know another a different type of exam that um takes
into consideration the areas of mastery that were on the final exam. Um in addition to that, if there are any students that don't meet the requirement, then we will continue to look at future coursework. So say in 10th grade for example, if you um pass
the biology class but did not pass that final, if you take chemistry the next year, that is an that is something that works towards course work for competency determination. So we could look at that as well. So if you did pass your chemistry class and pass the exam, then you could still demonstrate mastery.
>> Does the new system make it easier to pass or was the MCCAST easier? Um that's an interesting question. So I think one of the things with this is it does provide uh greater chance for inclusivity because there are students
because of the high stake nature of the MCCAST test there are some students that might not be great individual test takers. This provides more opportunity because over the course of the semester over the course of the actual coursework students have a lot more opportunity for support for assistance and there's other
factors that go into it. So I would say the quick answer would be it does provide more opportunity for students to be successful. Um our MCCAST result our MCCAST results have always been very very strong but our coursework results are also very very strong. So I think our teachers do a great job of
supporting students through that. So um we our students is a very small percentage of students that did not pass the MCCAST but um I think the coursework provides more opportunity for different ways to demonstrate that. So for kids, for example, who might needed to take the MCCAST ALT because they couldn't
test with the regular MCCASA, this provides an avenue for them to pursue a diploma where they wouldn't have been able to before. >> There would be an opportunity. Absolutely. And in addition to that, um just students in general who might not have scored very high or might have been in that needs improvement or in the
previous iterations of the test in the warning category. Um if they pass the class and pass the exam, it's it's not that one. It's not that one test. It's not that high stakes testing environment. Um, in addition, the new competency determination regulations do
ask to spell out what are how are you supporting students with disabilities? How are you supporting English language learners, late enrolling students, and students who left school before 2025 without meeting the competency requirements? We have we had already talked about all of those things, but this just requires us to call those out
specifically. That's why you'll see those headings. Um, the expectations do not change. um you know the the way to demonstrate competency and also mastery still are the same as they were and they as they are for all students but it does provide a little bit of flexibility when it comes to students um that are English
learners because you have to kind of look at what they're capable of based upon their their level of English acquisition. Um it does call out in the requirement for an appeals process and that appeals process is outlined there. um we would review it, look at their transcript,
look at their portfolios and uh we would be able to make that determination. Those are all the changes from the old policy to the new policy. >> Thank you. >> And like I said, we'll bring this back next week for a final
>> vote. Okay. >> Great. Thank you very much. >> Thank you, Mr. Pro. >> I appreciate it. All right, we have construction up update with Vert.Ex and Commodore. Carly's going to be joining us. And I don't know who if there's anybody else joining. Mr.
>> Feel like the table got shorter since the last time I was here. >> Do a little reorg. >> We got four seats up there. >> We have different chairs too. >> Although you did bring candy, so that is certainly that's not for you guys. >> You might need to ignore that Spongebob
lesson. Listen or put it on. Everybody loves this or put it on from time to time. >> I might I might need some M&M's for this. >> Right. Exactly. >> Talk about construction. We might need >> um
>> wouldn't want it getting dirty, you know. Construction site. >> I I was I was good and I changed up my fancy construction clothes before coming. >> Thank you for doing that. >> Are we plugging in or is someone else sharing what we've sent? I think we're prepared to plug in if we need to. I
just want to make sure in the back that they're >> Are they the the slides? >> It would be the slides that we sent for our first discussion today and then the construction update to follow. >> Is it what's in the is it the
>> I went to the second one >> right behind you, Carly. Thank you. That'll be better. >> Not choosing the wrong slide deck on you there, Carly. >> Let's see. Let's hope I got the right one.
>> It takes a minute. >> Oh, it does. >> Yeah, >> it has to think. >> So, while we wait for that, um just some introductions to remind you. I think you've met everyone, but just so that we can revisit it. Um, I'm Chris Eberly. I'm the project executive for the Vertex
Companies. We're the OPM that was hired by all of you to manage the project on behalf of the town. Um, with me today is Ricky Shagru. He's the senior project manager at Commodore Builders. Um, Commodore has been the CM of the project
um that was hired by this committee um about a year and a half ago. Um, also with Ricky in the audience is Rob Blanchard. Um, Rob is the project executive for Commodore. I hope you know Matt Carter. Um, >> absolutely.
>> He he joined us in case you have any questions about the school impact of what we're discussing. And with me is Carly um Colmore who is the project manager that has been running the job for all of you um as we got to here today.
>> I'll make more small talk. I was going to say we're excited to see her in person and she is always on screen. >> Carly, you're on site every day. >> I'm not on site every day. George from our team is, but I'm there at least once a week. >> Yep. Here we go.
>> Let's see. >> All right. >> There we go. All right. >> So, um, we're before you today because we're approaching another milestone, and that milestone is not what the schedule said it would be. are actually a significant amount ahead of schedule,
which is always a great place to be when you're the owner because you get to take ownership of that new building that you've spent so much money on and put so much work into a little bit earlier. But as you know, this is a phased renovation and a phased renovation um relies on
certain milestones because we plan the process well in advance as we've shown you many times when we've appeared before you. What I've put on screen is the budget because I think the budget's a good starting point for where we are in the conversation that we want to have today. If you take a look at the budget, um, currently, this is in the presented
in the same way that we shared it with you the last two times that we were before you to discuss things. Um, we're currently looking at about 1.4 4 million remaining that's um not committed to something of the other areas of the
budget that aren't directly related to construction or contingency. So, we're going to continue to move through the process. That's anything from OPM fees to architect fees to some of the mechanics of moving in and out of the
building as well as furniture and um technology and many of the other things that we're looking at. So outside of those within the budget, we have about $4.7 million of either remaining appropriated construction funds or contingencies, whether they be the
construction contingency or the um owner's contingency, which is used for non-construction costs. >> Sorry, what's the of that 4.7? what's contingency and what is um just >> I did not anticipate that you would ask
me that question so I don't know it off the top of my head. >> Um I believe in the latter slides we have on the construction update I'll be able to point that out. I I think that's one of the >> what is it? >> Uh the what's the construction contingency right now and what's the
owner's contingency right now. >> I think that's in her >> that's all right. We we'll catch it. Okay. No problem. Um, so I I bring this up because I think it's a it's very appropriate to the discussion that we want to have today. At the end of the day, I know it's the goal of the school committee as well as the administration
that when this project is concluded that we have money available. It's a great showing of the effort that has been put in by everyone involved whether it be the administration, ourselves, the designer or the contractor to say that we believe that we are going to deliver this project under budget. The other
number that I throw up on here across the bottom is current estimating and pending change orders. As we've talked many times, change orders are a reality of public construction in Massachusetts. And we do our best to anticipate what those will be so that we understand where we are. That 1.2 million are
things that we have either been notified of or that we are expecting to be notified of. And it's a metric that we use to understand the current financial health of a construction project because it says what you have remaining when you want to consider consider additional things. These are not forwardlooking.
They are a moment in time now. So future change orders are not represented by that 1.2 million. And I just want to make that clear as we sort of launch into today's discussion. Next slide please. So the reason we're here today is
because Commodore has put a lot of effort into making sure that they can finish this as efficiently as possible and we find ourselves finishing ahead of time. Originally we were planning that we would have a transition sometime around early February. I believe it was February 4th. We would have about 2 3
weeks to prepare the building for students during which the um the town or the school um schools would own the building. And then when February vacation is done, we would move into the new building. We previously visited you
and pointed and discussed a kitchen trailer um as the option to feed the students during the time that we were in that transition period because we'll be taking over the kitchen and the gym. We talked about the different options that were considered there, whether it be
bringing it in from another building or um some other plans that we talked about and ultimately we we resolved that that would be how we would move forward. When we look at what remains of the schedule, it presents us with the
opportunity to advance the next phase of the project. And what that means is that while the building will be cons as presently if the building is completed now it'll be ready for you to take over but contractually you weren't going to take it until February. So you do have
the option to say hey we'd prefer to just wait but that has certain challenges that we'll talk through today. The option that has been presented to us with all the hard work that Commodore has done is that we would um take ownership of the building now
and we would give Commodore access to the existing portions of the building so that they could begin that work a little bit earlier. Now there's some benefits that come with that. The first benefit is that we have the opportunity because it's a longer duration to actually
schedule some of the most disruptive activities that are associated with that construction within the building during the school year outside of school hours. So, we're exploring that opportunity as part of what we're talking about today. We think that's a great benefit to Matt
and alleviates a lot of his concerns that he's had for his student body because previously we were building next to and so you could hear it through the windows. You could smell it through the windows. But when you're jackhammering a slab, you feel it. It's it translates
through the entire building. So, while we do our best to mitigate those types of things as we move through the project, it's not always enough and it can be disruptive to students, especially some of your more sensitive learners. The other option that it gives us is it
creates time. Construction is based on cost and time. Those are the metrics that we use to understand it. And so when you think about how construction works in terms of creating opportunities, you can create opportunities by making things cheaper
or you can create opportunities by having additional time by extending the period of time that we would be doing that work. It creates a couple of things. This the shifted schedule. It also creates the opportunity that you are able to add additional scope if
necessary. As you all know, because we walked you through the process, there's a whole bunch of reasons that you may want to add additional scope. We originally envisioned that we could take on more through the process of looking at this project and we had to cut some of that back because the estimates at
the time were telling us that we would be at a certain place. It's common in CM at risk that at the end of the job there's monies remaining within the committed construction values that you've already been given. And when we discussed it with the administration, one of the big discussions was the fact
that are is it more beneficial to address more items now or is it more beneficial to return money to the um citizens of Hopington and address some of those items as well so that they don't have to come back for
funding in the future. They're still part of the project. We're not expanding the scope beyond what was ever envisioned with this, but it creates an opportunity to be able to do both. Now, that does come with some challenges. And the biggest challenge that we've identified is the fact that it extends
the duration that we will need to utilize the kitchen trailer. So instead of feeding the students via that trailer from February until June, you'll now be feeding those students for the extra six weeks prior to school vacation week in
February and also through January. So we wanted to make sure that as we're presenting this idea, we're presenting both sides. >> Can I ask a question? >> Sure. the available the 6.1 million that's the difference between the budget
and the the kind of committed number >> if the if you go back one slide so that black bar across the bottom that ends in 6.1 million >> that's these three >> correct so as you look at this budget as we've talked about previously the first is the and it's forgive me because I
don't have it directly in front of me um the first is our original project budget right >> over the course of the project budget you transfer money. That's the second column. The third column is the result of those transfers. >> The column following that is the um commitments. So, we enter into contracts
for things. That's how much we're going to spend on those contracts if we pay them all out. >> The following column, I believe spend >> is the spent. That's how much we've paid so far. The column after that is the remainder. And the final is the uncommitted. Now, of that available,
that does not necessarily mean that we don't have purposes for that money. And an example of that would be furniture. There's a $575,000 line item there for furniture. It's not that we're not going to buy furniture. It's that we haven't bought and entered into a contract to buy furniture yet.
So, that's just one example of where that 6.1 comes from. >> So, best case, we come in 6.1 under budget, but that will not be 6.1. >> Yeah. If you decide not to put any more furniture, if we decide not to move into >> FNA,
>> I I got it. But best case, we're 6 million under budget, but it won't be that. >> And we'll highlight more of where we think we'll end up towards the end of the >> Got it. Sorry. Thank you. >> So, if you could advance to so um I'll turn it over to uh to Ricky
to speak to some of the opportunities that this has presented in terms of improving the situation. >> Yeah. So for us as far as the actual construction, the work we're doing on site, uh just kind of not touching on budget items at this point, um some of the benefits we would be um kind of
gaining by taking this this portion of the building, which would be the gym and the cafeteria area in January. Um the first thing was be the additional time for that phase of the project. Um that was always a pretty tight duration in our schedule um for that. We always knew
there was going to be a lot of overtime work and um so by doing this there'll be less time spent on overtime throughout the course of that and it'll allow us to keep all the same crews we have on site. So it'll be the the same people working
there. we won't have to demobilize for a period of time which allows us to keep the same crews, the people that are familiar with the school, the people that have been coming to the school for the last two years because once you send those guys away for a couple weeks, it's not a guarantee that the same crews are coming back.
>> So, that's also a huge benefit. We get the people that are familiar with this school, familiar with the the existing building, all that kind of stuff. And then um kind of I think the most critical to definitely Matt and his staff is the the ability to shift some of that really disruptive work, some of
the things that um Chris had mentioned that there's a lot of um the concrete slab that we have to remove for this phase which is it's an invasive work. It's it can be dusty. It can be loud. But by giving us this extra six weeks, we we don't really have a compressed schedule. Something that may if we move
in in February, we may have had to do that this Monday. But if we have that amount of flexibility, we can maybe shift that to a Saturday or shift that to an evening to times that the students are in school to kind of avoid those types of disruptions. Um, and I think that's kind of one of
the biggest things that will will definitely allow the school less disruptions by by doing this. Now, when we began this conversation, um, initially we looked at this and while there are benefits to this, we had we knew it needed to make sense for this
the town at the end of the day. It couldn't be two extra months of disruption to the students and paying extra money for the kitchen trailer and not having some benefit that comes the way of the um the town. And so Vertex
and Commodore had some really um open and frank discussions about how can we best maximize this value for the town. We as part of our general process track value engineering items. Those are the items where we can't quite hit the budget with them in there. So we we pull
them away at various stages of the process over the course of it. We also have had discussions with um the schools over time. the water heater is at its end of life, for instance, and we didn't know that at the time we were considering the project. Maybe it's a
good time now while we have everyone mobilized to fix it. Those are just two small examples. So, we talked about how we could make this beneficial. And one of the big things that we we realized is that when you do CM at work, the GMP, the guaranteed maximum price that the
school committee is committed to includes several elements. So, you have a contingency that's in there as part of the statute that gives them the contractor room for things that come up they didn't plan for. You have holds, which are risk items where they've agreed to finish that work, but they
couldn't put a hard price on it, so they reserve some money for that. And then you have allowances, which are things where it's not defined enough that they can say, "Oh, we'll do it for this much, but we put some money there so that we know that it's there." All of that is all of those three things are part of
the construction contract. you've already agreed. So, they're separate from that $4.7 million that we highlighted. One of the things that we talked with Commodore about is is there an opportunity rather than give you back that money at the end of the job, is
there a way that we can take some of that money now because the risks have gone well in regards to that money and use that for some of these opportunities in addition to the other money we have available. And so, we had a great discussion with Commodore. um they were
great to work with in in this respect. And we talked about options that we have. Some of those options we talked about are the fact that when you look at the building, we've replaced a good amount of the flooring. This is one of the VE items. We'd love to replace all the flooring, but we chose not to for
budget cost reasons. So when you get to the end of the hallway in the renovated section, now the flooring suddenly changes. And that flooring is largely original to the building. It's waxed every year, which has some VOCC um components to it. And so, wouldn't it be
great if we could uh tack all of that flooring? So, we talked about that. We talked about the fact that originally we entertained the idea of replacing all the furniture within the building. We'll show you some examples of that. Could we incorporate that in? Now, we talked about the temp kitchen. You're going to
have two extra months of that temp kitchen. Wouldn't it be nice if that was a phasing cost out of the money that you've already committed so that the other money was available to do some other things? And we talked about um some of the additional scopes of work. Some of these are things that we're that
are on the table that we're considering from those VE and from those needs that the building has on the capital plan. What if we can take some of that and schedule permitting move some of it back into the project? So those are the the types of things that we're talking about. Go to the next slide. So, here's
some examples, and I know it's a relatively small photos, and some of these are things that we talked about. Um, you can see the transition in the flooring in the bottom left there. That's the current condition right now. Wouldn't it be great if we could just expand that through the whole building and not have flooring that's original to
a 1990 building um or 1990s building mixed with a 2025 building. You know, make it be the type of flooring that you want to have in your building that's sustainable. throughout. We looked at um the existing bathroom. The tile's in good condition,
but one of those maintenance items is to regrout that tile so that you don't, anybody who's had a bathroom in a really old house, once that one tile goes, it all goes. So maybe we regrout that tile now and preserve the original tile, but extend its life by regrouting it. We
looked at options such as replacing the existing toilet partitions and we're still um investigating that that's possible, but that's a scope item that we could add in. We looked at um replacing the existing furniture. We found a lot of the existing furniture has tennis balls and if you have a kid
in the school and you've been in there and you see those tennis balls, those tennis balls serve two purposes. Sure, the chair slides more easily, but it also keeps the feet that have been in on that since the original furniture was purchased that have worn away like that photo shows from scratching the floor.
So, all of those are of value to the longevity of a building that you just made a um $39 million commitment to. We also looked at um things like I mentioned the replacing the existing water heater. We've talked about the
loop road in the past and we know that there's some other things that we can still look at with the schedule that we have left to see if we can incorporate those in should the opportunity present itself. So, as we had this discussion, next slide please.
Commodore has offered to take that 380,000 that we've previously approved and take 242,000 of that additional co or um the remaining additional cost that we haven't already committed. We've we've signed up for the trailer, but of
that total cost for that um that work at the um the kitchens and put that into the GMP. We did have some cost overages there as we refined it with the um the kitchen staff. We found that they needed additional freezer storage and that has
both not just buying the freezer that's going to be outside but also getting the electrical for it, upping the electrical loads dramatically. And there's costs associated with that that push this over the original $380,000 budget. That means that 242,000 of that previously
committed for that purpose money can go back to other things. So you only needed 138 for the kitchen. >> The kitchen comes to about 430 all in because it's not just renting the kitchen trailer. It's also getting the
ramp, it's also providing a cover for the ramp so that you can safely move food into the building so you don't have your workers slipping and falling. It's pro um providing space for grease laden waste. It's providing a sewer connection to a location you didn't need a sewer connection. It's creating the
appropriate storage. It's creating the appropriate utilities. And um like just the freezer trailer alone, I think is a $30,000 cost. And the um >> So it was 780 for the >> originally it was 380, >> right? So I'm looking at that, but you're saying it's 400
>> and it's about 430 currently. >> It's 430 current. >> So of So of what we have currently, we've committed um math in my head in public on TV is never a good thing. Mhm. >> Um, it's roughly 182 somewhere or 188.
That was the PCO for the kitchen trailer. >> For the kitchen trailers. Sorry, I'm I'm confused on >> there's 380,000 approved for the additional kitchen cost. >> No, the this committee >> Yeah. >> voted 380,000 I want to say in either
August or September. >> And of that, we've committed about 188. >> Okay. for the initial renter rental of the trailer. >> Y >> there was additional cost that made up that full 380 and then we've gone $50,000 higher than that because of some
of the specifics as we finalized the design. We needed two pieces of equipment that we thought we had from the existing that we didn't. So we >> we had to purchase or purchase or rent those to make it work plus the um the additional freezer cost. That pushes us
to about 430. you've only committed or signed a change order respective to that 180. >> So we the remaining budget rather than holding it for kitchen costs goes back to you to spend on other things which is that 242.
>> Y >> and what would have been outside of the current construction contract is now handled inside of the current construction contract. >> Okay. >> So I'm still a little I actually think I'm more confused now.
I in terms of so I understand it's going it's being allocated from a different way but what is the the actual cost difference from the >> from what you originally appropriated it's about $50,000 additional >> and that's because of the additional
time. >> It's because of the um so it's a couple of things. It's the additional time. It is the additional trailer >> or um the the additional freezer. And it's the we we budgeted based on
having one kitchen trailer, a ramp, and getting into the building. As we worked through the final details, because those were preliminary estimates of where we thought that would there were small details that taken together pushed that cost higher. >> What is the piece of just the time?
Because I like >> 55,000. >> Yes. >> That for for what it buys that doesn't seem I mean it's not a small amount of money, but it seems a rental essentially. >> Yeah. But that doesn't seem I expected the number to be larger I guess is what I'm >> because it's only the like you have to think about it in terms of you pay the
electrician to come in and hook up and to come in and take it out. That's just a cost >> and we rent the scaffolding, we rent the trailer, we I think we rent the ramp. >> We rent the ramp and we rent the freezer
>> and we rent the freezer. Yeah. So the utilities come in those and those are just sunk costs that you don't really get anything for at the end of the day, but it's necessary to make it work. So when you extend it, you're only extending the rents. >> Thank you. That that helps me tremendously.
>> So the rest of these, I just want to be clear, are estimates. We're not asking you to take action on any of these today, but we wanted to provide you with some of the numbers that we use to figure out where we ended up at with respect to these items. We've previously
talked about the loop road paving. We've done um cores within the the road work to find out how much of it should be fully replaced versus how much of it can be paved over. We have we're roughly at 100% of the DD process. though that we're at the point that we need to go
meet with Concom. And when we meet with Concom, as we've discussed when we approved it, we're going to first ask them if we can replace in kind and not have to do a full notice of intent. In the event that a full notice intent is required, there's slightly more fees that need to be spent, which have
already been appropriated. In the event that Concom comes back and says, "We appreciate that you're fixing this road, but we want you to redo the entire storm water system." At that point, I'm going to have to come back to you and you're going to have to make a decision. But in the event that they just decide the plan
that we're putting forward, we we believe that's a reasonable estimate now for what the plan as proposed would cost. The next one there is the potential flooring cost. This takes into account a lot of the logistics of putting that floor in place. We're talking about using some of the vacation
week. So, a little bit of it replaced in February, a little bit of it replaced in April, the balance replaced in the summer. Um, to extend that through the whole building, the corridors and the classrooms, we're looking at about $650,000. We're talking about additional
furnishings to upgrade beyond that 575 that we're already talking. We do have a small overage there, but largely um in total that 575 plus the 375 based on the most recent pricing we've had would be the estimate to be able to replace to
provide new furniture in the new spaces that were already renovated that were part of the project and expand that to the remainder of the classroom spaces so that we would largely have new flooring throughout in all but I think the art room where you've recently purchased new flooring for that room.
We also have a couple of small overages that we're um we're tracking included in the uh 375 number for furniture. And then on the technology side, we have a couple of things as we've worked through the details have just crept slightly higher than the budget of about $60,000.
When we forecast what that means from a um construction contingency perspective, it means that amongst just the contingency amounts, we're looking at depending on the various estimates, the various things, the various ways things can break, um
how much money we think we're getting back within just the GMP. We think that even with accepting the estimated values of these additional work, we would still be returning to the town from just those elements, the 360 to up to a million dollars
at the end of the job. That would be unspent, unbonded. For those out there who want to know what that means to their taxes, it means your taxes never had to go any higher because the money was never bonded or committed and never needs to be paid back. So, it presents
what we really see as a win-win for everyone involved. Commodore is able to have the continuity that they need associated with the project. Commodore is able to have more time to complete their work, so they're less relying on overtime. We're able to really give it the attention it needs to make sure that
we're minima minimizing the disruptions to the students and the capital plan that these are expenses that aren't going away. All these things eventually need to happen. Those things can be lumped in with this project while we're mobilized so they come off your ladder
capital spending plan so that they never have to go before town meeting and raise your taxes in the future. And you know, this really seems like an opportunity where Commodore has been very gracious and very forthcoming in our discussions with them about those values in the G
GMP. They don't have to do that. They're choosing to do that. We've come up with a plan that we think is realistic, that works for everyone, and we are identifying scopes of work that while we're not asking you to commit to them today, we're going to bring them back to
you as we refine the numbers for those so that you can make those decisions at the time that is appropriate for those decisions in the future. >> Could you do you mind can I jump in for a second? >> So, at this point, we're at the question point. So, go ahead. >> Sorry. Can you go back to the first slide?
So, the 1.4 for the bottom that's spent for a specific use, right? >> Um that is reserved for a specific use, >> but it's allocated for something. >> Oh, it's allocated to a budget category, but it's not necessarily all spent. Some of it is soft cost contingencies that's
within the designer's contract. Some of it is estimates of what we might spend on moving or other. >> Okay. So, there might be some money there. So some of that that's why I say it's con the forecast is for construction contingency and construction because some of that money may come back improving you beyond that
360,000 million. >> Got it. The the change orders that's allocated the one two none of that's >> that's the >> none of that's coming back. >> The change orders is largely where we are now and we expect to be around those numbers. So essentially the let's call
it the the 47 is potentially you want to take my quick math on the last slide we saw it's about 4 million maybe it's a little more because the difference is 300,000 to a million but essentially you want to say we have 4.7 that we either give all back to the town when we're
done or spend 4 million of it maybe a little more on those projects that you've outlined. But if we do that, what's the timeline on making those decisions? And that's something between now and the end of the
project and finishing other change orders or I don't know bad news comes up and we need some of that contingency. >> Yeah. And I'm happy to speak to that because that was part of the planning. I didn't want to get too granular.
>> Yeah. >> And we can certainly have a very long discussion. We did share that math with the school administration in discussing this plan. Um, so we use a couple of techniques at this point in the project to understand where that stuff's going to fall. Originally, when we set a
construction contingency, when it's an when there's existing construction involved, we tend to set that contingency slightly higher. I believe we started it, if I remember back two years ago when we set this budget, about 7%. We've already gone through one summer. We've seen what conting what change
orders looked like from that first summer. we're going into another summer. We know that that's going to be higher than average. We also know the history of what we've spent in terms of change orders to date. What we'll what we'll typically do is just as a good practice
is we'll look at if 7% was enough when it the whole building we finished some of the biggest issues underground site work. Unforeseen come up a lot when you do that. the first renovation. When you open up a wall, sometimes
things happen. And so we're using in the calculation to yield the numbers we presented today, 6% of the remaining left to spend in the construction contract. So when we get a requisition, which you approve in your warrants, it tells you this is how much you've spent
so far. This is how much is due this month. And at the bottom line, it says this is how much is left to spend. We take where we're at with that left left to spend and we multiply times a percentage to make a forwardlooking estimate about where we are. That works out to about a million dollars. So
within the calculation to present that information, we're assuming you could have up to a million dollars of change orders through the rest of the job. >> Got it. >> Okay. >> Thanks. >> So if there's if there aren't any other >> Sorry, one last thing. Yeah. Will those
requests you come to us with will it be a bundle and say hey we want to do these six or hey we want to do this one or we want to do these two >> I think it will be timing dependent so like for instance we have to clear concom before I can come back to you
with the loop rope >> right >> um we're pretty close on I think the the flooring >> flooring yeah >> um we still have to estimate the partitions we we have a placeholder but we need to validate that folder. Um, we still need to It was easier when I had
the list in front of me. >> Um, the grout for the tile. >> That's fine. I I I got So, it it may come as >> So, we're going to try and loop as much as them because I love you guys, but I like my evenings, too. So, I don't want to be at every school committee meeting from now till the end of the year.
>> Got it. Um, >> so the real question for us is going to be, do we want to spend the 4 million on all this stuff now or save it and give it back? >> So the real question for you tonight is the motion that we have on the next on the final slide.
So realistically, you don't have to make a decision about moving this. We don't need to come to you for a vote to move the schedule. We within what you've authorized, we could just do it. But we're talking about the impact of the education of the students of Hopington. We thought it made sense to come before
you tonight to talk about this. When I look at the discussions we've had with Commodore, they're open to releasing up to I think it how much was it of your conservative estimate for um where you are with holds allowances and contingency >> to cover the
>> the >> Oh, I think it was around 600,000. We're looking at Commodore being willing to say, "Okay, we have these placeholders for up to 600,000. We're willing to have a negotiation with you about releasing some of that. We're looking at the ability to move it to second shift.
We're looking at the ability to add this extra work we're talking about." >> All of those things are dependent on one thing, and that's that we agree that we're going to move it up. We're going to extend that final phase. We're going to take the building in December and we're going to launch in a process that
we've already preparatorily started of figuring out what moves out of the spaces that we're going to construct and into the new building when we take ownership of it. So, we've already started some of those meetings in anticipation that this will be supported. It's going to be uh
accomplishable but a challenge with Matt and his team. We started that with some very long meetings yesterday. >> Yes. where we we talked through some of the details of that. And so what we're asking you to do today is to support the idea of moving that schedule forward to create these other opportunities to add
scope and also to understand that you're agreeing that we're going to put that kitchen costs in the contingency which is already authorized by this committee to be spent >> and we thought it made sense to bring that question to you today. Whether we
spend the remaining money is a question for the future. >> Got it. >> But today, we want to confirm that this is the plan we're going to use. We're going to actively jump into preparing for it. We're going to do all the things that we did in the summer to pack up the folks that are moving to purge out stuff
that we don't need to bring and to prepare to educate students in the new building as basically on the day everybody gets back from school vacation which if I remember correctly is some or around January 5th. >> Yes. >> Matt, where I'm curious. >> Yeah, that's what I was going to say. We
made you come out tonight. We like to hear from you. Um, yeah, I think at first, you know, I wasn't thrilled that having construction come in earlier. Um, but knowing that we could shift the loudest, most
disruptive things that were going to happen either way, whether it happens in January or February, March to that second shift, I think is worth everything, whether you decide to do all of the other things or not. even moving that separate though, right? >> Yeah,
>> we don't have to decide any of that today. >> Moving moving. It's still going to be loud and disruptive, but we're but we're we're changing what that level looks like essentially. So now it will be more disruptive in January under this plan
than it would have been if we >> stayed in February, March, >> but then February and March would have been extremely disruptive. So we're sort of really mitigating that >> spreading out disruption >> and just lessening what it is >> spreading out and in many cases taking
it out of the >> certain activities that are significantly more disruptive than ever >> second shift or a Saturday or whatever. Yeah. >> So for me that was when I decided that >> So you're supportive of the revised schedule. >> Yes. >> And we all are as well.
>> Everyone is. Yeah. >> Great. It's a lot of quick work, but I think everyone and I think too like I even think for the for the fifth graders who have gone through the year and a half of construction. >> Even just getting them another six weeks of the new gym, you know, things like
that, I think is good for them because they're not going to get everything, but they've been there for everything. So, >> they put up with the >> There's there's a little silver lining we can find. Yeah. >> So, yeah. Yeah. >> Curious question about shifting the second shift. Like what are the hours
like on that? So it wouldn't necessarily all be second shift because um the town does have limitations. That's what I was thinking about the neighbors. >> Yeah. So um the the limitations I believe are between two and seven. So essentially it' be a shortened shift,
but it would allow us to work Saturdays where we could spread up a task that we may have originally needed to complete it in three days over three Saturdays or three weekends or something along those lines where it's not as critical that we need to get this done because it's like a certain task that needs to be done by
February 15th, but if we have from January 1st till February 15th as opposed from the 10th to the 15th, it it allows us to have flexibility >> and it it also it can't be lost that this is work inside the building. >> We're not suddenly going to start doing
the loading dock outside at 7:00 p.m. at night. We're going to be doing work that we need to do inside the building during those shifted hours. And it's really it's it's student focused in that like let's let's take something that we know is going to happen. We were we're we're
not introducing new scope here. this was always going to be a thing, but let's try and improve how it impacts the students a little bit >> and it won't be a great burden to our neighbors on Sanctuary Lane because >> we don't think so. And your neighbors are very willing to tell us when they're
burdened. >> Really? >> I'm glad they're communicating. Um, as a parent of a Hopkins student, it's appealing to me to think that, you know, my kid and all the kids that are in school there are not going to have jackhammering while they're trying to
learn. >> Great. Uh, so I make a motion to support the revised schedule and transition plan as presented to occupy the new addition in December of 2025 and to support investigation of additional scope to be presented for cost approval at a future
meeting. >> Second. >> Great. All in favor? >> I. >> Great. Any opposed? No. >> We look forward to it. >> And I believe we also have Thank you to Rob and Ricky for coming out. You're welcome to stay for our construction
update. Um, but we have our we have our that as well. You've already you've already been updated about where our construction's at quite readily. So, >> yeah. Enjoy. >> Mhm. >> Playground's playground's almost done. >> And part of that is that we're almost to
the point of opening a playground. We're targeting December 1st. >> Oh, that's great. But half the half the >> a portion of a significant portion of >> I said I was going to leave. I should stop talking. >> You can come. >> Playgrounds are so fun.
>> We always love your cont. >> I hear there's a lot of balls that go missing right now. >> That is a >> We're trying to throw them back over. >> Part of George's day every day is to return some of the great recreational equipment that the students are using
back to them. I I can say all of the workers are extremely friendly. I'm often running around that loop road very early in the morning as they're arriving to work and they're wonderful to work. >> Good. Glad to hear that. >> And we've been very happy with the
relationship with Commodore. I think especially going through this process where we're asking them to do something that they don't necessarily have to do. We've been able to have really good conversations with them and we're happy with the work that they've been able to do for the town. >> Great. So, I'll turn it over to Carly to
walk you through the Hopkins um construction update and then I'll take the Charleswood. >> All right. So, starting off for Hopkins, there were no new safety incidents in um the month of September or October, which was great. Um schedule really the only
change that um we've talked about was the um shift to the December turnover, but otherwise there's no big changes there. Um budget, we continue to be on budget there. um no quality issues. And then the latest update for FFan and
security AV tech items um all of the town vendors are lined up for the first week of se um sorry December to facilitate that early turnover and we're getting closer to um starting to finalize the furniture package.
So issues. Um, so schedule, we continue to put this in here just >> and schedule update is prior to what you just voted. I just want to be clear about that. >> Yeah, exactly. So this is a little bit of a placeholder that's been there about the um the impacts of the um weather the
weather days that we had in the MCAST days, but that is all going to be gone with this turnover. So forget about that. Um, one other issue that's new for this month, um, but is pretty much
resolved at this point, we had, um, a slight issue with condensation on the new geothermal lines that are, uh, mainly running through the new addition, but also into the existing building as well. Um, there was some condensation as a result of seasonal temperature
fluctuation. Um, so it stained some of the ceiling tiles that were in place already. Um, we've been working closely with Commodore and the design team and we kind of figured out what the issue was there. It's really just because we're phasing the construction, so it's hard to get everything on track at the
same time. Um, but that is pretty much resolved at this point and they're actively going through replacing tiles. So, should be cleared up, but I just wanted to make note of it for this month. And then construction site overview just to give you a larger picture of uh what
we're working on. So mainly they are working through finishes in the new addition now and then they're also doing some site work um at the playground area and I'll show you some some pictures. Um this is definitely advanced a little more in the past few weeks than you'll
see here but they're actively working on um placing concrete for the playground. Um you'll see the retaining wall on the right hand side for um the new basketball court that's going in. um some concrete seat walls and decorative uh boulders which were actually
repurposed from the Charleswood site and brought over recently. >> Um and probably on the right probably the most beautiful grass I've ever seen on a construction project. I've really never seen it look like that. So it's a great sign. Um in the
gym they just recently this week started placing the um finished flooring in there. This is a view of the subfloor. So, there's lots of layers that go in there, but that's advanced past this. Um, and then on the right, the the next few images are just, you know, tile installation at the new stairwell. Um,
casework, countertops, all the finishes in the classrooms nearing completion, um, plumbing fixtures in the bathrooms, the new lockers are in place in the hallways. Um, and then as far as work for the next
month, a lot of our focus is finalizing the turnover plan that we discussed earlier for the new addition and reconfiguring spaces in the existing building to facilitate that renovation work. Um, completing finishes throughout the new uh addition, completing the wood
flooring install in the gym. Um, placing binder for the temporary kitchen to be delivered. And then um they're actually supposed to be installing playground equipment starting next week. So we some great changes outside there. Uh change order update. So this is
financials through the month of September. So there were two change orders that were approved. And while I wish they actually equaled $0, that was a typo. It really is $104,000. So I apologize that didn't carry over.
And then budget update. Uh there's no real changes here. We're still on track. Um the biggest update is just the two additional change orders that were approved September. And then um >> and then I'll move over so that I can say this without having to constantly
>> work my neck. So Charles, this the same update that we provided to the elementary school building committee when we um presented it. So we remain on schedule. Um the publish schedule that they gave us is actually quite ambitious. Um and we'll
continue to monitor that, but um I don't think I want to go into more detail than that at this time. Um we continue to be significantly under budget. We'll be updating a cash flow that we expect to show a significant amount of that budget coming back to the town at the end of
the day. Um uh for various reasons that we've discussed in previous ESPC meetings. Um we're in the process of testing and inspection of the various elements as they begin a lot of the earth work as well as a lot of the concrete and foundations. Um so we
continue to to track that and largely that's been consistent. Um generally there's been no issues. Everything is proceeding. We did have one minor issue um related to storm water with the heavy rains that we got about two weeks ago. Um, Concom did object to some of the
ways that they were dealing with that storm water and asked brake to appear before the last concom meeting. Um, brake rapidly addressed a lot of the issues that were raised and have put in place controls to prevent them in the future. So, um, while we are disappointed that the issue had to come
up, we appreciate that they've been prompt and urgent in addressing them. Um, you can see the degree to which we've finished a lot of that construction. If it's uh you can't really see much unless you've decided to cruise the um the new Toll Brothers
development, you generally can't see the progress that we're making from the street, which I'm sure as the ASBC intentionally did setting it back, the neighbors appreciate because only I think three neighbors are directly impacted with a view of what's going on.
Um the largely it's been foundation walls for the lowest level and footings that are going into the ground. We we're we have permission from the building inspector to do all of the foundations at this point. So, we're just waiting to formalize some of that, but they're
continuing with a lot of that formwork in preparation to sort of complete the full building foundation. Um just looking at some of the the photos, we're building a retaining wall on the south and slowly raising the grade. So, this is what um some of our
uh neighbors to the south will see. We did put some of the early mitigations in place for um some of those neighbors so that um we're screening some of the views of this rather robust retaining wall that's going to be at the south side of the site. Um we're also putting
in a lot of the utilities currently. Here you can see some of the foundation footings going in. Um we've had a lot of concrete pores because we're building a fairly large building and that continues to be ongoing for the next couple of weeks. We're also beginning a lot of the waterproofing and the mockup. The mockup
is what we use to test out the details and make sure that they're going in properly. It's a way to make sure everybody's clear on what we're trying to achieve before we start on the full building. You can also see some of the waterproofing continuing. This is a very robustly waterproofed um building
because we know the issues that have existed on the site and we want to make sure that at the end of the day, you're not going to have water seeping into the bottom of the building. Here you can see just some more of the drainage and foundation walls that we've put in over time as well as some of the
footings that continue to be ongoing. There's a heck of a lot of them. Um even if you see it from one of the neighbors, you're only seeing the first tier of it. It goes back for quite a while because this is at the end of the day a sizable building. And I think anyone visiting the site in the course of the next two
months is probably going to get a good sense of how big this building really is going to be become. Um, in terms of what's going on, we're we've completed the initial stages of the mockup. So, that's going to continue. We're beginning some of the um
commissioning both envelope and MEP systems. So, that's moving forward in some of those pre-stages so that we're setting expectations. Um, as we've shown you, there's a lot of foundation and underground that's going in in terms of utilities, sanitary, storm water, as
well as um the the base of the building. Um all of that's being waterproofed and we've also managed a lot of the boulders. So we're getting a good sense of um we had included we knew we'd hit boulders so we had included what's called unit prices as part of those
boulders so that we made sure that we were covered for a certain allotment of that. Um we have exceeded that in some ways but some of the other rock we anticipated um hitting we have not found. So overall, that's a a good financial place to be. Even if it does
have a slight change order up, there's also going to be a slight change order down. >> The a lotment of boulders. >> It's I understand. It was just really >> Yes. Um >> I was over there a couple weeks ago and uh who's the guy on site? >> Um Steve Divine.
>> Steve. Yeah, he was great. >> Local resident Steve Divine. >> Yeah. Yeah. Very local. And it was interesting in showing the system of labeling and counting the rocks. >> Yes. >> And the boulders to make sure there's no monkey business.
>> I have some children who would enjoy counting the rocks. >> Yeah. Well, they can pretty soon they'll have access to counting the rocks that we took over to the Hopkins school. >> That's interesting. Um but yes, we have a robust process to make sure that monkey business is not part of our projects
>> and um we had a robust process with the designer to do our best guess about where those allowances should be so that we in one of the reasons that we do that is so that we include enough scope in the bid so that when they're
bidding and giving those numbers for those unit prices, they can't manipulate them because they have to include that value in their bid. you don't always hit the number right, which is where you get those slight overages, but we at least have a fixed price for every boulder that we find. So, that allows us to um
moderate some of the expense versus them coming to us and say, "Hey, we found all these boulders. We didn't expect this. Please pay us additional." Um, in terms of where we're getting in the next couple of months, we're going to do some of the um geothermal wells.
Um we're going to be beginning uh or furthering a lot of our um mechanical, electrical, and plumbing coordination. We had we just had the commissioning meeting since this was issued. Um we're looking at steel as early as November
17th. So that's really when you're going to start to see this take building shape. Um we're also planning a groundbreaking. So, the um the school administration has put out a press release for the groundbreaking on November 4th at 3:00. >> Correct. >> Yep.
>> Um and so we're going to hold that at the site entrance that is on the mar at the marathon school. The public is welcome to attend. We'll have speakers who have been involved in the project or supporting the project. Um, we're also be continuing to expand that foundation
work as I said and um sewer and utility work and they are looking at doing some temporary binders so that um having more of that pavement driving off the road so that you're leaving the dirt sooner um
so that by the time you get to the road less of that silt's going to carry into the street. I think anybody who uses Hayden Row as their way to work has seen that it's a little more dusty even though we sweep it um daily. It's a little more dusty um when we have a
rainstorm. And so that's one of the techniques that we're using to mitigate that. So, not only do we have the rock to shake it off the tires, but the tires are going to travel on that asphalt that we put in to make sure that by the time they're turning onto the Hayden Row, as much of that has been mitigated as we
possibly can. Um and beyond that, um obviously erosion control and sediment basins are fresh in our mind. We've expanded a lot of those over the course of um the recent rains that we've had. Largely Bates been um lucky in that we
had a very dry extended period with the drought. And so um with that sudden onslaught of water, we're finally seeing the site that we expected. So, um they're continuing to manage those and increase those as necessary to make sure um that it's appropriate.
There we go. Um we as of this writing, we didn't have a change order, but we do have um three small PCOs that were included in change order one. Um that was discussed at the last meeting. Um largely we've done really well in terms
of change orders. We haven't had a significant number of them thus far. Um the architect's fees at about 7 um 2% of what was budgeted. The OPM fees um thus far the biggest component of our OPM fee
is having Steve Divine on site full-time on construction and having all the support that we put around him. And so that we tend to lag the architect for that reason because um we cost a lot more in construction than throughout design.
Um, and then finally on the construction contract, they've built about 7% of construction thus far. And with that, we just had a small note about the groundbreaking. As I mentioned, um, we shared this, and I know the the school administration is
taking the lead in setting that up. And with that, that concludes our um, presentation for this evening. Happy to take any questions you have about either project. Um and we'll certainly be back before you as we finalize any of those additional scopes with the um school
administration team. >> Great. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. Great. Appreciate it. >> Excited to put groundbreaking next. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> You guys don't have candy on your side.
>> Start winging them down. >> Yeah. >> Look at those 100 grand. >> Yeah. The Cadillac of Candy. >> Yes, >> it's the number one. It's not even close, >> right? You don't see him as often as we
were talking about earlier. >> Thank you for [Music] >> Tuesday at groundbreaking weren't expected. >> Yes. >> Wait till you see what we got for you. Maybe Bob the Bilbert would be more and
poke blinking. I'm noticing >> All right. All right. Moving along. >> Mr. Lebron, >> school supply acceptance. >> All right. Well, good evening everyone. Um, tonight I come before you through the superintendent to request the
acceptance by the committee of a gift from NRI VA Boston. Uh, they made a generous donation or let me be accurate would like to make a generous donation to the Hopkinson public schools in the form of 50 backpacks containing various school supplies. Um, with a total
approximate value of $2,100. and our IVA boss and contacted my office earlier this fall sharing their interest in providing support for our community um and fostering a positive learning environment for students. Uh they stated that they wish to make sure that all
students are wellprepared for their educational journey. I had the pleasure of meeting with representatives from the organization last week um and and expressed gratitude um on behalf of the committee and on behalf of the school system um for this generous donation. So, uh, tonight, uh, I would be, uh,
gracious if you would accept this generous contribution to our schools. >> Move to approve the donation of school supplies valued at $2,100. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I >> I Great. >> Just to comment on that, I also, and this is a larger comment on the
district's use of social media. I saw that it it seems like we've had a lot of great social media exposure out there, and I think that people are enjoying seeing the content, including that in particular. So, Did not know that was out there. Now I got to check. Yeah. >> Yep. And it is out there >> near be on the social media every day.
>> I'm telling you, we're trying to post once a day. Thank you. It's noticed I think the community. >> Yes. That's good. I'm glad to hear. Yeah. Thank you. >> All right. Policy AC, non-discrimination, including harassment, retaliation. Mr. Bisher.
>> Yes. So, we uh Okay. Uh we have uh second readings of three separate policies tonight. Uh specifically we're reviewing policy AC the non-discrimination including harassment and retaliation. Also policy ACAB the sexual harassment and title N policy and policy BDA the school committee
organizational meeting. Uh all proposed policies have been shared with communities for feedback. Uh so unless there are any questions or concerns. Uh the motion is to approve the revised policies ACAB and BDA as presented. >> So what I can I ask a question? Um the
and this is about the BDA school committee organization meeting only because Susan had some questions about it the last time and I couldn't >> tell looking at the copy if there were changes that were >> um when we met and discussed Susan's uh
concerns after the last meeting we removed the piece that she was questioning. >> Okay. >> Yeah. So it's submitted just how it was. >> Yeah. No, I just wanted to make sure. >> Yep. >> That I was seeing it accurately. >> Are we discussing all three of these?
>> Mhm. >> We're not doing them one at a time. >> We can if you'd like, but we can. >> No, no, no. I'm just curious. I I had one I had a question on the sexual harassment one. >> Does I I I'm not entirely sure what the ACAV-R
what that document reads and the details of it. Um, and I don't know if this is included in that, but as I read through that that sexual harassment one, I didn't see language addressing false
or malicious allegations. And I don't know if that's is that included in the ACAB-R part of what that covers. The only reason I bring out I know someone whose life was basically ruined by a false allegation >> and at that point it was too late and
there's really no repercussions and I'm just curious >> if our new policy includes anything about that. >> I don't believe it does and this is the the new policy that we're adopting here
is actually the policy that was the 2020 policy. So there was the 2020 policy then it changed in 2024 and now we're back to the 2020 policy. I still don't believe it has language specifically related to that, but I do think part of the findings and part of the
investigation, you'll come to some of those if that would be the case, you'd be able to find that and and put it out there. But I don't know if there's anything specifically that states that. >> Why does it why did we or are we going for 2020 change and then we're going back? >> Yeah. So, the 2024
uh policy is not ruled lawful anymore. >> Okay. >> So, now we're back to Yeah. to revert back to 2020. And this is the language that our legal counsel provided to us. >> And legal is fine with all three of the these as they're written now. >> Yep. >> They were written.
>> Yeah. Recommended. Well, I don't like that there's nothing in there about false accusations, but uh I don't know if we if legal has comment on that or it's in there and I'm not sophisticated enough to read through
that part and see that or again what the ACAB-R speaks to in that process. >> That's the grievance process. Yep. >> Yeah. The other two I've read through and don't have any questions on. >> Okay. >> Would we like to go ahead and approve
the other two then and see if we can get >> Yep. I'd be happy to bring that policy. >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Yep. >> Would you like to make a motion about that then? Uh, make a motion to approve back up
policy AC non discrimination including harassment and retaliation and >> they have to be separate motions. >> Oh, >> oh, I'm sorry. Okay. Yeah. Move this room. Okay. Motion to approve
policy AC non-discrimination including harassment and retaliation. >> Second. All in favor? I. >> Any opposed? >> Motion to approve the revised BDA school committee organization meeting as
proposed. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Okay. We'll bring back the other one and put it on the agenda for next week. >> Great. >> Yep. >> All right. Items by consensus. >> Yep. Uh, I recommend that the school
committee approve the items by consensus as listed in your packet. >> So moved. >> Second. All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? >> Anyone? >> I'd like to make a motion to adjourn the meeting. >> Second.
>> All in favor? >> I. >> Any opposed? Wonderful. Thank you. >> Seven minutes. >> Enjoy a senior Halloween. >> Thank you. >> Yes. I'll show you guys
or