Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Mhm. >> Okay. Good evening. Welcome to the school committee meeting for Thursday, June 18th, 2026. Um I'd like call the meeting to order and we'll start with Pledge of
Allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Great. Thank you.
Um we have um public like to open public comment if anybody would like to make public comment. Come on up. >> Where do I go? >> Just you can come sit next to Ella and just introduce yourself and give your address, please. >> brought to the dais before. This is
>> Welcome. >> Thank you. Um my name is Joey Ford. Um I'm the founder and leader of Parent Data Force, independent educational watchdog and reform initiative. I focus mostly on special education and >> did you did you did you state your address?
>> I'm at 44 Arm Smith Street in Attleboro. So I came all the way here today because I really wanted to talk to you guys about policy JICI-FRM1 regarding the kirpan allowance. And this is nothing against the the Sikh people. They are a wonderful group of people,
but I the policy, the way that it's written is rather unconstitutional. Um it it's expressly discriminatory against all other religions besides the Sikhs because like there are religious articles that could be seen as
weapons for all the religions. The Muslims have the takiya, the Christians have their crusader swords. Billy Bob could make his religion and say an AR-15. So just like the slippery slope of this is a little bit concerning. Um
there's also some forced demonstration of the religion with the way that the policy is written. I'll give you some examples of this. So for instance, number one, the the student must have a deeply held religious belief. Carrying of the kirpan is restricted to seek
people who have gone through the armit paal ceremony. I may be saying that uh butchering it and I apologize. To require that demonstration is unconstitutional. Um also the the student must have a record of appropriate school behavior. Uh that's like saying uh little Johnny
must be a good boy otherwise he can't read his Bible. Just to give another, you know. Um the kirpan will be sheathed and secured in line with religious requirements. You cannot define what any religious requirement would be because that's unconstitutional.
Um I I On top of that there is some just like common sense safety um things to regard here. I think we could still accommodate the Sikh people and um hold their their um kirpan for them. Hold it at the administrator's office just as is
suggested for overnights and going on field trips or Yes, overnight field trips as it's written in there. Um On top of that I have looked into my records. Uh I have statewide PRS records over the past 5 years for all the districts. And in
Hopkinton you don't have a ton of PRS cases but there are 21 of them. And in 2025 there was a corrective action plan and that was issued for a discrimination case. So I don't know what the details are. I'm certainly going to record request and find out more details but I don't know if it's related to this but
you really should be um concerned with discrimination. Um I do have another person who would like to speak over the phone who is a valid ADA recipient. Um if you would be willing to accommodate them this way that would be great. >> Thank you.
>> Is that no to the >> Um they can always call. >> Okay. >> office. >> Okay. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. All right. >> All right. Moving on, superintendent's report. >> Okay. If I can grab the Apple TV.
awesome. Good evening everyone. Nice to see you all. This is the Superintendent's report for June 18th and I'd like to dedicate the report tonight to recognizing and thanking a group of individuals who have had a tremendous impact on the Hopkinton Public Schools and it's the this group's
retirees this year, the 2026 retirees from Hopkinton Public Schools. Uh what I've come to appreciate in my 20 years of working in in Hopkinton is our success really is based on the people. Uh the people that show up every day, the people that care about our students, that support one another uh and make a difference in both big and small ways.
And collectively this talented group of retirees uh has dedicated decades of service to the Hopkinton Public Schools. They've taught lessons, they've solved problems, answered [clears throat] questions, supported students and families and and helped make our schools and our staff better. Uh while they each have their own individual journey and
stories, uh they all share one thing in common and their commitment to this community and our students. So, on behalf of the School Committee, uh our staff, our administration, our families, I want to sincerely thank Don Friberg, uh Bonnie Goss, uh Jane Glazer, Laurel
Gavanoni, Andy Longoria, Deb Pinto, Susan Rothermich, and James Bastarache. Each of you has made a last >> Unlock your iPhone. >> I'm sorry. >> Each of us has Each of you has made a lasting uh impact on our students and our schools and our community. Uh we are deeply grateful for everything that you have done in your time here in Hopkinton
Public Schools. Uh we'd like to recognize you all tonight uh and provide you with a gift and take a group photo afterwards. I've had I've asked Ryan and Ella to uh comment on each one of our retirees. So, we'll start with Ryan. >> Good night. Uh we'll start uh tonight by recognizing Jim Bastarache uh or Mr. B
as the kids call him on his retirement after 17 years of dedicated service to Hopkinton Public Schools. Uh Mr. B spent 5 years at Hopkinton High School and the last 12 at Elmwood uh where he became a beloved and trusted member of the school community. Anybody who has worked with Mr. B knows how incredibly hard working
he is. Day in and day out he showed up, took pride in his work, and did whatever was needed to support students and staff. Much of what he did behind the scenes Much of what he did was behind the scenes, but it made a difference every single day. What stands out the most is the impact he had on people around him.
Mr. B is loved by students, respected by staff, and appreciated by anybody and everybody who had the opportunity to work alongside him. His kindness, dependability, and positive attitude helped make Elmwood a better place. Mr. B, thank you for your 17 years of service at Hopkinton Public Schools. We
are grateful for all you have done for our schools and our community. You will be sorely missed, and we wish you nothing but the best in retirement. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Uh next we'd like to recognize Mr. Friberg, who's dedicated more than 25 years of service to Hopkinton Public
Schools. He began his career with the district in 2001 as a member of our custodial team, moved into a general maintenance position in 2003, and became maintenance supervisor in 2006. Over the years, Mr. Friberg became someone our schools could always count on. He was a
kind, quiet, hardworking professional who took tremendous pride in our buildings and grounds. Well, much of his work happened behind the scenes, the impact of what the work was visible every day to our students, staff, and community. Whether it was leading the setup for graduation, coordinating
building projects, responding to unexpected challenges, or simply making sure facilities were safe, clean, and welcoming, Mr. Friberg approached every task with dedication and professionalism. He cared deeply about his district and the people in it. The work of maintaining a school district
often comes unnoticed when everything is running smoothly, and that's exactly the point. Mr. Friberg's steady leadership and commitment helped ensure that our schools were always ready to support teaching and learning. On behalf of the School Committee, our staff, our students, and the entire Hopkinton
community, thank you, Mr. Friberg, for your 25 and a half years of service. We wish you all the best in a well-earned retirement. >> [applause] >> Uh next up we'll talk about Ms. Gauss. Uh Ms. Gauss has been uh part of the Elmwood community for the past 23 years
serving as the school's art teacher and helping generations of students discover their creativity and confidence through the arts. Her passion for teaching and love of art have been evident in everything she's done. In 2007, she received the Golden Teacher for Excellence Award and 2008 she was
recognized by the Massachusetts Massachusetts art um excuse me uh education association as a Massachusetts Elementary Art Educator of the Year. Honors that reflect the impact she had on students and colleagues alike. Beyond the classroom, Ms. Gauss
family shared her talents through after school HBTO art programs, creating even more opportunities for students to explore and enjoy the arts. Through her creativity, dedication, and enthusiasm, Ms. Gauss has inspired countless young artists over the years. We thank her for her 23 years of service to Hopkinton
Public Schools, and we wish her all the best in retirement. Thank you. >> [applause] >> Uh next we'd like to recognize Ms. Glazer, who has dedicated 20 years of service to Hopkinton Public Schools, spending her entire career with us at Elmwood School. For two decades, she's
been a familiar, trusted, and caring presence for our countless students, families, and colleagues. Hopkinton is not only where Ms. Glazer worked, but also where she raised her two children, making her connection to this community especially meaningful. As she begins her retirement, Ms. Glazer's looking forward
to spending more time with her grandson, Colin, a role we know she will embrace with the same love, dedication, and enthusiasm she brought to our schools every day. Ms. Glazier, thank you for 20 years of service to the students, staff, and families at Hopkinton Public Schools. We're grateful for all you've
contributed to our community, and we wish you nothing but happiness in this next chapter. >> [applause] [applause] >> Uh next we'd like to recognize Ms. Ms. Gavani. Uh Ms. Gavani spent 13 years teaching at Hopkinton High School. And
Mr. Bishop was fortunate enough to be the one who hired her. During her time at Hopkinton High School, she taught students uh at every level and found a way to connect with them regardless of their background or abilities. She taught algebra, geometry, algebra 2, and statistics. Ms. Gavani was passionate
about mathematics and brought that passion to her students every day. Her students absolutely loved her. Ms. Gavani understood that great teaching is more about is more than academics. Uh she placed a strong emphasis on social emotional learning and worked hard to ensure students felt supported,
valued, and connected. She was also a wonderful colleague, thoughtful, caring, and always willing to help on her others. Uh Ms. Gavani's impact can be seen in the countless students she taught and the relationships she's built along the way. We thank her for 13 years of service to Hopkinton Public Schools, and
we wish her all the best in retirement. Thank you. >> [applause] [cheering] >> Next we'd like to recognize Mr. Longoria, who has dedicated 20 years to Hopkinton High School, leaving an impact that extends far beyond the classroom. Throughout his career, Mr. Longoria has
supported countless students as a teacher, class advisor, and advisor to the International Student Program. He consistently went above and beyond to help students feel connected, supported, and successful during their time at HHS. Among his colleagues, Mr. Longoria
became known as a trusted resource and a go-to person within his department. Whether someone needed advice, support, or simply another perspective, Mr. Longoria has always is always willing to help. His commitment to students, his leadership, and his steady presence have
made Hopkinton High School a better place. We thank Mr. Longoria for his 20 years of service and wish him the best in retirement. >> [applause] >> Uh next we would like to recognize Ms. Deb Pinto. Uh Ms. Pinto has dedicated 30 years of
service to Hopkinton Public Schools, three of them teaching me. Uh >> [laughter] >> making a lasting impact on generations of students through her commitment to physical education, wellness, and inclusion. Throughout her career, Ms. Pinto helped establish the fitness center as a meaningful learning space
and played a key role in developing um excuse me, in developing uh things that that encourage students to build healthy habits and lifelong skills. She was a strong advocate for inclusive practices, helping ensure that all students could participate, succeed, and feel a sense of belonging through the unified
physical education and other programs. Ms. Pinto's influence extended far beyond the classroom. She was instrumental in creating and supporting the eighth grade 5K training program in the Hiller 5K. Initiatives that promoted fitness, perseverance, and community connection. She also served as an
outstanding mentor to colleagues, sharing her expertise and helping others grow in the profession. Whether supporting pride events, encouraging students to challenge themselves, or creating opportunities for every student to feel seen and valued, Ms. Pinto consistently demonstrated care, leadership, and dedication. We thank Ms.
Pinto Ms. Pinto for her 30 years of service to Hopkinton Public Schools, and we wish her all the best in retirement. Thank you. you. >> [applause] [applause] >> Next up is Miss Rothermich. Has served Hopkinton schools for the past 9 years in exemplary fashion. Miss Rothermich
brought a tremendous wealth of experience to this role and that experience proved invaluable as she helped lead the district through major building projects, challenging budget cycles, and the unprecedented challenges of COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout her time here, Miss Rothermich earned the
trust and respect of colleagues, town officials, school committee members, and broader community. She's incredibly knowledgeable, though thoughtful in her approach, and someone people constantly turn to for guidance, advice, and expertise. Few people understand the
complexities of school finance and operations the way Miss Rothermich does. And Hopkinton Public Schools has benefited from her leadership and commitment over the past 9 years. >> [snorts] >> We're grateful for everything Miss Rothermich has done for our students, staff, and community. We thank her for her service and wish her the best in
retirement. >> [applause] >> Can we get the retirees up here for a picture? >> Well, should we move out of the way? >> [laughter] [laughter] >> Here we go. 3 2 1 All right, the school committee?
>> [laughter] [applause] [laughter] >> All right, moving on our student council. Awesome. Um so we wanted to take this Bye. >> [laughter] >> It's impressive. Like 30, 25 years. It's crazy.
Um we wanted to take this opportunity to thank the school committee for an amazing year. Ryan and I are so grateful that we got the chance to represent the student body and student voices. Um and as we as a little goodbye we wanted to tell you guys our next steps and what they look like. So I'm headed to Colby
College up in Maine to study neuroscience on the pre-med track and I'm hoping to row starting in the fall and join Colby's pre-health society in preparation for medical school. Uh this upcoming fall I will be attending James Madison University in Virginia and will be studying studying
marketing with the goal of eventually starting my own business in the future. Uh this experience here at school committee has taught me so much about leadership and collaboration. It has been an honor to work alongside all of you. So we both thank you guys tremendously. >> Thank you so much.
>> [applause] >> At this moment we have a small gift for you all. >> we sure do. Yep. Um and we just wanted to take a second on behalf of the school committee and Mr. Rothermel, Mr. Labra, and myself and just thank you for this year. You guys have done a tremendous job. I couldn't have asked for two better student representatives in my
first year as superintendent. You came prepared. You represented the student voice so well and you're great kids. We wish you all the best. Thank you so much for for all that you've done. I know there were some late nights and you probably missed some things that you wanted to be at but you you showed a level of commitment and leadership that's really impressive. So, thank you
so much. We have something for you. >> I'll check the card. >> [laughter] >> Thank you so much. >> [laughter] >> Thank you so much. Thank you. >> The gifts were my idea. >> [laughter]
>> Unless they don't like them. Chris would like to talk about Al Pacino. >> I learned by sitting next to you. >> Homework and all that video games. I let you guys multitask. >> [laughter] >> Is there a difference on what was our computer situation? >> Come on.
>> So, now they're going to introduce our student representatives for next year. >> As we conclude our time here, it is our pleasure to introduce the next student representatives, Jillian and Maddie, who will continue to represent our student body in the upcoming academic year. So, Jill and Matt. >> [applause]
>> Matt, clean this up. >> [laughter] >> You should take your names at least. >> Is that a prize? >> Yeah. That's another gift. >> I feel like it's Christmas. >> You don't leave the holder though. >> Oh, slide slide out. Leave the holder. >> Yeah, the holder might be a gift. >> How greedy. [laughter]
You're all >> Jillian and Matt will have truffles then. >> Wait, I just picked up the papers. >> Who's taking center pieces? All right, see you guys. Thank you. >> Thank you guys. >> Thank you. >> Welcome, guys. >> You're welcome. >> Maddie Leiden and Jillian Torin.
>> Hi. >> Juniors at the high school. And you've prepared an update for us. >> Oh, yes. >> Going to jump right in? >> Oh, wow. >> Oh, wow. >> Awesome. Right to work. Right to work. >> Um hi, I'm Jillian Torin. I'm part of the principal's cabinet. I do track and cross country. I've been doing them since freshman year. Um I'm also on the MIAA student advisory
committee and I volunteer at the Milford Regional Endoscopy Unit. Um part my little update, our finals started today. We had our first and second period exams. Today was also the ninth grade Six Flags trip. Um tomorrow there's no school, June 10th, and then Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday our exams
continue. Uh June 20th, we have the Run for Rafa. The Run for Rafa 5K is going to be held at the Hopkinton High School on Saturday, June 20th at 9:00 a.m. The event, which will include a post-race celebration with music, community partner booths, and a raffle, is a
fundraiser for an HHS student Rafaela Cristielli, who is recovering from a life-threatening injury she suffered after being hit by a car last year. Please come. It's going to be really fun. >> Um my name is Matt Leiden. Um a little background on me, I was vice president freshman and sophomore year of the class
of 2027. I was on principal's cabinet this year. I take photos at Hopkinton events. And [clears throat] I've been playing golf for the high school team for 3 years. And my little update is just for the seniors that just senior parents be aware we have senior tie-dye coming up and senior sunrise, so stay
aware over the summer to like look over and make sure your kid attends that. >> What? >> Awesome. Nice job. Nice one. Appreciate it. >> You're welcome. >> Anyone have any questions for our new reps? >> No questions, but exciting start to the senior year coming up. So, also I do
have a question. How how did the ninth grade trip happen on the first day of finals? >> I honestly cannot say. >> Okay, today wasn't supposed to be the first day of finals. We just had like snow days. We had a pipe burst in the high school. >> Right. >> So. >> But did they have to take their finals or did they not have finals today? Was >> They went after the final.
>> Okay. >> We get out at like 11:00. >> We get out early. >> [laughter] >> Yeah, I think it was supposed to be the third or fourth day of finals, but with snow days and all that kind of stuff. >> Yeah. >> That's it. >> Okay. Well, thank you so much for coming. I told them they can go home >> today. They didn't have to stay for the whole meeting. It's a long one, so. >> [laughter] >> We'll start >> my joint.
>> We'll start fresh in September. You guys can stay for the whole thing. >> Yes, just them. Sorry. Thank you so much for coming. Great to see >> Thank you. Thank you. And we'll have name plates for you next time. >> I'm so excited. [laughter] >> All right. See you guys. Thank you. >> Bye. >> Good night, guys. >> Goodbye.
>> All right, we have an old order of business. So, when we were doing the superintendent's evaluation, we had scored one of the categories and let me get back to it. Sorry. I had it.
Um it is uh 4E, shared vision. We said it was developing. Um apparently developing is not a category. What was the category? We have to
Although it says developing, it says D at the top. Is the one? Am I in the wrong one? >> Because when they did the training, they said that Right, it was developing. Yeah. This improvement was developing, but I was the one that followed that and I think everyone else said
I said proficient. >> Okay. I think that's what happened. >> So, I just I can give you a little context. >> Okay, thank you. Yeah. >> Um the state doesn't have developing as a category, so it needs to be proficient or needs improvement. So. >> Jamie was right, we were wrong.
>> But that's okay, we can fix it so that >> [laughter] >> going forward, we'll remember that. So, are we okay with a proficient? >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> All right. >> I don't have to >> Uh motion I move to revise the superintendent final evaluation
indicator 4E to proficient. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Aye. >> Great. I will make that change. Um I'll get that to >> Sorry, did you have something? >> Um I know that we have someone on Zoom for like a couple a couple items from
now and he can't hear anything. But I know you still have the >> Yep, we got it. >> Yeah, we'll we'll we'll go through it. Hopefully they can work on that. Um all right, payroll warrants. S 26021, S2621A,
S26022 have been approved and warrants um 2610HS, 2611HS, 26128MS 2613HS, 26128S 26129S,
26130S, 26131S 26132S, 26133S, 26134S, 26135S have all been approved and warrants are in your folder. Wonderful.
Liaison reports. >> Um I know over the summer the Sustainable Green Committee is um working on meeting with the Safe Walk to School people um to talk about that initiative. So, I know that's ongoing. >> Anything? >> None for me.
>> Um I guess we I I can say that um the full committee for the um police chief search committee was established on Tuesday night the select board meeting. Um in preparation for
that, um Mr. Kisner from the select board and myself went to meet with several police officers, the police union, um to kind of get some of their feelings about what they would like in the next police chief. And we look forward to sharing that with our with our committees.
Report. Anyone else? Okay. Um new business. We'd like to >> Do you mind if I make a uh suggestion? Can we move the old business out of order and then put up the uh outdoor classroom for Ms. Pennebaker to go >> Sure. Absolutely. I heard it was a rough night at the
middle school with a little rain. >> Yeah, we have 317 eighth graders that had to hunker down in the library and the brown gym instead of our courtyard party, but we're flexible. We're middle school, so we adjust quickly. >> You don't seem to look drenched, so that's >> Yep, and everybody was having a great
time. Pizza got there. Everybody's happy. They're well-fed and actually about to head at home. So, I got to miss out on that. Anyways, uh so I am here to request final approval for the November 2026 trip to outdoor classroom for our grade
six class. Um it's typical. We're heading up to Camp Cody in Freedom, New Hampshire where we've been going for the last 3 years, I believe. Um cost is the same as last year, $435 per student, and we have um financial resources available
for anybody who can't attend. Um we take students in two different shifts because no place can accommodate 360 um students all at once. Um but I think we're a pretty well-oiled machine at this point with the trip. So, I'm here just to request the final approval.
>> I move to approve the grade six outdoor classroom for 2026. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Aye. >> Great. Good. >> Thank you. >> Awesome. >> All right. >> We wish you gifts, no prizes. >> No gifts [laughter] or prizes. This is your last time presenting for the classroom. >> the trip will move to Hopkins in 2
years. And so, unfortunately, I will not be moving to Hopkins with the trip. So. >> So, your gift, I guess, would be not to have to come back next year at this time. >> So, you got to get >> So, you got to get >> I did get >> They're all They're all fighting >> Thank you very much. >> [laughter] >> Thank you. Don't have to go in the woods in November. That is a gift.
All right. Thanks, everyone. >> All right. Moving back. Um Miss Beatty. This may also be your last time presenting in front of us. >> I know. I didn't expect to be here again. So, thank you for having me. >> Welcome. >> Nice to meet you, Sandra. I've been waiting for you.
>> Um so, I am here just requesting approval for one C para um for next year's school year at Elmwood School based on We're trying to take a proactive approach. We had a few move-ins that will begin over the summer. Um and looking at their IEPs
require that level of service. We did not budget for it. So, I'm here asking for approval for that. >> The The funding comes through a grant in the circuit breaker. So, it's >> neutral to >> Yep. >> budget. >> Yes. Yes. We're able to pull funding out
of that grant, the 240 and 262 grant. Um for coverage. It's just an added position, which is why I'm here in front of you. >> All right. >> I move to approve the additional 1.0 FTE ABA level C paraprofessional. >> Second. >> Second. >> All in favor?
>> Aye. >> Thank you so much. And thank you all for your service to us for the last >> Thank you for having me. It was a really great year, and I appreciate it, and it's bittersweet. Trying to hold our emotions in this week, but thank [clears throat] you so much. It's been really great.
>> Thank you. >> Good luck. >> to you. >> All right. Middle School Classroom. >> Okay. All right. Um Mr. Peterson, do you want to come up? >> Great. >> So, next we'd like to provide a brief update regarding >> Hold on 1 second. Are we aware that Shawn can hear us now? >> hear us.
>> Okay. >> Great. Thank you. >> Great. Great. Thank you. >> So, we'd like to provide an update regarding concerns that were raised about the air quality in adjoining classrooms at the Hockanum Middle School. We thought for transparency purposes, it's important for us as a district to walk through our response when we
receive concerns like this and reiterate that the safety of our our students and staff is our top priority and always will be. Uh, we have Mr. Persons with us here. He's our buildings and grounds director who did a lot of the work. Um, but I'll give you a little bit of a timeline and then I'll turn it over to him to answer any questions that you
have or fill in any holes that I missed. >> Okay. >> Uh, so initial concerns were raised by staff and brought to our middle school administration back in May of 2025, so about a year ago, uh, prompting a indoor air quality test done by an environmental consultant that Mr. Person works with. Results found
conditions to be within the normal ranges with no evidence of elevated mold levels. Uh, fast forward to this year, additional concerns were raised again in December of 2025. >> [snorts] >> Uh, the area was inspected by our maintenance and custodial staffs and conducted further inspections and deep cleaning.
And then after beginning of the new year, January of 2026, as a district, we conducted our second round of independent air and surface testing. We asked the staff in the room to identify any specific locations for sampling that they would like, including walls, vents, window areas.
Uh, results of that testing again showed no significant mold contamination. And results concluded that the small amounts of mold identified were common environmental molds present at very low levels and not considered hazards. Uh, following the consultant's visits, uh, Mr. Lefave, Mr. Person, and myself,
we met with them and got recommendations. And the district completed those by adding additional cleaning, HVAC servicing, filter replacements, ceiling tile replacements, as well as a ozone air scrubbing unit during evenings and weekends. Uh at no point did any of the
inspections identify any visible mold. Uh and both rounds of independent testing found conditions to be well within the normal ranges. Uh and so I understand and appreciate the concerns that that were brought forward. Uh I do believe the district responded appropriately and thoughtfully and thoroughly and in good faith and and
throughout the process uh we made sure that we kept the health and safety of our students and staff at the forefront. So, I did want Mr. Person to be here just to answer any questions that you may have. Uh so yes, I think that's it. >> was the concerns raised by a single teacher or employee or multiple people in that classroom or classrooms?
>> The concerns came from uh two individuals in the classroom. Okay. >> Got it. >> No. >> I don't know if I missed anything you want to >> So, I think the only other thing is kind of after the fact um after we had done all the testing and cleaning, the original cleaning through February
break, uh Matt Lefave and I met and we decided to open up the area a little bit more. So, the area has it was one it was once the cafeteria when it was the middle school high school that was split into three separate classrooms with uh partition walls that went floor to ceiling. Um we
took the top half of the partition walls off so air flow would go through the space a little bit better and then we opened up kind of an office that was inside an office inside one of the classrooms um to let a little little more space to let a little
more air kind of free flow free >> flow. >> Thank you. >> [laughter] >> I just I came back from vacation so Um so we wanted to um just kind of open up the space. I think the teachers that are in the space appreciated those those
kind of movements said that the air felt better up there even the air movement up there felt better. So, those are some of the additional steps we had taken after the fact of these and we continue to kind of check in with those teachers to make sure that the space is comfortable. It is a school
without HVAC, so it does get uncomfortable in most of the school, um but we do the best we can to make sure air is flowing properly through the space. >> And to add on to that, I know that you mentioned that we've met with the teachers. Mr. Person and Mr. Lafeve, I know met with the group of teachers in
the room multiple times and with HTA leadership did a walk-through of the space as well. >> Yep. >> Uh when the concerns came forward and I believe you talked with Sean McCollough who's on Zoom right now with the Board of Health. So, >> Sean, if you could hear the conversation, if you wanted to add any any comments or thoughts based on um
the reports that you've seen or conversations that you've had with with Mr. Person. >> Yeah, and most most here know that I was an environmental consultant before um I got into public health. Um the contract of the laboratory that
was used is a laboratory that I used throughout my career as a consultant and the work is all consistent with the procedures I would have followed, the testing that I would have completed,
and I I haven't identified anything that um you know, that this this school district did that I wouldn't have done as a consultant myself. So, and then
the actions that Tim just referenced about opening up the upper air flow the upper parts of the room to improve air flow that those actions are all consistent with what um I would have recommended
um as a consultant. Um and um yeah, that's that's really all I've got to say or add. >> Thank you for taking the time to be here. >> additional color cuz I think this is one of the rooms my kid is in or
was in and this was brought to my attention, so I came in and met and got a much more detailed, as detailed as this was, an even deeper explanation, and completely satisfied with the safety of the room, the air quality, and
if it even wasn't just my kid, but certainly in particular, I'm comfortable, and I think the actions by everyone involved were appropriate, and the room is safe, and the air is safe. And I appreciate, I think the district has gone above and beyond
probably what's necessary, and that's appreciated. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Is there Is there any Are there any outstanding steps that are being taken, or is everything No, all set now.
>> So, the only recommendation was to clean the undersides of the desks and the chairs in the report, which we do typically every summer anyway. We just did a little earlier there. We'll do it again this summer. You can imagine the undersides of student desks and tables. >> [laughter]
>> Don't want to. >> So, we'll continue on that process. Every other step we took was just a precautionary step to just help better air flow in the space and and help people feel more comfortable in the space they were in, so. >> Great, great. >> Sure.
>> Was it clear, Mr. McAuliff, that there was maybe one more task that we are recommending? >> I mean, I've I consulted with the firm that I had worked with in the past, and um actually, they're working um
at Charles Wood right now. >> Okay. >> And you know, we had discussed whether running a Suma canister might to evaluate the space for um volatile volatile organics or
semi-volatile organics would be worth it. But the discussion is we've kind of pulled back from that idea and it's um So,
I don't know. It's really >> Do you feel everything we've done is been sufficient enough? >> Yeah, if they're yes, yes. Let's keep it simple. >> That sounds wonderful. Thank you. >> Thank you, Sean. Thanks for joining us. Thank you, Tim. Appreciate it.
>> Thank you, Tim. Thank you. >> Thanks. >> Great night. >> All right. >> back on vacation. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. >> [laughter] >> We apologize. >> No worries at all. >> Greatly. Bye, Sean. Thank you. >> All right. >> Elementary Literacy Task Force, Mr. Labrad, you'd like to introduce.
>> Absolutely. Um I'm going to take the screen quickly. One second. >> Bye. >> I apologize. I'm not able to take the screen and that's on my end, not on Michigan's. Give me one second. In the meantime, I will say I'm so happy
to be uh joined tonight by Julie Mattson uh who is the director of middle school English Language Arts, grade six to eight, and she's been in that role for the last four years. Uh this year, Julie took on uh the role of supporting literacy leadership across grades K to
five and has done an a remarkable job. And so, I I'm so excited to um not share cuz it's it's been announced, but to uh acknowledge that beginning July 1st, Julie will will begin serving as our pre-K to eight director of literacy. Uh
and I cannot think of a better individual to lead us lead this work, the work that [clears throat] has been underway, and the work ahead. So, tonight I'm I'm honored to share the stage with Julie as we talk a little bit about the work we've done this year in studying elementary literacy, as well as
what our plan is moving ahead. Our goal is to make sure that that you all understand the work that we've done, as well as how the task force arrived at its recommendation to pilot uh elementary literacy programs next year. And I just I I will say this a few times, but I just want to start by
saying I both Julie and I share an immense amount of pride in the impactful work that this group has done this year. So, um All right, so this is slide one of 90. >> That was pretty good, Susan. >> Thank you. Okay. >> [laughter]
>> So, to begin, why why did we set up a task force in the first place? Well, there were a few reasons. The first one is that our students in Hopkinton, like this other districts, but unlike other districts, have a series of jumps that they go through in the course of their educational elementary educational
career. So, we really want to work to achieve cohesiveness and coherence wherever we can across our curriculum, but most especially right now with a focus on our literacy learning. At the same time, we are a high-achieving district for most. And if we want to lean into our mantra that all means all, and that we're
taking care of every student every day, we always have work to do. And because we're a group that embodies continuous improvement, we want to make sure that we can support teachers as best we can. We're also mindful of pending legislation on Beacon Hill, which is going to call for a shift in
curriculum material use coming up, and we'll talk a little bit more about that. And finally, we know that our educators are experts in their fields and their disciplines, and so they are the ones to lead us forward in Hopkinton. And so, that's why it was so great to join with them. So, the charge of our task force was to leverage data
to take a deep dive into what's working, what's not, adjust what we're doing, and grow wherever we can. We want to meet our students' needs, and we want to make sure that we're operating through a lens of equity. So, our charge was to develop a multi-year plan of how we're going to do that with literacy across the board. Our
aims were to guide ourselves with clarity, with consistency, and with rigor for all students. I won't read the names, but there is the list of 21 members that were part of our task force. We had grade level classroom teachers K to 5, we had special
educators, ESL teachers, administrators, and literacy specialists across the board. Um and I will say that this group engaged in and Julie will verify this for me to say there was some rich and vibrant discussion from time to time on topics of literacy would be putting it. We had
robust debate. I think I would argue that we rumbled um in the best possible way, um which feels really good. We looked at research, we looked at analysis, we even debated some of the the stances on on the current and future state of of literacy across Hopkinton and across the state.
So, let me touch on the legislation. So, right now there is a bill pending on Beacon Hill called an act relative to teacher preparation and student literacy. And that second part is the one that we're going to tune into most. This has gone through three versions of house bills, and if there it's currently
in a conference committee with at least one Senate amendment pending attached to it. The headline is this. Um all districts at some point in the next year or two are going to need to adopt a commercial literacy program that is approved by the state. Um the current
the original house plan uh had an attachment of a $25 million guarantee. The current version has eliminated that funding. So, all the other elements of what districts are expected to do will remain, um however, the funding that goes along with it uh is not there.
There is a to be fully transparent and clear, there is a provision for districts to apply for a waiver to not need to procure one of these commercial literacy programs. We have no idea what that might look like. Uh so, we're really not giving that a lot of of airtime or headspace
right now. Before I go further, I want to just take a moment and talk about what it means when we when we say we're teaching reading. And there are so many elements to it. If you look up here, you can see the active view of reading. And this is a a piece of research by Nell Duke and Kelly Cartwright out of the University of
Michigan uh from 2021. It builds on a previous model for teaching reading that was some 20 years old, and then there was a 20-year-old uh version beyond that. But the key is this, students when they learn to read have two real big groups of skills that they're developing. The first one is word
recognition at the top there, you see. That's where it's they're learning and picking up phonological awareness, phonics, decoding skills. Down at the bottom, you can see language comprehension. This is where students are making meaning of what what they're what they're reading, what they're decoding. And we pull that together in
what Duke and Cartwright call bridging processes. So, these are things like fluency and vocabulary knowledge. That's how you intertwine the first two. Now, you can see leading into that is active self-regulation. This is the the reality that students need to be ready to engage in the learning before they
can engage in the learning. Uh and there needs to be a level of motivation, engagement, and application of executive function skill for them to be able to apply that. All that pulls together, and we are able to have children develop their their their skills as as readers with
increasing strategy and increasing automaticity. The National Reading Panel in 1999 identified five pillars of reading. The first one is phonemic awareness. This is a child's ability any individual, but I I will say child or student tonight. Uh a student's ability to identify,
segment, and manipulate individual speech sounds, the smallest sounds that we can make in our language, also known as phonemes. Now, phonics, which is a much more common expression that we hear about both in research and in popular culture, talks about a code-based approach to
teaching reading. This is really where you are linking the representation in print text to what that word is and what it means. Fluency is is the ability to read the text accurately at an appropriate rate and with proper expression. Vocabulary, of course, are the words
known and used. And comprehension is where we make meaning. We take all that coded language and we determine what it is that it actually means and what impact it has on us as individuals, both individually and collectively. And there are four elements to teaching reading that I want to mention. The
first one is curriculum. Curriculum is what we teach. While instruction is how we teach it. Instructional materials are what we use to support that instruction. And the assessment is what we use to measure the impact. A lot of times we'll hear,
particularly curriculum and instruction used interchangeably, but it's really important for us to pause and note that those are two very different things. And the instructional materials that we use, the texts, the slideshows, the manipulatives, uh those are neither curriculum nor instruction, but those are our tools and
vehicles to be able to achieve the first two. And the thing I will say, and I'll probably say it again tonight, curriculum doesn't teach children. Instructional materials do not teach children. People teach children. Teachers teach children. So, we've done work prior to where we've
landed this year. We have been long ahead in the work of foundational skill instruction here in Hopkinton. For well over a decade, we have used the Foundations program to develop uh phonological skills for our students. And for the past 4 years, we have used
across, including in pre-K, uh the Heggerty Phonemic Awareness program. We've also leaned heavily into SRSD or the self-regulated strategy development model to support students in their writing. About 3 years ago, we introduced standardized time on learning guidelines, which guaranteed that no
matter who your teacher was and what grade level or school you are, uh you were guaranteed x number of minutes in reading, in writing, math, science, and social studies across the K-5 continuum. We also in the last 4 years have introduced new science and civics curriculum that lean heavily into text
decoding both fiction and non-fiction in the content area, as well as writing in the service of that reading, and discourse. We have leaned into the early literacy screening and reporting mandate from the state. We've actually been recognized by the state for the work that we've done
getting out early years ago in screening our students appropriately and communicating with their families. Our district a few years ago was introduced and accepted into DESE's dyslexia task force, which allowed us to create an early literacy and dyslexia action plan. Um we've also This year, I know we've
worked with uh Miss Beaty on the uh finding of disproportionality. A lot of that response had to do with literacy, as does our student opportunity act work, which leans heavily into the um development and support of students as readers. All this alongside our multi-tiered
system of support, MTSS, uh which we are really probably in our third year of heavily leaning into. This is where we really put um rubber to the road where we talk about all students getting what they need when they need it. The work this year that we've leaned
into we've launched interdisciplinary elementary data meetings where both Julie, as well as Shelly Murray, our director of mathematics, have partnered with building administrators and teachers to look at their student learning data and make instructional decisions as a result. We've also released for the first time
STAR benchmark reports to families. I think just the middle school ones just went out yesterday. So we're really happy to be able to share that important benchmark point with our families. We've also transitioned this year the varied roles of reading teacher, reading interventionist, reading
specialist into a unified position of literacy specialist. This individual at all of our elementary schools is charged with not only providing direct instruction and intervention, but also providing leadership in literacy in their buildings, partnering with Julie um and really not only serving as an
instructional coach, but also a direct instructor as well. And of course we know that we are really excited to to welcome Sarah Element to the new position of assistant superintendent for teaching and learning where she'll be able to dedicate the entirety of her work along with Julie and Shelley, Jen Sukup our
director of equity and access um to the work of making sure students are getting what they need when they need it. So a lot of good stuff is underway to make sure we're meeting all the needs of our students. So now I'll start the presentation about the task force. It was a joke.
Okay. So the task force That was for you, too. Um >> [laughter] >> so we outlined four distinct phases of our our work, launching in November and going all the way um through the end of the year. We start by laying the foundation and then looking under the
hood. What is going on with literacy in our district? And then making a plan for what are we going to do with the knowledge we've gained? And then how are we going to share that with our staff, our families, and the broader community? You can see below some snapshots of the literacy task force at work in different
configurations. Um and we'll talk a little bit more about what they actually did as they as they went through. We started by asking what does done look like? What does a perfect literacy program look like? That's where we began. There were there
were chart paper and markers on the walls. The markers were on the chart paper, not on the walls. Um and we did a lot of brainstorming about what could be. We looked at that early literacy and dyslexia plan and we looked at the SOA to figure out what guiding pillars and principles were steering us in which
direction along with that finding of disproportionality. We dug into current research and thought about what the implications were for that research and where we were standing against that research. We considered the legislation and guidance and then we did a comprehensive landscape analysis of every grade and
every discipline, what every grade was doing with reading, writing, word study across the board. We then leaned into the curriculum framework, the Massachusetts guidelines for what the expectation is for what we're teaching and we went through every single standard and indicator and
identified where we were meeting it at a grade level sufficiently, where we were exceeding it and where we had room to grow. I'll just really quick say there were very few spots where we were not hitting the mark which felt really good when we did that. But we did uncover some and we we were able to shine a light on that. We spent a lot of time looking at
student learning data and then we studied two sets of feedback survey from both our staff and from families. Our staff were surveyed this spring this past spring almost a year ago about their perception of how we're doing and our families earlier this winter sharing their feedback on on their experience
with literacy both current or past for people and families that have aged out of our elementary program. So with that I'm going to turn it over to my friend Julie who's going to walk us through some of the data sources, qualitative, quantitative, perception, objective and share some of the headlines
of what we gained and what we leaned into as we were doing this work. >> Thank you. So thank you to Mr. Labrad and I will say the group the task force has been one of sort of my best experiences in Hopkinton coming together with that many
educators who were ready to rumble but were also really open-minded about hearing from each other and uncovering things that were surprising and some things that were not so surprising to them. Um and so I'm really proud of that group
and and sort of this whole journey and where we came to be today. Um so these are the main sources of data that I'm going to talk about just the overall highlights and lowlights that that we gained in looking at those things. So
the first thing is the teacher survey. Um and well, it varied some building to building in terms of the responses. There were were common themes and so one of the common themes as a strength was
the um dedicated literacy instruction and the work with the foundational skills, like the Foundations program, Heggerty, were clear strengths and across the board, that's what teachers
were saying. Um and then there were sort of mixed reviews on some other pieces. I think vocabulary was an area that many teachers felt was an area where there was room for improvement. And then curriculum coherence too, like
that vertical alignment. Um and then writing instruction was something [clears throat] that people felt needed some attention. The family survey was not so different really from the teacher survey and they
identified the similar strengths, right? That the foundational pieces were really good. Um some other things that I think teachers didn't necessarily really think about that they were helping kids with, which was instilling confidence in in students in their reading, those
engagement pieces that I think just come naturally to our teachers and they're so good at that that it didn't even really occur to them, but that families really valued. Um and then some similar things, right? Like the vocabulary got sort of mixed reviews from families, which was similar
to what the teachers had said, and then writing as well was an area for growth. Um and then grammar, spelling, handwriting, too, which wasn't something teachers had necessarily talked about, but that families said, "I can't read this handwriting." Or the spelling is you know, those kinds of other pieces that
families wanted us to think about. Um and then came the standards audit and you'll you'll you can notice a pattern that the standards audit when teachers started to go through and say, "Okay, where does Where is this addressed in our first grade programming? Where is it addressed
second, third, fourth, and fifth?" It uncovered >> [snorts] >> clear strengths, which is those foundational pieces, and then places where we were a little weaker, sort of mirrored what we were seeing from the teacher and family surveys that vocabulary had sort of mixed reviews,
writing sort of towards the bottom as an area where we could probably grow. And then we looked at actual student learning data, which was not dissimilar, but maybe uncovered a few additional pieces of
information. So, at the top, the foundational skills, right? And then vocabulary sort of in the middle, and then the lower pieces, since this isn't a test of writing, we uncovered some things about their understanding of text structure.
And then analysis and inference. So, if you're thinking back to what Mr. Labradge showed us in terms of students learning to read, those pieces of you know, phonics, phonemic awareness, all of those things being strong, and then when you get to the vocabulary and
the actual language comprehens- comprehension and those higher-order thinking skills, pulling all those pieces together, are where things start to get harder for kids and where you can see in the data that that's an area that we can we could do some work.
And MCAS showed similar results, Um but with the piece for writing added into here, which sort of mirrors [clears throat] what teachers and families were seeing. And I'll say in terms of the writing, the conventions piece, like kids being able to structure a piece of writing,
have it be coherent, were really strong. It's the idea development piece. So again, those same higher order skill thinking skills, where you have to synthesize things and pull them together that are harder. And so you see that in the MCAS data
as well. >> [sighs and gasps] >> Um and then when you pull it all together, thank you. Um this is sort of what it looks like in terms of strengths all the way down to areas where if we target some of those things, we could really see some good growth um
in our in our students and in the work we're doing with them. Um and so it's really those analysis and synthesis pieces, writing, using evidence in your writing, um and that idea development piece
where our room to grow. So to sort of sum it up, we've got those decoding pieces, fluency pieces in place, and we're struggling more with analyzing evidence, reasoning, right? And and writing ideas clearly.
Um and understanding the basic pieces, when you start to try to pull pieces together, where you're looking at multiple pieces of multiple texts, multiple pieces of information, and trying to bring those things together, understanding those text structures and how those impact meaning,
um explaining theme, right? So not just the details of a piece, but how do those details come together to create meaning and to connect things. Those are the places where we have a sticking point, right? And some room to to think about how we can
how we can do those things better and whether they're addressed sufficiently enough in the curriculum that we're currently using. And that's just sort of sums all of that up from our strengths in the foundational skills, those sort
of vocabulary and academic language pieces in the middle where we've got sort of mixed reviews to look at, and then the highest leverage opportunities, those places where we know really we aren't doing all we could yet
um to help to help kids with those pieces. >> And you see what you know what Julie said. By the way, Julie crunched all these numbers and synthesized this herself. So I just I can't say enough about how grateful I am for her. The fact that she has a unhealthy interest in doing that. >> [laughter]
>> Which just benefits the Hopkinton public schools. Um I will say that you'll you'll see the trend here which is the the foundational skills, the the areas where kids do the thing they're asked is very strong. It's when we ask to break free of that and to
not do but to create. That's where we start to see that higher level thinking, that higher level skill development have room for growth. And I think that's where we we and across board our teachers say it often, our kids are very compliant. They're they get the job done. We have opportunities to develop some
some grit, some messiness. And that's what the world needs from from our our kids moving into the world. So we're excited that this surfaced this because it really gives us an impetus to move forward in this. Now, Julie talked about the student learning data, but we also crunched information about from feedback and then
just from observations that we had in discussions. And just a few points to note. We we recognize we have always known this, but we're we're doubling down on the reality that our people are one of our greatest strengths. We achieve at a high level for most students, not because we have a program
in place, but because we have teachers who really know how to get students motivated and have the skill development capacity. We also know that most of our students meet and exceed those expectations and that our educators do currently have a great deal of high-quality materials
available, including trade books and decodable texts. Um I'll keep going here. But we also identify some some opportunities that our task force was able to surface. One is that we really want a cohesive, coherent curriculum to support students.
We want strong vertical alignment and we want students to be engaging with real authentic texts. Um we want consistent targeted professional learning for our students and we want comprehension assessments that are standardized across the grade levels and vertically aligned. Well, all this said, we want to make sure that
we're differentiating to support our students with disabilities and our and our English learners. Put simply, we are successful in helping students learn to read, but our next phase of growth is helping students use reading to build that knowledge to engage in higher-level thinking.
So our deep dive with all this information was to develop a vision for elementary literacy in Hopkinton. This was a This was a piece of our task force that took quite some time and was a wonderful probably the best rumbling we had was when we developed this and committee
members, you have a copy of the final vision in front of you. So up on the screen, um everyone can see exactly what it looks like, but it's two pages that really is the road map to what we want. It's not describing what we have now, but it's
describing what we want in our literacy program and you can see that all there. Guiding this, framing this is that we as a task force, I put myself right in there with the the other members, we don't believe that there is a crisis in reading and a crisis in literacy
education in Hopkinton nor in the United States. But, we do believe that there is a great opportunity to be better, to do better for all students. And that's really what what we all coalesce around and what we really are excited about being able to to lead forward.
So, we adjusted course because as if you think all the way back, I talked about how we said, "Okay, we're going to look under the hood. We're going to see what's great. We're going to make a plan." And then we said, "Wait a second. If part of the plan is possibly recommending piloting a program,
our task force said, "We don't know what programs are out there, nor do we know what they look like." So, we adjusted course just a little bit because originally our plan was to make that recommendation. But, then we moved forward and we said, "We need a little bit more information to be able to make such a recommendation." So, we adjusted our
plan and we looked beyond Hopkinton. We looked at what programs were out there and what other districts were doing. So, we began exploring commercial literacy programs. We started by looking at what other districts were using and what their assessment scores were. I don't know if I mentioned this, but
Julie likes data. So, Julie scoured other districts and saw their programs, and then she dug for years of their MCAS data. And she did some comparison of how well does this program do with this body of student, with the subgroup in this
district. There are some glorious spreadsheets that she has done. Then we reviewed some curriculum materials from four commercial programs. These were programs that that in my experience, after looking at these types of things for the past four years, I felt very confident would serve
Hopkinton well. Our team looked at those materials and they identified three of them that they wanted to learn more about through meeting with program vendors who could introduce us. Those three programs were EL,
Arts and Letters, and Fish Tank. So, we invited those programs in to help us learn more about exactly what they offer, how their programs work, why they work. And the question we kept asking was again, as a district, three out of four of our kids statistically read at
or above grade level. Why can't we get that remaining 25 to 33% that I often talk about when I give my MCAS presentation every year? How do we move them forward? And that was the question we posed to all of these programs. And then we did an activity where we we
then provided hard copy samples to each school so that teachers could study and evaluate for themselves what they thought. And then finally, we measured each program's offering against our vision for elementary literacy. This was an important action that we took. This is actually a shot of the screen grab that we used in our task force
meeting. So, the activity was we broke up the our our vision statement into the 27 parts of it, put them all around the room. And then each group of teachers had a set of labels, and if they thought that for instance, Arts and Letters was going to support that element of the
vision, then it got a red label. Fish Tank yellow, you see how that goes. And we looked around the room, and we said, "Okay, what program is able to do it, and what which one isn't?" Then we invited product representatives in. You can see this is the gathering of individuals. On the right is a
representative from uh Great Minds, the publisher of Arts and Letters. Not only is that room filled with task force members, but we invited another probably 10 or so classroom teachers, special educators, administrators into the room. So, uh we had a uh a cast of thousands really meeting meeting these
vendors. So, we thought, "All right, we need to learn more." At which point we met with other districts actually using the program. I will tell you that every vendor was very eager to connect us, and I said, "No, no, no. We will find our own friends."
Uh and so we did. And so we spent uh a few hours connecting virtually with the our friends in Acton, Boxborough, and in Shrewsbury who are currently using EL, in Andover where they're using Arts and Letters, and then fished in Belmont where they're using Fish Tank. And we thought, "Okay,
we've much reviewed the materials. We've met with the program representatives. And we've had conversations with other districts. So clearly we're going to be able to whittle this down to one or two programs." False.
After all of that, we could not, for the best of us, with all of that data and research, identify a program that wasn't worthy of consideration or that stood out head and shoulders above another. All three have potential based on our analysis of supporting our vision for
elementary literacy. So we're going to pilot three programs next year. I'll walk you through briefly what that's going to look like. So first of all, we opened participation up on a voluntary basis to all of our classroom teachers grade K to 5. Uh,
I think we have 98% of our classroom teachers who volunteered to pilot next year. Every vendor we mentioned that to, their jaws hit the floor because that's not typical. But that is a testament to the educators we have in Hopkinton. We have one educator who is anticipating that
next year will be her last year before retirement and she said, "I absolutely want to take part in this pilot because I want to go on the adventure with everyone else." And I think that that's huge. >> I I I I was so pleasantly surprised by that. I'm
not sure that's typical, but I just loved that response and thought that is sort of typical of our teachers. >> Yes. Yep. Um, so what we're going to do, which is also atypical, is that everyone piloting is going to pilot all three
programs. It's very common that one teacher will pilot one program, one program, one teacher will pilot another. The challenge that evolves there is that you fall in love with the program you piloted. So, we're not allowing that to happen because everyone's going to pilot the exact same
curriculum. Now, we've created, and by we I mean Julie Matson, has created a very thoughtful plan so that we have a full curriculum for the entire year. We're going to maintain teaching our our foundational skills using Haggerty and Foundations. That is going to continue.
The programs we're talking about do not have or we are not electing to take on at this time their foundational skill offering because we are having great success with with our two programs. We'll also launch a pilot steering committee next year made up of administrators and teachers who will
make sure that we have the leadership, the input being heard, and the support provided for all of our piloting teachers. On the screen again, copies that you have in front of you. On the left-hand side is a calendar for the year that outlines each week
August to June of what each grade level will be doing. We'll be starting with EL across all six grade levels and then transition into Arts and Letters and finally Fish Tank at the end of the year. Roughly the same, but each grade their unit or module has slightly different
lesson length. So, some will take longer than others. Some will start early. Some will end early. And on the right-hand side you can see an outline of what modules and units that we will engage with next year. Professional development is going to be a huge part of what we do because
the material shrink-wrapped and handed to a teacher isn't any good if the teacher doesn't know professionally what to do with that material. So, on our opening days our teachers will engage with our friends at EL to learn about that program before they launch. And then we'll be using our PD day in
November to work with Arts and Letters to learn that program, which will be launching, I believe, at the end of November. So, that times out quite nicely. And then later in the year we'll be working with Fish Tank and we'll be leveraging some of our early release Fridays to make sure that our teachers have that. Along the way everyone will
be receiving in person and virtual coaching and support both from product providers and and consultants as well as from Sarah, Julie and our literacy coaches and and specialists. What are we looking for when we get to the end of this? Well, there's a few
things. First of all, how good is the program? Do our kids learn when they're using this program? And how usable is it for the teacher? If it's not something that the teacher can readily access and make make their own, the likelihood of it being used with integrity and fidelity declines.
How engaged are the students? There are a host of programs that didn't make it into the first four I brought in and some of them were programs I saw in person that weren't engaging students to the degree that we would want to see. And then what does representation look like? Do students all students, all
walks of life, do they get to see themselves in the texts and in the literature? And do they get to learn a little bit more about the wider world beyond themselves, their street, the town of Hopkinton, the state of Massachusetts? And finally, can every student learn? No matter what where they are, what hurdles
they may have, what strengths they may bring to the table, how will they be able to learn and engage? Which program is going to meet our needs? So looking ahead, we're going to pilot those three programs and then our goal is by late spring next year to be able
to identify a program for full adoption in the 2027-2028 school year. We're going to think about what professional learning looks like for these programs in the 2027-2028 school year. We're also going to look at our time on learning minutes. These programs, some of them, call on us to adjust and maybe increase some of the time we're using to teach
literacy. We have a very robust science and social studies curriculum at the elementary level which is not necessarily common in every school district, so we might have to make some adjustments there. We're going to look at instructional coaching. So, how do we sustain, not just drop and go, but sustain our students and their learning and their
teachers and the support? And then finally, what does family reporting look like? We'll definitely have to do some adjustments there along the way. So, I'll close in saying that Hopkinton is in a great position. Uh we have I have received feedback over the my four
years uh in this work that we needed to jump into some curriculum work, that we needed to think about a commercial program. And I'll tell you I spent a lot of time talking with other people who do my job in other districts, and I get to hear from them. Um there are districts that are already abandoning the programs that they
adopted because they rushed. There are companies that have already issued new versions of their programs because they were quick to publish when the the push was for commercial literacy programs. The fact that Hopkinton waited has put us in such a great position so that we're able to learn from them.
So, we're in a great spot. Um I'm excited for what's ahead. I would be uh I'd be lying to you if there wasn't a little part of me that is going to miss having my hands directly on this work every day. Um but between Sarah, Julie, and our our leaders across our buildings, we're in great hands, and
we're going to do some great stuff ahead for our kids. So, with that, I will um take a question, but just one. >> Not this guy. >> I have [laughter] many. >> Go ahead. >> Do you want me to start? >> Yep. >> Um so, pilot programs usually a
small-scale trial, but 98% of the teachers raised their hand. So, this is a pilot in the sense that we're just piloting these different programs, not the scale of the students K through five. Essentially, every we're changing
everyone's learning delivery or literacy delivery. Okay. Um So, one of the end goals is to kind of fundamentally change how we're not teaching fundamental reading. >> Yeah. Right, not the foundational
skills. >> Not the Sorry, foundational fundamental foundational. Um but the kind of second and third layers to literacy beyond the foundational. >> Yes. Yeah. >> Okay. >> So, all of these programs integrate
reading and writing together, whereas right now we have those as sort of two independent pieces. And so, the idea is by integrating them, that we can help students in terms of like building background knowledge and pulling
together some of those pieces and synthesizing things by like writing about, you know, writing about the text that they're reading and diving sort of deeper, you know, they'll read multiple pieces both fiction and non-fiction to help build background knowledge in support of
a large longer text and then write about all of those things so that by integrating those pieces we should be able to better support the other pieces of reading. >> Got you. And this seems like a heavy lift.
>> Mhm. >> Is that >> I'm very tired. >> Okay. That's right. >> tired as well. >> Okay. >> It is. [laughter] And it's going to be most of the work that we do next year that these Yeah, in terms of our professional development, in terms of our focus, in addition to what we're going to talk about next, which is the preparing for Charles Wood, but those
are going to be our two main focus areas. >> Okay. And then from classroom time, again, this seems like additional time in the classroom devoted to literacy. >> So, interestingly, it's not. It's It's not. Um
how schedules are built, it's going to be an opportunity because most of the programs, I think all three, have a singular hour block, whereas we might have split those up into 30 minutes here, 30 minutes there. Um and for us to be able to pilot the programs with fidelity, we really need to find that
contiguous 60 minutes. So, I I can't say enough I I mean I can say enough about >> So, I'm sorry. We're not We're not We're not focusing more on literacy at the expense of >> No. >> science or something else. We're just changing how we spend the hour or whatever time we spend on literacy.
>> It actually gives us more minutes to do like targeted intervention work because right now we have, you know, a different length writing block and then a whole group reading, a small group reading. And when you add those three pieces together, they actually equal more than 60 minutes. >> Yeah. >> Got it.
>> So, by doing all of those things in 60 minutes, it left us between 30 and 45 to 50 minutes of additional time to use for targeted intervention and remediation review, pre-teaching, re-teaching, review, those kinds of
things without touching math, science, any of the minutes in the other content areas. >> And that's where we're being very critical consumers because these commercial programs believe strongly in whole class instruction. We see value in that, but we also know that targeted small group instruction is
essential and that's that's at the core of our differentiation. So, that's really where when we get through this pilot, we're going to figure out where do we want to build in small group instruction intervention. Different districts have done it in different ways, but most have tacked on something beyond formal program and what
they and what they do. >> Yeah. >> Got it. And then on this page What is that? EL? >> EL. Yeah. >> Yeah. What does that stand for? Elephant? No. >> What >> What is it? >> It used to stand for Expeditionary Learning. >> Sorry. >> It used to stand for Expeditionary
Learning and I don't know why they changed >> It changed to just EL. >> Okay. Got it. >> I don't know why. >> All right. Sorry. Fish tank. All right. I'm sorry. So, all this is new. >> Yes. >> Yes. This is all new. >> Yeah. >> And these mods and
units, these are books, authors, illustrators exploring life cycles or those >> Modules. So, thematic. >> yes. >> Yeah, that would be correct. >> Thematic units or mod you know, so a mod like an EL module has maybe three units in it and each unit is comprised of a
certain number of lessons. So there's multiple texts in like an EL module. >> And one of the things that we were very big on was we wanted re kids looking at real books. We didn't we were not really interested in programs that uh had [clears throat] curriculum authors
in-house writing texts. We really wanted uh programs that selected high-quality trade books. Um some books that we've already been using in our in our classrooms across the board. >> Right. Yeah. For example, EL's module one for grade five, the anchor text is
Esperanza Rising which we've had in the district and have taught in various places over the but it's it's a not I mean my daughter read it for summer reading a couple of years ago. It's a great book and so it's not you know, a curriculum company that has written that but it's it's a
it's a novel. >> We choose that? >> No. No, they they identify the text. >> They identify the text. >> And part of why we we liked all three programs and one of the things that we were rumbling with was um the teachers thought as they on the task force were
looking and saying every program offers really good texts. >> Yes. >> We were hoping one would have a really lousy text set. >> We were all kind of growing up hoping for it to eliminate one but >> I know, yeah. >> But of course Mr. Lavery, he didn't bring to us any There are some
curriculum programs that just use passages or portions of texts and nobody was interested in that and of course that was not something we would have considered. Um and of course all of the texts were really great great lists. So
So here we are with three. >> And I I will add to cuz I think it's a cuz you mentioned the the the weight of this. Um Sarah Allen, Julie and I each met with one of the uh elementary high school elementary teams on Monday afternoon. Um,
the excitement, the positivity of the teams that we were able to hear they they they were all really excited about what's ahead. There was a little bit of like, "Ooh, this might be a lot." But, there was energy in in the room. And, I will tell you that when I was a classroom teacher going into a meeting where someone said, "Hey, you're about to do a new thing."
I don't know that my colleagues and I were always as energetic and positive as uh what what we were able to experience on Monday. >> Yeah, and also we met with EL virtually shortly thereafter and we're sharing some of the questions and things that had been asked at those Monday meetings and
the gentleman paused and said, "I just have to tell you how this is really rare that every single question you're sharing is focused on on the students and will this suit this students' needs or will this still do
what we need it to do for these kids for writing?" It was not focused on, "Well, what about my prep time or my I think they're used to a lot of us sort of adult focused questions and every single question we shared was focused on students. Um, and I I think that's why we have the excitement is because that's that's
where our teachers are. >> And, these three companies, these are they just work with Massachusetts districts or is it national? >> No, national. National. >> So, my questions are more about so if the state with this new bill, they're getting to a point where there is going
to be certain curriculum that are approved and they go through the CURATE process to go and approve this. It's my understanding that Arts and Letters has not gone through the CURATE process. >> It has not yet. Um, their predecessor program Wit & Wisdom, which was the fourth program we looked at from Great
Minds, was approved. And, um, a couple districts that we have worked with uh have talked both with folks at the state >> Mhm. >> and with the program vendor. That's that's more of a technicality right now to get that approved. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Just don't want us moving in a direction >> No, yeah. And I think knowing that their
[clears throat] the predecessor of that program, Wit & Wisdom, had >> Was approved. >> It was approved, and I think this is an improvement upon that program. Um >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> And we've looked at EdReports as well. >> We have. >> Okay.
>> We have. I have my own questions about EdReports. Um there's some challenges >> the yes. >> Yeah, we did. So, there's I won't open that can >> I spent a lot of time in preschool curriculum they just came out of >> Yeah. >> with a lot of literacy preschool curriculum. >> Yeah.
>> What does all this cost? >> Well, >> for the pilot or for >> I don't know, seems like a lot. >> It's It is. I mean, it will be It'll be something that we'll have to look at thoughtfully next year. So, the pilot um the pilots typically uh run us um I
think we have one quote for uh 25,000. Another one is another I think I think there's another one for about 35,000. So, it It's not nothing. Uh it's a big investment. Um but we're purchasing texts, which is great regardless. So, it's it's an investment in what we're going to end up buying down the road. Um
it's a size and we've budgeted in such a way when we when we came to the table and and put our curriculum and instruction budget, we knew that this was in the offing. So, we have the funds available. >> been planned for and we have the money for it. >> For the pilot. >> For the pilot. >> So, what about >> Yeah. >> step two? >> So, next as soon as we start the budget
conversation You're going to miss this. Uh when we start the budget conversation in September, uh we are going to have to think about what and how we are going to do that. Uh different towns do different things. Uh I'll start by saying that the state is right now um not
not in a position to financially support a district that's in the position that we are. Um there are two tracks right now that the state is offering. One is for districts that have not really started looking. And another track for uh districts that have purchased who identified their program and are ready
to go. We are in the middle. And there are a few districts around us that are in the same. Um I have advocated to DESE to identify resources for us to be able to to um have some available funding. Um I was told that that was going to be taken
under advisement. >> So the the pilot's 25, 30,000. And then if we say, "Okay, we want fish tank. Yeah. We want everything. The platinum package." What what's that? >> Uh it'll be it'll be somewhere around $500,000.
So >> And that's a new expense. We don't This isn't replacing any other line item. >> Right. Which is in fairness part of the the frustration that not Hopkinton doesn't have, but I know that districts have with this mandate. I mean, it just
it it it is unfunded. Um so for us to be able to do that, there is the opportunity for the state to find a way to fund districts that are right in the sweet spot that we are in. And next year that second track might still be available to us. So once we've identified our program >> Sorry, what do you mean we're in the
middle? >> We haven't identified a program ready to start, and we haven't not started looking at programs. >> Right. They have two different grant they're willing to fund you. If you haven't done anything yet, they'll help you. >> Oh, does it have anything to do with the socioeconomic condition of the town? >> no, no. It has nothing to do with that.
It's where you are in the process. >> The state did offer that we could restart our our process. They said they would fund us through track one if we were willing to restart our work from this year, which was gracious. >> Oh, okay. >> And I we we denied that offer. Um so
there are different things that that happen. I mean, obviously an item this of this magnitude would likely be something we would consider as a town meeting warrant or if this if if the committee was so inclined. Um that might be something that we think about, but it's likely not something that just lives and operates.
>> Are we able to see results after a year and have a pilot program? >> Student learning data wise, no. >> Right. >> No. >> So, there's a little bit of you know, getting a little ahead of ourselves, but there's a a little bit of faith that we'll have to have.
>> Mhm. >> And it's more anecdotal. Hey, the teacher's saying, "Hey, this is working. We see it working, but there's no real data to prove that." >> Well, that actually leads into my question, which is do you have like a rubric for the teachers to assess each program with? So, that when you're
comparing their impressions, you're able to compare the same, you know, kind of structured insights. >> I think that's one of the things that we're going to be developing moving ahead. Um we do want to make sure that there are tools that our teachers can use to to share it what they are experiencing, what they are feeling. We
we love the qualitative, um but we also want the quantifiable. And we actually did that with our task force when we met with the vendors. We actually walked through um we have pages of of anecdotal notes, but there's also a very nice color-coded spreadsheet that offers um thanks, Julie. [laughter] Um that
offers us uh a numerical value on on which program um will give us from what we can anticipate the most bang for our buck. Um we will continue to use the STAR benchmark assessment, so we will have some real-time data um to show, but we won't be able to say, "Well, here's 3 years
worth of data for our kids." That's just not something that that would be available to us, unfortunately. >> The other districts you spoke with who've some of these different programs, um do they have years of data that would be relevant for us to also potentially
look at as a as a guidepost? >> They they do. I mean, unfortunately for for most, they don't have more than a year or two. Most are only a year or two ahead of us. Um EL for instance is on its second version. They they had a 20 >> 2017 >> 2017 version. We're going to be piloting
the 2025 version, uh which is a a head and shoulders above what their 2017 program was. So, it's a little bit of comparing apples and oranges, but we still think that if we look at the the data and trust me, Julie's going to, we'll be able to see what what we might be able to gain from this.
>> I really appreciate the investment in our educators' perspectives in this process. I I think that's so valuable and I agree that that's why we are as successful as we are. And so, I I really commend the process for including
all their voices and perspectives. And I think that's why you saw such a high uptake and interest. I really appreciate that. >> Thank you. I I agree. I think because we were so transparent and communicative along the way, we would sometimes we me would be very nervous that that people didn't
understand and everyone was like, "No, we we know what's going on. You keep telling us what what we're doing. Stop telling us." So, it actually worked out quite well. >> I do think we had hearing from like the members of the task force also saying, you know, thank you so much for we really feel like you're listening and
that there was no sort of end in you know, we didn't start with an end in mind. We really wanted to sort of take that journey with them and I think you're right that that does matter that does matter and they're the ones on the ground doing the work with the students. So, I think we need we
need to listen to them and listen to that. So. Yeah. Thank you. We appreciate the process. >> Appreciate the time tonight. Thank you. >> And I'll just add as we're pulling up our grade reconfiguration community feedback survey.
Um As thorough as this presentation was, the meetings and the communication was the same throughout this master schedule. It's been a really impressive process to watch. I'm grateful for the work that they've done. Our staff is so like we've talked about
so ready for this and part of my entry plan I heard from a lot of educators at the elementary level they wanted something. So it was almost like a nice perfect storm where we put this together, they wanted it. We knew we had to do something and they've done it really really thoughtfully. So I really appreciate the work they've put in. So thank you.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> The only thing I would jump in with and it's not a question. >> Um is the looking at the price ahead for the the next budget cycle is that um that maybe is something we want to discuss on the earlier side to strategize and
because I imagine each one is slightly different in cost but we're not going to know which one we're choosing when we start the budget process. >> Right. Right. So it would be smart for us to think um broadly about how to do the most expensive and then be pleasantly surprised. Um there there is a a big swing between
um the the number one and two are within striking distance. Number three is way on the other side um but I wouldn't want that to sway because if we decide that there is a significant difference in um the quality of of the material we want to keep that.
>> I agree. >> That's a good point. Thank you, Jim. Thank you, Jim. >> Thank you. >> All right. >> I can grab the is the Apple TV Did you sign >> I'm off yeah. >> All right. Awesome. >> Great. So next we are moving on to our
discussion around the grade reconfiguration community feedback survey. I'm excited to take some time here tonight to present the results. If you remember last time we were together we talked about uh sending out this survey. We gave uh families uh staff, students about two weeks to fill it out.
Uh so we'll go through the results and talk a little bit about what those next steps are. Um really quick I know we've shared this slide before. Got to give credit for the photo from Mr. Masters. Um could the good news is that we will be >> Yeah. >> I haven't heard that yet.
>> You're all welcome. >> We we plan to um the building will be ready to go at the beginning of the 2027-2028 school year. Uh and that's the good news. Initially, it was going to be more January of '28. We've gotten the word that it's going to be the start of the 2027-2028 school
year. So, that means we have to accelerate our planning and our thinking. That includes the realignment of some of our grades. As we know, Marathon will stay with the same grade configuration. Trails will go 2 3 and 4. So, that is a change. Hopkins will go to 5 and 6
grades. That's a change. Middle school will be 7 and 8. So, that'll be a little bit different and the high school will remain 9 to 12. But, based on the conversations that we're having, all of the schools will be impacted in some way, shape, or form with this grade alignment. >> [sighs] >> So, why the shift in addition to the
grades moving around to different buildings? A few things that we put up here uh that have been brought to the forefront of why we might need to consider a change or should we consider these because we're making some of these changes with the grade reconfiguration. Obviously, transportation costs. We just talked about costs with the literacy
program. Costs matter. What does that look like for transportation? Traffic concerns. Uh we've heard a lot about that uh throughout the process of this 2-week survey, but just in general through my listening tour, there's been a lot of conversations about, you know, the traffic and adding another building onto that main road that we have.
Bus driver shortage, not just a Hopkinton thing. That's, you know, statewide in terms of uh what we're seeing with bus drivers. Uh obviously, research and benefits on student sleep. Again, I mentioned last time I've been on two different um start time subcommittees in my time in Hopkinton trying to figure out what what
what time the high school should start, what time the elementary should start, what's the ideal. So, that was also something we wanted to consider and have be part of this conversation. Time spent on the bus for kids. Obviously, we don't want them to have too long of ride times as well as the potential of minimizing larger age gaps on buses between grades, which I'll talk
about in a second. So, these are the survey headlines. Um I think the biggest headline for me um was that the community largely agrees on the priorities and we'll talk about those in a second, but not necessarily how to get to those and find those
solutions. That's where we really kind of ran into some differences of opinion. Really strong participation on the survey, 809 folks filled it out in those two weeks when we'll break down in a second kind of what that looks like from community members to families to staff to students. The reoccurring themes really were
folks wanted reliable transportation. They want reliable routes, they want reliable bus drivers. We see costs came up, ride times and the reduced traffic congestion like we talked about. Folks also talked about wanting a predictable schedule, whatever that is, they want to know ahead of time so they can plan and
get prepared for it. Whether that's going to with, you know, three start times, whether it's staying with the two start times that we have, they want to be able to work out their child care, work, athletics. I've had a lot of meetings with our athletic department about what would a change look like if we went to a three-tier high school, new start times, which we'll we'll talk
about. And student well-being and sleep came up quite a bit in in in some of the responses. But again, like I mentioned, there is disagreement on the preferred models and start times across schools. What school should go first, is it better to have [clears throat] high school go later, elementary go earlier, all those things came up in the
survey, but there wasn't a clear path of like, this is what we should be doing as you'll see in a moment. So who responded of the 809? This is a breakdown here. The largest percentage were parent and caregivers at 63.5% followed up by staff members at 26%.
Students was around 7.5%, community members 2.5, and then kind of a mixture of other parent/last staff member as well as a non-teaching and parent in the community made up about 0.4 of the responses. This here is a breakdown of kind of the
responses based on the school that either the the student, staff or community member was part of. It's actually a pretty equal distribution if you look at it. Uh, I was expecting the high school and probably Charles Wood cuz that's the the grade 2 through 4 to be the highest cuz those are the the most grades within those schools. Um,
they had the most uh, the grades 2 through 4 at 38.9% but again, pretty even distribution as you see who who filled out the survey. So, the first question we asked was what's working? What's currently working with our school schedule and transportation system uh, that we want to preserve in the future. There were
493 responses. Um, we tried to kind of take the ones that were the most commonly talked about and put those here. We have four. One was the current school schedules. People seem to like the current school schedules at the 7:55 for the secondary, 8:55 for the
elementary. It supported uh, student activities, child care, and work schedules for families. Uh, reasonable ride times. People talked about how they felt the ride times were reasonable right now and uh, sibling bus assignments when possible was a strength. Our safe and efficient arrival and dismissal procedures, specifically at the elementaries with the crossing
guards and our bus uh, utilization came up as what's working. As well as currently the age-appropriate student groupings on buses while balancing some family convenience and sibling transportation. So, those are four that came up about what was working currently right now that we should consider keeping moving forward. Changes that are needed are improvements
that we could make um, for our future transportation and schedule planning. We had 508 responses. Uh, the number one response probably by far was reducing traffic congestion if possible. Um, improving the bus efficiency and what I meant by that was I think some folks were talking about having substitute bus drivers
um, or having some issues sometimes with having consistent drivers. So, that came up quite a bit in the survey. Um, folks wanted to talk about since we have this opportunity to step back and look at start times, do we want to take into consideration balancing adolescent sleep research with extracurriculars and family needs? What does that look like?
But there was definitely a lot of talk about can we move the start time to support student sleep? Uh, especially especially the secondary level. Uh, and then having some increased transportation flexibility, whether that's different bus stop options, um, as well as some real-time updates on bussing. So, those are some things that
people wanted us to consider as we as we think about any changes that we need to make. So, then we asked specific questions about what people uh or feel is most important to not important when it comes to some of these things. The first one was around transportation costs. Uh as you see here, 51% of the respondents
felt that the cost, when we think about this move, uh is very important or important when it comes to our decision. Uh as you see the breakdown there. For the next slide with traffic issues, um as you see 90 Excuse me, 84% of the
folks felt that reducing traffic if possible is very important or important to them in this process, so something for us to consider as we move forward. Uh 796 responses on that. We had 798 responses on uh school schedules aligning with student's sleep
health needs. So, we had 76% of folks thought that we need to put some effort and energy into this. That's very important or important. And you can see the breakdown of all the numbers on the right-hand side. Current routines, uh we would talk if people felt minimizing disruption to our current routine was important for them.
As you see, that's more of a little bit of a mix when it comes to that. Um pie chart, only 49% felt minimizing disruptions is important or very important, so something for us to consider. >> [snorts] >> The time on bus, uh we had 795
responses. Uh 67% felt that reducing time on bus if possible is important or very important to them. The consistent bus driver, which we've talked about a few times in the bus driver shortage, um was actually the highest percentage when you put the very important and important together of all the questions that we asked, uh which
was 86% and we had nine 794 responses. And then the age gap on buses, um how important is it to minimize large age gap? Again, that's kind of a a mixed uh pie as well. 796 responses. uh When you pull out the very important and important it was 55% of folks who
responded to that. So then we asked families and students and staff other factors for us to consider. We had a fewer responses to this. There was 373 responses and the themes that came up were protecting extracurricular and athletic opportunities.
In a moment I'm going to show a slide of when other high schools start compared to when we start now and if we were to move and what that looks like. Especially within the Tri-Valley League but also communities that we play in outside of the league. People wanted us to consider child care and family logistics particularly for working parents
and staff again to improve transportation flexibility maybe conclude late buses which we had in the past as well as options for multi-school families. Oops, sorry. And then the providing consistent and predictable communication around decisions. So that came up a lot. Whatever the decision is
we need to know early and so we can prepare for that. Anything else? So this is the last question that we asked. Anything else that we should consider as part of the planning again it's the same themes that continue to come up. Improving the traffic flow and transportation efficiency balancing student well-being
maintaining transport transparent communication throughout the process you know make sure we carefully evaluate the schedule changes and prioritize cost-effective solutions. So some of that stuff it was common but some of them are in direct conflict with one another you
know in terms of keeping structures the same might not be the most cost-effective but if we want to keep it the same then we have to make a decision is it more cost related or is it more keeping the same routines. So those are things we have to decide upon. This here is a graph of not a graph a chart of school other high schools. We
just picked this just because a lot of questions in the survey were about if we were to switch start times and we identify the high school as being a group that can start [clears throat] later based on the research what would that look like compared to some of the other teams that we either play or other communities that
are in our league or just that are around us. And so you can see right now, currently we start at 7:55 to 2:25. We're kind of at that top tier. Um and then if we were to potentially move it to a later start, if you went with a three-tier model, again, this is just a hypothetical. We wanted to just
give people an idea of what this might look like. Um it would be a little bit more towards the lower end, but still a number of schools are below us that start later at the high school level. >> So the Sorry, the potential the 8:25 potential, is that the considered the the latest or the middle? >> Middle. Middle. You remember we talked
Again, this was just >> what we talked about. >> Yeah, it was 7:45, 8:25, 9:05 as examples that we talked about last time. >> Yeah, again, that could be conversations that we have. Those aren't set in stone, but those were things that we talked about. And the the stars next to some of the communities are the schools that are in
our league that we play more often in athletics. So the some of the talk is in terms of if we start later, what's that going to look like for our middle school sports or high school sports? Are we going to be getting out late? Games going to be later, kids going to be getting home later. So you can kind of see where we fall against some of these other communities in in travel time as
well. >> [sighs] >> So our decisions ahead. Uh so I tried to break down option one and option two. Uh this option one here is what I'll describe as less disruptive, meaning uh less change to the current routine of families, but more expensive. That would
be the maintaining the current two-wave bus model, the two start times, whether it be 7:55 and 8:55. Um so in this model, we would we would preserve that. It would be the two start times. Uh it would minimize disruptions like I talked about with families, staff, athletics, activities. On bad
weather days, it gives us a little bit more flexibility between start times, um when we have to buses are going slow or there could be traffic or there could be a lot of snow. There is an hour buffer zone between starts. But on the other end, there's a real risk of not having enough bus drivers for the added buses. In this scenario,
we have to add buses to the one of the two runs, whether it's the first run or the second run to accommodate the fifth or sixth grade like we talked about last time. That means additional buses. And that comes with a cost as you see here, probably an annual $400,000 a year to make that happen for the extra buses.
And we might not have the bus drivers to be able to fill those buses anyway. So that is a real concern. The other is that this this model does not really address the concerns around traffic congestion as well as any sleep research because we'd be keeping the current model we have.
Uh and as well as students in grades K through 6 or 5 through 12. Again, the 5th and 6th grade school is the one in the middle right now. We got to figure out if they would go earlier or later if we stayed with the two-tier model. Uh those would be the breakdowns of grades on the buses if we kept the two-tier model.
Right? So those are some of the pros and some of the cons if we kept things the same. Option one. >> Sorry, I had a quick question. Yes, who's decides what we're going to do? >> Us. >> This group? >> This group. Got it. Option two. Uh I I put more disruptive
because we'd be changing start times and routines for families, but it would be less expensive. This would be a three-tier bus wave model, three start times. We have thrown out there three start times of 7:45, 8:25, and 9:05. That's not set
in stone. We can kind of play around with that, but we just used those as three start times. There needs to be at least 40 minutes in between the start times. And that's probably still cutting it pretty close. So I'll talk a little bit about the pros and cons of this. Uh it's more of a cost uh efficient transportation system, right? We
wouldn't be having to add buses to one of the runs. Right? Uh and it would probably have more consistent bus drivers cuz we'd actually be using maybe a few less buses on each one of the runs. Right? Uh there'd be an opportunity for us to hopefully improve the traffic flow based on the traffic engineers'
recommendations that they gave us when we were in the process of of building and coming up with the Trailswood project. Uh possible for a better grade reconfiguration on buses. Hypothetical, if we have Hopkins in the middle school together, it would just be grades 5 through 8 on a bus. Could be
just the high school kids on a bus and grades K through 4 on a bus, if we went in that direction. Uh it would improve internal circulation on campus for drop-off and pick-up. What we mean by this is right now, we have high school students, for example, parking over at the middle school while middle school students are getting dropped off, and there's a lot of um
concerns usually from the middle school staff about how you know, we want to make sure that the students are not cutting across cars, and there's a lot of you've been there before, there's a lot of moving parts. If we were to separate the high school and middle school, then they wouldn't be happening at the same time. They could be middle school drop-off and then high
schoolers could park a little bit later depending on the time. Uh so those are just things, if we have three buildings, Hopkins, middle, and high school starting at the same time, that's just a lot of traffic on campus at the same time. So, cons- spreading those out might be able to improve some of that circulation on campus for
drop-off and pick-up. >> [sighs] >> On the other end, on bad weather days, there is tighter windows between start times, which could cause issues, right? If there is traffic or issues with snow on that first run, then everything else would trickle down, right? Then students would be late maybe on the second run, and then late [snorts] on the third run. So,
we have to think about that. Um definitely a greater impact on family logistics and child care, staff schedules, cuz we'd be changing. Um maybe what In the graph we showed last time, a lot of the changes would be 10 to 20 minutes for staff, but the fifth grade, for example, might move
almost 75 minutes depending on if they go earlier or later, right? So, there's going to be some impact if we make the change to go to three waves. Uh and it also requires us determining the order of school start times. Uh there was a lot of folks who said we should start the high school later. There was also a lot of folks who said the elementary should go first. And then there's some communities that
have done that switch. So, that's something that we have to talk about and what we think is best for our for our students and our our community. So, what's next? So, we presented the survey results uh tonight. Uh and it over the month of July, uh our team, our central office team, will further develop some some transportation options
and start time options. We'll continue to analyze traffic costs, operational impacts, student considerations, continue to dig into this a little bit deeper with our team. We have an August school committee meeting that we were hoping to then present two to three potential schedule options for us to talk about as a
committee. And then from that, we would gather some feedback from family, staff, and students. We'd put out those options to families. Whether it's another survey we could talk about that. Another way just for us to gather feedback on some of these options. And then in our September meetings, we have two of them. We'd love to be able
to review these options, any feedback that we got, and then ultimately select a preferred transportation start time model for 2027-2028, which would give families, staff, and students plenty of time to prepare, and then plenty of time for us to meet with the HTA if we have
to open up any contractual obligations when it comes to making some of these changes. It gives us time to make sure that we plan. So, that is kind of our process at this point. Happy to talk through if we feel like this schedule looks good. Is it too We We initially had it spread out a little bit more, but we met with
our admin council team, our principals and our assistant principals and directors, and they all felt we have to kind of move on this pretty quickly. So, we've gotten the feedback. >> The teachers are very >> Yeah, they're talking about it. And I don't know if the feedback has pushed us in one direction or not. I think there's some pros and cons of both. And so, I think we have to make it a
tough decision, but I think we continue to gather feedback. But, this is our process here. July further examination. August we'll present some options for the community to take a look at. September we'll make a decision. >> Can you remind me when we went to the current
configuration of grades? Cuz that's only been a few years. I mean, like it's been in >> I'd have to look >> You have to look back, yeah. >> I don't recall. >> Yeah. >> Do you remember? >> So, I can say that my oldest kids were definitely on the when
they were in middle and high school they started school at 7:25. >> Yeah, I was there in >> I think that my son who's was class 2023, I think he was on this later. Um the high school starting at 7:55
in the middle school. So. >> Yeah, I think it happened We have a child that's named it somewhere when they were at um as they were going into Hopkins. >> So so right, that would line up between my my son and my daughter who's your son's age.
>> Yeah. >> So if I could jump in a couple things. One is I really like the schedule that you've put forward here. I I think that developing two or three potential schedule options and then giving time to to put those out for people in the public to see them to get staff,
families, student feedback is going to be really helpful. I think that we're probably going to get a lot of strong feedback in each direction, but it'll give us the chances of committee to hear what people see as pros and cons. And potentially >> [snorts] >> you know, to tweak as we need to.
And I like the idea of making a decision um in September so that people have an opportunity to adjust as needed for their schedules before they start considering child care. I I think there are other factors that may we may want to
broaden as we're looking at particularly the high school. Um I I think while a lot of kids do the within the Tri-Valley league, I think there are a number of kids who also have jobs who are participate in things outside of this community um in terms of like other
types of sports. So. >> Absolutely. >> But I I appreciate this. I >> And arts. >> And arts, yes, sorry. I I appreciate the survey that went out in the way that you were able to gather data without um starting with this is what
>> what to do and and kind of allowing people to answer without feeling like the question necessarily led them to a particular >> That was the whole idea. >> Yeah. >> Have we looked at how at the younger grade levels this potentially impacts
the before and after care programs that are currently in place and also how do we look at potentially expanding other community options so that people as they review the potential schedules they feel well versed in what those options are.
>> Yeah, great question. So we have we started conversations with the Y >> Mhm. >> in terms of what this might look like. So they they are willing to adjust and come up with a plan once we kind of put forward what we're thinking we're doing. >> Okay. >> And I think exploring other options is has to be part of that conversation as
well. I think once we get closer to figuring out what this might look like is we might stay with the same two tier and that might not be an issue. But if in September if we say we have to go to a three tier who goes when and we have to figure that out then I think we start to have some of those conversations and broaden the discussion. Yeah, but we have initially started having
conversations with our transportation company the Y anybody that might be impacted know that this is kind of coming down the pike. >> Question just to tag on that. When does the when does the vendor
go out again for us to choose? I mean >> For transportation? >> No, for after school thank you. >> It's a few more years. >> Okay. Okay. So that's good. >> Well and the the pre there used to Kids Borough used to bid to provide in the schools but they now have their own
stand alone. >> But they had they had their stand alone the whole time. They it's gone back and forth between Kids Borough being the vendor and the Y being the vendor. I don't recall a third vendor in my time anyway. >> No. >> I haven't heard
>> Although people do use the learning center over >> Sure, but they haven't been in the school year. >> been bid >> Right. >> Right. But they're a potential another communication challenge. >> The other thing is with regard to the late bus,
my recollection of the couple times we did pilot the late bus and back when it it was in regular use is that it was not highly utilized and it was expensive. >> It was not utilized. >> not utilized. >> No. I mean, if we had one or two kids. >> Yeah, and it was expensive. >> It was expensive to run a bus for eight
kids. >> [laughter] >> Um and that was one of the questions that came to me from the community after the survey was, "Oh, if there's a 5-6 school, does that mean that sixth grade bus fares are free?"
Because currently K-5 Sixth sixth grade does not pay. >> I think sixth does not pay. >> Yeah, it goes K-6. >> I've never paid. >> Cuz it was from another elementary parent. So I was like, I don't know. >> Yeah, so that's actually >> Yeah. >> Yeah, K-6 does not pay a bus fee.
>> And that has to do with state law, what what we have to provide. It used to be there was this crazy way of if you lived beyond a certain mileage point. Yeah, it was 2 miles so that like >> I had to walk. >> That that is still
>> It is but we we then >> We don't implement >> decided against that which I think made a lot of people happy cuz it didn't make a whole lot of sense unless you're well versed in the whole thing. >> We don't have great sidewalks. >> Right, we don't have the same sidewalks.
And nobody that lives more than 2 miles from the schools is going to be walking for sure. Unless they want to cross 495. >> No, I was going to say as we consider the shift, are there other could we potentially share along the way
or or explore anecdotally or quantitatively, what the benefits or challenges of other districts who have undertaken this type of shift can share with us so that we can be better learn like if we're looking at
schedules of different districts, I would appreciate to know are we going to look at, you know, the learnings or benefits or challenges so that we can be better versed in how we look at potential schedule options and or how we communicate changes out to the community.
>> Yes. So, we've already had some of those conversations. So, we actually Shrewsbury and Belmont were two of those school districts that we communicated with. This grade configuration is not necessarily the typical
we there's a few that have similar you know, like I know Shrewsbury has I think the 5678 in two different buildings. So, that's something we can use. Belmont I think has 4-6 in a building yeah. And they've recently changed. So, we have done a good that we've tried to reach out to superintendents, assistant
superintendents to talk about how you went about doing this what would you do differently next time and what are some of the things that you would give us for advice. So, those have been part of some of the conversations yeah. >> I feel like Holliston had a big thing with where parents were really up in arms
about the whole thing switching and be interested to hear what they >> Sure. Yeah. >> what the outcome was after they adopted their changed schedules. >> And then we put Newton on there I believe and we don't play Newton North very very frequently with things but they have just made their change to the
9:00 in the elementary to be the first and so I believe that there was a lot of conversation about that as well. And so you got to be you got to be thoughtful about that. You know, I know kids Westwood's a far commute for us in our league. Kids are going to play them late they stay on the bus then they have to come home and do homework. So, we need to be mindful of that as well. So,
trying to find that sweet spot of a start time I think is really important for us. >> And a lot of these communities if I'm correct have like multiple elementary schools and then yeah, where we >> Right. >> Correct. >> We don't have >> Exactly. It's not a perfect yeah, it's not a perfect yeah.
>> It's a different configuration. And one other thing I that I think has been discussed in other communities that have been either considering this type of switch or have actually made it was concern about elementary school students who rely on uh
teenagers to siblings to watch them after school. Um in kind of how that how that acts. Yeah. Lots to think about. >> There is lots to think about. There is. Um and there's been a lot that we've we've done to get to this point already. Uh a
lot of people have been part of these conversations. Uh I think we are ready to to to to take some time this summer to really put together a few options for us to really sink our teeth into to say what what's going to work, what's not going to work, what are the pros, what are the cons. It's not going to be a decision that
everyone's going to love. Um unfortunately it would it would wish it was easier. I wish some of these graphs pointed us in one direction we could say this is what we can do. Um but we will do what we feel is best for for the students and the staff and the families um given this great configuration. You know, it's not something we are doing
just because we want to do it. It's because of the change that we have in in Charleswood. >> Would this be worth trying to offer I guess the timeline isn't really conducive for the teachers um but like a listening tour? So that if they don't want to just put down in writing what they're thinking
but would rather kind of chat about it. Um >> Yeah, we'd be open to it at the beginning once we present the the options maybe in August cuz our meeting is before the school year begins. >> Mhm. >> Uh then maybe we can take some time when school starts
uh in the beginning of September, maybe mid-September to have some conversations in faculty meetings and get some staff feedback. >> Yeah. >> Uh so I put September we have two meetings in September so maybe that second one could be the one we target to kind of make the decision. >> Okay. >> Yeah, I'd be happy to put that on the table. >> We could [snorts] come over
the they're talking to us rather than >> Yeah, no, I'd love you to be part of those conversations, too. >> Yeah, and then maybe in offering for the parents >> different, yeah. >> I've already started hearing from teachers, so some who thought we were deciding tonight.
>> I have heard from some teachers as well. >> Yeah. Could be the same teachers. >> Okay. F-1 visa students. >> All right. So, each year we give a quick update on our international student program.
And Mr. Longoria, who is here tonight, who retired, has been the program director for a number of years. So, we're excited to find someone new to take over, and he's been working with them quite a bit. So, he'll still be involved. He's still is going to be in the area. He usually is a host parent. >> [clears throat] >> So, he's going to continue to do that, I
think, as well. So, for the 2026-2027 school year, at this point, I want to give you just the numbers and where some of our students are coming from. We have [snorts] 20 students committed to the program, representing seven countries, Italy, Brazil, Spain, Germany, Slovakia, Japan, and Taiwan. Of those 20 students, nine will attend
the full year, nine will attend just the fall semester, and two will join us in the spring. We are still looking for four host families. So, if we wanted to put the word out, that'd be great. We'll continue to do that with through our newsletters. If anybody is listening here tonight that would be interested, please reach out to the high school,
specifically Miss Tice, one of the assistant principals. But again, this is a wonderful program. This has been, I believe, 2009 is when we started it. We usually range between, and Susan, correct me if I'm wrong, 15 to 25 students, depending on the year. I think 20 students is is up a little bit from the last few years, which is
good to to hear and see. It's been nice to see students years after they graduate go visit some of the students that stayed with them and vice versa. So, it's really a special program. It's it's great for our students to to hear about the different cultures and learn about them. And so we're excited about this program. And again, I just
wanted to give you an update on how many kids, where they're coming from, and and and the breakdown of the semesters. And if we could find four more host families, that would be wonderful. >> That's great. >> Yeah. >> All right, I'm going to move on to the school school committee meeting calendar.
Um one thing that we were considering proposing was we we added a July remote meeting, but we also were wondering interest in having a session with our attorney to go over,
you know, some norms and um happenings in the school committee and We're considering maybe possibly doing that that day during the day meeting. I don't know if people are away that week. >> On the 23rd.
>> On the 23rd of July. >> I am unlikely to be able to attend that day. I'm starting a new job. >> Oh. >> I It's possible. I don't have that day together. >> I can't make it that day. >> Okay. Um but I do think having a meeting with the
attorney is a great thing. I think that um we had discussed a couple of years ago doing um in like an enhanced open meeting law where we had the opportunity to interactively talk about things like social media use and kind of have the implications on that. It It And then the
town was going to do something for like all boards and committees and that fell through. So I think this would give us >> This would be great. >> an opportunity to to think about >> possibly look at that um I don't know if I'm available that day. August 20th
I'm actually out of town. >> You're out of town that day, too. >> Weekdays are just difficult for me to commit in general >> Yeah. >> at this point, unless it was sometime um Well, we're we're out in at The evening I definitely could do.
Um I could do late afternoon. Um but that's not ne- nece- like I could do probably like a 4:00 meeting. >> I I mean, I'm fine with it shifting to a day that um accommodates if it's three out of five isn't terrible.
>> [laughter] >> What are we meeting with the attorney for? So, it's um we sit down with the attorney for my understanding. I've talked to a few other new superintendents who have gone through this process and it's more just about kind of setting norms, setting expectations. Um we have new committee
committee members getting on the same page about how we interact, how we make decisions, um how we work together. Uh so, it's it's something that's pretty normal to go through. Uh and I know we've done it in the past. I have >> We we did, but I think I'm the only one who was probably having a committee meeting.
>> going to say. We had a abbreviated when I started. >> Yeah, we had a very brief daytime meeting >> Yeah, we went into the uh teacher contract information, but we started off with some joint more general information. >> This Okay, this was specific to
like the norms and the open meeting law type stuff. >> We do have the para negotiations starting next year. So, that would probably could be folded into some of the conversations with >> So, do we want to try like So, the 23rd, it's Nancy and Chris who can't be there.
But the 20th in the daytime is also a struggle. >> Mhm. >> I How early do we need to do? Because I I I could definitely do 4:00 if we could and then we could roll into the evening. >> hours are we considering at 2 hours? >> So, it's uh they said between uh 60 and 90 minutes. So, we would just have to
So, if we did the 23rd, it could be in the afternoon. >> I heard 16. I was like 16 That's really intense training. Really intense. >> It's about an hour to If you want to do it right. >> Yeah. >> [laughter] >> Yeah. In that That meeting in July, there's only a few things on the day. >> If it's on the 23rd in the afternoon, I can do it. >> All right. Let's see if we can explore
that with the attorney. Um >> We can do either remote or we can do it in person. I think for these I've been told it's better to do it in person. >> better in person. We came to central office. I think that would be great. Um Oh, Jamie and I are going to the >> Yeah, we'll do it later in the afternoon because I think we're going to do If
we're going to have the meeting later in the afternoon and evening anyway, so we'll we'll continue to do that. >> Okay. Jamie and I are going to the mass >> July 23rd, we're going to do the meeting with the attorney and then an in-person school committee meeting like 4:00 to 6:00 5:30
>> With the attorney is like 4:00. >> It's 4:00 and then just go right into >> Yeah, 4:00 to Yeah, 5:30 and that would be the meeting. >> Got it. >> Sure. I was just mentioning we're going to the mass school association training on Saturday. Talk about long trainings.
>> [snorts] >> We're excited. Um okay, there was also several committee members have trouble with the August I mean the August the October 8th meeting. Three of us will not be in town for that meeting, so we could either cancel it or we could
go to another week. You would not have a quorum with only two of you. >> So when when are we I don't have any dates for beyond tonight. >> On the agenda here there's a whole calendar here. >> Yes, it's in the back. It's in the back.
>> So here I can I can show you the calendar. >> All right, I got it. >> So it came from I would think in October we'd have a lot going on and we might be better off trying to schedule a a different I would agree with you.
Should we go to the first or the 15th? >> Could we do the 15th and the 29th? That Oh, I guess that's Well, because the the next thing is is anybody going to the joint conference on the Cape on from November 4th to 6th for MASS/MASC.
I don't know if you guys are So, the the 5th is not going to work out very well for Uh well, I mean, for if anybody who's there. Um >> Yeah, I have classes on Wednesdays and Thursdays, so I can't. Um so, you're suggesting what? Taking
off the 5th and doing >> Do maybe pushing it out >> 15th and 29th. >> So, in October do the 15th and 29th, and then because the 5th isn't going to work for Evan, push that to the 12th. And do the 12th and 19th? >> Yeah. >> Cuz I mean, cuz it'll be
>> budgeting >> budget season. >> That sounds good. >> work? >> Yeah, so we're going to go 15 October 15th as opposed to the 8th. >> Right. >> The >> 29th. >> 29th. >> November 29th. >> That gives us a week. >> And then 12th, right?
>> It's really nice that Halloween I I think probably all elementary teachers are celebrating that that Halloween is on the weekend. >> [laughter] >> On Saturday, specifically. >> Yeah. >> So, we'll we will make that >> Last year it was on a Friday.
>> All right. That is settled. >> Were we thinking about changing the time at all or not? >> That is another open question. >> Um getting here be- to for a start time before 6:30 is
really cuts down on the time that I get to see my kids. Cuz they're they've been in bed for an hour. Um so, [snorts] like 7:00 is much better for me. I It would be reasonable that if there's like a meeting where there's um you know, a
guest that someone coming in who really needs to be earlier. Um, and I've been able to make it work for executive sessions. Um, but at this point with the ages of my kids starting earlier means I just don't get to see them after school, which is a
bummer. So, I I'd rather not do that, but if it's >> I support you not doing that. >> Thanks. >> I just because I know those are >> Mhm. >> Those go You know, those go by fast. >> Yeah. Yeah. We'll be 8, 8, and 11 soon.
So, we're going to keep it at 7:00. >> Keep it at 7:00. Okay. >> Okay. >> Uh, liaison real roles. We have our handy chart that also says what we did this year, right?
Oh, this is 26, 27. Oh, it does say what we did. Oh, it has I don't know. It has things marked off already. Um, I'm confused. All right. The first category being the chair and the superintendent is pretty
self-explor- explanatory. Um, budget advisory group, I was doing that this year as well. I think that's typically done. Um, policy review committee. Looking for some good people to do that.
Jamie has then service serving on that. >> I would like to stay with um, the policy working group. >> Anybody would like to join you? >> people. So, yes, I do need a partner. >> And you guys meet typically in the morning. >> It's
This past year it wiggled quite a bit. Um, prior to this past year it was like an early morning. Um, and but daytime certainly to accommodate the central office staff who come and manage it.
Yep. >> So, I also want to be mindful um for Sandra because you're new and like I don't want to us to all jump in and take things that we just because we've been doing them. If there are things that you have interest in um specifically.
>> Um, yeah, scrolling down to the bottom I'd really like to uh be on the participate in the youth commission and be a liaison there. >> Okay. >> I'll just Do I mark it up? >> Sure. >> Great. >> Do we have others?
>> Um, I would like to return I would like to um jump into a CPAC liaison role. It's been a few years since I was on the board, so I feel I've had enough space away. >> There's some new board members. That's great. >> Yeah, yeah, it's a new group. >> You can take me.
I'm always happy to be alternate for you. Susan and I did that sometimes. I'll just put that in notes. Um, I am not able to do planning board. Um, that's been true before because that'll be both of us in a meeting.
>> Yeah. For those who are not aware, Jamie's husband is the chair of the planning board. Chris, you've [snorts] been doing it. Would you like to continue with doing planning board? >> Sure. >> Great. Um, we're kind of all over the place
now. Uh, select board I have been doing select board and I would like to continue doing that. Um Interestingly, I'm not I have not been involved in a lot of capital improvement meetings, but I think that's just
because um Mrs. Rabinick has been so comprehensive in those meetings and attends all of them. They have not needed me, but maybe now uh >> What are you trying to say? >> [laughter]
>> Mr. LeBoard might need some help. Don't hesitate to call. >> And it's on the record. >> On me. Um So that playing board is select board, capital improvement, CPAC, LPAC. >> I would be interested in keeping LPAC
unless somebody else wants has a burning desire to do it. >> All yours. >> So the the freedom team I have not been doing because my under it like that's been at the bottom because
they they no longer >> Really meet. >> We don't have Well, we also don't have we weren't really an official liaison to them. >> Okay. >> Um And I know I was um doing sustainable green. They do also meet on Mondays, um
but I was just uh interacting, emailing with their chair and members when something came up. >> I did the same cuz they had Monday conflicts, too. >> Yeah, and that seemed to work, but if someone else um wants to jump into that >> availability on Monday evening.
>> They are a lovely group to work with. Very thorough. >> I'm on the commission on disability, which meets on Monday. >> [snorts] >> Not every Monday, but I don't know if they would >> I'll hold on to sustainable green. They They know to email me right now, so they can just keep doing that.
>> They also correspond with me. Um Did it going back up to the top, we have a note that Sandra may have agreed to do executive session minutes. >> I think we agreed that last >> That was wonderful. We're very excited. My name was checked off. >> [laughter]
>> Thanks, Sandra. >> Great pool. >> Did you also agree to do the procedures working group cuz I >> I don't remember it being today. >> guessing that was just the the space where um Susan [laughter and clears throat] was and yeah.
>> We haven't done a specific policy. We have to We go back to that, too. >> Yes, we do have to go back to policy and >> Yes, I need someone who wants to schedule. >> Don't let us take it away. >> Well, so it's I'm I'm interested in policy, but I my mornings
I leave for work very early in the morning. I would not be able to meet in the mornings and I don't want to be a hold up on >> What time I think you can be flexible on the time. >> Yeah, the time can be flexible and now I do know my schedule through December um >> [snorts] >> that I'm I'm teaching
from like 8:00 to noon Monday to Thursday. Um so it would have to be really early um which we were doing I like 2 years ago, but we don't have to start at 7:00 a.m. Um which I had Dr. Cavanaugh's team conference. >> If anyone wants to meet before 6:15, I'm
I'm the ground. >> I'll probably be on the road, um but Fridays I have more flexibility and then all those other days after I believe afternoon um I have more flexibility. >> So, I wore some stairs. >> And there's a lot of noise.
>> It's like the the barrels for cleaning. They're pulled by a horse, though. >> [laughter] >> Um >> Very historic building. >> I could be on the policy review working group if I knew in advance when the um expectation was so that I could block my
work calendar. I think I would really just need to know it in advance. >> Yeah, I mean we we schedule. >> Yeah, it's it's not like oh oh guess what it's Wednesday. It No, it's Yeah, what dates work, what times work. >> Okay. >> Yeah, [clears throat] we can do that. >> Great, thank you. >> Yeah, so I'm happy to do that.
>> Okay. And that shouldn't be the same person on the school committee procedures working group, right? >> Does that Is that the new >> That doesn't exist. >> It used to exist a few years ago when we went through the it like there was one year that it existed that I'm aware of.
>> Okay, so we don't have to worry about that. >> been here. So we can delete the X there. >> I'll take that one. >> [laughter] >> Chris will take the committee that doesn't meet. That's great. >> Perfect attendance. >> [laughter] >> Um Irvine-Torrado Committee Property
Management. >> I don't think that's probably met in a couple years, has it? >> You take [laughter] that one. >> What do you want to crab or >> It's so incredible you don't even need to meet. >> It's very efficient. >> No, efficient we are. >> We'll keep you on that then.
>> My liaison role we've become incredibly >> Well, we [clears throat] hear your reports so often about this. >> They have not disbanded it, but I imagine >> They're trying to. >> they they will because that's but because that was the committee that was trying to decide on what to do with the property where
we now have will have two schools. >> Yeah. >> Of course, but >> Great. >> That's right. >> You're always taking pictures of >> Yeah, always of >> So he's been photographing it. He's certainly with it. >> Proving that yeah. >> That is the liaison contribution. >> That is great.
>> But you're probably already sworn in to it so it's easier to keep that one so nobody has to go. >> I'll keep it. I'll keep it. >> Right. >> Um the education collaborative we already voted Evan in last meeting. Marathon Fund Committee.
>> That's a fun committee. I'll I am happy to take that on again. >> Okay, great. Um and Chris has been doing elementary school building committee, but if anybody else has an interest >> I've been the secondary person on that.
>> Those are on Mondays, right? >> [snorts] >> Tuesdays. >> Oh, they're Tuesdays. >> I can keep that, so unless >> I've been a great second to that. >> Incredible. >> Which I would have preferred >> second for a while and >> Yeah. >> Yeah, it's a hard thing to
>> to Yeah, well, you know, when I when I go and he's not there, it's it's hard to shine quite that way. >> That's true. Right, right, right. Does anybody else want to take that second on? Do you want to maintain your position as the second? >> taking it on. >> Okay. >> Okay.
>> Great. Is there anything I missed? >> When does >> Oh, turf field. >> 27 it opens? >> Mhm. Yeah, soon. So, you're like >> Yes. >> So, >> Yeah, a committee that'll disband soon. >> Well, it has to stay in effect for a little bit to keep paying bills until >> Uh
>> Mhm. So, that means you'll probably have to start taking out papers as soon as uh well, your nomination papers, right? >> I'm ready. >> That's great. Um turf field. >> That's me, right? >> Yeah. >> I can stay on that.
>> You can stay on that one. Okay, great. I think I'm good then. >> The only one is maybe road 25. >> That's organizing for prevention. >> That's working with some of the same people that are involved with the youth
commission, too. >> Okay. So, we don't need a separate >> It It's a separate liaison role technically, but but but there's some benefit if you're able to do both. Um yeah, separate meetings, but >> 2 hours at a month.
>> Wonderful. >> on Tuesdays. >> And it's no longer Denise Hildreth. She she's been no longer the >> Youth and Family >> It's been Don Alcott for >> Yes. >> a number of years. >> That's I can change that.
All right. Thank every Thank you, everybody. >> Are we going to do the School Committee Norms document >> [snorts] >> the the one that we do every year with the attorney? Are we doing that tonight? >> Yeah, let's do that with the attorney. We didn't plan it for tonight. >> Well, no, I know we're not doing it
tonight, but I didn't know if um >> I think that's probably good to do. All right. >> Adams Bike Great >> All right. I recommend that the School Committee approve the Adams Bike Consensus as listed in your packet. >> I move to approve the Adams Bike Consensus. >> Second.
>> All in favor? >> Aye. >> Aye. >> Anybody have a motion for >> I motion to adjourn. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Aye. >> We are adjourned at 9:19. That's one of our long ones. >> I got a motion.