WEBVTT

METADATA
Video-Count: 1
Video-1: youtube.com/watch?v=VDBKFHreR70

NOTE
MEETING SECTIONS:

Part 1 (Video ID: VDBKFHreR70):
- 00:00:00: Call to Order, Pledge of Allegiance, Consent Agenda Approval
- 00:01:35: Public Comment: Thanking School Committee and Others
- 00:02:10: New Business: Selection Appointment of Superintendent Introduction
- 00:04:02: Committee Member Remarks: Janine Initial Candidate Preference
- 00:07:37: Committee Member Remarks: Elaine's Data-Driven Approach
- 00:20:23: Committee Member Remarks: Sean Presents Top Candidates
- 00:27:35: Committee Member Remarks: Val Prioritizes Relationships and Well-being
- 00:35:59: Committee Member Remarks: Justin Shares Process and Top Picks
- 00:44:02: Second Round: Further Discussion on Candidate Preferences
- 00:45:09: Second Round: Janine Now Prefers Candidate Michael
- 00:47:35: Second Round: Elaine Still Undecided, Discusses Visibility
- 00:50:59: Second Round: Sean Leans Towards Charlie
- 00:53:44: Second Round: Val Doubles Down On Community Focus For Michael
- 00:55:59: Second Round: Justin Elaborates, Reinforces Michael Preference
- 00:57:53: Final Discussion: Additional Considerations and Insights
- 01:17:40: Motion to Close Debate and Vote for Michael
- 01:19:31: Chairperson Confirms Acceptance and Calls for Recess
- 01:21:31: Superintendent Search Subcommittee Dissolution and Executive Session


Part: 1

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All right, it is 7 o'clock and I'd like to call together the April 4th I'm sorry, April 9th, 2026 school committee meeting. Uh we have a um consent agenda posted for actually you know what we're

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going to do the pledge of allegiance first. So, if you would rise and join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and

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justice for all. >> All right. This evening, we have a a short consent agenda posted, which are the minutes from um from the March 23rd, 2026. March 26, 2026, March 30th, 2026, March 31st, 2026, April 1st, 2026,

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as well as the oath to bills and payroll. Everyone had a chance to review the minutes. Is there a motion to accept the consent agenda? >> I move to con accept the consent agenda. >> Motion made by Janine. >> Second. >> Seconded by Elaine. All those in favor indicate by saying I. I. Motion passes.

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Uh we have an opportunity for interested citizens this evening. Before we get into new business, I would like to frame interested citizens around a max of 15 minute time limit with uh 3 minutes per speaker in the event that folks do wish to speak tonight. So um be opportunity for interested citizens.

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>> Thank you. >> Your name and address for the record, please. >> Rob Brown Rounds, 25 Juniper Road. I just want to thank you to all of you for getting us here tonight. Thank you for all the other folks that helped you get here. So thank you all. Thank you.

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All right. Thank you very much. Is there anybody else in the room? All right. I'm going to close interested citizens and we're going to move into the the big agenda item of the night, which is our new business item, the selection appointment of uh superintendent.

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Um the school committee will discuss the final candidates and vote to make an offer to one of the three candidates. The start date for the new superintendent is anticipated to be July 1st, 2026 pending successful contract negotiations. I'd like to echo um our interested

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citizen and just thank everyone for the process. I I the community feedback has been great. Um I want to thank everyone's efforts. So for those of you that uh participated in a forum um filled out a survey, took any time with any of the candidates and provided the school committee feedback, I know that

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um we had mountains of information to pour through. So, we want to thank you for that. And I also want to thank uh Charlie Keri, Mike Kyra, and Kate Kajjaca for three excellent interviews. And I think that uh the sub the sub committee did a a really great job of

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putting three really high quality value uh applicants in front of the school committee. The uh the plan for this evening um subject to everyone's okay is for us to um approach this in rounds. Um

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with the emphasis on all school committee members having some equal equal air time. I want to remind everybody that we're um in a public setting and we want to speak positively about all candidates. We want to try to refrain from any any criticism. Um, in

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the first round, I I think it would be appropriate for us to offer perhaps what who you thought your top candidate was or your top two candidates, and we'll hear from everyone, and then we'll uh kind of see if there's any consensus building around any couple candidates, and then we'll approach it in a second

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round or third round to see if we can ultimately draw a consensus as a group. >> Does that sound like a good plan? Great. >> All right. Would uh would anybody like to volunteer to go first? Would you like me to go first? >> Sure.

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>> I don't have to. Just you guys were Jine, you spoke up. Would you like to go? >> I I'd be happy to go first. I um I I read all the surveys and all the comments and and um I

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my participation was kind of limited to um observing the candidates while during their um interaction with the community um and and then the work that we did. And before I read all the comments, um

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my gut really really um came in wanting to put forward um Kate's application for two very specific reasons and but somebody made a note about hard evidence and I don't have a lot of that. I I have

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a gut feeling. Um, one, while the hard evidence is, um, I thought that her handling of budget issues was especially creative and I just wanted to express appreciation for someone who um is in a

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situation that many of us get into, I mean, budgeting. And instead of saying, well, this is how we always do things, she sat back and really evaluated the um situation. And I thought she handled it with creativity.

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She thought outside the box. She wasn't afraid to say, "Yeah, this you you you know, you always let this person or you always do this." Um, she said, "And in our situation, this is what is correct for the students and for the teachers."

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And I just really valued that courage and creativity in a budget situation in thinking in terms of, you know, budgeting is never going away. we are always going to have to sit and evaluate that. Um, the other observation I had

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was a little fuzzier, but all three of the candidates, and by the way, I think they're all three fantastic. I'm so excited. I just feel like, you know, we will walk out of here with a brilliant leader for our district. Um, but what

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was interesting to me is that the first two candidates had conversations that felt very um informative and warm and comforting. And then um Kate's converation, not so much

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her, but the people in the room started opening up, started really like telling her what they felt, telling her it just it just felt like they were seeing something where they felt like they could really like pour their hearts out

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to her. And over the past few years, the one big thing that I've heard over and over again about our school district is that there are there are parents and there are community members that don't really

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feel heard and they feel like um and and most people aren't of the opinion that we can solve everything. You know, they're very rational, but but they want to feel hurt. And I just really valued

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that interaction with Kate was people felt heard even in that small amount of time and that's that would be a huge thing to bring to our district and I kind I just wanted to bring that to the table and offer that up to our group.

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>> Thank you. >> I can go next if we want to go. Um, so I just wanted to start by thanking Alicia Malin from um, she's our consultant from the Mass Association for School Committees who um, guided us through this very public process. And I I

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thought it was a wonderful way to get input from the community in structured way, giving us data that was very usable from multiple stakeholders. also want to um just show my appreciation for everybody that did

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participate in the process. It was, you know, everybody's got busy lives and it was a lot of work to interact with the candidates, take time to complete a survey. Um but it was so valuable for making sure that we were hearing from multiple lenses before making this very

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important decision. And I specifically want to call out the junior class officers who uh had dinner with the candidates. Um I want to call them out by name. So Gabe Gustainus, Emily Drew,

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Lassia Matiala, and Annabelle Coette. Um so it turned out they were not just representing themselves, but really representing the students of Littleton in a similar way to the way we as a school committee represent the the town of Littleton. So it was a very important

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role. They to they took it very seriously, came with really important questions, had really authentic conversations with the candidates and then created a whole document of very detailed feedback for us beyond what we

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had asked for in the survey. So um I just wanted to call them out by name and um I think they should put that public service on their college applications. >> So you could cut that video clip and put it on your college television. Um, so

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anyway, um, so before settling on my preferred candidate, I went through all of the data. Like it was a lot as Justin said, you know, we had, um, you know, all of the survey data. We had um data that you know from um all of the different forums that we had attended,

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the community forums. We had um I took another look through all of the information the candidates had provided in their packets, their letters of recommendation, their statement of um their personal statement. It was, you know, looking just trying to get

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everything fresh in my mind so I could synthesize it and match it up with what we had stated as our priorities going into this process. So, if you all remember way back in the before times when we started, we had a public forum

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where people got to come and say what they were looking for. We had a um community survey that was distilled down to give us our um our goals and priorities of what we're looking for in a candidate. So I tried to match the data that we had received at the end of

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the process to what we had said we were looking for. So that was kind of my process for coming up with um what I'm going to share with you tonight. Um so as Justin said, we are super fortunate. and we have three highly

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qualified candidates who had excellent interviews. Um I did notice during the process the difference between a school school-based administrator and a district-based administrator. Um you know someone who's coming from being a

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principal has the lens of running a school within a larger system. But you know the the challenges and achievements that a person as a principal has are different from what somebody at a district level would have. Um so for

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that reason I focused more on our two candidates that our assistant superintendent. Um they seemed more ready to take on the role of superintendent. Um so very interestingly they have they

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have very similar areas of expertise. They have similar um backgrounds, similar viewpoints on many of the issues that we asked about in the interviews. Um, and so it really um the differences

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in my mind came down to um the level of detail in the responses like the backup examples that were offered in response to questions and also um different personalities. So, you know, our our

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task tonight is to figure out, you know, of these very highly qualified candidates which is going to be the best fit for our community. Um, so to try to help sort that out, I looked in reading all of the community feedback, I was looking for like what

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words keep coming up over and over again um for the different candidates, kind of like a word splash, if you ever done those. Um so for Charles Ceri the words that kept coming up over and over again and the feedback about him were um

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collaborative leadership asks questions listens to understand gives credit to others personable people centered thoughtful clear communicator professional innovative

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so when I did the same process for Michael Kyra the words that kept coming up in the feedback about him were relationship building, charisma, passion, being a people person, bold, extroverted,

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fun, relatable, warm, approachable, authentic, energetic, and outgoing. So, two different personalities, both highly qualified. Um, so I matched that

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up with what we had stated at the beginning were our priorities. So, um, this, if anybody's following along, this is on the superintendent search website. Um, so we had listed there what our

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number one priority was for students, which is student well-being and mental health. That's what the community had said. Um so both of the candidates spoke to the importance of integrating social emotional learning with academic rigor.

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Um Charles Kiri gave some more specific examples um than I heard from Michael Kaira. um he talked about a specific example of improving the effectiveness of the secondstep seal program by bringing some

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teachers to another school that was implementing it effectively and then following that visit teachers wanted to speed up the timeline for implementing in their school. So it was like a specific example of um his focus on student well-being and mental health. Um

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they both spoke to the importance of increasing students sense of belonging which is a very important aspect of what we look for in our district. Um Charles Gler gave specific examples of using UDL to promote inclusive practices and using

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the data from the vocal survey. So that's a survey that students take after they take the MCCAST test. It's called it's vocal is an acronym for views on climate and learning. So he talked about using that data to identify students that were struggling with a sense of

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belonging and work on specific action items like improving ways that students can include others. So again, they both were sharing similar sentiments, but Charles Geri had specific examples that came quickly to mind as an example of how he felt about it.

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um both spoke to the importance of mental health supports in school, knowing students and making sure they have trusted adults. Um Clary went on with a specific example about using interventions like cartwheel which is a

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virtual counseling program and care solace to help find outside supports. Those are resources that we have in other districts as well. Um he promoted a case management approach for students needing mental health supports. So again, it was really drilling down and

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the ability to quickly come up with examples of um how that's a priority for him. So the community had told us that their top leadership style was a strong collaborator who builds relationships

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and trust. So both of our assistant superintendent candidates spoke to building relationships. both spoke to the importance of being visible in schools. As a matter of fact, that was like the top thing they both brought up during the community forum, which was great because that's we've heard over

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and over again that that's important to our community, our superintendent be visible in schools. Um, so Charles Geri added more detail about that while he's in schools, he picks up on interactions between students and adults, picks up on vibes, and then checks in afterwards. Um

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and he quoted um people want to be heard and valued. So it's not just being present but it's hearing what's happening and what people are want to share with them. Um another part I think of a top leadership style is um building

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trust and part of that is safety working in a safe environment. So one of our questions was about how do you handle a crisis? Um, and I really liked Charles Clary's answer because he

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immediately pivoted to the importance of having protocols and a plan of action um that's carried out by a crisis team. So, it's it wasn't so much how are you going to re react to a crisis, it's how are you going to plan to react to a crisis.

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So, the planning happens before a crisis occurs. you've got your safety team, you've got protocols. And he was the only one that mentioned that and that was um very impressive to me. So the other thing that we heard from the community is, you know, what do we want

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the top focus to be for year one? And the feedback said to us that um staff morale and retention should be the number one focus for year one. So both spoke to the importance of visibility and being seen in the schools.

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um and both spoke to the importance of frequent scheduled meetings with the union which I thought was wonderful on both accounts. Um uh Charles Keri went on to talk about um the importance of two-way communication.

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So not just being visible in the schools but letting others be heard and engaging folks when he's in the schools. Um and interestingly his um so he's going to receive his doctorate in May so just

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in a month from now and we had asked um during his interview about what his dissertation was about. So it's a it's focused on training principles to effectively support the teachers in their building and building leadership capacity. And I thought, you know, what

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a wonderful um uh framework to bring to Littleton to be able to support our leaders in being effective leaders to then support the teachers. So um a quote that he had made

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was um one of his oh no this was a quote from one of his letters of reference that really struck me was one of his greatest strengths is his ability to build others capacity. That really meant something to me. So, um, so although I think either Charles

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Colleri or Michael Cairo would be successful as our next superintendent, I think Charles Caleri would be the best fit for our community. Um, for me, the top criteria is to select someone who leads with curiosity. That involves asking questions to

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understand the views of people that don't agree with you and facilitating teams to come to consensus on what is best for students while at the same time being an instructional and an administrative leader. While Michael Kyra is notable for his passion and charisma, my worry for the future is

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that a passionate approach can drown out the voices of others and lead to decisions that are made without carefully considering multiple viewpoints. So for these reasons, I believe that Charles Clearary is the best fit for our district. >> Well said. Nice job. >> Thank you.

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>> Continue to go around the table. Okay. Um I came to similar conclusions. Um I've prepared as I often do when I have a lot to say, so I don't leave anything out. I've prepared some remarks. Um again, I think all three applicants were a pleasure. I do believe that all three

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applicants, you know, could very well be successful in this district. we have sort of the fun and difficult task of trying to decipher who we think is the best fit. Um, and I'd and I'm prepared to speak about two of our candidates tonight. So, the first uh is uh Charles

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Caller. Um, I thought Charlie's interview was excellent. He was very articulate, thoughtful, and deliberate in how he answered questions. His responses reflected a strong understanding of district level leadership and conveyed a level of professionalism that one would expect from someone within um someone

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comfortable in a central office role. Charlie struck me as a very business-like administrator who understands how to lead an organization effectively by delegating responsibility and trusting the people within it to do their jobs well. I see it I see him as someone who would maintain a 10,000 foot

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view of the district particularly when it comes to strategic planning while ensuring that the work at the ground level aligns with these broader goals. That ability to balance vision with execution is important as we continue to move this district forward. He also

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appeared to be um he also appears to be a very strong delegator. Rather than inserting himself into every detail, Charlie seems inclined to empower principles, administrators, and staff to lead with their respective areas. That approach can build trust within the

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organization and foster a culture where people feel supported, capable, and invested in the district's success. I believe that kind of leadership style is particular effective in district like Littleton where we already have strong systems and talented personnel in place.

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Charlie's academic background also stood out to me. He recently completed his doctorate. I thought it was focused on u math, but um I had a different takeaway from that um which speaks to his intellectual rigor and reinforces his emphasis on datadriven decision-making.

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I think that's we both got that take away throughout the interview. It was clear to me that he values the use of data as a tool to inform instruction, budgeting, and long-term planning. That perspective is critical as we continue to evaluate programs, measure outcomes,

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and ensure that all of our resources are being used effectively to support student success. One example that really resonated with me was his discussion of a curriculum change uh he supported in his district. Rather than dictating the change from the top, Charlie described engaging in

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open and honest dialogue with staff members, encouraging them to explore different curriculum options, and empowering them to take ownership in the process. Ultimately, it was the staff who decided the need for change and wanted to move forward and Charlie was ready to support that decision. What

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stood out what stood out was that he acknowledged uh he already felt that change was necessary, but he allowed the process to unfold collaboratively. So, the outcome had a genuine staff buyin. That approach reflects strong leadership and an understanding of how meaningful sustainable change actually happens in

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schools. Outside of the interview itself, I've also heard from a number of community members through surveys, emails, text messages, personal conversation who expressed strong support for Charlie. Multiple people reached out to say that he's one of the best administrators I've ever worked with and that they had a very positive

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experience under his leadership. That kind of feedback, especially when it comes unsolicited, is meaningful and worth noting. I've also heard some concern raised about Air Shirley, including comments that um about school choice and perception that the district might not be as of the same caliber as

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others. However, it's also important to acknowledge that Air Shirley has made significant improvements over the past couple of years and from what I can tell, Charlie has played a meaningful role in that progress. District improvement does not happen by accident and his leadership appears to have contributed to positive momentum there.

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Taken as a whole, I believe Charlie will be well suited for the superintendent position in Littleton. he represents as administratively strong and demonstrates a solid understanding of curriculum, professional development, budging, and organizational leadership. If there's an area where he may not appear to be as

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strong relative to some other candidates, it would be around visibility within the community. That said, visibility is something that can be intentionally prioritized. It's a matter of carving out the time, setting expectations, and being present. And I see that as something that is entirely

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manageable for the right candidate. It also appears uh I also appreciated Charlie's comments about not wanting to upset the apple cart. He spoke about the importance of learning about Littleton, understanding what's already in the process and identifying what's working well before pursuing change. That shows

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respect for the district's history and for the work that's already been done while still leaving room for thoughtful improvement. He ended his interview by emphasizing that there are already a lot of wonderful things happening in our district, but that he sees opportunities to make small strategic changes across

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the organization that could be very impactful. I thought that was a particularly effective way to frame his vision. Rather than suggesting sweeping or disruptive reforms, he acknowledged the strengths of what we have of what we have and talked about building on it. With Charlie's new energy, fresh ideas,

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attention to detail, and collaborative leadership approach, I do believe that he could be the kind of leader who helps take Littleton to the next level. We already have a strong district, and I can see how his approach and skill set could help us move into the next tier of exceptional schools within Massachusetts.

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The other candidate that I wish to speak about is Michael Cairo. Michael uh was impressive on paper, but he also won the hearts of many with his indistrict visit. Michael brings with him a long career in education starting in Littleton. He shared with us that

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returning here feels like coming home. This is a place where he's already familiar with the community and believe he would acclimate quickly and comfortably. His personality and approach stand out. Michael is someone who would thrive in engaging not only with the students but with the staff and

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also the town administration, the business community, select board finance committee. He's comfortable in all these roles and that flexibility is a real strength. We also saw his passion shine not just in how we spoke during the interview but how we interacted during the visit. The way he took time to speak

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with everyone from the students to the custodians telling us he cares tells us he cares deeply about the district. This isn't a job for him. This is something he takes pride and ownership in. However, we must also consider the challenges of the role. Michael's ability to engage at all levels is a

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huge asset. But there's also a lot of strategic work to be done. We have a thin central office staff and much of that work will fall on his shoulders. So tonight, we're not just choosing a candidate, we're choosing a leadership style that'll shape how we move forward as a district. That's the balance that

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we must weigh. The passion and personal engagement Michael offers or um sorry alongside the administrative demands of the job. It's not just about getting the job done. It's about how we want the job to get done. And that's the decision before us tonight. So again, um those

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are my two those are my one and two and I and I gave them in order. Um I'm also going to read my remarks. Um and the first part might be a little repetitive, but I'm not going to all just read. Uh tonight marks the end of a

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process hopefully that I am genuinely proud of. Before I share my remarks, I want to thank Alicia for helping us run a search that was organized, inclusive, and truly thoughtful. I also want to thank our screening committee members, community, staff, and administrators who gave so much of their time to this process. And Elaine and Sean for the

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time you spent leading the subcommittee and all of us. Our community showed up, parents, teachers, staff, students, administrators, attended forums, filled out the survey, wrote us emails, and gave us real honest feedback about what they want in our next leader. I want to honor that investment by being

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thoughtful about how I arrived at my recommendation tonight. As a school committee, our two main jobs are the budget and the hiring supervision of the superintendent. So, this moment after 16 years was a big job for our committee and one we took seriously. As for myself, I was very grateful to be

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included in the school tours with the candidates, which gave me great insight not just into the answers and the interviews, but also their authentic interactions with staff and students as they walked through the schools. I want to thank all the building principles and Lynn for allowing me to join in this

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part of the process as it was truly very informative. Not to mention how wonderful it was to spend three days just walking through this class. Thanks to the diligent and incredible work of the subcommittee, we truly had three exceptional finalists. This was a hard decision and one that I didn't fully come to until taking in all of the

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community survey responses. So, I will start with Kate. Kate was someone who immediately put people at ease with her interactions. Her demeanor throughout the visit was calming, welcoming. What stood out to me was how prepared she was. She came in with a documented entry plan, sent a follow-up thank you, and

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during her time in the district, asked about the class size at every grade level. That tells you something about where her head is as she's thinking about supporting teachers and the quality of instruction. The community feedback on Kate reflected what I observed. People responded to her warmth

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and her genuine desire to listen. She also demonstrated a desire to be visible, a visible presence in our schools, which is something our community told us they wanted. It was clear that Kate prioritizes a positive culture in her school building and the community she works in. She was the only

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one, I believe, who had experience working across every grade level in special education and as an administrator of multiple buildings. That is very valuable experience. She is warm, thoughtful, knowledgeable, and cares deeply about students and staff. Where I landed with Kate was around uh a

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little bit of what has been shared in her experience. She has not had central office experience and there were moments in her interview where I heard answers feeling more grounded in building leadership than district leadership. It's not a criticism. She is very talented and I believe will be a

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successful leader in a district one day. She's therefore not the candidate I am recommending at this time. Charles Kiri is someone I also found deeply impressive. He's currently an assistant superintendent and that experience showed throughout his visit. He seemed

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thoughtful, even even keeled and clearly someone who does his homework. What struck me during his time in the district was that he dug into our student data before he arrived. He's asking specific informed questions about subgroups and achievement gaps. And that kind of preparation tells you something

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about how he approaches leadership. data informed, intellectually rigorous, genuinely smart. His depth of knowledge around curriculum and instruction was evident. This is someone who has spent years thinking carefully about teaching and learning. And he showed his comfort and interaction with the curriculum

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throughout the schools. He mentioned his knowledge of UDL and its implementation and how it reflects a form of inclusionary practice. And community members described him as collaborative, clear, and someone who gives credit to people around him. I noticed too that Charles was kind and attentive

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throughout his school visits. He remembered people's names when they introduced himself and referred to them by name as the day went on. That type of intentionality matters. I was cur curious about Charles relevant experience across the age spans especially with younger students with

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families in particular and the broader community in town. his value and sense of belonging and culture was apparent and it also felt tied specifically to UDL curriculum and instruction. I think Charles will be successful in the role of superintendent as he will amplify

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what a district does well. However, there was one candidate out of the three that stood out the most to me in credential reference experience and most specifically their fit with the Littleton community and that is Dr. Michael Kyra who is my recommendation for superintendent. When our community

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told us what they were looking for, the message was clear. Relationships, trust, student well-being, and visible presence in our schools. Michael did not just speak to these things in his interview. He demonstrated them when he walked through the doors. He gravitated immediately to the classrooms. At every

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single school we visited, Michael stopped the principles and said, "Can you bring me to the Pace for Special Education classroom?" He told us that how a district treats its most vulnerable students says a lot about the district. and he had genuinely positive things to say about what he saw in Littleton. But he did not just observe.

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He went in, he got on the floor, he talked directly with students at every age across every school. He engaged with teachers warmly and kindly. And then he turned his full attention to the kids. It wasn't only in the special education classrooms at Chaper Lane. He

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participated during the class meeting with a first grade class talking about their March Madden bracket of their favorite books. He joined right in, shared his favorite book, and offered to come read it to the class if he got the job. In whatever hallway we passed or room we walked into, from youngest to

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oldest students to all the teachers, Michael stopped took the time, engaged with faculty and students, in their curriculum, and in conversation. They showed up powerfully in our community feedback. Respondents across the district commented how we engage respectfully and attentively.

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This is great, but as a role of superintendent, we need someone who could do more than be a presence and have friendly interactions. I am confident in Michael's ability to fulfill his role in central office administration for a couple of reasons. He's currently serving as a assistant

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superintendent, and he has not only been an assistant, but been coached and at the right hand of his current superintendent, who is preparing him for this role. Michael understands the full scope of what this requires from budget to personnel to strategic planning. I

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heard several strong convictions in Michael's interview answers that to me demonstrated his ability to lead. He gave answers as to how his decision-making process would include community buyin, be data driven, and above all be student centered. He talked

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about how in order to take care of kids, you have to take care of staff. He viewed social emotional learning not as a separate initiative but as inseparable from academic achievement. He gave a response as to how recess was non-negotiable which I did not hear in

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the other two candidates and that we can't be talking about student learning if we are not also talking about student well-being. He views himself as a lifelong learner alongside students and educators and he knows his community. He made it very clear that he is choosing

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Littleton. The top priority from our community survey was a collaborator who builds relationships and trust. Michael spoke to this in specific terms. Regular meetings with building leadership, weekly meetings with union leadership, regular presence at community events, genuine investment in town

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relationships, town manager, fire, police, and families. He shared an example of how he involved dads in a building project in his current district and took pizza out to a housing development where they had the lowest turnout of participation in conferences. That is the type of proactive leader our

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community and I am looking for. He understands that the superintendent is the face of the schools and he takes that responsibility seriously. I saw in Michael a spark that set him apart. to me he had the heart heart and the stripe and I wholeheartedly recommend him for

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as my top choice. Thank >> you. Last but not least, uh so first of all, I just want to thank the three candidates. Um it's been a great process since uh Kelly let us know in November that he wasn't going to be staying on next year. Uh a lot of work

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has gone into this among all of us. um whether it was having open forums in in January, the survey to try and see what folks wanted in a new candidate, right? I think it's important to be informed by the community on that. Um and then, you know, we got 50 applicants to the screening committee, which just speaks

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so highly because as others have noted, it was a big time commitment. Uh it was many nights, many long nights. Um and I'm very grateful to the people that stepped up and we ended up with a really good mix of folks uh to get to this point. Um, we had 24 applicants, which I think speaks really highly of our

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district. We ended up with seven uh that we interviewed and ultimately um chose four and obviously interviewed three. Um, I also want to thank Alicia. She's been really great to work with. Um, Elena and I have frequently texted her and checked in on things. Um, and she's been really

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great through the process. I also really want to thank Elaine. She's been wonderful throughout this as well. Um, I think it's been really great to have her experience as we went through this process on the subcommittee. So, I appreciate that. Um, and then I also just want again thank the community for

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all the results that we were able to go through, right? Uh, I think one of the candidates asked what was so special about Littleton. I said it was it was the community, right? Uh, and that really speaks to not just 50 people that applied for the screening committee, but also um all the different results that

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we I think we got over 100 responses to the latest survey and I really appreciate that. Um, I did rewatch the open forum we had in January to try and see what people were interested in. As Elaine mentioned, there's a list of what people uh really cared about on our uh screening committee website and also

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reviewed that. Uh, I'm going to go in reverse order of who my favorites are just um because I also want to give each of the candidates a lot of praise because I think we were very fortunate to have them apply. Um, I did think that, um, Kate was very talented. I see

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a lot of potential in her. Um, I really appreciated the way that she worked up from a pair all the way to a principal. I think that's very unique. I don't think a lot of people have that experience. Uh, I did find her to be the most approachable out of everyone. I think, um, she really connected with people. Um, I think a lot of people let

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their guard down around her, which is really great when you're trying to build community, and I appreciate that. Um, something that really resonated with me about her was she opted to uh cut her own assistant uh vice principal or assistant principal um in order to save

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multiple teaching jobs which as the school district faces a lot of u uh interesting choices going forward with the budget. I think that's something that's really valuable. I think really focusing on what students need and being what what resources we can place closest to students and saving those is really

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important. Um, but I did also ultimately agree with what some of these other folks have said that um I think it's tough to jump from a principal uh position to um a superintendent position. Uh especially considering the other two have uh assistant

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superintendent experience. Um but I do see a lot of potential. Um uh now I'm going to be very clear. I was very torn about uh the next two. Uh I think that they have different approaches which and I think they bring different things to the table. Um but my

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number two uh is Charlie. Um so I feel like he's the most experienced from what I can tell uh from uh the number of years he's been uh an assistant superintendent. Um the uh fact that he just recently got his doctorate is is really great. Um I I really enjoyed

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hearing about what his dissertation was about. Um, he does seem to be very experienced with curriculum. He does seem to be really someone that gets into the weeds, which I appreciate. I also, you know, I think a big thing about Michael is going to be that he has a connection to Littleton. Um, I do think

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it's important to highlight that Charlie is a part of Lash, so that's a group that works a lot of um, PD together. Uh, and so I think he already would know a lot of the people in central office, which is great. Um, I am someone who's very data driven, so I appreciate his

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focus on data. Um he does come off very polished. Uh I appreciate that he is a a strong listener. I think that's something that's really important. Um I think when you come into a district that's had a leader for 15 years, you need to listen to what folks want or what's important to them. Um I also

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really liked his his calm uh demeanor. I think uh you know not not calling out Justin, but I think it was telling when at the beginning of his interview um you know uh we made a small mistake and not giving him the opportunity for an intro and he didn't really miss a beat, which I thought was great. I think it it's a

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small window into kind of how he approaches situations and doesn't really use his his uh momentum. Um I also uh found some irony. I think the the key takeaway from his u closing was he felt that he was a high risk high

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reward. I don't view it was a high risk. I think that he would be a very good um choice if we were choose him. Um ultimately I felt like when uh in talking to numerous folks throughout the community um and uh listening to what

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folks wanted back in January, Michael's my top choice because he's a really strong communicator. connects really well. Um I think one thing that I don't know if it came through in the interview just given what the topics were and the limited number of uniforms we could have is the MSBA experience. So he went from

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u kind of like ideation let's more call it point all the way through to completion on an MSBA project. Um I'm really thinking about what's going to happen over the next five years right and so for me big things for me are obviously curriculum but I I do know that we just implemented a really strong program for that. So I'm also thinking

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about budget as I mentioned before in the MSBA project that we're currently doing. So I think that experience uh is something to be called out. Um he also talked about the budget situation Ashlin and I think although you know he's a member of a team I think it's interesting to hear how he thought

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through positions he need to cut and he's made some tough choices. Um I think similar to Charlie he really books out what's important to the student. I think Kate as well but that was just the way they called it out. Um, I really liked how he said that every child needs a trusted adult. I think we don't always

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know what folks have back at home and to to really encourage students uh to be their full to be their full selves is great. Um, he obviously is connected to the town, right, in a unique way. Um, numerous people told me that they had uh children that had him as a teacher, which is great. Um, something that I

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don't know if folks uh were able to see or or knew is that one of his former students came down from New Hampshire uh to go to the open forum um in the community and spoke about how much uh Michael meant to him as a teacher, right? Michael was an elementary school teacher. I would imagine that this

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gentleman hadn't had him for close to two decades. So, you're willing to get in the car and drive down on a weekday I think spoke a lot uh to who he is. Um, and I think uh, as Venol said, I think we I think we need a spark. I think that's something I kept hearing from

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folks that people wanted someone who was passionate. Not to say the others aren't, but just it really came clear with Michael that that's what really uh was a top thing for him. Um, something I thought was interesting from the survey was that it was a cross-section of

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support, right? So, it was it wasn't just, you know, let's say parents or it wasn't just uh teachers. It was teachers, parents, special education staff, community leaders that all really liked him. Um, and I think that really matters as you go to build a coalition. Uh, so again, I I want to thank everyone

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that uh even applied and I'm grateful for the three finalists we had, but Michael would be my choice. >> All right, >> we go around with reactions. >> That's what we plan to do next. So, thank you uh everybody for your opening

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remarks. Um, based upon my notes, we we uh you know, we heard about all three candidates and we kind of in my opinion don't really have a front runner at this point in time. So, this is about this is about to get interesting. Um, in this

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next round, I think we should, um, not necessarily debate the candidates, but we should offer some sort of response or you can elaborate um, on on what your thoughts are. You, by all means, you can, you know, based upon what you've heard from other school committee

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members, you can speak about another candidate. Like I said, I think it's pretty tough with all three candidates being so strong. Um we're in a fortunate situation here. So we should sort of go around the table and give everybody a second chance to speak. And the uh the idea with this round would be to inch

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towards um some you know maybe a majority or some sort of consensus so that we could get to a vote at some point. Uh we'll see how this how this goes. >> You seem like you're chomping at the bit you need to speak. So >> well I was >> so let's have you we'll go around in the

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same order. >> Well yeah. Excellent. I'm I'm I am happy to change my front runner to Mike um for um as everyone was so eloquent and I do want to to note that um I found Charlie

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to be brilliant and I think he would always be kind and he would always be responsible. He will never let his his his his people down. Um, and and if you'll all indulge me for a minute, my daughters actually had Mike

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when Ed and it's been 20 years. Um, they're also very different people. So, the oldest said he was an amazing teacher. I still remember him assigning a writing assignment in response to a video about racism. And this must have been third or fourth grade. and him

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managing a classroom of really keyed up nine-year-olds with grace and dignity. This was 20 years ago and my daughter remembers that class that that interaction and uh the minute I brought brought up his name both children were

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>> ecstatic. My youngest is a different person. She says so she remembered him as they were nine and he's Mr. Cairo in in the class because they were nine. Um, I remember

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many people loving Mr. Cairo's class and I'm pretty sure he's a large part of why I distinctly preferred being nine to being any other age for over a decade of my life. Did I mention they're very different? Um, but but those memories and that um

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you know that kind of impact on people um I find very appealing. We've had 15 years of of truly um we had a lot of hard work to do in this in this town and um the administration over the past 5

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years has real has stepped up and they have done incredible work um in in really the the the hardcore curriculum and budget and data and um

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I'm hoping that it's a good time to step into not letting those things go, but also stepping into some warmth and some community building and some memory building. And I think Mike would be the

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leader to do that. So our I think what is making this so complicated is that um both Charles Keri and Michael Kyra expressed very similar viewpoints

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um in response to many of our questions and in the forums and you know it's not like they had divergent views on important issues in education right now but it's more a matter of style. So I think that's That's what's making this

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so hard to try to you know and all of us as individuals have different styles and so it's hard not to look look at this through one's own lens. Um so I guess uh you know to build on something that I had mentioned before

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about the passion you know I agree um and and we've heard from the community that people really want the spark they really want the energy. Um, one thing that Michael Kyra said that

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gave me pause was the um the the focus on being in school so much that then, you know, in his current role, then he has to go back and often work late at his office to catch up on

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the paperwork. And that gave me a little bit of a red flag about balance and um you know he spoke eloquently about how it fills his bucket to be in the schools. Um and that is clearly what the

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community wants. We've heard that over and over again. Visibility was I think if there was one thing we heard more than anything else it was visibility. But it's, you know, being a superintendent is a complicated job with um a lot of parts to it that are not as

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visible. So, you know, I'm I want a candidate that knows how to balance the visibility versus the stuff that goes on behind the scenes that is also very important for keeping a school district running. So

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that's I guess um that's part of my concern. You know, I spoke earlier about the specific examples that Charles Keri was able to give in his answers, but then when I went through and read Michael Kyra's packet in detail all over

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again, like trying to get it top of mind again, you know, he did have experiences that he could have used as examples, but they just weren't springing to mind. like just like an interview style that some people can think of the examples quickly and some stay more at the um at

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the general level. So it's not to say that he hasn't had the experiences but that it wasn't quickly coming to mind. I don't know if that's relevant or not but >> I find it relevant. >> Okay. Thank you. Um, so that's that's

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where I'm struggling is like I really feel like either of those two candidates would be excellent superintendants which is the best fit for Walter. So I am still on the fence.

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>> Um, I echo a lot of what you just said and in fact I think some of what you just covered was sort of captured in my opening remarks. Um, I I'll share with the committee. I would be pleased to offer either one of these two candidates the position this evening. I think that both of them could be extremely

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successful. Um, we did hear we learned a lot about the district in these surveys, by the way. Um, big ancillary benefit. Um, we did hear resoundingly that um, visibility would be a priority. Um, but

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I think that that's, you know, something that we could improve upon across the entire organization, right? I think that, you know, all building administration could make an effort to be more visible to the staff. Um, because maybe that's present, you know, maybe that's not currently occurring.

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Um, I would love to see Mike wear out his sneakers in this, you know, in our hallways. Um, that's definitely going to have, we're going to have to put like sneakers in the budget for that guy. Um, but I I continue to come back to the interview that Charlie offered and he

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was just he was really just so good at answering specific questions um being able to pinpoint examples where um he was able to offer a response to our question. So again, maybe he's just

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an exceptional interviewer and both candidates are equally as qualified, but for the reasons that he was able to do that, I'm slightly more comfortable um in Charlie's approach. And you know, I'll I'll share with all

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of you. I think time will tell. I mean, either one of these candidates could be wildly successful or either one of these candidates um might struggle in our district. Um we hope that that's not the case. we'll give them as much guidance and support as possible, but there was no there was no sure thing even with uh

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you know these two A+ quality candidates. Um I I totally get what committee members had to say in support of um of Mike. Uh very likable, super passionate, like passion spilled out of

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his chair. And I do think that that um would be a morale boost for the staff. I think that that would be some energy within the district. I think Charlie's capable of of doing the same thing with us with his own approach as well. So, um

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I've I've shared more than I shared in my opening remarks. You know, I'll allow you guys to interpret interpret that, but be you're up. Um, I had actually written a lot more, which I now wish I kept, but I thought they were getting too long and I

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shortened it and now I'm I'm trying to think back. Um, I did feel we had three incredible candidates. There were two that were my top choice. I think for me in sort of resume experience um sort of

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approach there were two side by side but for me Michael is just really far ahead in terms of fit for the community and what I heard and saw sort of over and over. And I think what really skewed it for me was the community survey and the

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community feedback because while I think there was appreciation for both candidates and positives both for both candidates, I felt like the community feedback from Michael was passionate coming from the community members like they felt his passion when they were

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writing us feedback. And I think especially, you know, we've talked a lot about visibility and I think to everyone's point, I think all three of the candidates could do visibility. It's about how that visibility looks. It's and what I saw in my visits was

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Michael's visibility feeling like energy in the building for the students, for the staff. There was smiling, there was joy. And what I read in the community feedback was that that's what people wanted this this energy, this

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reinvigoration. And being an educator, an administrator myself, I think for me what held a lot of weight was the community feedback from the staff, from the administrators, and I think they see a leader in Michael

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that they would want to follow. I think equally a lot of strengths in Charles, but what I read in the community feedback particularly from staff and administrators around Michael to me put additional trust in Michael of our staff

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and our um central office see him as the leader that they want to follow and that for me just validated where my goal was going. >> That's so well put. Thank you. Thank you. Uh yeah, so to bring it back to uh

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January survey when we started this whole process and we're trying to figure out what we wanted out of candidates, uh the district priorities were like top three. Uh number one was um student well-being and mental health. And so as I said before, I really liked Michael's

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uh approach of having uh one adult for every student or at least an adult that every student felt like they could uh trust. So, I just think that really creates a great culture and a great environment for students and and so maybe he needs to, you know, be uh be in the schools a lot at the beginning and

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maybe he does need to come back as I'm hearing the argument. I can appreciate, you know, maybe spend some more time in central office, but I think if he takes the time the first year to really establish the culture uh and have that um you know, approachability between students and uh faculty, I think that's

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going to be really important. Um the next one uh that we had for district priorities coming out of the survey was student achievement instru instructional leadership. Right. I do think that um Charlie's very strong on this. Um but I also think that uh Michael spoke about

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how he worked collaboratively and he listened uh when he uh when he puted a a curriculum. Uh and I appreciated the way that he took time to do that. Um and uh it wasn't something where uh it needed to be all what he thought. Um, and then the last thing that really sets me for

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the district priorities, number three, was commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. Uh, and like Bino highlighted, um, I really liked how he went with pizza in hand to a group of folks that maybe didn't have, um, you know, didn't feel as engaged or as

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included. Um, and really, you know, brought himself to the community, um, and didn't wait for the community to come to him. Thank you. Um, based upon the notes that I've been taking as everyone was speaking, it it

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appears that we've inched towards some consensus. Um, like to give everyone another opportunity to speak about either either candidate. Um before I ask for a motion to to close debate and uh potentially

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move into a voting situation, um I will declare that we need uh three affirmative votes cast for any one of the candidates tonight. It's a simple majority vote and as some other districts have done. Um, in the event that we don't have a unanimous vote, I'd

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like to offer to the committee that um upon successful um upon a successful vote of any nays that we offer a second vote to see if there is unanimous support for the candidate if the committee would be interested in that. It's great to do. Okay. Appreciate that. Um, I'll open it

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up for any last discussion here. >> Yeah. I I'd just like to um we've I think we've talked a lot about visibility and um some of the top priorities that the

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community had indicated about um mental health supports and um belonging, but there's other parts that are important within the job of a superintendent. So I it sound it's

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starting to feel like we've talked a lot about the public facing aspect of the role which actually makes sense because we've been getting community feedback from people who interact with a superintendent in the public facing role but I feel like we should also talk

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about the other important parts of the job of being superintendent. Um, so wondering, you know, as folks on the budget committee subcommittee, if you looking at these candidates through that lens, if you had any insights about

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either candidate that you'd like to share. >> Sure. Um, I think it's a valid point. So, based upon the interview information, um, you know, Mike offered that they had they're in a position where they had to lay off some, I think it was 13 or 14

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staff members from Ashlin. Uh, Sean, you had a great follow-off question, which was how often, you know, it's not how often. Um, you know, how long have you known that this was sort of accumulating? I think the answer was around two, two and a half years or something like that. And, you know, it

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is a tough problem to fix, right? It's not like all of a sudden we can just create more money and we can save all the jobs and provide all the support. But you know that's an unfortunate situation to be in. So I saw that as a situation where that

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district needed to make some cuts. Um I'm also of the opinion that that Shirley district has kind of turned things around. So through I mean I think the Charlie's words were salesmanship marketing um they've been

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able to grow the budget in Air Shirley and they've been able to um to put some wonderful programming in place and you know I've I've noticed that that really that district really has stepped up its game the last couple of years. I mean some of it has to do with some new housing going in and some new residents and things like that.

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>> Um but they had very different answers. Um it. You know, I'm I'm veering away from the budgeting question, but um you know, it's it's it's tough. I think it's tough for all of us because I think any one of us would be happy with either candidate

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in the district. Um, from a budgeting standpoint, I believe Charlie is the better better candidate or at least offered better evidence uh through the interview and through his resume and through the letter of the

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recommendation and all the ancillary support. The community didn't offer much in terms of the survey in that particular category, but that is a big part of the job. >> Yeah, >> definitely >> Oh, go ahead. I was going to say it's challenging to pinpoint

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sort of cause of budget or actions on an assistant superintendent when there's like so much context that goes into budget and the role of a superintendent and school committee and all the things and I believe a surely has multiple assistant superintendent. So it's I

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think it's really I would base it on the interview answers to me less than looking at the district because it's hard for me to detach or know the role that this one individual played in that district's budget without knowing all the context that went into like were

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they in the conversation were they part of the decision making who who led that was you know they have two very different superintendent in their districts as well and I don't know what part they played versus their superintendent so that's a very tricky question and I guess when I think of

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budget there's the you know the obvious part of it which is we need to be able to do it in a responsible in in a way that looks ahead in forecasting and we've been very very fortunate in Dr. Klenchie's ability and expertise to put Littleton in such a good position over

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so many years and I think we would look for that and ideally support our next superintendent in that also. But to me, part of the budget is also communication and how sort of community has bought in both from staff and district leadership

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to school committee to community members. And that's where, you know, I think again it is both skill set but personality, trust and connection. And that's where I wonder if Michael through

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his approach of building relationships and connections will sort of have that buyin, collaboration, camaraderie where I think they both have the skill set and we're talking about really different approaches and personality. I think you

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know there are members we have very smart central office members very smart school committee members and I think what I'm looking for in the leader is someone who can lead in a collaborative inclusive way that brings trust in the community we have been able to do that

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so well shake not an easy project to do as a community school start times we just recently had even this process in how our community shows up and speaks up and I think having somebody who receives that balances that takes that in. And I

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see Michael doing that really well. To add to that, I I part of the budget would be after the cuts, being involved in the schools, being involved with the staff, having that trust that people are

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not going to just tell you it's fine. But having built that trust within the the the staff and and students and and the body so that you know if there's something that happened that isn't actually working out and you can

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readjust because after a budget cut I mean you need you need to to readjust rebalance your staff right um and and um I see Michael as having those skills of really being able to find out

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if those budget cuts have repercussions that that needs that need to be headed off. Um, so I think that's a part of budget that isn't actually talked about a lot. Yeah, I I could jump into um I think one story that was interesting to me is and I don't know I can't remember

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if it was part of the interview or if it was part of the community session, but Michael talked about how um at one point he tried he tried to interview for a principal position in our district ultimately didn't get it but uh recommended uh Michael to his wife in

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Ashland which is how he ended up landing there which I think is very interesting. I mentioned that because and I think it's hard to hold exactly what he saw in Michael, but um I think one thing the committee does uh usually recognize in Kelly is he's very strong in the budget. Um so I wonder if there's a bit of a

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connection there as well. Um I'd also say that it's it's really hard in my opinion to figure out um how someone manages the budget when they haven't been in charge of it. Right? You can unless you're a business manager or something like that or you come with a finance background, I think it's really hard to know who's making that final

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decision. um in the day. Uh it did sound like from what Michael said that he's in conversations almost every day uh with a group discussing the budget given where they are in Ashlin. Um I think it's also I think you make a good point Elaine that this is really important, right? Um we recently found out that Steve Mark is

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uh is retiring uh you know I think 15 months or so. So that's 15 years of leadership from Kelly and 20 plus years from Steve leaving in the next you know uh under two years. Um, I did actually meet with Robin Healey this morning and talk to a little bit about budget stuff

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with her. Uh, because she did used to work for Steve, which I think that's some good knowledge you can borrow from. Um, I think I would pose to you Justin. Um, at the end of the day, because you know, we we had a lengthy, uh, and enjoyable podcast about the budget. Uh, how much of the budget changes year to

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year? Um, and I feel like the budget is really a matter of what your priorities are. And so at the end of the day, you're only kind of really adjust so much of the budget year to year. And it seems like Michael has a very student focused approach. And so that's really the way I view the budget is you want to

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make sure that the people that are closest to the students are being saved if possible. Um so yeah, Justin, if you have thoughts about kind of how much you could really affect the budget. >> Um >> sure, I can happy to answer the question and I have additional talking point on the budget if that's all right. So, when

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you're in this situation where you don't have to make cuts, you know, you can roll last year's budget, which, you know, hey, look, we we uh we did great things. We're looking to make enhancements and we can roll it forward. So, you know, the job's not as hard um

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when you're in a fortunate situation of being well supported by the town or the tax bases there. Conversely, if we're in a situation we have to make cuts, it's a whole different ballgame. Um, and you know, I hope the day doesn't come, but when it

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does come, that the that budget subcommittee, the superintendent's office, and the business manager will have a lot more work to do. Um, as well as all the other administrators. Um, I have, sorry, I thought you putting your hand up. >> Um, we heard both candidates say, which

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makes a lot of sense, that in the in the event that you have budget cuts, you want to start as far away from students as possible, >> right? Um, and again, we're I'm nitpicking the interview, and that's not the only thing that matters, okay? Because both candidates were awesome,

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but Charlie gave examples of when the SR funds uh were available, the district went out and hired coaching to work with the staff. I think it was related to. And then as those funds dried up, the coaching support went away. And his

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response wasn't, "Oh, that's too bad." It was we've been trained now we need to carry the load and it's a bigger job for everybody. But even though the the coaching dried up or the funds dried up, it wasn't the plan was to not have it impact the students because now everyone

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was going to carry that those initiatives forward. Conversely, Michael um his response was we need to make some cuts where we're eliminating some or coaching positions and we only have one left and that was

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about all that was said. So I just and again it might have been the fact that of interview style or you know he had a lot to say on something else but I just loved the fact that when Charlie needed to talk about a cut it wasn't going to impact the students the staff had been

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equipped with the information and the knowledge to carry that forward without the additional funding. And that's not the same answer that I heard from from Mike. So, you know, >> there was just one other small thing I'd want to add to the budget conversation

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before we hit it, which was um I remember uh Charlie talking about bringing a lot of grants into the district. And that was also in one of his letters of recommendation that he's a real go-getter with bringing money into the district and seeking out

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grants. Um, that's another important piece of the finance. So, I'm I'm trying to think of the not public facing important roles of the superintendent um that I'm realizing now as part of our

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process, we may have not been thinking about quite as much because we were soliciting so much feedback from the public that we ended up really focusing on public facing parts of the job. Um, so I just want to make sure we really think about all aspects of the job before moving to a vote. So the other

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one that comes to mind for me is um being the um the admin the top administrator who evaluates the principles, evaluates folks at central office. So this would be the leader of the leaders. Um and

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um I totally see both of them being successful at that. There's just one um one slight concern with Michael Cairo being connected so connected to the teachers

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in the district and I um I was thinking about this when you were speaking people about all of the you know he said it felt like he was coming home and said there were so many interactions in the halls of teachers who had wanted to take selfies with him and you

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It's it's a difficult pivot to move from having friendly relationships with peers in a district to suddenly being their supervisor and their evaluator. Um so that's uh that would be a pivot he would need to make. We don't know if that

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would be easy or hard for him. Um, so I just wanted to we should at least talk about, you know, our impressions about he how each of these candidates would be as a um a supervisor of the leaders in the district.

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>> I I would love to speak to that. I think you so um rightfully shared, you know, where that can often be a challenge and I think certainly we've all experienced in the workplace when sort of a colleague gets promoted and perhaps becomes your boss and where that has

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perhaps worked and not worked and it really depends on the situation and the person and in in many cases and I think in this case um Michael I I actually see both your your concern but I also see that as being a posit positive of

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somebody who really understands not school culture in general, but Littleton school culture as now being the leader and having that trust from staff who were formerly colleagues and saying that person was here with me and is now the

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leader and that sort of trust already being built. And from I think what really swayed my vote so much was exactly what you said of this person will supervise our building leaders who supervise the staff who take care of our

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children. So I held I put a lot of weight on that community feedback and to me if the central office staff and building leaders were confident in following Michael as a leader to me that really validated my confidence in him.

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And you got that that sense from their interactions that they would see him as a leader and not as a keeper. >> Absolutely. >> I'll u I'll I'll I'll jump on that. One of the things that um Michael shared was

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he was often assigned sort of that that difficult task from the superintendent. So he was like the guy that got involved in every committee or was asked to join every committee where the subject was going to be difficult. And um and and for that reason, I know it can be a

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challenge and sometimes it doesn't go well. But I don't have any reservations about Michael um being a leader in this organization, being the leader of leaders. Um it's a different role. He'll, you know, day one have to wear that hat, but it's not a concern of

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mine. Okay. >> What other aspect of your job we don't discuss? I feel like this is back up. Actually, I mentioned this in my opening statement and I and I acknowledge I don't know uh how much weight you want to put on this, but the MSBA experience I think does matter, right? U this is

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the largest project we've had in town. Uh it's, you know, we're we're in a good position. Um you know, it's it sounds like likely we'll take a vote in next week, but it sounds like likely we'll be opening the building a little over two years. Um, I think the idea of having someone who's taken a project from

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proposal all the way to the finish line in the same district, uh, is really great and that's something Michael has done. Uh, I'm not saying that Charlie couldn't figure it out. Charlie seems very intelligent and I think he's very thoughtful. U, but I do think that's something that's really nice to have. Um, I think that combination with his

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his personal style will help us as we uh, inevitably have different things that go on with the school, right? I don't think any building in town has opened uh or any town has opened without some kind of hiccup, right? And so if you have some buy in, I think that's also good. Um the experience of working through all the different grant

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processes that are involved with that, I think is really big as well. Um again, other folks might view it differently. I'm really looking at this as like what's important in the next five years. That's why I I value what you're saying uh Elaine and Justin and and Gene particularly about the budget. Um, and I

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think for me the two big things over the next 5 years are going to be like I said why you and MSBA. So that was something that isn't about personality that's about experience that's not about you know being in the classroom it's about what you're doing at central office that spoke to me.

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>> That's a really good point. >> It's going to be a big deal. Um you had asked about other key and you know key responsibilities for superintendent. Um

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I think one of them is just sort of timeliness of response. I and I don't have a concern with either either candidate. you know, obviously if if um if Michael has, you know, pure passion to be in the schools and interacting with staff and students, he's he's not

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in front of his email getting back. You know, we all see the emails, right? People copy us on the emails that go to the superintendent. We've been fortunate that Kelly's Kelly's been a wizard at that in terms of getting back to people. Um, and but it's it's not just with this

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community. It's with the staff. It's um it's dealing with personnel issues. It's dealing with the town administrator's office and the finance committee and the select board. It's getting involved with the curriculum initiatives. It's the strategic plan. It's making sure that

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all of the staff members feel empowered. Um, and and I and again, I see either one of these candidates being a really good choice for that. So, um I'll leave the floor open for any additional conversation or discussion,

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but if um we don't have too much else to say, I think it would be appropriate to ask for a motion to call for a vote. >> What's that? >> Oh, the language is in the um agenda. >> We have to motion for person.

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>> So, is there a motion to close debate? >> I motion to close debate. Motion made by Bal, >> second >> seconded by Janine. All those in favor indicate by saying I. I. >> I. >> So open debates's been closed and now we can move into

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um >> uh I motion to offer Michael Cyra the position of superintendent of Littleton Public Schools subject to successful negotiation of an employment contract. >> Motion made by Val. Is there a second? >> Second.

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>> Motion seconded by Janine. Is there any discussion on this? The only discussion that I'll offer is that um I will call for a roll call vote. We'll need a simple majority and in the event that we don't have unanimous decision, I'll ask if there's a second vote in support of unanimous

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decision. So you shouldn't feel obligated to um vote one way or the other. Vote vote how you want to vote and we'll see if we have uh unanimous consensus at the end. So is there any other discussion? Discussion will close. So we now have a

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motion on the floor to uh appoint Michael Kaira as the superintendent of schools. Uh subject to negotiations. Shauna Hearn >> I. >> Enel I. >> Justin McCarthy votes nay. >> Colleen.

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>> Sandelman. Nay. >> Janine. >> Janine Wood. I >> the motion passes three to two. So I will motion to see if we could have another round of votes in hope that unanimous support to appoint Michael Kaira as a superintendent of schools

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subject to contract negotiations. Is there a second for that motion? >> I second the motion. >> Thank you Janine. John >> I Patel >> I >> Justin McCarthy votes I selman I Janine Wood I >> that passes unanimously.

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Congratulations. We've looked at a new one. >> Superintendent subject to contract negotiations. Um, as is practice, I now have the opportunity to phone the uh Michael. So, I'm going to uh step out of

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the room, make a phone call. Hopefully, I can catch him, come back and report the news. Um, can I ask for a motion for recess? So, moved. Motion made by Sean. >> Second. >> Seconded by Elaine. All in favor take it by saying I. >> I. Perfect.

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All right. Um, I have great news to share. Uh, Michael Kyro has accepted the position subject to contract negotiations. He, uh, was very appreciative. Um, he's super excited. He's going to do great things in our district. He's ready to

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get to work and, uh, he thoroughly enjoyed the conversation this evening. I believe he was probably following along pretty closely. Um, so I had a really nice conversation with him and I just let him know how excited we are that he's going to be joining us and he

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shared uh similar feedback. So I let him know that we'd be working with Alicia that we'll move into executive session tonight um to start the contract negotiations. We'll work through Alicia to sort of get that communication um going back and forth. And we've done it.

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We've we hope to but uh subject to negotiations we have a new superintendent. So congratulations everybody. >> Very exciting. Thank you. >> Jason Everard was here. >> I do want to reiterate Charles and Kate just being phenomenal candidates. Um I

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have no doubt that they will be superintendent one day and a very lucky district um that they will be in. It was really, as you can tell from the length of the discussion and the rigor, it was not a given or an easy decision. So, just hats off to Charles and Kate.

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>> 100%. >> Echo that. >> All done. >> Thank you, Penel. >> All right. Um, we have one other piece of new business evening, which is the superintendent uh search subcommittee. Um, I'm looking for a motion to dissolve the superintendent search um

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superintendent search subcommittee. Since we believe all the work is done, >> I move that we dissolve the superintendent search committee. >> Motion made by Elaine. Second, seconded by Sean. All those in favor indicate by saying I. >> I. >> All right. >> It's appropriate that we dissolve ourselves.

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>> Nice job. And the uh last order of business, unless I'm missing anything, quick check. We're good. >> Is um we have plans to move into executive session this evening for superintendent contract negotiations. got it right in front of me. So, we'll

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just >> we we already approved uh the minutes at the beginning of the meeting and we have some other minutes to approve. >> So, there's actually it's kind of listed twice here. So, um I move

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um that we move into executive session with no intent to return to open session to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with nonUN personnel. Pursuant to Mass General Law 30A 21A2,

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uh the committee will not reconvene an open session. And before I take a motion on that, um there's a second motion which is we're going to at the same time in executive session, we're going to look to approve minutes from the

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superintendent search screening committee. So two motions on the floor. That's a little unorthodox, but >> Well, wouldn't we do the second motion when we're in executive session? >> You think so? >> Yeah, I think so. Yeah. >> All right. So, then I'll retract the second one and just have the first one.

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>> You Well, you can have both reasons in one motion. Enter to enter executive session for purposes of this reason and this reason. The committee will not return to open session. >> Okay. >> So, moved. >> Motion made by Elaine, seconded by Sean. This will be a roll call vote which I

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think I've been doing since we're moving into executive session. So Shauna >> I Patel >> I >> Justin McCarthy votes I. >> Elaine Saddleman I >> Janine L I. >> All right we are in uh we will clear the room. Um no rush >> but uh we'll allow the room to clear and

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then we will reconvene in executive session. No.