Good evening. We're about ready to get started, but I just want to give you one more reminder that we have a signin for public speak tonight. Oh, and if you want to sign in to speak publicly, we're going to be using our signin sheet for the order of speaking. So, if there's anyone who wants to speak publicly, now
is your time to sign up before we start. uh checking the audio with the folks who have zoomed in. If you can just give us maybe a thumbs up, a signal that you can hear us at home. Is that a is that an affirmative?
Checking on our audio for folks who are at home. Oh, there we go. We got a thumbs up. Okay, thank you. And LCTV good to go. All right. Welcome to the Wednesday, July 16th.
Oops. Welcome to the Tuesday, August 13th, 200. It's not the 13th. We're just all over. It's the night. Sorry. Oh, man. It's up here correctly. Okay.
Welcome to the August 19th, 2025 meeting of the Long Meadow School Committee. Mass general law allows for remote participation at public meetings until June 30th, 2027. All votes while there is remote participation must be made by roll call
vote. This meeting is being recorded and aired live on LCTV. School committee members, when I call your name, please say here for the record. Nicole Schwanire here. Kate Bean here. Emily Hansen here. Jamie Hench here. Adam Rosenlum
here. Zach Riden here. And I'm the chair, Michaela Fitzgerald, also here. And now we'll begin with the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic
for it stands one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Before we begin, I'm going to address the remote participants quickly. If you intended to participate in the public speech portion of our meeting, could you
please enter your first and last name into the chat at this time? And I'm just going to give them a minute to do that and us write down the names. Seeing no entries into the from uh folks zooming in. Okay.
For the public comment recording in progress. Okay. So, it looks like we have no one who has entered their first name and last name into the chat to sign in intending to speak at our public speak.
Just double checking. Seeing no Looks like we won't have to um Oh, uh I'm getting a message that from uh that the audio cut out. Oh,
uh there we go. Um apologies. We had our audio muted. So, I would just I think I just need to repeat the direction. I'm just going to repeat my message to the remote participants one more time. If you intended to participate in tonight's
public speak portion of the school committee meeting, could you please write your first and last name into the chat box so we will have a record of who would like to speak. Okay, it looks like we don't have So, just to start, we're committed to
making sure that parents feel heard and if there are still parents that feel like they need more time or information from the school committee or the district administration, we will make sure that there is another opportunity for that. Um, I started the meeting off
this way because I thought that we might, per our public policy, have to vote um to extend our time, but it looks like we only have six people signed up to speak publicly tonight. So, I think we should be able to move forward on
with our agenda. So, first is correspondence. And the following correspondence was recorded. An email from Ruth Ruth Latti dated August 13, 2025 titled important information from LPS.
Next, we have approval of minutes. It's the school committee minutes from July 16th, 2025. I move that the school committee approve the minutes to the July 16th, 2025 school committee meeting as presented. We have a recommended motion. Do we have any comments or questions about the
motion? Seeing none, we'll move to a vote. I'll second. Oh, second. Yeah. Thanks. Any comments or questions? Seeing none, we'll move to a vote. Adam, yay.
Jamie, yes. Nicole, yes. Zach, yes. Emily, yes. Kate, yes. And a yes for me, too. Okay, now we are on to our public speak section of the night.
So, I'm going to start the public speak section by um going over the rules and that's in our policy which is public and there is also copies up at the front of the room if you need it.
There's three minutes given to each speaker. The vice chair will be recording the time once you start speaking. When you start, the first thing you need to give is your name and your address and your affiliation to the
Long Public Schools. And I'm going to now read directly from our policy, some of our ground rules for speaking. All speakers must conduct themselves in a peaceable and orderly manner. In addition, they are encouraged but not
required to present their remarks in a respectful manner. Speakers must begin their remarks by stating their name, town, or city of residence in affiliation. All remarks will be addressed to the chair of the meeting. Public speak may concern items
that are not on the school committee's agenda, but which are within the scope of the school committee's authority. Therefore, any comments involving staff members or students must concern the educational goals, policies, or budgets of the Long Meadow Public School or the
performance of the superintendent. Please abide by our policies and please avoid hate speech and profanity. William, thank you. Uh, my name is William Welch and I live at 25 Metobrook Road in Long
Meadow. And I guess my affiliation to Long Meadow Public Schools is I am a former a parent of former students. Um, first I want to thank you for your service and then secondly, I want to thank you for expediting the review of
why I'm here, which is uh for a facility use request uh for the high school fields to hang uh sponsor banners. Uh my purpose here is not to go over the merits of my request. Uh I believe that
we articulated those um fairly clearly in the request and therefore I'm not going to repeat that. Um rather what I would like to do is really just um talk about two issues uh that have come up in prior discussions with Dr. Rocha on this
um issue but more broadly uh to the extent that they have relevance um to you. The first issue is um title n and so funds raised by booster organizations may have title n um relevance or considerations
and my response to that when uh I've had these discussions with Dr. O'Shea is that is not this case. Um, the reason why we're here is an entirely genderneutral reason. Uh, we are here because there is a Long Meadow High School policy uh that requires booster
organizations to pay for uniforms. Um, and that policy applies to uh male teams and to female teams and we have no control over that policy once it's been instituted. So to the extent that I'm here to tell you why we need to raise
funds and for what purpose uh it's being driven by that policy but more broadly the amount of the funds meaning uh we have quoted the amount of funds that we need to buy new uniforms for the high school team is again driven by
genderneutral reasons. Uh number one the cost of football jerseys and uniforms is considerable. Um, as you've seen in the application, uh, the quotes that we have received range from 22,000 to approximately 40,000. And once again, we
have no control over those prices. And compared to other teams, um, some may, uh, be comparable in terms of uniforms, but for many others, uh, our costs are just, uh, multiples uh, of what other teams face. And then the other general
neutral reason uh for the cost and why we need to raise these funds uh is because of the size of our roster. We are probably two to three times higher than many other teams if not uh many more than that. And so those two genderneutral reasons are really driving
uh a the considerable cost but b uh the need to raise funds. Um the second issue is uh what I'll call logistics. And so in prior conversations with Dr. Rocher, we have talked about we have like less than 10 seconds left of your time just to let you know. So
finish your sentence. Thank you. Ensuring that uh we remove the signs that we want to put up. And my short answer to that is you have the power to revoke approval if we don't do what we say we're going to do. Uh and I think that is sufficient to ensure that
uh we abide by you know the conditions and the promises that we made in our request. Thank you. If you have any questions, I'm happy to field them. But otherwise, uh, appreciate your service. Okay. Kurt Friedman.
My name is Kurt Freriedman. I reside at 24 Ridge Road, Long Meadow. Good evening, Long Meadow School Committee. I have lived in Long Meadow since before I was born and completed grades K through 12. I attended Glenrook and was a member of the class of 1973.
Go Bulldogs. I have firsthand knowledge of busing as I was bus from Primrose Drive to Glenrook for three years. For 33 years, I've been a registered professional engineer in practice in 23 states and work as a forensic engineering investigator across the country as well
as instruct renewable energy as an adjunct professor at a local engineering university. I am tremendously grateful for the professional and academic opportunities enabled in part by my public school education in Long Meadow. My sons have also attended grades K
through 12 and are each highly accomplished professionals. My wife, in blessed memory, was a speech and language pathologist and previously contracted with the Long Meadow Schools. I have previously supported the renovation of Blueberry Hill, Wolf Swamp, and Center Schools. As
co-chairman of the Long Meadow High School task force committee, I helped lead the renovation of Long Meadow High School to its present state. Our LHS building team, as supported by the Long Meadow School Committee, actively worked to avoid decisions that would adversely
affect a butters or create an unreasonable financial burden to our community. Although multiple architects recommended a brand new high school on Russell Field, uh these recommendations were rejected out of respect for Long Meadow. My direct experience taught me
there was nothing positive about busing. It extends a school day, interferes with participation in school activities and create and create can create uh time conflicts with family and homework studies, especially during inclement weather. An 11 or 12year-old does not
have the independent transportation options of a high school student. A local neighborhood middle school is a tried and proven option. I feel that the proposed uh combined middle school is fundamentally flawed for the following
reasons. Uh the project conflicts with sustainability, the long metal long range plan as well as professional engineering standards. The project will fields. The project will lessen the quality of education for the majority of
our students. The project will maximize bus and vehicle traffic and cause unresol unresolvable traffic gridlock. The project will be financially burdensome for our community. And the project will lessen property values for many of our residents and homeowners.
Renovate Glenchrook Middle School. Renovate Williams Middle School. Sometimes less is more. Let us work together for the best interests of our Long Meadow community. Thank you, Teresa. Julia.
Hi, my name is Teresa De Julio. I live at 8 Woodside Drive here in Long Meadow and I my affiliation is I have had former students in the Long Meadow Public Schools. Um I just want to start by saying that
we have been canvasing the Glenbrook Wolf Swamp area and this has been for like about five to six weeks now. once a week while canvasing. Some people have noticed
have I mean have voiced that they are in uh they are going to be voting for the combination of the middle schools. But in my opinion, I believe that while canvasing, it was what we found about
90% of the feedback that we received was that people in the Glen Brook neighborhoods did not want the merger. They did not want the combination of the middle school. They want their middle school to remain in their neighborhood.
They want renovation over consolidation. We spoke to one woman while canvasing. She was extremely upset. She said she didn't know about the issue. Still to this day, people do not know
that this is even a thing. She is just finding out by us canvasing. We told her we were really sorry that we were the bearers of the bad news. This is what the town is proposing. We
told her. She said, "I'm an alumni of Glen Brook Middle School. I bought a house here two years ago. I have young children and moved back to this area so that I could give my children the same lifestyle and upbringing that I had."
She was really upset. We came upon another person canvasing who was a realtor still on that side of town. He said in his opinion, home values will dwindle 10 to 15% if they
lose their middle school. We have documentation from the National Association of Realtors that support this claim. It is in my opinion that by allowing this merger to happen, you are all
knowing or reasonably should know that you are disparaging the Glenbrook Wolf Swamp side of town and creating a traffic nightmare for the Williams Middle School side of town, giving appearances that the halves and have
nots. Please consider your choices at it affect as it affects the town in entirety. And I just want to say from the Miriam Webster's dictionary, the word disparaging is an adjective and it
means to belittle the value or importance of someone or something and you're disparaging that side of town. Thank you. Bill Dulio. Good evening. Uh, my name is Bill De Julio. I reside at 8 Woodside Drive here
in Long Meadow. I am a parent of former students in the school system, and I would like to take this opportunity to speak also to the proposed new middle school that the town will be voting on on September 9th at the special town meeting. In that regard, I would like to
point out that Long Meadow has a long history of renovating its schools and I am a strong proponent of renovating the two middle schools, not consolidating them into a single mega middle school. I found it interesting to learn recently
that both the Glenbrook and Williams middle schools are actually older than all three of the elementary schools in town. Center School was built in 1921 and renovated in 1999. Wolf Swamp was built in 1956,
renovated in 2002. And Blueberry Hill Elementary was built in 1957, and renovated added on to in 2003. There was no uproar at the time to tear down these buildings and construct new
elementary schools. And a renovation was done to all three buildings. I would like to add that the high school that we're in is also older than the middle schools, having been built in 1956. The renovation addition that was done in
2012 2013 resulted in this beautiful and updated building. There was no uproar to tear it down and build a new one across the street on the Russell Fields. In fact, that option was rejected. This building
is a testament to the fact that a renovation addition can indeed transform an aging building into a modern and updated school. With this history of renovation, I don't see why we cannot do a comprehensive renovation to the middle
schools, which will maintain our long history of neighborhood schools and maintain property values in the Glen Brook and Wolf Swamp neighborhoods. This allows more students the opportunity to walk and bike to school. This in turn
reduces the number of buses required, saving the town thousands of dollars and evenly splits the traffic generated between the two schools instead of creating a traffic mess on Williams and Bliss. I think a consolidated middle
school is a disservice to the families who live in the Glenbrook and Wolf Swap neighborhoods. Families who moved there thinking that their kids would be able to walk or bike to Glenbrook Middle School will now be forced to put their kids on a bus or drive them to school. I
am in favor of a comprehensive renovation, not a consolidation. Thank you very much. Cameron Burke. Hi, I'm Cameron Burke. I live at 25 Walw Warworth Street. Um I am a former student at Blueberry Hill School, Williams Middle School, Longman High
School. None of the buildings uh aside from Williams are anything like they were when I was here. Most of the high school has been torn down when it was added on to. Um I am here tonight. Uh I'm trying to encourage people to come out to town meeting and hopefully vote yes for the school building project. Uh
I believe that our current buildings fall short of the modern buildings of modern education standards. The classrooms are undersized and lack dedicated steam space. One unified school improves coordination of teaching, electives, and extracurriculars, expanding offers, and
eliminating redundancies. A larger, more connected student body fosters stronger peer networks, clubs, and activities. First class education prepares our future leaders, innovators, and skilled workers who will strengthen our community and economy. One school create
creates better community for students of all abilities. The state funds new construction more generously than renovations. Renovating both outdated and outofcode schools will cost us more. A new middle school signals how much we as a town value our
education and invest in our future. A new school will strengthen our standing at a top district in the region, helping maintain or raise property values. It fosters a knowledgeable, capable population and shows our children that can the community prioritizes their
growth. I also fully supported the adult center. I think everybody in town deserves to have safe, accessible buildings that we currently don't have right now. Another thing to address the busing. I think busing is the answer to a lot of working parents woes. Um
especially at this age where kids cannot just ride their bike to school, especially through the winter. uh having a known time that their children will be able to leave for school is really important to a lot of people. So, thank you. Josh Lavine
Josh Lavine, 78 Farmington Avenue. Uh I am on the middle school building committee. I'm chair of the select board. I'm also a parent of three uh two elementary school kids and one middle school kid. Um, I I I first wanted to start off by saying uh I know we're there's a lot of
talk about the middle school building project. I just wanted to thank the administration and the school committee on their openness and compassion with the other issue that a lot of people want to talk about in town right now. Uh the middle school librarian. I it's a awful situation and I it's continuing
but I hope that the openness that we've seen and the compassion you're seeing for our students continues. So thank you. Um, I I wanted to address the the middle school building project. Uh, it it seems like we're all starting from the point where we agree that our schools are those schools are out of
date. Middle school, they're both both middle schools are very old, 70, 60 years old and need updating. If you start from that point, there's only one way to go. We have to have one school from a fiscal standpoint. We simply cannot afford to renovate two schools.
We can maybe get paid. We could get paid back to renovate one school by the middle school building authority. I'm sorry, the mass school building authority, but we could not then afford to do the other school until we got into the program again. Uh the budget's very tight. I work on it every year. Nobody
knows the budget's tighter than the school committee. Um because you're the bulk of our budget. Uh so you know that we do not have money to play around with. We can't ask our residents to pay for two schools. Uh so if you agree that our schools are out of date, opponents
and proponents both think that we have to consolidate. We have to do one school. If you want to see real estate values in Long Meadow drop, there's one guaranteed way to do it. Why do people move here? There's one reason. It's our schools, our education, our belief, and our support and our students. And if
people don't want to move here because they think that we are leaving behind uh kids in a really important time developmentally, they will stop moving here and that will drop your real estate values. Uh so from a fiscal standpoint, which is the way I
am have been coming at this, there's only one choice. Thank you very much. All right, that's the end of our sign up for inperson public speak. I'm going to throw it out one more time to the remote participants if there's
anyone who wants to speak publicly during our public speak portion. No other. All right, we have no business with guests tonight. So, next on our agenda is school committee announcements and
recognitions. And I will start with my chair. Good evening to the Long Meadow Public School community, our staff, students, and families. First, I want to recognize that this has been a challenging time for our district and for our whole
community. Like many of you, I have found it very frustrating and upsetting to read, hear, and process the recent news. Not only as a parent, but as someone who deeply cares about children and students. I am grateful to all who
have reached out to the school committee and to me directly to engage in these important conversations. Please know that if that we have been working diligently and we've been making no assumptions and we will continue to do so for as long that is necessary as
always. And a reminder, the school committee regularly receives and responds to correspondence from parents in the community and your voices matter to us. On another note, as summer draws to a
close, we want to warmly welcome our Long Meadow Public Schools community back to a new school year. I wish every student, staff member, and family a happy and healthy start to the 2025 2026 school year. While the summer did really
fly by, so many people in our district have been hard at work preparing classrooms, supporting staff, and ensuring our schools are ready to welcome students back with care. I'm especially looking forward to the smiles of students as they return and ride
around on their bikes and the sidewalk and the joyful noise of our classrooms and hallways and the buzz of the energy that makes our schools the absolute heart of this community. And so far for a final note, I just want us all to
remember that our strength as a community is not measured only in the good times, but how we protect, support, and lift one another up during hard ones. especially when it involves children. Every child in Long Meadow deserves to walk into school each day
feeling safe, supported, and inspired. Next, do we have any other committee member announcements or recognitions? Uh, sure. Okay. Not necessarily pertaining to the um school committee. I just want to uh wish
a a congratulations to the uh Scottish national rugby team on celebrating 100 years at Murray Field in Edinburgh. Um wish them a great next hundred years. Thank you for your announcement and congratulations.
Next we have our report. So we'll start with our superintendent report. Sure. Uh thank you. Um, as as Michaela mentioned, obviously, um, as we work through a really troubling, disturbing personnel matter, um, it's
been a trying time for our families, for our staff, for administrators who are assembled here tonight. I'm grateful for that. Um, and there's some it this appears later on in our agenda, so we can we can more fully
address it at that time. But um it certainly has been um a real challenge and our commitment is to as Michaela mentioned earlier to continuing the conversation to continuing to look into
this um and to make sure that we are addressing it firmly and openly and fully cooperating with uh law enforcement on this on this really troubling matter. So, I know it comes up later in our agenda, but I wanted to
kick off my report with that. On a lighter note, uh, agreed. Looking forward to kicking off the school year. This is the time of year where I always like to thank the unsung heroes of Long Meadow Public Schools, and that's the tech staff, the clerical staff, the
custodial staff, the maintenance staff, the folks that are working quietly behind the scenes to get our offices and classrooms ready. So, um, a shout out to to those teams for, um, preparing our buildings and our classrooms and the offices. Um, everything's coming
together. Um, and, um, we're preparing for the arrival of new staff tomorrow. We have a new staff orientation. Uh, and so we'll have a chance to welcome them and to orient them to Long Public Schools. Three days of professional development and then the students come
back on the 26th. So, we look forward to welcoming students in grades 1 through 12 and then our kindergarteners join us on a really special day on the 27th. So, always one of the most exciting days of the year to welcome our our kindergarten students especially. So, um things are
ramping up. Schools are busy. Many teachers are back. They're in their classrooms. They're getting things ready. uh they put in a lot of time over the summer and uh I think sometimes they don't get enough credit for all the time that they do put in over the summer to prepare prepare classrooms and prepare
instruction. Um so we're ready to go and and it's been great to see the kids out in the fields. Um athletics started this past Monday and um they'll be gearing up for competition real soon. So looking forward to kicking off the school year.
Thank you for your report, Dr. O'Shea. Now we're moving on to additional reports. So we have LPBEC. Do we have any update? So um I'm attending my first meeting tomorrow evening. Oh, that's exciting. And then my first is I think in November.
Oh, okay. Good to know. All right. Next is Seal and I have an update from the SEAL. So, just um for those of you who are tuning in and don't know, SEAL is the Special Education Alliance of Long
Meadow and I'm the represent school committee representative. So, um they asked for me to read a brief statement about one of the issues on our agenda and coming up at the town meeting on September 9th, the vote for the new middle school project, which has also
been brought up. So, this is from Seal. I'm reading their um update. The Special Education Alliance of Long Meadow SEAL supports the new middle school project. The updated facilities and thoughtful design will provide an inclusive and
supportive environment for all students, particularly those with emotional, behavioral, and other disabilities. Features such as improved lighting, modernized classrooms, and an overall layout created with accessibility in mind will better meet the needs of our
special education students and ensure that they can learn in an environment that is designed for their success. Seal commends the town's commitment to building a middle school that reflects the needs of all learners and believes this project will positively impact
students and families for many years to come. We also invite families to join us at our upcoming bowling day on Sunday, September 28th from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. at Shaker Bowl in East Long Meadow. This event will be a great opportunity
for families to connect and build community together. Next, we have energy and sustainability. Thank you. Um, the energy and sustainability committee met on July 24th and again on August 14th. I was in attendance for the July meeting but was
unable to attend in August. I will share updates from the August minutes at a later date. In the July meeting, we covered a variety of topics related to the town as well as our schools. For the purpose of this report, I'll highlight a few things that were applicable to the schools. The committee is interested in having a member of energy and
sustainability appointed to the new advisory role on the middle school building committee and recommended Greg Link. The committee has reached out to Arman Ray and superintendent O'Shea to get an update on the build to understand if Greg concerns some capacity and to also understand how the energy and sustainability committee can help with the overall middle school building
project. They also have questions around the installation of solar panels and artificial turf versus natural grass. These topics will be discussed in a future meeting. The committee wants to raise awareness on car idling and met with superintendent Shea. They aligned on a messaging approach emphasizing
health benefits when idling is reduced. Superintendent O'Shea will send out emails to families about idling. And the committee has been working on an infographic to share. Another committee member is going to reach out to Purple Air, an air quality sensor company, to see if they will donate sensors or if there are grants available. These
sensors can be installed around schools to measure air quality where idling is likely to happen, such as the car lines. And our next meeting is September 11th. Thank you, Emily. Do we have any additional reports?
Yeah, if I could just uh briefly, I just I'm happy to announce that the Long Meadow Public Schools will be offering a breakfast program starting this year. It will be free to all students. Um it might take us a little time to kind of get our feet under us in terms of our
operation. Our plan would be to offer grabandgo prepackaged meals so we get a sense of how many students will be participating. But um it will be offered in the middle and high school in the cafeterias at the elementary schools.
It'll be offered um in the main entrance on a cart as students enter the building. And we're going to be working with elementary principles at possibly adding a second location in the school if the numbers warrant it. But it's new this year and so we're we're glad to offer this as um something to our
students to support them in their learning. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. Next on our agenda is student representative report. And um I'll take a minute to say that our new student representative, Miss Danica Sheay, will
begin at our next meeting on Monday, September 8th in the fall when school starts. So we look forward to wel welcoming her. Next is our subcommittee reports and we have no reports from finance, policy or curriculum. So we will move on to new
business and our first matter of new business is the district's response to criminal m the criminal matter. Um so you want to go ahead? Certainly. Um so um as as has been noted um a really
troubling, disturbing, angering, frankly disgusting situation. Um and it has been our intention to address this openly and firmly. We have had two uh public information sessions, one last
Thursday, one last evening. Uh considerable amount of communication has gone out to families about this situation. Uh and we'll we'll continue with that effort. Um, I just want to note that, you know,
and we've said this in the in the public information sessions that I'm aware of, just to be real clear, I'm aware of no complaints that are related to the behavior that this individual was arrested for. Um, I'm aware that of a of
a situation involving a a personal dating profile. It's a matter that we investigated. It's a matter that we took action on. we took appropriate remedial action on and sort of whatever story might be gaining traction around that is
simply not true. Uh and you know we have no reason to believe that that situation is any way related to the behavior that this individual was arrested for. Um, I'm really appreciative that our administrators
have been involved in addressing this with such openness and with such care and with such firmness and uh they've joined us here tonight and it's at a very very busy time for our administrative team. They're they're working hard on finalizing schedules in
their schools and welcoming teachers for the new school year and communicating with families. So for them to be here tonight, I I hope it's a sign of our seriousness and and how um how grave this situation is and um they have been
great partners. I appreciate the support that they've provided. Our intention has been to uh get resources and information to families. And so that has begun. Uh we will be communicating with middle
school families and high school families especially about uh how we intend to open school and how we intend to remind kids that schools are safe places. We intend to remind them of who the trusted adults are in schools that they can
reach out to administrators, counselors, school adjustment counselors, nurses, teachers. Um, it's really important that kids ha kids have that sense of safety, that sense of security, and that's something that we will continue to uh
remind them of and because that is clearly tied to their sense of safety is is tied to their learning for sure. Um, and so having said all that, I would reiterate what we've said publicly many times and what we've communicated to our
to this community is that it's our intention to um look backward at everything that's happened uh by using an independent firm to take a look at the record to ask important questions uh just to make sure that there's nothing
that that we missed along the way and we're prepared to act on the findings of that of of the firm that is engaged. It'll be an independent uh third party firm not connected to Long Meta Public Schools who will look at this situation. Um and we'll act on whatever the
findings are uh and we'll act and grow and learn as an organization based on based on that report as well. Um I appreciate the um leadership of the school committee, the sound advice and counsel that I've received from the school committee on this matter. We've
been in uh regular and direct communication uh and um you know the school committee more than any other body understands the significance of this of this issue and and I know that when the time is right we will also take
a look at our policies and practices and protocols um matters that are within the purview of the school committee to make sure that we are uh you know continuing our efforts to create safe learning environments for kids. So um our work
continues on this. We are um at the still at the early stages. We will continue to work openly with law enforcement. Um I think that has been the intention of the school committee is that we would work uh with with great
cooperation with law enforcement agencies. They stood shouldertoshoulder with us at the two uh public information sessions. And again, I think it a kind of a reflection of the the combined resolve that we have to address this uh
in ways that are good for kids ultimately. So, um welcome community conversations. I welcome phone calls. I welcome questions. I welcome concerns. Uh we have provided the community with
uh contact information should they have information about this case. Um that is that's a contact information directly from the FBI. It's posted on our on our landing page on our homepage, our website. Um and so we'll we'll continue
to work with law enforcement in the days ahead. So um again, so appreciative of the way this community has come together. This is a strong, resilient community. It's a community that is that prioritizes the safety of students and
kids. Uh and so I'm I'm it has been um in many ways this has been a very sad situation, but to see the response of this community and to see how they have once again rallied to support children
and stood for the safety of children has been has been nice to see. So, we're happy to answer any questions the committee might have and I know this will continue to be a topic of conversations at the full committee and with subcommittees in in the days and months ahead.
Thank you, Dr. Shay. Um I do question. Yeah, go ahead. Sy, have we um started to identify any independent review um companies? Yeah. and and is the school committee going to engage or is the is the school
department going to engage a third party? It's uh so it will be a third party review. Um we have uh with the chair we've spoken to our attorney on on that. It's something that um it's a service that I can engage directly but we've
gotten some recommendations from the legal council that represents the school committee on on some firms that we can reach out to. So the school committee is engaging the the school committee I think in terms of shaping the scope of that investigation that's something I would definitely be in touch with Michaela on
but the recommendations for the firms that uh we might choose from those recommendations have come from the legal council representing the school committee. Okay. And what is our time frame? I mean in terms of engagement. Yeah. As soon as possible. I I' I'd like
this to be thorough. Uh but I'd like to engage the services of a firm very very quickly. Um but it's a there's a three firms uh the names of three firms that we've received that we'll want to sort of vet and interview and talk to. Are we as a committee going to that or you end up
it it was uh as we discussed it with uh the the legal council. It was um a service that I could engage directly. Okay. Yeah. But the report would be you know fully available to the full community and obviously the committee.
Okay. And this was um recommended to me also from our legal counsel that this was the way the best and quickest way to um conduct a third party investigation. Okay. Thank you. Any other questions or comments?
I just wanted to point out one thing that um Dr. O'Shea said. I feel like you can't really see it here if you're from home or if you're watching live, but almost every administrator and um central office employee is here present
tonight in the room and some are on I can see on the on the Zoom. So, I I feel like that just says a lot about how um seriously and dedicated our our staff is to making improvements
and showing up. And that's what it is. you show up and you listen and you you move forward for the kids. So, with that being said, um we also I did have spent most of my days on the phone with my new best friend,
the legal counsel for the school committee. And um Nicole, the vice chair, and I spoke with her at length and collaborated with her to draft a joint statement for the school
committee. It is in your folders and it was shared with you all. I am going to read the draft statement and then we can discuss as a committee school committee public statement.
We are superintendent's response to the recent employee issue. We certainly support our dedicated and hardworking educators and staff. We are absolutely committed to putting safe student safety first and
this committee stands ready to respond to any policy review or changes that arise during the course of the third party investigation. So that's the draft that we worked with the legal council on. Is there any
questions about it or comments? I think it was well written. Thank you. Anyone? Okay. Then I would also recommend a motion. I move that the school committee adopt
the school committee public statement as um submitted in folders and release for public statement. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Big second. All right. Now we'll vote. Adam, yay. Jamie, yes.
Nibble, yes. Zack, yes. Emily, yes. Kate, yes. And a yes for me, too. So, now we're going to move on to our next piece of new business, and that is the middle school building project. So, I um I
asked Marty to share the information about the project cost data before we discuss and have a pos possible motion about the town warrant article. So, he's gonna start this piece of new business.
And I I know they're too polite to get up and leave. So, we can invite our administrators to they have uh lots going on to get ready for the start of school. So, thank you all for joining us tonight. Uh you're welcome to stay, too. But all right.
for the benefit of Mr. Hench who always counts the number of slides that I have on my PowerPoint. This is a a one slide a one slide presentation. Awesome. And so this is uh this is clipped from the um from the schematic
design submission uh that went to the MSBA. And um it shows the total project costs associated with uh three of the options that uh were explored by the middle
school building committee. Option one a base repair to Glen Brook. option 1B of base repair to Williams and then uh the the chosen option building new at the Williams site and this is information that's been publicly available for for
some time and of course we've talked about the educational advantages we've talked about um the traffic mitigation strategies and and trying to address any concerns of of the neighbors. But I thought as we as we approach the
September 9th uh town meeting and in order to ensure that this committee, you know, is in a position to make an informed decision on the whether or not to support the warrant article, I thought it be good idea to share the the
total project costs associated with these three options. And I would I would note that the total cost of the the two base repairs would exceed the total cost of building new at the Williams site. So, you know, at a at a very basic
level, that that's a real simple way of thinking about the the the fiscal advantages of this proposal. And I would note that with regard to the Glen Brook base repair and the Williams base repair,
as the committee knows, as the community knows, it was only Glenbrook that was selected by the MSBA. We we really have a Glenbrook project that we um used to explore the advantages of consolidation.
And so right now, if if the proposed solution uh were to fail, we would get back in line with the MSBA. And getting back in line um I don't have a crystal ball, but it takes years to
uh get the attention of the MSBA. And so were we to if this solution were not advanced and we had to get back in line and and we wanted to do the base repairs to the two buildings, you have you're waiting a number of years just to get
a Glenra project and then you're waiting another significant number of years to get in line on a Williams project. And at the end of the day, the base repairs don't offer the educational advantages that we've identified for months and
months and months. And so, you'd be left with uh buildings that were repaired and up to code, but would not transform education the way we would want a project to. And so it's a it's a less
it's less costly to build new at the Williams site and it certainly doesn't have the the base repair projects would not have the advantages that building new at the Williams site has. The other thing I would note is that we don't know
what the MSBA's participation in a base repair project would be. Um, we do know that we wouldn't achieve the same um, MSBA reimbursement points as we are on a
new project because it wouldn't have the the energy efficiency advantages that that a new bill would have. So, I think I just wanted to highlight this. I feel like, you know, maybe this has not been a a prominent enough part of the
conversation because this community is really excited about all the educational advantages that the project has for kids. So, I just wanted to underscore this as as the committee prepares to talk about um the warrant article that is in front of residents on September
9th. So happy to answer any any questions that anyone might have on this or any other aspects of the project. Does anyone Emily h have have when we've had discussions with the public have we approached it from this breakdown that you know we
would have to we can only do Glen Brookke. We'd have to wait years to do Williams. It would cost more just looking at the numbers. It costs more just to renovate the two. We won't get reimbursed the same amount. Have we had that in the presentations? it has been
part of the presentation I'd say. So um and and sort of and I think that message is resonating with folks. Um you know we have made this information available to families. Um we have a a series of short videos that sort of uh present
information on the fiscal advantages, the educational advantages and and then some of the uh um the facility related issues. So we we have um as you know hard to get folks attention in 2025 but um I think we have pushed this information out. This this these
figures go back several months now. So and it has been part of uh I know it's part of a presentation we made to the uh select board back in May I think it was and to the school committee. I'll also point out that construction costs are increasing. So these numbers are definitely going to increase if we
delay um if we choose to renovate one versus the other. Right. No. Yeah. Construction costs aren't known to they all come down decline. Woods not getting cheaper. Nicole. Okay. Yeah. I just wanted to to echo a little
bit and and expand on what Dr. O'Shea had said. Um which is that I think there is occasionally an understanding that we might be given a a three choices kind of scenario at the upcoming town
meeting. and and we're past that. Um there's not a question of if we are looking to pivot and do a renovation at Glenbrook. Um the MSBA pipeline projects
um are are very clear and delineated process. And where we are in the MSBA pipeline is that right now we have approval for us to continue moving forward with option 8A, which is that combined Williams Glenn Middle School project. If we choose not to do that, we
go back to the starting line again in the process of bidding and trying to get started again and or we bear the costs fully as a community. Um there is not there is not an option at the moment to decide to do a different version of this project. It would mean restarting the
project. Um so there has been a lot of information out there and there's more um that continues to be added um as we move forward in the project. the FAQ page has grown exponentially even just over the last few months of summer. Um, and I know that there are a lot of people on that middle school building
committee and on the school committee and um the select board who have had lots of and continue to have lots of availability um for anyone who has questions. Um, if there's anyone who needs extra information, if you're having a hard time finding something on the website, if there's something you'd like to see more charts on or more data
on, there is a lot available as the years of this project have gone by. So, please don't hesitate to reach out to people if there's anything you're wondering about. Thank you, Nicole. Nicole is uh represent represents us on the middle school building committee
along with Kate. Along with Kate, sorry. Yes. Thank you, Jamie. Yeah. And I'm just trying to remember back on all the different meetings we had, but and if you can just remind me, Marty, but my number my number one thing was voting for the, you know, one school was fiscally because it's it's a significant
amount of money. But my second second thing during that meeting, why I voted for that back in that point when we had these discussions, I don't even know how many times. This feels like a budget discussion where we have the same conversation over and over again. One school creates no disruption for the
next three years of the children for that are in the middle both middle schools which was my number two of like okay so you can build a school and not disrupt the sixth seventh and eighth graders for the next three years at both of these schools keep them in there and
then one year we consolidate them was the other like sales that's correct right absolutely because we're not but if we do one school at a time we're completely disrupting Glenbrook Then we're going into this process again. Then we're going to do Williams and completely disrupt Williams. Those childrens will
not be in their classrooms. They will be in some trailer outside where we're making a bit a mess of the campus. Correct. No. Okay. That's why. So that was my two is like, okay, it's way way cheaper, way disruptive, and it's a better educational opportunity with less cost,
creating more opportunities for kids is kind of like the the third thing. Correct. Okay. Yeah. So that's what I thought just remembering back as to what it was. I mean, so I just look at as that disruption for three years worth of kids who are going to be in these schools
that will never even be in this new school disrupting their education for the future education of I mean I don't think that's fair either. So one shot at middle school. I mean those kids uh you know I I don't think that's fair to those kids going into middle school. So
tough years too. Yes. I mean, so any other questions? I I do I have a question as somebody who every year we go and we tour the schools at the beginning of the year and the the administrators tell us about the
buildings and so knowing even these buildings like Blueberry and Center have very expensive things that need to be replaced when you do replacements and knowing that again like you said this is our one shot with the MSBA right now and we've come this far when is there a
consequence what would be the impact If we voted, if the vote didn't go through and we had to get back in line, what kind of impact would our What would the reputation of our school district be to ever even get back
in line if they came this far with us and then we didn't? Do you know that information? Is that I think there there's a couple answers. one from from the MSBA perspective, um you you'd get back in line and you'd have to resubmit a statement of interest on on one or both of the schools and
ultimately they're only going to select one project, right? Uh and so I think we would be hardressed to convince the MSBA to re-engage. Uh we'd have to make a pretty strong case if if if this vote failed in September.
Um and so I think we would be and and and clearly the repair I think one thing that everybody agrees on opponents proponents is that the scale of these repairs really goes way beyond what the town could reasonably be expected to
carry on its own. You're really not going to fix this without the involvement of the MSBA. So that's one answer. The other answer is I'd say when communities step forward and they support building projects, I think it
has the effect of, you know, of rising the tide of of of of all boats that that it it has a a really positive effect on the community's appreciation for education, has a positive effect on
teaching and learning. Um, our educators do a great job in some buildings that have that are at the end of their useful life, but I know they could do even more wonderful things in in new fac in a new facility.
So I think with the I think the you know if this vote were to fail getting back in line with the MSBA you know to Emily's point waiting five years or so to address the needs of maybe one of the buildings and is that usually the average weight
in line usually about five years. So we would have to Yeah. And that might even be generous that might even be that might even understate how long you'd wait given how long we waited for this project. um and then you're waiting another certain number of years to address the
second building. And meanwhile, and one thing I do know about um you know, this community values kids having a similar experience as they make their way through our schools. And to have one school that was fully repaired and another school that was waiting in line,
it would create some disparities that would be really difficult, I'd say, for us. And in 10 years, who knows what the condition of that school would be at that point, right? And meanwhile, you're spending a lot of money to keep that building online, you know, whatever both buildings you're spending money to I mean, the roofs are
at the end of their of their life, you know, at Glen Brook 1994. So that alone, you know, that's a project that you can't wait on, you know, ultimately. And no, and I just worry like kind of to Jaime's point, one, this is less
disruptive, and two, like I worry if we don't take an opportunity to receive state funding now, we're going to fall continually behind with our other buildings too that are like are going to need replacements. And so we can't go backwards. We have to
move forward for what's best for all the kids and less disruptive and a better learning opportunity. I myself got to attend a brand new high school and I you know I I felt like it was an awesome experience and I it was a built middle
school and high school and they built it in the same spot and I remember it being a really big deal. It's a small it was a small town Hamilton Wenham and people were worried about the traffic and it was just such a hub and it it it truly
um is my foundation in education and it was every teacher was passionate. Um everybody was there. It was just a really wonderful place to be. Having had a ceiling tile that was soaked with rain water from a leaking roof fall on my head during art class, I
can attest. Um it no it was it was terrible. We had to have our air quality tested because our it was just it was bad. Yeah. I don't want that for my kids. No. Yeah. So we got to move forward. Right. Yeah. We will all remember of my high school that the Spanish word for snow is n from
when it was snowing in our Spanish class from the roof coming inside the classroom. Inside the classroom. Wow. These are some special stories. Yeah. And I I'd say that, you know, one of the things that I'd want to convey is that I I to to the point that was made by during the public speak portion of
the meeting is that it really isn't just because of the age of a building. I mean, town meadow invests in its school buildings. Right now, we're in the, you know, taking a look at a roof project at Center School, um a U chiller
replacement at Wolf Swamp, a window project at Center School. So, this town is committed to the ongoing maintenance of its buildings, but we're talking about buildings here that it the challenges go way beyond what um even a
the best maintenance effort, you know, the community could possibly make. Um it simply has to be in participation with the MSBA, I would say. Are there any other committee members that would like to make a comment or
have a question? Otherwise, we do have a recommended motion on our agenda about the town warrant article. I move that the school committee formally support a yes vote on the warrant article on the September 9th,
2025 town meeting warrant article pertaining to the middle school project. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. We have a second. So, we'll vote now. Adam, yay. Jamie, yes. Nicole, yes. Zack, yes. Emily,
yes. Kate, yes. And it's a yes for me, too. Yes. Okay. So, moving to our next agenda item, we have building use requests. So, there's a consent agenda that
consists of three building use requests. I'm happy to address them. Um, there are three requests as Michaela mentioned as part of your consent agenda. One is from the Blueberry Hill PTO for uh a school trunk or treat event on Friday, October
24th in the Blueberry Hill parking lot with a rain date of Saturday, October 25th. The second request is from the Long Meadow Football Booster Club for use of the concession stand to sell concessions during the uh Long Meadow
Youth Football Games on Saturdays of August 30th, September 6th, and 27th, and October 11th. And then the third request that is part of the consent agenda is a request from the parks and recck department for use of the Glen
Brook gym for a co-ed basketballs skills and drills um activity for grades 3 through 8. This would be Tuesday evening from starting on Saturday the 16th through November 4th from 6:30 to 8:30
p.m. Okay. Um so just a reminder that in a consent agenda we're voting on all of them all together. So if you have something to say about one and you don't want it to be in the consent agenda, say something now.
No, I think we're good to move on to a motion for the cons. Yep. Yeah, just one point. Um, these were not reviewed by finance sub. So, the motion should not uh reference. They were recommended. We have not met yet to review any building use. Thank you. Thank you.
I move that the school committee approve the consent agenda for the August 19th, 2025 school committee meeting as presented. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. Adam. Yay. Jamie, yes. Nicole, yes.
Zach, yes. Emily, yes. Kate, yes. And a yes for me, too. So, next up on our agenda is a request for sponsorship recognition banners. And earlier tonight during public speak,
that's what William Welch was um speaking about with the um the football. I can quickly address it. I know Dr. or she might want to add something. So, uh, Mr. Welch is here representing the Long Meadow uh, football booster club. They
are requesting permission to hang banners during youth and JV football games on the stadium field. Uh, there are various dates starting on August 30th running through the end of October. Um,
I think based on conversations with Dr. Do I'm not really sure this falls under the policy of building use. Um, but we felt that it's kind of outside of what we've normally seen in terms of request and so there might be some other
policies that kind of uh might touch upon this type of request. So I think Dr. O'Shea had some additional information to share with the committee. Yeah. Um, in in his message to you, I think u Mr. indulgence that that the
request didn't really implicate any LPS policies and I think I'd agree with that. I think it's it's probably something that can be approved under your existing policies relating to um gifts to schools or advertising. Um it's
a it's a promotional recognition. Um, so a way to recognize um some local businesses that have supported the Long Meadow uh football and so um it's something that Mr. Welch
has indicated that it's sort of a short term in duration. This wouldn't be a permanent fixture just be during the season. Um, so I I almost liken it to the advertising that you might see in a yearbook or in a um uh flyer for a
musical performance or a play. So it it's a way just to um thank the entities that support uh Long Meadow Youth Football. So, um certainly if you want to approve it or consider it as a building use request, um that's
certainly something you can do or um your existing policies would I would say would allow me to approve it um one way or another. So, and it has my I would recommend its approval. is something that I would support
given the sort of the parameters that are around uh hanging this promotional banner. So this would be all local businesses local um and we do have some language in your in your policy manual around um
the you know the tastefulness of it and the you know what what's what can be advertised and what can't be advertised. So there's some boundaries that we would have to adhere to. So sometimes in um like music, you know, uh
and and yearbook flyers um individuals also can take out. Would we allow that or not? I would I wouldn't see that. Um I I wouldn't I don't see that as something that hasn't come up. Um it's not in our policy right now
to allow for individual recognition of donations, that kind of thing. Yeah. Yeah. that's currently not in our in that policy that we talked about how it had to be like appropriate for a school that's in the policy thinking and and I think you know it would be my
intention to make sure that the fencing didn't become filled with the banners that we would want to do this in a tasteful understated way that kind of matches community norms. Have we looked at the town ordinance on sizing of advertising and how that would
be applicable to you because I know that like for example for like any political science or anything like that they're they're very strict. I didn't realize they were so strict but you know have we would we be subject to those uh guidelines? I can double check on that but I'm I'm
thinking with this being the stadium field and I'm looking to Mr. Maza that the the those ordinances uh I'm thinking would apply to Wolf Swamp, Russell Field, but with it being the stadium field, it would be more the perview of the school committee. Is that a fair?
Yeah. we might want to at least consider what the parameters are for the advertising that I think the town approved for those other fields to see if we can kind of get something that fits within the scope that's allowable at those those uh playgrounds or
just because it says I mean tasteful but it's kind of open-ended and I know that the town it's very strict and I don't want to us to carry any burden from that. And is there um in our current policy because I feel like we talked about this policy a lot last year. Is is there a
current size that's I don't I don't believe so and I think that's what we would probably need to set in terms of the approval of this that it meets certain requirements that are set maybe within either town guidelines or bylaws. Okay. But we could kind of put that in the
motion to say adherent to the town bylaws. you know that that could be a conditional approval. So it it Piccellfield is Springfield. So that all that signage that's there is it would have fall under different jurisdictions, right?
I mean they have completely different I'm just kidding. Pardon me. Yeah. Completely what? I'm just making jokes. Yeah. Tom, do you view this as a building use request? Because I I read it and I it's a building use request. In my vantage point, it really shouldn't fall under policies. If the building isn't used properly, we have the ability
to stop the use of it. You know, if it isn't if it isn't kind of meeting what we want. I think we always have the right to withdraw an approved building use permit if it's not adhering to the requirements or the policy that I mean I do agree Jamie. I don't think it's under building
use, but I understand why Mr. Welch submitted this way. There's not really a mechanism, I think, to go about um asking approval for this. So, I think he used this as a way to kind of bring it forward and try to gain support. Got it. Yeah. I I personally look at as
a building use. I I don't necessarily have an issue for what it's for, the purpose of it to benefit the students of LHS. It's kind of the only mechanism to get them to where they want to go right now. I think that over time we need to
continue to kind of review this as a as a you know committee and future committees to you know as I've said before pulling some of these costs in to help manage this better versus having you know boosters handle all this but this is kind of the only way for them to get this done right now for the benefit
of the student athlete. So I'm all for benefiting student athlete. I look at this as a building use request too and just go, you know, and if it doesn't fit what our policies are, you know, then we have the ability to kind of go, hey, this doesn't work anymore. And just like if someone came here and made a mess of
our facilities, guess what? You're not using it anymore. You know, I think that'll kind of keep them in line with what we want. So, so I don't personally have an issue with it and view it that way. Thank you, Jamie. And I mean, I agree. And I think what um William Welch said
earlier too, like it it's worth giving it a try if we have to come back and say this wasn't working. But this is something that I know has been a challenge for student athletes since I've started on the school committee. So I think trying
to improve this challenge for the student athletes is worth trying something new and giving them what they need to succeed. Yep. Good. Anyone else? Do we have a motion? I move that the school committee approve the displaying of said sponsorship
recognition banners along the perimeter of the Long Meadow High School football field as outlined within the building request and in adherence with town bylaws. As outlined in the building request dated August 7th, 2025 for William Welch, president of Long Meadow Football
and in adherence with town bylaws. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. Oh, two seconds. Um, Adam, yay. Jamie, yes. Nicole, yes. Zach, yes. Emily, yes. Kate, yes.
And a yes for me, too. I think that leaves us with one final motion. All right. I move that the school committee meet in executive session pursuant to Mass General Law, Chapter 30A, Section 21A, Purpose 3. Pardon me, I I apologize for the
interruption. Did we vote on the consent agenda then for the other motion? Oh, did we? Yeah, we I don't think we did for which one the consent agenda on the other three. I'm catching myself.
I apologize for interrupting. I just wanted to clarify point of order. No, I think all of us were going apologize. Maybe I forgot, but I feel like this one wouldn't go. So, it's been a long day.
Good. Okay. I just had small. I'm okay. Sorry for your such great momentum, too. I move that the school committee meet in executive session pursuant to Mass General Law, Chapter 30A, Section 21A, Purpose 3, litigation, purpose seven,
approval of minutes, and not to reconvene into open session. We have a motion. Do we have a second? Second. Great. Um, Adam, yes. Jamie, yes. Nicole, yes. Zach, yes. Emily, yes. Kate, yes. And a yes for me, too.
Thank you. Good evening, everybody. Have a great night. Good start to the school year. Just had a senior moment. challenge.