Welcome to the Tuesday, January 27th, 2026 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 a remote
participation must be made by roll call vote. This meeting is being recorded and will be aired on LCTV. School committee members, when I call your name, please say here for the record. Nicole >> here. >> Kate
>> here. >> Emily >> here. >> Jamie >> here. [snorts] >> And I'm here also. And is that everybody? because we're missing Zach and
um Adam. >> Yeah. Yeah, we're good to go. >> Okay. So, now we'll do the pledge of allegiance. Or do we skip this part? Nope. You guys are there. It's fine. All right. 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 all. >> All right, next up is correspondence. >> We have two uh emails to record for this week. The first um an email from Jay
Eloo uh dated December 16th, 2025. And the next an email from Link dated January 5th, 2026. >> Thank you, Nicole. Um, next is approval of minutes and we have no minutes presented for approval tonight. So, next
up is public speak. Um, is there anyone here tonight for public speak? Okay. And our business with guests for this evening has been unfortunately postponed. Um so we will hopefully and same with our student representative
report. So uh because there's no school today. So now um I'll go into my school committee chair report. So, uh I we this weekend the Long Meadow Aquatic Club um which has a majority of
Long Meadow Public Schools uh swimmers are kindergarten well first grade through um the high school and they had the championships this weekend and I wanted to give a shout out to all the swimmers
because they came overcame a lot of challenges over the season having to be out of the pool and then in the pool and we had to change schedules a lot and change things around and no one ever complained. Um, a special congratulations to the girls 11 and 12
medley relay team. They placed first overall in in the entire championships. Um, and they're a team of really hardworking girls. So, shout out to Olivia Bushy, Maggie Downey, Aubrey Cullinin,
and Taylor Kenny. They they're awesome kids. They worked really hard and they came in first. So, I just wanted to share that. Um, and I know a lot of the other winter sports are off to a great start. Uh, and then one other thing I
wanted to share was a community event coming up at the high school. There's a screening of the documentary Plastic People, which focuses on the impact of microlastics on human health and the environment. We appreciate the efforts of the staff and the students and in
bringing important learning opportunities like this to the community. Um, it's so important and it's being presented by the energy and sustainability. Um, so I wanted to give that a shout out. We're hoping to maybe have them come uh talk a little bit more about it
and help us keep spreading awareness um both in academic growth and civic awareness. So that's what I have for tonight. Is there any other announcements or recognitions? Nicole, >> um I know this isn't just about the
schools, although I'm sure excellent there as well. I just wanted to give a big shout out to our DPW here in town. Um they've been working around the clock over the last several days and have been just really impressive. Um not only clearing all the streets, but um came up
and down the street asking if they could clear the bottoms of a driveway when they had just deposited snow on it. So just above and beyond. And thank you to them for all the work they've put in over the last few days and appreciate knowing everything is ready for kids to head back to school safely tomorrow.
>> Thanks, Nicole. Anybody else? Okay, next up is the superintendent report. >> Yeah, thank you, Nicole. I'd echo uh your compliments to DPW crews, custodial crews who work so hard to uh remove and
clear the snow. Uh 30 straight hours for some of the DPW folks. So they really uh got after it and um you know just uh appreciate the flexibility of families and um recognized that you know not having school was sometimes can be a
disruption but we wanted to make sure our campuses were were clear and roadways and walkways were all ready for students. So we're we're ready to reopen for business tomorrow. But again, thanks to DBW for their hard work. They'll be monitoring the buildings um closely over
the next week or so as we deal with some frigid temperatures um uh enhanced monitoring, enhanced uh and higher set points for temperatures so that uh we're trying to make the classrooms as comfortable as possible and offices as close as comfortable as possible. Um
couple of couple of things I' I'd love to highlight. Uh Screen Aers, we had a a viewing of the film uh Screen Aers. We had a great crowd in the auditorium last week uh and there was a great panel discussion to talk about you know sort of how families can navigate the challenges of uh the online life that
that kids lead nowadays. So thanks to Nilda Irizari for coordinating that and the close community for close co-sponsoring. Um Nilda has also been uh involved with uh reactivating the wellness committee. They're taking a look at our wellness
policy, looking at new nutrition standards, and uh if there are any recommendations for that policy, we'll bring them forward to the school committee. Not anticipating any changes, but we'll keep you posted. Uh on the curriculum side of things, we had a a
great early release day, a half day last week, uh where our K8 educators were um really immersed in uh universal for design um instruction and uh it was it was a great collaborative day. Teachers
had an opportunity to trade strategies. Uh our partners from Bay Path uh University organized that day for us. It was on the same day that the high school had their um their midterms for the year. So, that was a great day. The Grin
Spoon um excellence in teaching award program is underway. We received many nominations to recognize all the excellent teachers here in Long Meadow. We have a breakfast on I wish I had the date in front of me, but school committee is invited to the breakfast
where we recognize nominees and nominators. I think I shared that date with you uh at an earlier point, but we'd love to have you if your schedules allow. Uh it's a great way to kick off a day. It's a great way to celebrate all the excellence that we see every day in
Long Meadow Public Schools. So that's all I have. Thank you. >> Thank you, Dr. O'Shea. So next we have our other reports and we don't have any updates from LPBEC.
So I will just give a quick seal update. Um our last meeting, we had a presentation about the yellow dot program um which I spoke about before. It was put on by the fire and EMS chief John Ringley and Janice Greenberg. And
um it's just a way for first responders to access medical information and behavioral information um right away. So, it was really informative and if you're interested in looking into it more, um, you can check out the
information at the SEAL website. Our next meeting is going to be February 11th and it is a workshop titled creating the post-secondary vision and it's put on by the federation of children with disabilities
and um it's to learn how to read and write a student's postsecary vision to help guide transition planning and prepare them for a successful future. Uh those presentations are always so informative. They're usually put on by
um really experienced advocates in the state that care a lot about kids and communities and school districts. So it's always really good information and it's on Zoom so you can just log in and listen. So that's it for SEAL. Um energy and
sustainability. >> Thanks Michaela. Um we met on January 8th. It was um kind of a brief meeting, covered a few things. Um we had a guest from Homeworks. They're one of the companies that provides home energy audits and weatherization and they gave us some stats around the number of
assessments that they've completed in the last um few years within Long Meadow. Um they've done about a thousand assessments, just that one company. Um nearly a third of those have resulted in weatherization. and they've estimated that they um about 12,000 metric tons of
CO2 has been saved from uh their weatherization efforts um and installing more energy efficient and environmentally friendly equipment in homes. They're going to be working on doing some more outreach this year to get the word out about assessments and weatherization. So, if you haven't already taken advantage, be on the
lookout. I did that last year and I'm super grateful for it. Um uh as Michaela mentioned, Energy and Sustainability is hosting a screening of plastics people. Um it's a documentary and they're hoping to line up a panel of experts to be able to kind of talk about some of the things in the film. Um they're also looking at
ways that they can provide babysitting so that um you know people are able to come more easil easily to the event. Um and uh looking at maybe having one of the members of the energy and sustainability committee come to an upcoming meeting of ours to again pitch
the um the documentary as a way to you know get more attendance at this event. Um and then uh I thought this was interesting uh because this is something that I've because I work in tech I've been very closely watching. One of our members is uh working on drafting legislation around data centers. There's
a data center that's being um uh proposed to be built. I think uh West Springfield or Westfield is somewhere close by. Um so he's reaching out to Senator Jay Givera to sponsor some legislation in the Senate. Um data centers use a lot of resources like water and electricity which is um
concerning not only because of the amount consumed but because a lot of costs can be passed on to neighboring towns and resources and the energy grid becomes strained. So this is something that might impact our town. Um so he's working on that legislation to kind of
help uh corral some of that. Um and our next meeting is February 12th. Thank you, Emily. Um, you know what I was also just thinking would be another great way to like bring together um Long
Public School students and this documentary, even though I haven't seen it. I don't know like what it's rated, but uh the green clubs in town like Dean's on the Blueberry in the Blueberry Hill Green Club and um I was thinking, oh, if it's >> if I could I would go with him to go see
it. I don't remember what the rating is. I believe that um there is a full version of it on YouTube that you can watch. Um I don't think like I think it might be like young kids
like my kid six. I'm not sure if he would quite follow what is happening, but I don't think like you know I think you know young kids probably could watch it as well. I can take a look and see what like the rating is or the recommended age u for viewing is and let you know. >> Yeah. Thank you, Leah.
>> Emily, if there's a a flyer that Energy and Sustainability has put together, um given that it's a a town sponsored event, uh we'd be happy to post that for you. >> I will bring that up. Thank you.
>> All right. Next up, thank you, Emily. We have our subcommittee reports and we do not have any reports for curriculum evaluation or policy, but we do have some items on the agenda for the finance
subcommittee. >> Jamie, do you want me to take this? >> All you. Thank you so much. >> Um, good evening. The finance sub met earlier this evening. Now there are a couple of items on your agenda. The
first is related to the uh FY26 budget. There are two budget reports in your packet. The first is the year-to- date budget report um highlighting activity in FY26 uh to date. I also project out in the
two grade columns anticipated expenses that will incur from now until June 30th with an estimated ending available balance. Uh I usually project
conservatively high with my estimates just to to be on the safe side. Uh the report shows a ending estimated balance of $28,000. And again, I I think that number is
probably understated based on my projection, but I'd rather underp projected an ending balance than not have enough. Um so again it's it's my best guess and I would say things are
tracking where we would expect them to be. The I would say the biggest contributor to that ending balance are positions that either have had changes and or have been vacant this year. Um I
would say specifically uh we discussed in finance sub the ranks of paraprofessionals being able to get to a full staffing level has been a challenge uh not only this year but in prior years
as we uh onboard new employees we we tend to lose one or two at the same time. So there's a constant revolving door um in that position. Um and again during the finance club we also talked
about the number of positions that have been impacted or have seen some activity related to the individual in the position since the 26 budget was adopted back in March of 25. uh that number was
um higher than usual and I think that too is contributing to funds being available estimated to be available at the end of the year based on that report. The second uh document report is a revolving account report. This
uh report shows activity related to revolving accounts that the school department has. And again, I would say that we are tracking where we would expect to be. No major surprises. Um, a
few of our accounts I I think are trending in the right direction. Our circuit breaker and our school lunch account both um are doing well with some balances. And again, we monitor athletics throughout the year um based
on revenue and expenses coming in. We really won't know where that lands until uh the season and fiscal year wrap up. So, closer to June, but that too is reflected here. This report will show you actuals of revenue and expenditures
and anticipated uh expenses in our incumbrances and some projected estimated balances. Uh so those are two FY26 budget reports that are in your packet and uh we like to we like to
share those as um we are preparing for presenting to the school committee the FY27 budget to kind of give you a sense of where we stand in FY26. Happy to answer any questions you might have related to either of those budget
reports. Thanks, Tom. Does anyone have any questions or comments about those budget reports? >> All right, seeing none, I I'll move on to the 27 budget um update. I don't know if the superintendent if you want to
kick us off. >> Happy to. Yeah, happy to kick us off and Tom can provide some more of the granular details. Um but we are actively preparing for the February 3rd uh budget recommendation presentation uh for you. We're we're Tom is actively
identifying projections on the revenue and the expenditure side. On the revenue side, we did hear uh when the governor's budget was released last week that we can anticipate again I'd say a a less than modest increase in chapter 78. Uh
it looks that looks to be that we're we're scheduled to receive just the hold harmless amount which is about $75 per student. So that increase in chapter 70 aid main source of aid that we receive
for for public education from the state. That increase um will probably track below what our our expenditures are. So that creates kind of initial challenge. Um on the expenditure side of things, uh
Tom's working hard to identify um anticipated costs. We are expecting to see um out of the ordinary increases in utilities. Um and Tom also has uh
shared information with the finance subcommittee on what our anticipated salary costs are for FY27. So um our intention as always to recommend a budget that is reflective of our goals that that drives our
commitments um that maintains class size. Um we're still but at the same time we also want to make sure that the budget is one that is is manageable on the town side. So we're we're still pinning down the final details but we
will be ready to go for you on February 3rd. If there is anything that um you would like to see us incorporate into that budget presentation, please let us know. We're happy to gather uh information and package it up for that
presentation. So, um, anything else to to add on to that, Tom? >> Yeah, I would just mention that in your meeting packet, there are a number of documents, um, associated to the FY27 budget. Uh, finance sub also uh,
reviewed those documents in our meeting earlier this evening. They're there kind of asformational purpose for school committee. um they're related to the estimated salary
increases which is usually the largest driving increase we have each year. Uh now as the superintendent mentioned um we're also looking at utilities with um I think an increase that is
higher than expected with some information associated to our uh unit cost that we contract with for both natural gas and electricity. So again, just kind of as um setting the table for
what we'll be presenting next week to kind of give some details as to how we arrive at some of the increases we're incorporating in the budget. Um so I'm happy to answer questions that you might have related to those. Feel free to reach out to me, give me a call. Um we
can talk about any of the any of those documents, but Finance Club did review them tonight. And then Michaela, if you're gonna move on to the last item under finance sub, uh we had a there was a request that was
presented to finance subcommittee for consideration to purchase replacement Chromebooks. Um, as I explained to Finance Sub, we we have about 1,250 to,300 Chromebooks that are anywhere
between 4 and 1/2 to 6 and 1/2 years old. Um, this the request is to make a purchase now with using up to $200,000 out of the FY26 budget to
purchase devices to replace the ones that are the oldest at six and a half years. Um, the goal would be to hopefully have funds available to replace all of the
Chromebooks in that age range to uh have them replaced before next school year starts. But we'll have to see what funding is available um if this request is approved, how much we'll need for the remaining portion
um that we remain that still need to be replaced. Um, so finance sub did discuss it. They they did recommend that the school committee approve the request which would be for use of again $200,000
or up to $200,000 in FY26 funds for the purchase of Chromebooks. Um there was some conversation about um the comfort in using that much of the proposed possible
ending balance and um again I I believe that there is sufficient um funds that will come available that I don't expect it to put us in any type of jeopardy of
not having funds to meet our obligations through June 30th. But again, happy to answer any questions [clears throat] you might have. >> Does anyone have any questions this evening
>> or recommended motion? >> I move on the recommendation of the finance subcommittee that the school committee approve the request for the purchase of new Chromebooks not to exceed $200,000. [clears throat] >> We have a motion. Do we have a second? >> Second.
>> Second. >> Okay. Okay. And now we'll vote. Nicole, >> yes. >> Jamie, >> yes. >> Emily, [clears throat] >> yes. >> Kate, >> yes.
>> And a yes for me, too. Did I get everybody? Okay. It's been a long day. I'm ready to go back to school. >> Thank you. >> Okay. Um, so next we're going to go to new business and um, we're going to go
ahead and start with item B, Long Meadow High School program of studies, so that Mr. Landers can present and be on his way. >> Thank you, Michaela. >> And hi everybody. Good evening. Thanks so much for having me. Um, every year I come to the school committee this time
of year when we have proposals for our program of studies. Um the following proposals that I bring to you this evening come out of the um department chair council. We've been we meet at least once a month starting in August and we review our curriculum. We look
for areas of improvement. We can increase opportunity and fill in gaps and um we bring you five proposals for your consideration tonight. Um and in the documentation that you have, even though there are they're um presented as
five new courses, four of them are really revamped or restructured opportunities for students that we have reconsidered based on again uh increasing student opportunities and also making sure that we're giving enough credit to our students for work
and curriculum completed. Um so the the five suggestions are biology foundations which is currently a one it is a class that takes two years for students uh in that foundations class to
earn biology credit even though they earn 10 10 credits overall in science. They get the equivalent of one year of biology over two years. We'd like to change that. we um and give them one year one uh year of credit for biology in one year and that second year to make
anatomy and physiology. um both the current teacher, the double licensed teacher who is a special education teacher and a uh biology certified teacher. That's based on her feedback and what we've monitored that over the last two two and a half years
and also taking into consideration all the things that we've considered when we were doing our competency determination work. Um, and the third foundations class, again, geometry. Right now, students do 2 years of classroom time to
earn one year of geometry credit, and we'd like to change that to one year. Um, again, we took into consideration their competency determination, but we also, um, I want to give credit to Julie HooL, who is the double certified math and
special education teacher, and Natalie Degrru, the double certified special education and biology teacher, as well as the department chairpersons and um, for math, for science, for special education, and Nicole Paris Crow because we really took a look at these and we
were able to streamline these for the benefit of our students. So those are three of the um five suggestions. The fourth is an applied exercise science. That is a class that we um we're
combining two classes that we have on the books but we don't run based on the streamlining that we've done over the last few years in the wellness department. But we'd like to take the best of two existing courses, strength and conditioning and exercise science,
and tie that into one uh year of wellness. Uh 11th and or 12th graders could take it. It would count for their PE requirement with the state and it would combine experience in the weight room and also in the classroom. So
students would be studying uh physiology of the human body, working out um as well as um as well as actually working out. And the fifth suggestion proposal is a Latin one honors level. We have
Latin one, but we as I tried to explain in the document are students who take Latin one are the only language in the ninth grade at LHS who don't have that honors option. While we don't have a Spanish one honors or French one honors,
um we have Spanish two honors and French two honors. And since those u languages are taught at the middle school, students can come in and take an honors level world language if they wanted uh to do so. And Latin has not had that opportunity. So, we'd like to change
that. And as I wrote in the document, um it's probable that the way we run our world language programs, it's probable that that the Latin one students would be in the same classroom as students taking the college prep level, they would just be willing to do a little bit
more work for more credit. Um that could run as an individual class or it could run as many of our world language classes do uh combined um levels within the same section. So, those are the five asks um based on our review of the of
the program of studies. I'm happy to answer any questions about them and ask uh hopefully for your support. >> Thank you, Mr. Landers. I I personally have to say I'm super excited and supported for the first um change you
were talking about with biology and anatomy and physiology. Um because I actually that's when I was in high school, we had one year of biology and one year of anatomy and physiology. And almost all my friends from high school are in some kind of medical field and
they talk about their anatomy and physiology classes like that's where it started. >> Thank you. >> That's exciting. Anybody else? >> You may have said this and apologize. the the foundations classes are are
specifically designed for very small number of students and and participation in those classes is determined by an IEP team. Am I saying that correct? Tom, >> you are you are correct. So the foundations courses were incorporated into LHS probably eight or so years ago
and um it was based on the students uh IEP and on the significance of both of their disability and their their need for special ed services. So the this goes on to the CG grid on an AP and that in order to take one of the foundations
classes, Marty, you were right. The team needs to make that uh recommendation. >> It's but it's expanding the amount of foundation classes available, right? >> It it is it's expanding it and it's giving our students credit for we're
getting them credit in a year for a year's worth of seat time. Whereas when we first started these classes, we really didn't know, you know, how long the curriculum was going to take to to to implement with integrity. But after living it for x amount of years and
monitoring it and looking at what we can do for students again within the lens of the competency determination, we can definitely make these improvements and I think our students benefit from it. Um getting both biology, anatomy and physiology uh and geometry credits all
within one year. So, we're excited about it as well. We think it's the right move for students. >> I appreciate the um time that everybody took to kind of re-evaluate what what has has been working in the past and to sort of reassess and figure out what
might make the most sense for the students we have right now. And I appreciate that they put the time and energy into that. And it's good to see that the kids are going to be able to get more credit for what they've what they've been able to accomplish over those two years. So appreciate that work. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you. Does anybody else have any questions or comments? >> I would make a motion that we approve the changes to the LHS educational opportunities book as presented. >> We have a motion. Do we have a second?
>> Second. Thank you. Nicole, >> yes. >> Jamie, >> yes. >> Emily, >> yes. >> Kate, >> yes. >> And a yes for me, too.
>> All right. Thank you, Mr. Landers. >> Thank you so much. Greatly appreciate. See you guys soon. >> Yep. >> See you. So, next we're going to go to item A, the school calendar for the 2026 2027 school year.
For your consideration, uh a recommendation from the calendar committee and uh from me uh for an academic uh year calendar for the 26 27th school year. Uh you had sort of we had our first initial discussion of this
calendar at your last meeting. last meeting we sort of had the bookends of the calendar in place for you. First date, last date, uh, and the placement of the school vacations. And so tonight, um, kind of have layered on, uh, other
aspects of the calendar which include, uh, all the professional development days. Uh, the there's four recommendation for four early release days. Actually, that's, uh, required by the unit contract. So we have four early release days planned. Uh we have dates
for a full day of conferences for you along with evening conferences at each level. Uh and then obviously the the breaks are established. This would have the uh the first day of school for
students on uh the 27th of August and the last day with no snow days on Monday, June 14th. the committee had talked about um the the start date and whether or not that
sort of continued to make sense for us. I will say that that that particular start date um falls in line with where we've been in recent years. So if we were to start on the 27th, it it lines up with where we started this year, which was August 26th. Last year was
August 27th. The year before was the 29th. So we we've been in that range uh in recent years. Um and this would allow us to to bring forward a calendar that uh helps us avoid that fourth week of
June which is um um we have to make reasonable efforts to avoid that per our collective bargaining agreement with uh with our staff. Um happy to answer any other questions you might have. I did I
did bring the calendar committee the uh the conversation uh that school committee had regarding that that first day and they felt like it made sense to to start with a a two-day week for students. I think our teachers would say
that a a full week of five a full five day week for students is is challenging. So they felt like it would be better to have that first week be three days of professional development followed by two days of school followed by uh a full
week for our students. So um that again is a recommendation of the calendar committee. It is my recommendation. I'm happy to answer any questions you might have uh on on the placement of any of the dates for that 26 27 school year
calendar. >> Um does anyone have any questions? Nicole, >> um I know it's early for this um information to already be available. Um, but I'm wondering if you um have any insights on the science MCCAST dates in June of 27 just to ensure that they
don't inadvertently land in the middle of final exam week for se for the high schoolers. >> I did check >> they look like they'll be that earlier week. >> I did check with our curriculum director today, Beth Nelson, and I'm just trying
to look for a response to me on that. Um it felt like there was going to be enough of a buffer that the window started earlier enough. Um I apologize for not having that. So the science uh testing window
next year begins June 2nd. Um so we would be able to get it in in early June. It does, you know, it does bump up against the end of the year more than I think any of us would like it. On the other hand, I suppose the April or
Maycasts, um, sometimes it's hard to get kids attention back after those. >> Oh, yeah. When you have to start at the end of March and third and fourth grade, >> I think, uh, Long High is looking at, uh, having the testing be on June 2nd or
June 3rd next year. >> Okay. So, we'd have enough time before the final exams began, which I'm guessing would start on the 8th or 9th. I would imagine, >> assuming snow days, etc., etc. >> Okay.
>> Yeah, snow days would give us a little bit more of a buffer on that. >> Great. Thank you for checking into that. I appreciate it. >> And Marty, the last day, June 14th, that's a that's a full day or a half day in this calendar. >> It's a half day for students.
>> Half day. >> And the the hope and projection would be that we do not end on that day. the the projection would be that we'd have a couple of snow days, inclement weather days that would more likely have
us concluding school on the 15th, 16th or 17th. >> So, just a general question, if there were no snow days, and I know I I say that very last time we said this, we didn't have any, and then voila, we have two in a
row. Um, so say there weren't any snow days. Is there a way not to finish on the 14th and finish on that previous Friday with adjustments? >> Uh I I wish I could say yes to that. Um it fair that it's not an ideal day to end if we don't have any snow days, but
that would count as one of the 180 school days. So >> there's no way to finagle that. Okay. >> Be able to sort of pack that instructional time into onto another day of the school year.
Okay, >> it is >> anybody else any other questions or comments? >> Dr. Ash, were you going to say something? >> Even with it being a half day, sometimes it is a day. Um, you know, at least at the high school level and the middle school level where where students are
completing requirements to round out their grades for the for the academic year. So even even a half days can be valuable for kids who are who need to wrap something up. But I understand the question for sure. >> Are we still in preliminary approval of
this or do you need a motion to actually approve the calendar? >> Are we a little on the early side for that or is this done? >> I would say we're we're fielding calls and questions about the calendar. Um, we are in terms of we're still we still
have time in terms of our policy and our contract, right? In other words, our policy and contract allow for us to consider this at future meetings. I think trying to get it out now is just sort of trying to be responsive to some of the queries that we've gotten. But if
you felt like it needed um more time, then that's that's your your purview for sure. Michaela, would you like a motion then or do you want to? >> Um, if >> So, you're saying if we voted on it
tonight and let's say for example, like two members aren't here tonight, they wanted to add anything, we could come back to it, but it would be our or no. >> Well, if you voted on it, I would be
inclined to to post it. And I I I would say I wouldn't want to create any confusion by releasing the approved calendar and then I wouldn't want to pull it back particularly if it impacted the the
first day of school. If it impacted something inside the calendar, say, you know, release days or conference days, then that that's different. I think we can I think we can be flexible there. But if he felt like this needed more time to be fully vetted by the
committee, then I would say we we do have some additional time and we'll just, you know, we can anybody that has any, you know, anybody calling in or asking about the vacation dates or first date, we would just tell them that we're
still working on it. I mean, we met on it last meeting and talked about it at length and J um Adam and Zach were here. So, I'm fine accepting a motion. I don't know if
anybody if that's whatever anybody asks. >> It it the start date and end date are the same as they were for the last meeting. So, they would have seen that. So, I kind of feel like it's the stuff in the middle that maybe they didn't see all the fine details on, but they they fundamentally
saw the same time frame and the same calendar. >> I think I would be okay with uh doing a motion as well. >> Thank you, Emily. >> I move that we um accept and approve the
proposed 2627 school year calendar as presented. We have a motion. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Thank you, Nicole. >> Yes. >> Emily,
>> yes. >> Kate, >> yes. >> Jamie, >> yes. >> You better not add snow days to this. >> No, we can't. I'm I don't want any snow days anymore. Ever again. [laughter]
>> No, please. No. >> Okay. So, um we're done with our new business and now we have building use request. So, um Mr. Maza. >> Yes. Um again,
good evening. Uh this is presented as a uh consent agenda item. There are two building use requests. The first is submitted on behalf of the the Long High School boys basketball
booster club for use of the high school cafeteria on Tuesday, March 5th from 5 to 9:00 p.m. which would be for their end of year awards ceremony. And the second request is submitted on behalf of
the Lmetto High School boys lacrosse booster club. Uh requesting the authorization to hang banners on either the stadium or
grassy gutter field when they have home games. I believe there were uh seven or eight or nine dates that were submitted. Um the banners would be no larger than two feet by three feet. Uh they would
adhere to the uh advertising policy that's in place uh and would only be up during the lacrosse games. We'd say this request is similar to a request
we received back in the fall from the football booster club that was approved by school committee. >> Thank you, Mr. Maza. Um, do we have a motion? I move on the recommendation of the
finance subcommittee that the school committee approve the consent agenda for the January 27th, 2026 school committee meeting as presented. >> We have a motion. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Jamie,
>> yes. >> Emily, >> yes. >> Kate, >> yes. >> And a yes for me, too. >> Oh, and me as well. Oh my goodness. Nicole. [laughter] Nicole. >> Yes.
[gasps] >> Okay. Um so next on our agenda is the middle school building project. >> Uh no updates since your last meeting. Uh lots of great information on uh on the website on the project page that I
would encourage folks to take a look at. Uh, next meeting of the building committee is February 11th, I believe. So, that's it. >> All right. Thank you. So, next we have our executive session.
Um, we're meeting. Oops. Sorry. >> Good. >> Hello. Can you hear me? >> Yes. Can you guys hear me? >> Yes. Sorry. Yes. >> Oh, no. Oh, it's okay. I move that the school committee meet in executive session pursuant to Mass General Law Chapter 30A section 21A purpose three to
discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining or litigation with unit A and seven approval of minutes and will reconvene into open session. >> We have a motion. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Nicole,
>> yes. >> Emily, >> yes. Kate, >> yes. >> Jamie, >> yes. >> And a yes for me, too. >> I'll pause the recording now until we resume in open session.
>> Good. >> Welcome back to the January 27th school committee meeting. Um, we're coming back after executive session, back into our open session. um to discuss the memorandum of
agreement. Do we have a motion? >> I move that the school committee approved the memorandum of agreement dated January 20th, 2026 as presented. >> We have a motion. Do we have a second? >> Second.
>> Emily, >> yes. >> Jamie, >> yes. >> Nicole, >> yes. Kate. >> Yes. >> And a yes for me, too. We have one final item on our agenda.
>> I move that the school committee adjourn the January 27th, 2026 school committee meeting. >> We have a motion. Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Emily, >> yes. >> Jamie, >> yes. >> Nicole,
>> yes. >> Kate, >> yes. And a yes for me too. Have a good night everybody. >> Good night. >> Thank you.