committee meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. In accordance with the requirements of the open meeting law, please be advised that this meeting is being broadcast at a later date over the Lunberg public access channel. This meeting will be broadcast at a later date through the
local access cable channel on the public access Facebook page and will be found on the Lunberg access YouTube channel within 24 hours after the meeting. The agenda lists all the topics which may be discussed at the meeting and the and are those reasonably anticipated by the
chair. Votes may be taken as a result of these discussions. Not all items listed may in fact be discussed and other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by open meeting law. We do have a quorum
because Mr. Scullrini is joining us online. Um, let's start with the public allegiance. The pledge of allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation indivisible. >> Do we have any public comment for prior issues? Do we have anybody online with public comment for prior issues?
>> I do not see anyone. >> Excellent. >> Mr. Scalabbrini, would you like me to wait to do the chair's report? >> He's muted right now. I asked him to unmute though. Mhm. >> He's driving.
>> We'll move that later down the agenda. Um, let's do the student representatives report. >> Cara, you're on. >> So, at the primary school, they have a field trip for the first grade on May
26th. At the Turkey Hill, their third grade field trip is May 27th. Their fourth grade field trip is May 29th. And our fifth grade field trip field field trip is June 3rd. The middle school has their play tomorrow called Are You Scared Yet. Currently, as we speak,
there is a family DC meeting in the auditorium. Um, the students going on the Greece trip leave on Friday. And then there's a bunch more senior information if you visit the website because they're getting all of their like senior day
things ready. Um for other important dates for the school, next week is school vacation. April 30th there's a PTO fundraiser at launch. Um busing signups close on May 1st. May 2nd is town meeting. May 16th is the town
election. May 25th there is no school for Memorial Day. And June 18th is our last day of school if we get no more snow days. >> Hopefully it's 80° today. So >> we better not have any more snow days. Car.
Thank you very much. We do have minutes from March 4th um 26 to review and to vote on. I make a motion to accept the minutes of March uh March 4th.
>> I'll second. >> All in favor? >> I I I'll vote in favor. >> Excellent. The motion carries. Three nothing. We do have a donation to
discuss this evening. It is in your folder for tonight. It is a new scholarship fund. See if I can. So, this is for the visual visual arts
students, students that will be going on to study visual arts. And it is a one-time scholarship. It's for two one-time scholarships of $1,000 each for graduating seniors who intend to pursue collegiate studies in the field of
visual arts. And it's being donated by the artisians of Hickory Hills care of Donna Donna Silverstein. And they will they would like to donate $2,000 to us for this use.
Sounds great to me. Thank you so much to the artisans of uh Hickory Hills for their support. And it's great we can honor a student who um is interested in the visual arts and something a different a different path. Um, >> we've seen a motion to accept.
>> I'll make a motion to accept the uh generous donation. >> Excellent. >> Thank you. >> All those in favor? >> I hear it online. >> We do have um one warrant for you
tonight and the amount of $18,547.98. Um, we'll be passing that around for signature. Don't have any line item transfers. >> Um, now it's time for the superintendent report and then we'll go back to the
committee chair report. for my report this evening. I want to take a moment to address the upcoming town budget and the Proposition 2 and a half override votes. First, I want to thank everyone who has reached out to engage with the school district's budget process. The dedication this community shows to our
students and our schools is truly wonderful to see. As we approach town meeting in the upcoming override votes, I know our town faces some very complex financial decisions. I want to emphasize tonight that the school district and our
municipal departments operate as one town. I work closely with the other department heads and I have deep respect for my colleagues as they outline the needs of their departments during this challenging budget cycle. It is my sincere hope that we as a community
approach these conversations with unity and avoid divisiveness between the schools, the town departments and the community at large. We are all navigating this frustrating financial time together. I know there has been a lot of passionate discussion online
recently which shows just how deeply our community cares about its future. Municipal finance is incredibly complex. So as you continue those conversations, I want to make sure everyone has direct access to the most detailed up-to-date figures. Because of this, I want to
invite anyone with questions to join town representatives for our community information night on Tuesday, April 25th at 700 p.m. That's Tuesday, April 28th at 700 p.m. at the Eagle House. It will
be a great opportunity for us to walk through the numbers together, hear your perspectives, and answer any questions you might have alongside members of our other town departments. If you can't make the information night or just prefer our onetoone chat about the
school budget, please know that I am personally available. Feel free to reach out to me directly by phone or email with any specific questions about the school district's budget. I would be more than happy to speak with you. Finally, I want to add that although I do not currently live in town, I am
deeply invested in the success of our students in the Lunberg community. My role here is not to tell you how to vote. I fully recognize that every voter knows what is best for their own family and personal situation. Our goal, our only goal is to ensure you have all the
context and information you need to make the choice that is right for you. Thank you for your ongoing commitment to our community, our schools, and Lunberg shared future. That concludes my report this evening. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Um I'm going to make a chair's report. It's going to be very brief.
uh I have uh watched as the debate online and in other places has unfolded and I wanted to make two comments. So one comment is I think that um everybody in town who did not watch the tri board
meeting process which I don't blame if you didn't um has to realize that that process gave us much different access to the town's budgeting process than we've ever had before. And so I feel like with that process and how it unfolded over
the year that we did it or eight months that we did it, I really do feel like that we have engaged in a collaborative process to build budgets. I think that the town charter makes clear that we are responsible for the school committee school district's budget and the town
and the select board are responsible for their budget. And while the select board has oversight role over the entire budget, they're really separate and distinct. But this year, it felt like everybody was making sure that everyone else knew where they were and what was
going on. I mean, I never had so much detail about Eagle House. I don't think we've seen that much detail about the library, about the police department, about fire. And so I think that it's important for the people in town to know that based on my prior experience on the
school committee that this was definitely the most collaborative experience in terms of budgeting that I have ever seen. The second thing that I would make sure people realize is that while everybody has opinions and everybody's right has the right to their opinions, at the end of the day we're
all still neighbors. If somebody uh who is your neighbor disagrees with you, if somebody who is your neighbor is on the other side from you, if you're on Facebook and there are fights, remember that we're all neighbors. And the other thing is if we're all fighting on
Facebook, it's a beautiful spring in New England. So, close your laptops, push your keyboards away, and go for a walk. That's it. Uh all right, let's go to the next item. Can I just make one comment? >> Sure. Sure.
>> Um, one thing I just want to I thank both the the chair and the superintendent for their comments. I agree. We've worked collaboratively for a long time over the last eight months with the rest of the town. One thing I would like to address is there's been a lot of discussion about why there's not
an option for level services funding um as one of the uh you know level like the exact same projects you know that we have today. A and I feel strongly that the town when they didn't endorse the override last
year asked the group of leaders in this town to get together and to think about a long-term plan. Now a long-term plan is difficult in municipal finance. But the reason our you know the the the budget
that are being presented include a few different things is because the goal of the tri board process was to think two to three years in advance and I think that some of that is getting lost in some of the conversation. So, I just think that's really important to think about in that
we are trying to present a plan that will help ride a wave of the next two years. That's it. >> All right. >> All right. Let's move on to the next
thing. Uh, this would be new action. We have a special guest with us. Special guests that built a an igloo in her front yard. is the best igloo, right? >> I was stunned. >> I was so bummed when it started to melt.
>> Okay, just >> But that's what climbing domes are for. >> Oh, there you go. >> But I will tell you, this Texas transplant sure loves the snow. As much as everyone here gets sick of it, I'll I'll never get sick of it. It's so fun. So, yes, I'm out uh in the front lawn
with the kids just packing it over our climbing. >> Yeah, I can do this. All right. Um, my name is Sibil Kaufman. I am the president of the Lunenburgg Education Accelerator Foundation or LEAF. Um, I was at the select board meeting last
night. So, for anyone who watched that meeting as well, sorry I'm going to repeat some things, but um, given that this is a different audience and a different board, I think it's worth uh, the repeat. So, I'm happy to join the meeting tonight to give an update on the progress of Lunenburgg's very first
education foundation. Since I appeared here last, we've made really amazing progress. Neighbors and businesses have stepped up to show their support for our public schools in this new way. From corporate sponsorships to surprise checks in the mail that do literally
make me cry when I open the envelope in the post office box cuz they're a surprise. We've raised $8,366 to date. Since uh I don't have express permission to publicly thank individuals, I'd like to thank the following local businesses. Shapiro
Educational and Behavioral Consultants, Pixelated Tech, Kathy Clark at Barrett Sabes Realy, the Lunberg Diner, Kathy Walsh at Keller Williams Realy, All One Credit Union, and Main Street Bank. The money we raise will fund direct toteer
grants for projects that motivate and inspire the young people of our town. I want to be very clear at this point for those uh particularly interested in how our schools are funded. This money is for supplementing the amazing work of our teachers. It doesn't even come close
to funding even one full-time staff position or any other necessity for our district like health care and transportation costs. The responsibility of keeping our schools properly staffed and maintained lies with the town and its taxpayers. LEAF is about positive
influence and inspiration. Our job is to highlight the possibilities, the little rays of hope and joy that mean the difference between a child falling behind or being engaged and excited about learning. Over the years, our district has had to cut a lot of our schools extras. We've also lost
incredible teachers to other districts. Like last year, the educator who won teacher of the year left before they could receive their award. Is that right? That's what I heard. >> I'll I'll leave it to you guys to confirm. Uh, with directtoteer grants, educators
can purchase things like science kits, CAD design software, ceramic supplies, scripts for plays, musical instruments, outdoor vegetable garden kits. The list is really all about imagination and possibility. All the things that make happy memories and inspire lifelong
learning. For anyone who's been on the fence about giving, especially if you're a local business owner, I'm excited to share that we currently have an incredible match challenge from a very generous Lambert resident. Every dollar raised between now and May 31st will be
doubled. Up to $5,000 by this match challenge. $5,000 will magically turn into $10,000 and that would translate to 10 $1,000 grants for teachers. You can visit leafmap.org. That's
lafm.org to join us, to learn more, to spread some extra joy where it's needed most in our classrooms. Do you guys have any questions for me? >> Cool. Thank you. >> Yeah,
>> thank you for all the work you do. >> Of course, it's my pleasure. And I will say I met with teachers today to start talking about our grant application cycle, which starts May 1st. And um I'm just really pumped about some of the ideas that are already percolating.
>> It's going to be great. You know, I I had to sign warrants this morning and so I came in and because I got in before the buses arrived, I kind of got stuck and I could watch the people percolate in >> and I could watch the little people
percolate in at Turkey Hill and then I could see the teachers come in >> and it was just like such a great start to the day. >> I I do not always have a job that embraces happiness. Yeah, it's true.
>> And so having this like current of people where you can almost see the energy >> and it's almost always good vibes or maybe like at worst some sleepy vibes. Some sleepy vibes. >> I relate to sleepy vibes. >> But it was just it it's it was a good
reminder of why schools are so important. >> Yes. Thank you. And I really am grateful that you're helping raise money and that it's going to teachers who have good ideas >> and who love this town very very much and love our kids so much. >> Yeah.
>> Yeah. I will say um just so much positivity in this and the conversations about this. Uh it's a really tough time economically for everyone including businesses. So you know it's a somebody said you know you picked a heck of a time to start a nonprofit. Um, but you
know, if someone can't give the dollars, it really means a lot to give just support and well wishes. And this town in particular, I think uh Dr. Fortuna said this when she first arrived, we've got something special. We've got really
good vibes. So, I know you guys have a lot of harder things to talk about tonight, and I really appreciate all the blood, sweat, and tears are putting into this. Um but yeah, there's a lot of joy here. So, thank you. >> Joy and igloos
>> and igloos. >> Thank you. Uh all right. Uh up next for new action is uh Prism 2 and three. It has the word grant. So, Dr. Sari, hello again. >> Welcome back. >> Our prolific grant writer Dr. Sari is
here. These are two related and one unrelated um grant that she has written for us. >> Yeah. So I'm going to start if it's okay with the farmtotable grant. So I worked with our food services director Naen Lorenza and um essentially what we are
going to do is we well what we would like to do is um submit this grant proposal for $40,000 for locally procured produce. Um, we'd like to bring that, we'd like to purchase, bring it into our schools. We want to train the staff about how to prepare the how to
prepare the produce. Um, we might use some of the funds for some equipment and some supplies. And there is a there is a classroom component where we educate students about, you know, like healthy foods and that sort of thing. Um, and then there also is like a community
outreach effort to um to uh encourage people to um eat and purchase healthy foods. And then obviously we want to make sure that we know that some uh healthy foods can be very expensive. So we want to be able to to let people know
where they can find um healthy foods like produce specifically that is affordable to families. So hoping that you all will support this initiative. If you have any questions, let me know. Otherwise, I'm looking for a motion. >> I'll make a motion to accept the fresh
what is it? >> Grant proposal. >> Fresh grant proposal. >> C. Can I ask a question first? >> Sure. You sure can. >> Is this a grant that's coming from uh Oh, it's it it it's a state grant. >> Yes, that's correct. >> That's all I wanted to make sure. Yeah,
>> I'm tracking as we watch somebody brutally murder the Department of Education on the federal level >> and start wars that we don't need to get into. I'm tracking which grants are coming from where. >> Got it. >> So,
>> this did not come out of the now dying Department of Education. >> Did not. No. I agree. >> Um >> um so uh uh yes. >> So Emily made a motion. I'll second the motion to accept your proposal to
present this grant. >> All in favor? >> Thank you so much. Okay. And if it's okay, I'd actually like to start with prism 3 um because I have a little bit of information about prism 2. So, um, for Prism the Prism 3 grant, um, this is
this is I'd like to to apply for funds. This is, uh, a grant that, um, Desi has, um, that Desi is, uh, allowing us the opportunity to apply for. And essentially, um, this grant specifically
would be used for professional development for our, um, for our teachers to implement highquality instructional materials. I'm looking for funds to have job embedded coaching. Um I know that it's really difficult for us to find substitute teachers in our
schools and it's really difficult to bring teachers out of the classroom. That can be certainly be beneficial but it's also really stressful for teachers. So what we'd like to do is bring folks in to work shouldertoshoulder with teachers. Um and then also in addition
to the job embedded coaching um I'd like to use these funds for professional development days. Um and then also for stipens for our educators who would be part of this Prism curriculum council to help guide some of this work.
And so the total um that I'd be asking for and you'll see at the bottom of the memo is actually wrote the motion um looking for the school committee to approve the prison 3 grant in the amount of $72,250. >> Same question. I know the answer this
time because you said it originally, but for purposes of those watching at home, this is a state grant as well. Okay. Thank you. Uh, anybody want to make the motion? >> Yeah. I make a motion for the school committee to approve the submission of the Prism 3 grant proposal to Desi in
the amount of $72,250. >> I'll second. >> All in favor? >> I. All right. Thank you. >> Okay. So, Prism 2. Um, I think this is our second goound. Unfortunately, we were not awarded this grant before. Um, oh my goodness, somebody from Bolton,
Mass is calling me. I don't know where that is. Matthew Farmer where that is. Um, >> did reach out to an assistant superintendent, so maybe that's it. >> That's very possible. >> Um, yep. Um, so, um, I don't have an amount for this grant yet, and I'll tell
you why. So essentially this is for curriculum materials for high quality instructional materials and it could potentially be used for some professional development to help implement the high-quality instructional materials. I wanted to specifically focus on prek and um I've sort of been
exploring some options. I was looking into see if HMH who is the publisher of our core curricula K to5 for interreium reading version three uh looking to see if they offered any resources for prek.
Unfortunately they do not. Um however the go gold standard for prek curriculum nationwide is definitely the Boston public schools curriculum. It is open source and available for us but there is cost that can be incurred like we would have to print materials, we'd have to
get things together, we would have to bring somebody in to train our staff. Um I have uh spoken to our prek teachers at length and they seem to be very excited about the potential of bringing the BPS
curriculum to uh to um primary. However, I just don't have a dollar amount yet. What I'm asking for is for you to trust me to be able to put that together. If I apply for this grant, I just have to um
come up with like a a broad overview and as I refine what that cost would look like, then I'd be able to submit that to um to DESIs. But I would be looking for funds to help us implement the Boston Public Schools curriculum. And um
additionally if there are any gaps uh with the interreading materials that we have like for instance if we need additional decodable readers or if there are other features of the curriculum I've been talking to our our rep about many different um resources that the
curriculum offers but I don't want to overwhelm teachers. So that's why I want to kind of wait to get their feedback. If there are some gaps in resources that we don't have like we don't have um everything that we need. I'd like to also be able to use some of these funds
to purchase whatever is missing, if that makes sense. So, I do respectfully request the motion for you all to approve my submission of the the prison 2 grant. Um, but let me have some of that flexibility in how much it's going to cost.
>> And this is also a grant that would be managed by the state. Correct. And this one is also uh more needed because of $130,000 cut in title one grants from the federal government. Correct. >> That is accurate. I would say that for both of these. >> So this is sort of drenched in the blood
of the Department of Education. I I think it is >> it is really important for people to understand that election that ele elections have consequences and that somebody who does not know anything about education is dismantling what is
essentially a funding system as opposed to something that develops curriculum or tells people what to do. >> Believe me, I get that. But >> so I want it to be graphic. Looking right at the camera, I want it to be graphic. >> I love the descriptive language as an English teacher. I'd like to make a motion to accept
this Prism 2 proposal at the amount that Dr. Sari believes is appropriate once she's able to do some more research. >> Thank you. And I I have until May 6 to solidify that. >> All right. And I'd second that. >> All in favor?
>> Thank you, friends. Also, I sent out uh the first f the first issue of the literacy link to parents. >> I saw it. >> And I we would love to get your feedback. There is a survey. We would love to get your feedback. We need um feedback from parents, community members, teachers, everybody, so that we
can help to determine how we're going to spend our grant funds next year. >> Yes. I actually was going to say thank you. I didn't get to read it all yet, but it's a lot of good information in it. >> Thank you. >> All right. The next thing on the agenda is
scholarship tax eins. >> Yes. So the committee will recall earlier this fall um the trust commission approached us um with the ascertation that scholarships would fall
under their purview that servant scholarships would fall under their purview. At the time I said I would get a legal opinion then budget started. Um, the legal opinion is included in your packet tonight regarding their
assertions as well as where we currently are determining whose tax um, identification numbers different scholarships are using. Um, so I don't know if you had a chance to review that and have any questions regarding that.
Uh we've also been served with an official breach notice both via mail and via delivered um by hand that occurred on the 13th. Um so >> do we know if if our legal people have
declared that to be proper service? My guess is that's not proper service. >> They have not um rendered an opinion on that. >> Okay. Tony, I know this isn't your >> Yeah. >> area of the law, but I feel honestly
quite out of my out of my area to understand what we should be doing about this. >> Uh, I think we should let our lawyers hand on this. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I I think that you know that >> which is an insane thing to pin our lawyers on, but
>> I mean >> I agree. No, no, I'm not asking you to make a legal opinion. I'm just I'm just commenting that we're spending money on this. >> Yes. Um I think that the problem as as I understood it was the
trust commissioner has interpreted the statute in a in one way and there is no case law on point either way. And so there's and that's just like a a generalized summary. And
so we have to figure out like moving forward. Now I was under the impression and you can correct me if I'm wrong. I was under the impression that the town's attorney had reviewed this and said, you know, even though there's this language and there's no case law, this is the way
it works. And so maybe we need the town's attorney or whoever, maybe our attorney needs to sit down and say like this is like at least to give us a like an idea of like >> here's the legal issue, here's how this
is resolved like just a memo or something so that we have more than uh >> you do have your email to me. It is what is it? Fellowship donations in your custody. It's the PDF. >> Okay.
Oh, >> would you like me to read into the record her response to the aspirations? M I think we should leave this to the lawyers. >> Okay. >> I'm just, you know, like if if somebody in town wants to know, I'm I'm happy to share it with them, but I would not want
to put any spin or interpretation and just let them deal with it. >> Excellent. That's fine. And I think I mean like everybody has an intuitive understanding of this like the reality is other than a judge everybody's everybody's view of the law
is just an opinion. >> Well yes that's true. There's no case law. I guess >> somebody's going to tell us whether >> I guess maybe this is a longer conversation, but like what benefit does the school versus the town have in it being in different yet? Like why is this something we're we care about?
>> I think we care >> I mean we care about it because we're in charge of it. I don't mean it like I don't care. I meant >> like what is the actual not legally? I think the n the natural language for this is that if somebody gifts a
scholarship to be used for educational funds and then we should be the school committee has the right to accept those funds and that's what we're doing right now. >> Exactly. >> Right. >> And there's some concern on the trustees. >> Correct.
>> That committee. And when it comes to EIN's, does the school have our own EIN versus the town? >> We do. >> Okay. >> It's under the town, the umbrella of the town. >> Okay. >> So, can I just speak for a minute? >> Sorry. I just come up to the mic.
>> Basically, what they wanted to know was >> Liz has been doing all the leg work to get you the lovely spreadsheet that you have. >> Thank you, Liz. >> And Sandra, she as well. I had to give her credit as well. So, um, so basically what they wanted to know was because
this is under Mass General Law that if unless a scholarship is held under a trust fund, if it's held as a trust fund, that is held with the town and that they can use the town's EIN number.
>> Okay. If it was a privately held scholarship like say the Kevin Six scholarship. Yeah. >> That should have its own EIN number because it's a privately held fund. It's not under a trust with the town. >> Okay. So
once we found that out, once the trust commission had contacted us, what Sandra and I did was we developed this spreadsheet so that it could be broken down between the trust fund scholarships and the privately held scholarships. And
we found we were trying to find out from every single person what their EIN number actually was so that we could show the trust commission and the town that their EIN number was only being used with trust funds. >> Okay.
>> So here's the the long. >> So I I get that. Thank you. >> Who this is a question about which entity within town manages this money? That's it. >> Right. And so when certain scholarships are established, so for example, my mom
actually was impressed. She got an email because she writes the Lions, she's the Lions Club's treasurer. And so she said, "Wow, they're doing something. They're looking making sure they have all the EIN numbers correct." Cuz the Lions Club writes the check for the scholarship every year. >> But there are some scholarships that do
we take all of the money into the town accounts to begin with and then we distribute the scholarships. Is that what you're >> right? So they're under a Bartholomew trust is what they're under. >> Okay. >> And then that is where the check actually is. >> So someone might donate the entire
$20,000 or something and we use it till we run out. >> Yes. Exactly. Right. And there's guidelines and I'm sure your mother knows this too. Guidelines and criteria set when the scholarship is set that tells us exactly what we can use every
year or not. >> Right. And then we um go to the town and we you know say to them we've gotten a listing from actually my leen Mari at the town that shows what the balances are. Yeah. >> Of the trust funds >> of all the trust funds which may not be
all of the scholarships is what you're saying, >> right? Because some are private, >> right? >> Yeah. >> And so if there was interest on those trust funds, then that's who controls the interest. Is that what this is? >> Mhm. >> This is really just about who who controls. >> No, I I mean I think I should understand this enough that >> Right. You did.
>> You feel good. >> You're good. >> Sorry. >> No, no, no. What I'm trying to say is like >> you're overthinking. >> Your your understanding is correct. >> Okay. Perfect. That's all I need to >> It is. >> Yes. >> Yeah. >> Good questions, Mandy. But you don't. >> Thank you.
>> Sure. Thank you. >> Let's go to the next thing. >> So, the next thing is unified sports and co-ops. >> Um, is Mrs. Burns online, Walter? She had a personal day, so I don't know if she is. >> I do not see her online right now.
>> Okay. Excellent. So, um, the committee had wanted to have a further discussion about unified sports and co-op, um, possibilities. I did a little more digging into the um
track situation and I want to tell you something that I'm really really excited about. Our unified track program was actually nationally recognized. We were one of the first eight districts in the state. And this year, one of the reasons we
don't have a unified track is we have several students that would have qualified that are competing at the varsity level. >> Oh, >> so that's really exciting, >> but I know the committee wants to have a longer discussion, but I just wanted to share that with you all. >> That's awesome.
>> They did good. >> You did that. Well, that that's great. >> It is great. I >> But yeah, >> I have some other questions that I just >> Did you have more to say? >> Can I Can I ask a question before you start because you're going to know more about this?
>> Are we not offering the right things? >> I don't I don't think that that's true. I I what I was hoping is that not during a budget crisis, we could maybe offer more >> because my fear is that yes, those three students moved on and they're kind of
integrated into the varsity team at this point, but I feel like only offering basketball and track is only that's only one sport per two se, you know what I mean? It's not >> it's not all year long. It's not a lot of variety. Some kids aren't going to be
able to run track, >> right? >> Kids, especially kids with disabilities. There may be some that can't. Um, but I did do some research. In many schools, what is offered is basketball and track. Those are the two most popular sports that are offered. Um, but I didn't know
if at some point maybe having some sort of survey for parent. I also don't know that many parents even know we have unified sports at our school. Yeah, I think that's >> because until I was on the school committee, until my son joined high school, I didn't really know that we had unified sports at that at the high school level. Um, I just don't think
it's something that's it is on the newsletter that Mr. Sandrew does every week, but if I mean, not everyone reads it. Sorry, Mr. Sandry. I read it every week. Every single week. Um, I just feel like it kind of gets >> lost a little bit. Um, so I at some
point it would be nice to maybe offer something different and I know that comes with coaches and time and logistics and fields and transportation that we might not have if we don't get an overhead, that kind of stuff. But, um, just like continuing the conversation to help include more um,
and then the example that you had brought up of the out of district student that was the only student that wanted to do unified track. I guess my concern with that is why couldn't he like why couldn't he join track? Mhm. >> Um if the only option is unified track for him, but we don't have a unified
track team, I don't feel like that's inclusive. >> Let me check and see why. Like because I don't know his particular circumstances. >> Um >> in the future if that was to come up, is there is there a reason why on the school end that a student such as this
out of district student couldn't come and join our track team that's maybe not unified? if there's only one student that needs to be added in. Um, also the goal of unified sports is to have typical students with kids with
disabilities. It's not just for kids with disabilities. >> Um, so it's also >> why it's called unified, I'm guessing. >> Yeah. Yep. And in many what I'm learning is in many places it's typically kids with intellectual disabilities versus
physical disabilities. And that's something I'd like to see maybe shift a little bit. Um, yeah. So, I I mean I have a list. There's many many schools in Massachusetts that do unified sports. Like I said, basketball and track are the most popular. There was a couple
that had >> some random shuffle board or something. >> Some a very more random sport that you don't see at schools particularly, but >> maybe it might have been. Um, I saw that on which I thought was really
interesting cuz not many schools even have a team at all for botchi. So, I thought that was kind of cool. >> Um, and then there's also the special Olympics.org has a really great um kind of presentation on the benefits of having
more unified sports to both typical kids and kids with disabilities. Um, kind of the school culture as a whole. I just think it's like a really good thing to keep pushing and encouraging and informing parents of so that they can help their children make a choice on if
they'd like to join team sports in some way. >> And we have Mrs. Hans come here to answer some questions or offer some thoughts. Just so you know that we do have students set through we've got a we've got a great district culture for including students and although I don't
talk about it individually because of confidentiality reasons any student that wants to join any of our sports or any of our extracurricular activities we make that happen. Um and we also I'll be talk I talked to Jod I talked to Chris about providing support for those
students who might need additional supports to be able to participate in those activities. So, just know that that does go on behind the scenes um that we do include these kids and and it's not just in the sports, but it's in all of the extracurricular stuff. It's the after school events that they want to go to. It's the it's the dances. It's
it's everything we you know administrator will will reach out to me or a teacher will reach out to me and say so and so wants to do this but they might need somebody and then I work I work with that to to get that to happen for them. >> What about the transportation issue that we have brought up last time when
needed? Would they use uh trans van transportation if or what if there was a student that couldn't use the regular bus? >> If there's a student that could not ride the the regular transportation that the other students ride, then we would we would look to provide that. >> It hasn't been an issue. I think there
was one time quite a few years ago like before co that that I think we had to purchase it or not purchase but we had to get a van >> um for students. So so like as those things come up they're they're very few and far between, >> right? But we've always worked to be able to get that so that access is is
available for them. >> And then as far as the Special Olympics, we used to participate in the Special Olympics school day games that has drastically that that and I don't know if it was the funding or what, but but it's been drastically cut. Um they used to have
individual ones at at districts and then they started to have a bunch of districts come together. Um they had them at Framingham University, then they had some at Fitsburg State University. Um we haven't gotten any word on them in
the last few years. Um and what some of um my staff particularly here at the middle high school um they started um this was right after co Liz I think it was um doing our own field day games >> at the end of the year for students and
it was it was open up for middle high school students and Turkey Hill students. We didn't do it last year for whatever reason. Um, it got away from being able to plan it. This year, it's coming back. Um, and we're actually going to be including primary school students, too. So, May 22nd is our
official field day games for all of our um, special education students in our subsearate programs. Um, and and I'm really looking forward to that. It's going to be it. Like I said, we've got a little over a month now and we don't have all of the details in yet. So, we've got we've still got some planning
to do, but um but everybody is coming together. I've already reached out to a few um admin and um and everybody is on board and now it's just coming down to really making those agendas, the schedules and and what's needed to pull that together. But that's going to be
happening as well. And it's going to be on the front field um like and probably like midday because we've got the Memorial Day programs going on in some schools in the morning and some schools in the afternoon. So, we're going to try to do ours midday. So, that's something that I'm very excited about. And this will be the first year that primary school students are attending and we'll
be busing. I'm actually I haven't talked to Joey about my my goal and my vision. >> She's going to find out. >> I want to get them all here on a big yellow bus. >> And and I know that, you know, some kids
and and for those students who need to take the van for whatever reasons they need to take the van, I'm fine with that. But I would love to be able to offer up the opportunity for as many of those 19 students from the primary school that could come up here to ride a big yellow bus to come up here. And I
know she'll be okay with it on that because I I know that that's just a big thing for students, right? So many times at meetings and stuff I hear I hear parents talking about their their kids and how they want to ride the the big yellow bus >> which like you couldn't pay me to ride.
>> There's no seat belts. It's awesome. >> That's why. So, um, so yeah. So, so, like I said, I've I've got some I've got some some thoughts on that. And, um, I also want to try to figure out a good name for it, but I think that might be something for next year. Maybe we can have like with Paxel to come together
and maybe come with kids voting on like a name for our because I don't want to call it Special Olympics Field Day games because it's not a Special Olympics event, but it's Special Olympics like none. Um, so yeah. So, I I know that we've got room to grow. Um, but I'm very excited about it coming together this this year.
So, I did some research on this point over the last two weeks. And so, one thing that I found was that especially, and I don't know if there's like some cultural differences, but especially out west and in the south, a lot of school districts, especially school districts
that have really tight budgets, have uh developed cheerleading programs as part of unified sports. And that was something that people noted as giving different kids different kinds of opportunities. So they they like that.
The other thing um I know that um one of our neighbors in Air Shirley, they started an esports team for kids that had uh learning differences and other kinds of disabilities. And it turned out to go really well. like they ended up
doing well enough to get like some, you know, giant computer company to give them some money. They also did a presentation at a video game conference two years ago and I actually attended this. I did not realize that it would come full circle when I was doing my research, but you know the
the like the competition and the practice like it was they were really diligent. They created like a real team ethos. There was a a real Espriita deca core um in like one of the kids would like notify everybody I don't know
Discord Discord >> and they would send it out on Discord like team practice at this time and they would have everybody like ready to go uh and they played I was trying to remember what games they played. They played Mario Kart, they played Smash Brothers and they played
Madden maybe. But they like did well enough to play in a tournament with like 256 other schools. >> I don't know that that counts as a support. Just saying. It's very nice. >> I know. I know. But I'm saying like in the in the event that like >> I would rather people have some way to
build a team >> than have nothing. And then the last thing that I would say is if there was a way to integrate people into the current offerings, >> especially for teams that are really
small. >> That's what I was thinking. That's >> right. You know, like if we're making budget cut decisions >> and there is a team that has 25 people, a team that has two people, >> right? >> Utilitarian calculus is pretty obvious. So maybe one of the things that we could
do is to boost recruitment efforts. >> I think that would be great because when you get down to the unified sports too, it all depends on if we're the only district within a 50 mile radius that has botchi. We're not playing with anybody else, >> right? >> So that's where it comes down to too is
is what are the other school districts around us doing? And if they're not offering anything, then we have nobody to play. It could be it could be our students and a bunch of old mobsters for Providence playing blockchain. >> I will say >> I mean I think even if they played so if it's unified and we have you know typical students with kids with
disabilities even if they weren't traveling to other towns and cities even just scrimmaging or playing or just just to be a part of that that team to start um because I I understand the transportation is expensive. is going to
be more logistically challenging, especially coming up on the next year, depending on how things go. But, um, I just think just being a part of a team. It doesn't really necessarily have to be competitive to start, but um would be
>> and that was one of the Yeah. one of the school districts that adopted cheerleading because there was already a huge transportation infrastructure was basically no cost, >> right? It didn't add anything. >> Yeah. So that was like a I thought that was a very creative way to manage limited funds. >> Yeah.
>> And it was popular in states that have a mill levy system of funding school district. >> Oh, really? >> I they're funding separate from the town. >> So they have like a levy that they have to pass. Like I know that my school district in Ohio, I went to private school. I went to Catholic school which
is why it was so bad. Um, but the public schools, they had a mil levy system, so their funding was independent of the town. And when their money was tight, that's what they were focusing on. Like adding cheerleading was one way that they could do it with like limited overhead.
>> So maybe we should consider I mean, I don't know. I don't know. >> I did see on the special Olympics uh.org that they do offer some resources, too. I didn't I didn't dig far into that, but I don't know what those resources are and how it would affect us and what's available in Massachusetts, but that's something I can look into as well. The
website was really helpful. Um, and I know you said we're not really affiliated with them right now, but um, it might it might be something to look into. They used to be a much bigger presence around here and they're not and and I'm shocked that they're not given the fact that it's >> drivers from here. >> But um but yeah, but they're not they're
not as big as they used to be or they're not as affiliated with the schools as they used to be. >> Emily, I really appreciate you taking lead on this because it's such an important issue. So, thank you. I also um my only comment is I would be
curious if uh the our AD you know like the MIAA which is a you know private organization that runs all of the sports in this state um you know maybe seeing I I looked on their
website they don't do anything for unified sports but it's pretty interesting to me that they don't have any role in offering sports and coordinating sports >> right for all students. And that to me feels >> discriminatory. I'm not surprised.
>> No, not I'm not surprised at all. But I mean, the MIA is an easy target for us to be mad at. >> They suck. >> I was going to say it's easy to be mad at them when they deserve it. >> Exactly. So, I don't know. I mean, I think that'd be something we want to bring up at some point. We probably have
no say, but >> Right. Yeah. >> They get state funding, don't they? Not that I know of. >> No, I think we >> find them. Why do schools fun them? >> I know. That's just not a story for today.
>> Anything else for me? >> Thank you. Thank you. >> All right. Um, >> Mr. McM, would you like to come on down and be the next contestant on the prices? Right. Uh, quarterly budget report.
>> Good evening. I'll try to keep this short since I went over um all the percentages last meeting where we're at with the budget. Um, one thing I'll tell you is we're at 73.2% expended for the year. That's year to
date. as of today. Last year we were at about 70 about about the same. So we're looking good right now considering we're only halfway through the month. >> Um I also provided a spreadsheet of revolving funds with the balances at
12:30125 and then at as of 33126. Um, and then the dollar change for the funds for all the uh school revolving funds. Thanks, Chris. I
I don't know that this is the forum, but I would at some point prefer love to know more about this spreadsheet. So, for example, like it says chapter 658 revolving fund >> has $124,000 in it. We did spend $25,000. I googled chapter 658. I don't
know what that is. >> Athletics. >> Yeah. 658. Yeah, that's athletics. >> This is the athletics. >> Yeah, athletics. >> Okay. >> Yeah. The one um >> you know like the vending machine revolving fund. Is that because we have vending machines and >> that I don't think is
>> it's probably not active because they changed. >> It's not active right now. >> Right. So, is there a way to sweep these funds? >> I'll have to look into that. Um >> Okay. It just feels >> there's a lot of funds that I'm looking into. Uh especially the ones at the bottom. >> Um just cuz they're pretty old and
there's really no activity in them. >> Exactly. It just would be interest like seems like something we should at some point I know you've been super busy. I'm not right. Like sweep through these and like if there's even $11 >> this 30 35 cent one like what is that? >> Like what is that? Right. And like can we just take 30 like
>> one stamp one blade? >> It's a birthday pencil. Yeah. >> It's a birthday pencil. >> Anyways. Okay, that that's just my feedback as I'm like this is extremely helpful but also always there's more questions once you ask >> like why is the athletic >> Can I ask you a question?
>> Um the overage on heating how is that going to be absorbed into the budget? >> So the I you said we were at 101% last week or last meeting >> on electricity. >> Oh yeah. Okay. Um, so we're running at a
good pace where we can move money around um in within the budget. Um, >> so you're not worried? That's by >> No, I'm not worried about that. The electricity. >> That's it. >> I have a question. Silly question, but if we're at a similar place as last
year, but we had >> surplus of a little too much that we were talking about. >> Yeah. So, we're only halfway through the month right now. Okay. And we're at about the same point we were last year. So, that's pretty good. Um, considering
we had about I think it was was it five or 600,000 last year. >> Yeah. >> So, we have probably another AP to run within the month and then I believe there's a payroll on it >> first. >> In other words, we'll we'll end up
eating up the what was surplus last year. >> Yeah, we should. >> Okay. We don't want another surplus. >> No. >> I don't care what it takes. >> Yeah. >> Get that. >> So, some of these trust funds are like reimbursible trust funds. So, like we
spend money. >> Uh, which ones are you looking at? >> Well, like I'm looking at F I'm looking at 2778 FY25117 SOA evidence-based learning. So, I Googled that. That's the Student Opportunity Act, right? So, there was money obviously that came to us to do
something for the student opportunity act, but this trust fund we're in the negative. >> Is that because we're getting reimbursed that money? >> I believe so. Yeah. >> So, it's a can happen. Yeah. It's a grant. So, like it's a reimbursement grant model. So that's helpful to me
just that that's what some of these FY25s are things that we are going to be >> and there's a lot of them I want to clean up especially the ones from before like FY24 >> that are still on there to >> see if we can close them up. Um >> I think that would just be helpful just
to kind of shorten the list for everybody to view. >> Yeah. Like the extended day program is in the negative. Is that >> Yeah. So that's one I'm looking deeper into. Um, so I might have mentioned this earlier, but extended day is really
running pretty close to break even. Maybe a little in the negative right now. >> You did mention it, I think. >> And I don't want to say how sustainable it is, but it it it's definitely costing us a little bit more than we're bringing in right now.
>> I think that means that we have a clear solution as the school committee, which is we need to raise the fees if it's not sustainable. Correct. >> I mean, I'd rather raise the fee 10%. >> Then close down the program and put all of those parents in a bind. >> Mhm.
>> So, um, maybe for next meeting, we put it on the agenda to raise the fee >> because it that program is a nonnegotiable. >> That program has to exist. >> You must have that. >> It's really unfair to parents if that doesn't exist. >> And if it if it doesn't exist because we
just didn't charge enough to make it sustainable. Now, it doesn't need to be like a giant hike. Mhm. >> But if the program is valuable, it's being used, but it's not generating revenue. >> And I'm assuming they're not doing like, you know, gold leaf popcorn
>> or something. So like, let's let's raise the fees a little bit. >> We got to have that program work for >> Yeah. I mean, I would be curious, too. I mean, it's a nightmare to get into that program. Like, is there are we >> there's weight lists and stuff? I don't know. We're at capacity, right? But why
are we at capacity? >> Because it would require us hiring more staff and to maintain ratios. >> Yeah. >> Which is not easy to do given the very part-time nature of the job. >> I mean, we had somebody and I think this might have been before you were here. We
had somebody Liz, do you remember? It was like we had it open for two years. >> Mhm. >> And no one applied, >> right? >> So, it's just >> that's the issue. So, like if we could get more people on a part-time basis, we would expand the program.
>> Yeah. I mean, we could. That's what I'm saying. It's been a while. >> The problem is adding more people would increase the cost and if it's not breaking even yet, >> it's like we got to fix one of those problem. It's a chicken and the egg thing, right? But we just could not get someone to apply.
>> I have a question. Is that job open to like, you know, like 16, 17 year olds? Cuz I feel like you could get kids after school who like, you know, they might already babysit or something like that. >> Responsible kids that that have sensible
opinions come to school committee. >> I'm not sure, Cara. That's a good question. >> Cuz I feel like when it's part time, right? Like it's in the afternoon from what, like 3:30 to like 6, right? >> Like that would be a good time frame for maybe
>> teenagers. Can I answer that question? >> Yes. >> So, yes, they do hire what they call junior aids. >> So, junior aids are that age group that >> they hire. The only problem sometimes with hiring the junior aids. They also
have other commitments. So, there's a high call out rate. A lot of times there's definitely challenges to hiring some of the junior aids. And I do know the director has noticed a drop off of in the past few years um probably
because of all of those factors um of kids that are interested actually in doing that. So um that's been a challenge too. >> Do junior aids count towards the ratio >> is what I'm sorry >> they count towards the ratio of how many kids birth? >> Yes, they do. I felt like when I went to
extend a day, they were high school students, but in my brain, like anyone who looked under the age of 40, but was responsible for me was a high school student at the age. >> That's kind of crazy. >> Well, no, but like, right, like >> that person has a beard. They must be at
their age, right? >> Okay. It was like, "All right, you're either like parent age or your babysitter age, and those are the >> Oh, I got >> awesome. Thank you." >> All right. Is the personnel report also? You
>> personnel report is Miss Liz, who compiled it for us because she's just simply amazing and does everything. >> 100% agree. >> Come on up, Liz. Thanks. Okay.
So basically what I did was I took the personnel report that we reported out in November and from November until now um I outlined all of the new hires, the
resignations and any retirements that um retired in um around November December and that's what I compiled here. So, as you can see, the only thing that I wanted to point out is there are a few
people that we hired and then >> yeah, there's two >> pretty much immediately resigned. >> Yeah. What happened? >> So, um that was due to higher pay rates other places. So, that's what I wanted to point out there. But, um but other
than that, this is pretty cut and dry for what we see normally. >> It was two custodians, right? >> Right. and a par. >> And a par. >> Mhm. >> Do you know where the Just out of curiosity, do you know where the parro went? >> I do not. >> Okay.
>> Well, this is considerably better than it was like two years ago. >> It is. >> I mean, we were losing We lost like almost a quarter, >> right? >> Yeah. So, this is much better. >> Mhm. Um,
>> would you mind >> trying to find out where he went? >> Trying to find out about the parah. >> Yeah, >> sure. >> Oh, that para that resigned, the reason he resigned is he decided to change now I remember the name of it. He decided to change his life path and
>> okay involved in I don't remember being like ah I'm going to these people don't plan. That's what I was worried about. Right. >> He changed his life path here for two days. >> New life path. That sounds great. I just want to make sure it wasn't a compensation issue. Um, do we have any
insights into why the custodians left? >> Custodians are all better pay rates other places, >> right? >> Okay. >> Mhm. >> All right. Well, we got a we got some work to do.
Um, do you do you think that the I'm trying to think if I should ask you this, >> but not probably not. >> Probably not. Okay. I want to ask >> I'll ask you later. >> Yes, you can ask me. Sounds good. >> Write it down first.
>> Does anyone else have questions or are you >> Oh, thank you. >> Okay. Thank you, >> Mr. Chair. Before we move on to our next agenda item, I have been corrected. Um, unified track and unified basketball are
both MIAA sports recognized sports. >> Excellent. >> Really? >> Yes. Sounds good. and I have checked and verified that I shouldn't be >> we should not be so quick to to judge the MIAA. >> I'll still be judging. >> Uh I I I will also say that I also
received a correction. >> This is why my phone sits right here cuz people correct. The person that civil referred to was a finalist and they went to a private school. >> So that and it was not last year.
>> Oh, it was two years ago. Yes. It was Mr. Gua. >> Guerrra. Yeah. >> Yeah. And he went to St. Lawrence Academy. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Looks like the land of milk and honey. So like I don't really know if we can. >> He was our very beloved science. >> Yes.
>> Welld teacher. Uh all right. So uh that leads us to uh school committee representatives negotiations. >> So we had two requests to bargain. with the custodial union and one with our
cafeteria workers and we really do kind of need to respond to them with who we're negotiating. >> Okay, so here is the thought that Laura and I had because this is what Carol did with us. Carol had it so that a new member and an experienced member were on
the negotiation team every time. And so when it was the teachers, it was Carol and me. when it was the custodians, it was Brian and Laura. So that each time somebody was paired with somebody else.
And so I would guess given that we had two people leave the custodians one will be uh contentious. The cafeteria workers historically we have been fairly and it's been a fairly commodious
relationship. >> When do these happen and how long are they? a long time. There's a lot of >> When do these >> the group sets the time the dates and times together? >> There's rules. So >> the first meeting will be to set
>> time rules. Probably after school at least. >> Not on the weekend. Don't ever suggest weekends. >> No, but I'm just I don't get home from work till 5:30. Like >> they usually start at like 7 or 8 and sometimes go till like 10:00 >> Yes.
the teacher one we met at least 14 times. Yeah. How >> like how often is it happening? >> So the first meeting what So the first meeting what you're supposed to do is you're supposed to set the ground rules for who's talking, what format you're using, how long the meetings are, when
the meetings are. So all of that is something that's subject to bargaining. So unfortunately we can't answer your questions. Sorry. >> This is like get Oh, you could tell them, right? Like you
could just say like, "I'm unavailable these days and I I can't go past this time." And then they just you just have to make it work, right? Like if they don't want to make it work, then you get stuck negotiating ground rules for 6 months and they don't get paid. Got it.
>> New money. I mean, they get paid because they'll be in status quo. Yeah. >> But it's in their incentive. There's a strong incentive for everybody to get along. >> Got it. >> So I'm happy to do whichever one you want and Laura's said she would do another
one. So, whatever you guys want to do. >> So, I'm happy to take the custodians if we think it's more work just because I think I have more >> time to do it. I mean, not because I but I I'm happy to do that with whichever one of you
>> and then you can do the >> I honestly have no idea I'm getting into right now. Whatever. >> For sure. It's like >> wherever >> the closest. >> Is it really intense? >> The teachers was pretty intense. Like I will say it wasn't the most intense. Like when I was in law school, we did it
for the corrections officers union. That was really intense. Like they had us park our cars in different places. They had us like escorted out of the building. >> It's not like the unions when um like the electric the uh linemen stuff. >> The linemen, the carpet union, the
correction offices are intense. >> Yeah. The linemen, the corrections officers, and the carpenters unions in Gond Boston were always the most difficult for and I did that in law school. >> You're deterring me from going to law school. >> It was super It was >> Oh my god. If you're a lawyer, you want TO BE IN THAT.
>> YEAH, IT WAS SUPER FUN. >> I WAS NEGOTIATING the whole time. >> Well, it's the whole I had to be escorted to my car thing. That's >> right. You want to win if you're a lawyer. That's being a lawyer. >> Everything becomes a game or competition. Oh, trust me, I agree. But
not when I would have to be ex >> escorted >> escorted to my car. >> Where do you think Tony got his colorful language? >> It's all the correction. >> Why don't you and Emily do cafeteria work? And Laura and Mandy, you do custodian. >> Excellent.
>> Excellent. I will work with you to set up a system. >> It is actually really fun. >> I'm not I'm not being facitious. I know that there are people out there that dislike doing this. I'm not worried about the liking it or or not. >> She's just worried about when she's going to fit into commitment. How am I
going to fit >> No, no, no. We'll make it work. We'll make it work. >> I already don't have >> We'll make it work. >> I'm just >> Yeah, that's why this concern. I I have no problem doing it. I I'm not like anti it. >> I just I just want to make sure I can
actually physically be available for that. >> To ask them about doing it as IBV instead of what they've done in the past. I'm not sure these two particular opinions would be ones. >> Probably won't need it. >> Yeah, you probably won't.
>> Okay, that works. Uh, all right. >> I'm just going to say we'll make it work for your schedule. It is super fun. >> Looking forward to it. >> Uh, superintendent evaluations. >> So, I know you're all looking forward to doing my evaluation. I definitely got
that feeling from the training that we had on this at the beginning of the year. Um, sorry that was like your first introduction to us. We're really very nice, which is >> don't like, >> but it's that time of year and um town
elections are May 16th. We actually only have one more meeting um between now and then, believe it or not, >> or two more meetings between now and then. Um, so what I've put carefully in your folder. I was
going to say in your folder, but what I put carefully in your folder is a list of my goals with different artifacts um linked to my goals. I'm going to be very very honest with the committee. Um goal
two did not happen. Um and part of that was I needed to get through a Lunberg budget season. Yeah. um where the majority of my attention per the direction of the board was spent this year and with the changing of um Dr.
Bookis and Dr. Saki we shifted our educational priorities um a little bit from observations and evaluation into um actual teaching and learning and strategies. So that um that goal just
kind of became old and stale and I didn't update it with you. The superend superintendent entry plan and community understanding. You have a copy of my entry report. I've given you um some
copies of superintendent reports, some of the S'more newsletters that I sent home to families, which I'll forgive you get anyway. Um more newsletters that I've sent to staff. Um, and then you
actually have the actual entry report. And the building a culture of belonging is definitely something that I feel confident in. However, that survey that I recently sent out is actually going to be the largest piece of evidence for this. I am not writing purposely, not
writing the report myself. I have um an acquaintance who will do a pro bono for me >> so that um she will do the analysis of the data because I'm so close to it. I didn't want any of my bias to
>> it's above me. I didn't want any of my bias to sneak in >> to it. So >> this is goal four you're talking about. >> Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So you'll have evidence for that. Um the committee needs to decide now how they want to compile the evaluation, who's going to
write it, what your process is going to be. >> By tradition, the chair has been obligated to write it. >> Excellent. >> And so I will not change that tradition and impose it on anybody else. >> Um >> so can you just walk us through how this works? So we read everything, we look at
everything. Do we meet and talk about it or do you write something? >> We can. Um, >> so how do we >> It's terrible. >> In a public meeting we talk about. >> I mean, how have they done it traditionally? >> Yeah. I just want to do it differently. >> How do we get feedback if we can't talk about it? >> You talk about >> surprise. You give it in open meeting.
>> Are you kidding? >> No. >> It's awful. It's terrible. It is the worst process. >> It's just like if you were like evaluating in a public meeting. >> Okay. >> So, here's the way.
>> I have nothing. I I to say I'm just >> It's great. >> Awful awful idea. So what ends up happening is >> I would set aside like an afternoon on a Saturday in the next couple of
weeks to go through this document, look at the artifacts of evidence that she has and then review the rubric that >> MASC and DESIE have generated. Um, if somebody could just like put the little
scorecards in like a folder for us. So like put everything in one folder and then everybody can just log on. >> Go through the stuff like first read through the rubric because the rubric you're you're familiar with it cuz you it's the same rubric for you. >> No, I don't have this.
>> Oh, you don't? >> No. >> Oh. >> Oh, >> no. >> Did you Did have you ever had a place worked at a place where they had it? >> Not like this. I mean, I get like reviewed, >> but like the one through four thing. >> Not really. >> Okay. Um, so,
>> and tell me if I get any of this wrong. >> The idea is that you're basically given a score on a bunch of different there's like, you know, big goals and then sub goals and you're getting a score on one to four and then you you don't have to
average them, but you can and at the end you give like an overall score of one to four. And so my understanding is that this is not really a one to four, it's a one to three. And that if somebody does something that's extraordinary, like
really great, like you know, once in a while you give out a four. Um like I will tell you that as an example, I gave Dr. Burnham a four for managing the school district through co cuz there was like a bunch of things that had had to
happen and like she was really good at getting like supplies to people. She was really good at meeting with the unions forous. She was really good at meeting with parents. Like that stuff was really well integrated. We had a bunch of extra help for health and if anybody remembers
contact tracing we did that. We had people that were on the school buses for the mask stuff. So like that was a thing where I felt like it was an unusual event. She had resol resolved it in a really exemplary way and so I gave her a
four but like I didn't give out any fours in anything else. That was it. >> So the rubric is really her again. >> What? >> So are we going to get these rubrics to do on our own? Yes. and then bring them
here or give them to you and then you do the >> what I would what I would suggest is everybody do them send them to me and then I will like compile a like I'll say like you know here are the goals here are you know committee members representative statements for each of
the goals here's our conclusion unfortunately I can't share it with anybody so I'll put it in the folder and you can review it ahead of the meeting but like we can't sit down and talk about it so like you'll read it, but the first time anybody will hear it is when we have the the school committee
meeting. >> So, if you write something I strongly disagree with, I have to wait till the public meeting and say, "Tony, you wrote this and I I I'm just I don't think this is going to happen. I'm just >> living through how this possible way to do this. It It's not quite that bad
because what I will try to do is I will try to get a draft like if we do if we do it, you know, cuz we only meet every other week. I would try to get a draft done like the week before and then if somebody had feedback on an individual onetoone basis then you could reach out.
But all of the problems that we have is like normally when we have an open meeting law what happens is I send something to that student and then she sends it out but because it's about her she can't do that. So we really have to figure out ways to just make it work. It's a pain in the butt. It takes about
like I usually spend between three and four hours going through all of the material. >> You want to get it the respect it deserves. >> You know, write up like a little thing and I'll do my best to just include what everybody says. I'm not going to pick and choose. I'm just going to put everything down. One of the little twists that I'd like to add for your
consideration is I actually the DESIE rubric is so sterile to me and I don't think it reflects local school districts and local communities. So one of the things that I've linked to the top of my
goals are the characteristics that the community identified and what they want in the superintendent. um their next superintendent and then um that's what the survey that you all received was based off of were those characteristics.
So, I think that that's something that we can incorporate into Tony um this year because the Desi rubrics are the Desi rubrics and I hate the fact that in their training they ingrain into you that not that I expect to get exemplary at all,
but that they really limit it to a one to three scale with like all the trainings. I think somebody should be able to earn a board on the rubric. >> It felt a lot like when like in corporate America they say everybody has
there has to be a bell curve regardless of how good your employees are. >> But I mean it did I represent it wrong? >> No. >> No. That is what is drummed into your head. >> Okay. I am I am doing a little ad living here where I think it should >> especially in this community should be
about what the community values and um >> your honest opinions you know if I earn a one I earn a one if I earn a four I earn a four >> which again don't expect to happen >> I mean it's just >> so like
>> so when and how do we have to do this >> I will populate the folder for you tomorrow. >> Mhm. >> With the rubric in it. >> Mhm. >> And then we're going to do the rubric. You're going to get it
>> and you're going to put it all together. >> You give it you you'll put everything in the folder. I'll take a look at it. I'll like mush everything into a report and then I'll put the report up. Everybody can look at it. I don't know how we how >> so when do you need the rubrics by if we
record so you can look at the folder individually. When do you need those by? >> What do you want to say >> for you to have? >> I would like to have it by the second if we could because that's our meeting before the election. >> Sure. >> The end. >> So your your
>> Oh, you know what? I'm moving at work. I'm moving offices so I I will not be able to do it then. Can we do it the next meeting? >> Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Okay. So, when do you want our stuff for you? >> Um, so if we're going to do it the second meeting in May,
>> what if we do it by the third Wednesday of May? Right. So, when's our when's our calendar? >> So, it'll be the new board, which is mostly the same people. >> Uh, it will be all the same people because no one ran, right? >> No, there's someone else.
>> Jean Russell is running. Oh, perfect. >> May 20th is the second meeting in May. >> Okay. So, if we do it the Wednesday before that, so May uh May 13th. >> Wait. >> Yeah. >> So, we're going to have a override election and then we're going to have to come three days later. And
>> so, we did last time. >> Wait, what do you mean? >> It's going to be 3 days after the overhead, but hopefully passes. So, it'll be a wonderful meeting. Yeah. Oh. Um, >> how long will it take for you guys to like know after? Like >> we knew at 5:00 we went and waited and
they just came out and read us the results. >> Someone in a tricorn hat. >> Yeah. >> Came out, unscrolled the big scroll from the Wizard of Oz. >> And you don't just have to use the evidence that I put here. You've been with me on all of this journey. I mean,
you've seen it. You've lived it as parents, as school committee members. So, you know, please use what you >> And are you expecting us, I guess, Tony, to We're not just doing numbers, we're doing actual writing stuff, too. >> It'll be in the rubric. There's like
it's like a score sheet. >> Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Exactly. Exactly. So, like, you know, the the comments are like I don't I don't think any comment that I ever wrote caught the superintendent by surprise. Like, it was
always things. >> Yeah. Yeah. I don't really even know. I mean, >> I'm not really worried about what I'm gonna say. I'm just worried about again the logistics of it all. >> I mean, that's that's mostly it. And also, like I Yeah, I've always worked in a little company, so I've never really like like we now review our employees.
We're bad at it. We try We try to do what we're supposed to do, right? But we don't >> I don't know. >> You do exactly what you're obligated by law to do. >> Yeah. Exactly. >> Okay. >> Uh I will just add one thing.
And I don't think this is going to come up for you, but this is not the way that employees should be given feedback. >> Yes. >> And so I would just, you know, I don't think anybody here is going to be like out to lunch, but it's just brutal.
>> It's so brutal. And sometimes it's like it just felt a little petty. >> Yeah. >> And so like really awkward. >> It is the worst. talking. >> Well, it's just like how they you had to interview everyone in public, too. I I
think it's so weird. I do. >> But I mean, like >> you guys are used to it. Superintendents are used to it, I guess, cuz that's the only way it happens. But yeah, we don't love it. >> But it's strange, >> but no one else does this. >> Like the president of the United States doesn't have to do this.
>> Yeah. But >> he doesn't do most of what he's supposed to do. The office of the president does not have a mechanism of review that is as grueling and publicly humiliating as this. >> Yeah. >> So just just >> only one time was there something that was said where I was like
>> that's probably not >> I don't think it's going to be humiliating. >> It's going to be great. It's going to be great. But that's fine. It's just it is just in general awkward. Yeah. It feels awkward. That's >> uh it is awkward. >> It doesn't just >> wait until that meeting. Thanks. >> Well, hopefully we'll have won the
override cuz we'll have lost. I'll be sitting under the desk. >> I like you all to be in a good mood. We'd like to be in a good mood. >> I'll have the report done before the results. >> I know. I'm just >> uh
Okay, we have to do our policies. First read of our policies. Oh, this is uh Did everybody have a chance to look at and I only say this because the last one the last time this came before us was like a true disaster. The handling of cash. I just want to
point out in case you didn't get a chance to look at it, the the big difference was we did not bar the use of cash. We limited cash to uh transactions
of less than $50. And that's a by design. >> Yep. >> There are lots of people, apparently people who have bags of cash stuffed under their mattresses that thought we were doing some kind of grave disservice to the children and the future of
Lunberg by not having them count change, >> which I was like, ah, whatever. But that is the only difference between the old cash policy and the new cash policy. Um, and so I would uh look for a motion to wave first reading.
>> I'll make a motion to wave first reading on the cash policy. >> All right. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> Okay. The next policy um student data and uh privacy and security policy as you guys may or may
not be aware uh the legislature has changed the rules about student records and keeping student records and so this is largely just in response to changes in uh the uh code of Massachusetts regulations. So it it just follows the
only thing that is homegrown that is endemic to Lunberg is the last paragraph. Uh this was something that Laura had put on our plate because a lot of the systems that we use including Google Classroom now have the ability to
have AI integration. And so what the purpose of this change or this addition was is to bar the use of open AI systems to learn or incorporate data from our students that would be otherwise
protected by um policies or uh federal laws on privacy for student records. So that is the only thing that is homegrown. >> I don't know what the difference between closed and open is. So an open AI is like if you ask Google a question
>> and it answers it with Gemini. What it does is it uses a large language model to predict what you want your answer to be. >> Okay? >> And the way that the large language model works is that it learns the strength of correlation between words.
And so the larger the database it has to learn the strength of correlation between words, the more accurate your answer will get. And so the AI systems are really hungry for data and they will go out and they will scan the the web for data. They will go out and find
sources for data where those connections and the strength of those connections is made clear. So, for example, if you clicked on a picture, if you could put the phrase, I want to see a bald eagle from Maine into Google and then the image you click on is a bald eagle from
Maine. And then you click on another image in that link, it will know that it gave you a good answer because you spent time with it or it will assume it gave you a good answer. So, open systems for AI will use all of the data that they have at their disposal to create
information, but they're learning on data that is part of these open databases, systems of information. A closed system like the one that we would use is one where it has that large language model
software program inside of it, but it is not going to go out and use publicly accessible data. Nor is it going to share the data that it generates with public sources. So what we don't want to have happen is we don't want our use of
AI to be such that it's sharing our students data with a public AI that's using it to create its large language model database. And the reason we don't want that is because we don't have any control over that. And so when we were looking through it's clear that the pol
that the the the systems that the school district currently uses we are told from the suppliers that they are closed AI systems. So, like for attorneys, I can't have any AI system that's not closed because all of my records for my clients
are confidential. So, like if it goes through and it reads a transcript and I ask like how many witnesses were at this event, >> it will be able to generate that answer, but it'll only be able to do that based on my information. It will not use >> any new public information for the large
model. >> Yeah. So the hope is number one that the tech companies are telling us the truth. >> Great. >> Again, did you have a bad >> and number two that this small addition will only put us a little bit ahead of
the curve from what everybody else is doing. So, uh, with that explanation, uh, can I get a motion to wave the first reading of the student data privacy and security policy?
>> Uh, I'll make a motion to wave the first reading of the student privacy and data policy, >> data privacy and security policy. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I uh, did we actually finish this one?
>> Mhm. Uh the next one is the medication administration policy. Uh this is again something that is uh adapted from another source in this case the MSC's uh re uh recommended uh policy. It is also
based on uh Mass General law and the code of Massachusetts regulation references. Um this one I don't believe that we had any outside additions. It is as it was proposed. And did we have this policy already or no? This we just had to reapprove this
policy. >> No, >> we did have this policy. >> We did and it needed to be updated based on the 2021 policies. >> I make a motion to wave the first reading on the draft medication administration policy. >> I'll second.
>> All right. And the last one. >> All those in >> Oh, all those in favor? >> I Okay. The next one is the advertising in schools and this was on our plate for a very specific reason. So I like to
call this the Amy King advertising in schools policy. >> So this came before the committee two years ago this or three years ago. >> It was two >> two years ago as a way to generate extra revenue. And so the hope was that we
would uh allow people to advertise to our children in the schools with certain limitations both on where they could advertise and what they could advertise. The issue that brought it back to the policy subcommittee was
figuring out how to put these things in place. So like on a practical level whenever a policy says the superintendent and or their designate it's usually one of those two people >> maybe one of those three or four people
but if it's not those four people there's no other designate so the question that came before us is how should I interpret this policy like should we try to find ads that are you know like harmonious with what we want
to promote or should we, you know, try to find ads that are appropriate for certain places in the school building? And so in talking through this policy subcommittee, we just said we want as much money as possible. So we added the part in red. This guy
this the guidear for this policy is to generate as much ad revenue as possible and to leave to district employees the procedures needed to implement this policy. In other words, Liz, go find as much money as you can. Mhm. >> So um >> except there are prohibitions for >> sure. Sure. Sure. No, no. The only
change from the last last time is the the last part. And the prohibitions are basically things that are outlined by statute as being barred or things that we've had bad experiences with uh that were sort of uh added in a syncratic
process where every time something bad happened, we just change the policy a little bit. So um so for example number two on that list any any entity for profit or otherwise it generates income however derived from the monetization or sale of alcohol tobacco cannabis
gambling sports uh gambling services fantasy sports services pornography or firearms that's just from the statute so we just brought that in but there were other things about like handing out flyers where we had a problem one time so we just put that in um so with that explanation and that very small addendum
we're just adding that last sentence Uh, can I get a waiver of the first reading of this policy? >> I >> And if you guys have questions, you can ask questions. >> I move to wave the first reading of the
revised 1303.1 advertising schools >> policy. A second. >> All right. Uh, all in favor? >> I. >> All right. Thank you. Um, we will actually have to read it once aloud >> and then we'll wave it again and no one
ever ever has provided comments. >> If we're waving it now, do we have to do it number two? >> We have to do it three times >> in this moment. >> No meeting. >> Okay. >> We did this in >> But why are we waving the first reading? Can't we just do the second reading now for waving the first reading? >> Nope. >> We have to have a comment.
>> The legislature. >> Yeah, but we we they impose upon us rules they do not themselves follow. So, we're going to have to >> This was the first reading of the bill. >> Yes, this was the first reading of the policy. >> Yes. All right. Uh, old business warrant
articles. >> All of this is in case the committee wanted to review or discuss any warrant articles in the town meeting warrant to which there is a link in your folder. I would just like to say that I'm grateful
for whoever organized it and put the override first because if it's like the 23rd item, >> it's not. >> It's the 11. It's 11. >> Oh, I thought it was number one. >> No, they just have the model vote. >> Oh, okay. Okay. >> Yeah. >> All right. I don't
>> Do we know if we're going to offer uh sandwiches? >> We are. >> Oh, perfect. >> And is there going to be uh >> child watching services? >> Yes, there is. Thank you. Liz is working with um >> the honor society. >> Yeah. >> I have no other questions about other
than the order. Put it first. There's always like that moment where like all the lake people leave. >> So, >> it's always the parents that leave and Mr. Murphy will >> chastise
>> big scene and chastise us all. >> The lake people do that too, though. >> I mean, my mom says the firefighters and police do it sometimes. Do nothing against them, but you know, when they come to vote for something, right? >> I'm just there to see what my dad says.
That's a good >> anything for his pizza oven. >> Yeah. Yeah. If people only knew how good that pizza was, they'd let him talk more. >> Okay. I think we're good. I mean, I'm good. I I have to read this more in depth, but I don't think many of them
have to do with the school, right? And the only thing that has to do with the school is the thing we talked about already, the kids kingdom foreign. >> Kingdom, the override capital um plan. >> Yeah. And you said the capital plan included the two the school stuff.
>> Yes, it includes the primary playground um study, the primary driveway study and security at TC Pacios and primary. >> Excellent. >> Yep. Not TC Pacios, Turkey, but Turkey.
Yep. >> All right. I do not have any questions about this. Anyone else? >> All right, let's see if we can get done by then. >> Yeah, >> let's go. >> Uh, the next thing was school committee
goals. >> So, I put a reminder and did you also get to review yourself? >> We did great. >> We actually did really well. I put a reminder of your school committee goals in here and it was the future of Turkey
Hill Elementary School, which we have a direction on. Y the primary school parking lot and playground which we have on the capital plan and the budget process which we ran a very transparent and clear budget process. >> We did do good. Boom.
Surprisingly a lot of crying in full committee but maybe the tears were made so productive. >> Yeah. Yeah. I think that's possible. >> I told you when I joined this committee I'm not >> I'm going to increase the number of meetings that end in tears by 300%.
>> Let's go. Thanks, Tony. >> Well, just so you know, my children both yesterday on the way home from River Springs said, "You're a robot. Even demanding." >> Okay, I'll take that. Uh, all right. Uh,
>> I'm like crying on the phone. >> Do you think we have to go here? >> Yes. Threatening. >> All right. Didn't show. >> I don't know why they >> You did see me threaten them. I I don't know what you had called about, but you called when we were on speaker phone and I got off the speaker phone and they
were both like, "Man." And then last night they told me, "You're a robot." >> Um, >> public comment for issues discussed tonight. Anybody >> I'm not seeing anyone. >> All right.
>> Any reports from subcommittees and topics for future discussion? We've already put up one and then uh I think that's it. >> Um oh, one one minor thing. The house budget came out today and so it does include $160 per person uh per kid more.
So there's a little bit more money for that and there's a little bit more money for the uh special circuit breaker. So >> that's good. >> I don't know how much it is yet. I'm waiting for the charity sheet and all this stuff and the process takes a while. But it does seem like something
is happening. All right, we are good at uh 9 or no 8:46. I would look to motion to adjurnn. >> So moved. Second. All
>> in favor? I can't myself. Second. No, we're good.