Thank you. And um I call meeting the full meeting to order. >> Excellent. Let us begin with um the pledge of allegiance. >> I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic
for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. and I will read the top of the agenda. 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 and 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 of the topics which may be discussed at the meeting and those 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 either other items not listed may also be brought up for discussion to the extent permitted by open meeting law. And we did our call to order and pledge of allegiance. Um is there anybody here for public
comment? Um Hello, Brian Leighton, 88 Beach View Road. I'm also a member of the select board and I'm here on official business from the select board uh as the school committee liaison. At last night's uh
select board meeting, we voted to approve sending a letter to the the tri board members. So, I'm here to also read that letter. I sent the a copy of the letter to the chair as well as the superintendent to disperse to the members as well. Dear fellow tribard members, the purpose of this letter is
to strengthen communication within the tri board to support clear budgeting, better coordination, and improved public trust. Effective collaboration is essential to our town's success. As we approach budget season, it is important that we have timely access to accurate
information. Clear and consistent communication is vital to our collective decision-making, the integrity of the processes, and the trust of our community. The select board would like to address communication issues among our committees that became apparent leading up to last month's special town
meeting. Information naturally evolves in the weeks preceding any town meeting, and the recent special town meeting was no exception, with details and motion language being finalized up until the meeting. While we all strive to provide information well in advance, circumstances may prevent us from
meeting that ideal, making it challenging for everyone involved. In the weeks preceding the special town meeting, a substantial amount of information was distributed to us by the town manager through town email. However, statements made in public forums and discussions among committee
members suggested that some members may have not seen these communications, creating the impression that information was not provided. The select board is also concerned that there may be an increasing reliance on social media platforms such as Facebook for updates and discussions. While such platforms
can enhance community engagement, they are not official sources of information and may inadvertently contribute to the spread of inaccurate or incomplete details. To address these challenges, the select board supports the following measures and encourages all trib.
Monitor and respond to town email consistently. Utilize appointed liaison as intended to coordinate information between committees. Review recordings of any missed meetings to remain fully informed. Prioritize official town communication channels over social media
for committee related information. The select board welcomes additional recommendations from committee members to further strengthen communication and transparency across the tri board. The select board remains committed to openness, transparency, collaboration, and effective governance. We value the
efforts of every tri board member and look forward to continued collaboration to best serve the residents of Lunberg. Thank you. >> Can I ask Can I ask this board member a question? >> Technically, it's a >> publicment. Okay.
>> So, no. >> So, no. >> So, no. >> Okay. Can we talk about that in a minute? >> Yes. >> You can make a public comment in response. >> Okay. It's fine. But I can't ask him a question. >> No. >> Bes this is exactly why people can't
communicate. Can I can I just like for the record the fact that the select board just presented to us a problem that they have with the way that we're operating and me and my good friend Brian Leen who I know well cannot have a
conversation about it in a public forum right now. This is not a comment to the chair or to the select board or to the superintendent, but I just want to if anyone heard that comment and has questions about it, so do I. But obviously, the way that the t that the
open meeting law is constructed does not allow me and Brian to have that conversation right now in front of everyone. So, I'm sorry to the folks who are sitting in front of us, but it's asinine. I mean, honestly, excuse my language. It's asinine. >> Agreed.
>> Thank you. Okay. No problem. >> Hi. >> Sorry. >> How are you? >> Bizarre. >> I'm leaving real soon. >> Right. >> Um, good evening, Superintendent Dr. Fortuna and school committee members. My
name is Nancy Charbano and I live on Arbor Street in Lunberg. Thank you for your time and your effort that you put into helping the Lunberg students. I recently sent emails to Dr. Fort to Dr. Fortuna and Mr. Skullbr, school committee chair, asking for some current
reading information and want to thank both Dr. Fortuna and Mr. Scullbrren for taking the time to respond to my emails and thoughtfully answering questions about the reading levels for the elementary school students. I also want to thank Mrs. Sardai for her response
and opening up the conversation about literacy. As we know, reading is a skill that is necessary for students to be successful in their academics and in their future careers. As a community member, as a parent of a student that graduated from Lunberg schools, and as
an educator myself, I am concerned about the current reading levels in Lunberg and I'm interested in partnering with you and the schools in any way that I can support you at a future meeting. Um, can you share with the parents and the
community the systems that you currently have in place to help the students close the gaps in reading for those students that are either well below or below the reading levels? And secondly, at a future meeting, can you share information on how you're implementing
the tier one reading support so that hopefully we can prevent as many students from falling behind in reading as they have, you know, now and and since the time of co um those are my most important questions. And then how
can community members uh like myself partner with the schools to assist in helping the students and their literacy skills? Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Respond to you. >> Okay. >> Um, hi everyone. I hope everyone is
having a great night tonight. Uh, my name is Myra and I was actually as well in the last meeting before. Uh, I live in Lunberg's uh, in Lunberg in Arrow Street and, uh, I am a parent of two children that are currently attending school in Lunenburgg. One at the primary
school and the other one at Turkey Hill. First, I wanted to thank you so much for all you do for our kids. I just wanted to mention that I am here to support my children and take accountability and to do what is necessary to help them succeed. I make sure to help them with
reading at home and other materials regarding school. My first graded is Courtney, the desire reading level. However, I have been in touch with his teacher and she shared that is getting some reading help which I very much appreciate it. While my child is getting
the reading support he needs, I am concerned that not all students who qualify intervention are currently able to access it. I wanted to bring this forward in a spirit of collaboration and advocacy for all learnings and I really want to thank you all of you for all you
do for students. >> Thank you so much for coming. >> Thank you again. Is there any other public comment? >> Don, come on down. >> You know, this is my least favorite thing, speaking in public. Hi, Don Gar.
You >> are a teacher. >> But that's different. It's the kids. It's entertainment. I have fun. And I love this topic. You know, I don't love this topic. Um, so Don Garen, I don't know if I'm supposed to say where I live and all that sort of stuff, but nine Crescent Terrace. And I've been here 32
years. um had many many different roles within the school and the community and I'd like to continue that. Um I'm here my big goal is to make the point that the athletic draw athletic director job needs to be full-time. Um I'm living the
nightmare of having two full-time jobs. Well, no, excuse me, a full-time job being cut and then I could be expected to do both of those full-time jobs. I'm lucky enough that I don't have to. Okay, that greenhouse job was a full-time job at some point. Athletic director job.
Holy cow. I can't even believe that Shannina is doing an amazing job that she's doing. And I know that from a coach's perspective cuz I coached this fall with her and seamless. And then also from the educator's perspective, she's at school doing a
great job also. And that again, I feel bad for her because it's almost inhumane of what's going on because of the hours. And so I'm again I'm I'm supporting her as doing a great job, but I'm also my big shout out is about it needs to be a
full-time job. So how does it affect me as a coach when the AD is not there in the morning? I don't want to reach out to them because they've been there since nine o'clock, 10 o'clock that night. So, I struggle as a coach to get what I need when I need it. As an educator, thank
God we have two other administrators that are helping pull up the slack, which is unfortunate for them, also getting more stuff dumped on them, but I can't touch base with her until she gets into school. So, again, not her fault. Thank God at least they have their schedule adjusted, but it's too much for
one person. And if you know anything about that job, it is a full-time job. The fires that you put out every day with parents, kids, coaches alone is a nightmare. The budget, the gym, the fields, the
transportation, the weather. It's amazing how much has to get done in one day. And in the past, they've tried to have it be an educator, two, you know, two-fifths teaching and three-fifths, oh my god, those poor kids that had that person for a teacher, they were out of school like 70 different days, missed
class 70 different days. How how is that fair to the kids? So, you've got a great person working her tail off, doing I'm saying a great job at both of those because she would never not do a great job.
So, I'm here to support. I know we have we need paras. I know we need this. I know we need that. But sports are a big part of kids' lives. I support that. I grew up that way. But more importantly, if we lose sports around here, we lose a
lot of great kids. A lot of our great students that are great athletes will be long gone. So, we can't afford to lose any more students. Any questions for me? That's just a public comment. I guess not. >> We're super >> We can't answer it. We can't question.
>> Thank you. Thank you for listening. I'm supposed to be a minute. I do. Yep. No, but thank you for all you do. Also, great to see you. We're not allowed to ask questions. >> Any other public comments? >> Sorry, I'm going to move.
>> Anybody online? All right. Uh then we will move on to the chair's report. Uh so the only thing I have for chair's report is that on December 7th, I received an email from uh George. George indicated that he was
uh having a change in his job and so that he was no longer going to be able to be on um school committee. And so anybody, including people that just made comments, including the people that just made comments, that is interested in being on
school committee, they should uh let either Dr. Fortuna or I know. There's a process in the town charter for how the people would be appointed. Um, we are looking for people that are willing to do a lot of work, that are interested in
the school and the town. Um, we also want to try to find people that have different perspectives. And I think that, you know, having everybody have the same perspective makes for harmonious meetings, but maybe not the best decision-m process. So, if you
think you want to do it, you should let one of us know. Um, I will tell you that George's seat is a three-year seat and so it would be a three-year I mean essentially two and a half year commitment because he started in June. Um, >> it would be until the next election.
>> Oh, according to the >> Okay. Okay. Um, so if you're interested, please feel free to reach out to one of us. If you have any questions, you can ask anybody on school committee. they can tell you like the work that involves and um I'm happy to talk to people if
you know somebody that you think we should contact. I'm even soliciting on that level. So please, please, please reach out to us. That's the end of the chair's report. We have no student representative. So wait,
you don't have a report. You didn't have a report. >> It's down at the bottom. >> Oh, can we move your report to here? Yes. >> Okay. >> Why are you allowed to comment? >> Oh, sorry. Comment. Go ahead. >> Um,
I just want to point out that as a member of the school committee, I do not get any communications. A lot of the communications that allegedly have been happening. So, I don't know what's going on, whether only the chair gets this communications, but um, and it could be because the open meeting law, but Mr.
Leighton, the stuff that I think you're referencing, I knew nothing. There was no email. I check my town email regularly and I've got I got nothing about it. So, we can have further conversations about that. But, um I just think that who that the select board should know that that is,
you know, >> right? >> And I don't know if the chair is only getting it because that has to be the way that it happens or that's because >> So, the I think the email in question was an email that was sent to Dr.
Fortuna and I and the email indicated that the select board had taken a vote about Kids Kingdom and that we wanted to weigh in. For whatever reason, I missed it as did Dr. Fortuna. Um what I said at
the town hall floor was basically that we had not been consulted, which is true because the vote had taken place and the email went out after the vote. So that's just that's it. Okay. And I have sympathy for the chair and
for other people on this panel. While in a perfect world, I would watch every meeting that occurs in this town, it is very difficult to keep up with the select board, the finance committee, come to school committee meetings, be a parent, have a job, and do all that kind of stuff. And as you can see, we're not
exactly flushed up here with members. So, um I just think that you know the reality of having to watch every meeting that has to go with the schools. I will be brutally honest with you, it does not happen. >> The school committee meetings I watch I watch some of the select board meetings
at times two because that's the time that I have to watch it. I cannot keep up with all the finance committee meetings. I'm sorry. And if we if people want to talk about that, I'm happy to talk about that offline, but I'm just being honest. I think the intention having watched the meeting where this
communication was drafted um and Mr. and you can nod if I'm correct in this was that if you miss your committee meeting that you watch that to be caught up not that you watch the selection every finance
>> I mean I try to watch the selectment meeting I really do but it's not >> that's not an easy >> no it was implied that we should be caught up on all of it is really just the intention if you miss a school committee
meeting you watch that. I mean, I'm not disagreeing with you. I just the way that it was presented seems different. So, yeah, >> it was presented to the tribe, not to the >> school. Gotcha. Yeah. >> Okay. >> Gotcha. >> Okay. Thank you. I appreciate your time, Brian.
>> I mean, I would say what Carol told me when I first joined like you're a volunteer. You have other things in your life. Do your best. >> Yeah. And I think that's like >> Well, and I mean, I think we are I know that everyone who's sitting up here and Laura are we are doing our best. I, you know, full faith that we are doing the
best we can do. So, I'm not I just felt compelled to say that because I, you know, I wouldn't want anyone who's outside of this situation, right, with we might be referring to something specific that we all know about, but anyone who's watching this meeting, >> right, has no idea what we're talking
about. And I wouldn't want them to come away with an impression that, you know, certain things are happening that are not happening or whatever. >> Okay. Sorry. Is there any other public comments from the board? >> All right.
>> All right. My report is relatively brief and tonight I'm going to start with our spotlight on excellence and that is going to be Miss Nataro's 8th grade ELA class. Um, Miss Nataro's 8th grade ELA
classroom. I got to observe an activity where students brought the pages of Gris Brimley's illustrated adaptation of Frankenstein to life. As the culminating activity for the unit, the class engaged in a highly structured debate that
demonstrated not only deep lit literary analysis, but also exceptional classroom routines and student agency. What stood out immediately was the intentional structure of the lesson. Every student had a specific role and responsibility to their peers, ensuring that engagement
was total and accountability was shared. The students familiarity with the classroom routines was evident. At the midpoint of the lesson, the class seamlessly transitioned into supportive groups. During this strategic pause, students collaborated to generate new ideas and strengthen their team
arguments, showcasing their ability to work cooperatively and think critically on their feet. Beyond the mechanics of the debate, the lesson was a powerful example of differentiated instruction designed to meet the needs of every learner. Mrs. Nutaro demonstrated a keen
understanding of the anxiety public speaking can cause for some students and some adults. As we heard tonight, throughout the debate, she utilized specific targeted praise to reinforce students efforts building their confidence in real time. While the activity rigorously covered ELA
standards regarding argumentation and textual evidence, it also prioritized personal growth. Following the debate, students reviewed their personalized public speaking goals, specific targets set for each individual learner. This dual focus on curriculum standards and
individualized skill building ensured that the lesson was accessible and challenging for every student in the room. Kudos to Miss Nataro and our eighth graders for an inspiring display of collaboration, critical thinking, and courage.
We are not going to have our meeting finance update because that's kind of the whole point of the meeting tonight. And I have an exciting announcement that I want to share. Looking ahead to 2026, I am pleased to share exciting news
regarding our central office leadership. Following a successful shadow day today, we are preparing to welcome Mr. Johnny Reid, a doctoral resident from Harvard University to our team. From July 26 to April 27th, Mr. Reed will serve as a key
administrative asset, working directly under my mentorship while providing his own unique insights. With a strong background in entrepreneurship and a deep commitment to student and teacher wellness, Mr. Reed is poised to be a vital resource for our community. We are
eager to leverage his expertise to support our district strategic goals. And um I've been working with Johnny. This will be the second year that I've worked with Johnny. I also did his fellowship year with him. And he is
really an outstanding candidate who will bring a lot to the district as well as helping out. >> It's amazing. >> He's incredible. >> I just Googled him. Yeah. >> How what >> and for to have somebody of his caliber tell me that I inspire him. It was
amazing. >> And could you just this kind of position is something they do as part of their project. We aren't paying them. >> So >> I'm just curious. >> Nope. This is the other beautiful part of >> Yeah. I just think for the public as well. >> Harvard generally expects the district to pay $85,000
to um host a resident. Harvard um because of our size and our budget is completely paying for the amount of money that it will take to have his degree here. >> That's amazing. >> Holy cow. >> Thank you so much. >> Last step before his doctorate.
>> Yeah. >> That's awesome. >> And that concludes my superintendent report. >> Excellent. >> All right. So, uh, we want to go through and review and approve the minutes from the 10:15
2025 regular session. Has everybody had a chance to review the minutes? >> Uh, does anybody have any questions about the minutes? Can I get a motion on the minutes? >> Make a motion to accept the minutes of
>> October 15th, 2025. >> I'll second. >> Okay. And then all in favor? Hi. >> Okay. And because Laura is not here, is she >> Laura's here? She's on that. >> Okay. So, we're going to have to do a roll call vote. Uh, Miss Brazowski.
>> Maybe she's here. >> She's at her concert. >> Child's concert. >> All right. Well, maybe the child is performing. >> Okay. At this point, >> she's not. So, I think that we can just do a regular voice vote and we're all in favor. So, we'll adopt the minutes. Uh,
the review and approve line item transfers and warrants. Donations. You want to do that? Now, >> we have warrants. We do not have any donations or line item transfers. >> Okay. >> So, we don't have to do anything with the warrants. It's just a notice that we're transferring.
>> Correct. >> Okay. Um just for the purpose of the record uh for the period of uh December 3rd through the December 12th, 2025, the warrant item for a total of two $217,820.97. And we are now on to agenda item number
nine, new business, winter athletic report, Miss Burns. And they also asked Miss Burns to supply some information which is in your packet about the position of of athletic director. And the committee did express a desire at our last meeting to hear
from the person that does the job about the job. >> All right. Thank you for having me. Um sorry I'm kind of in the middle of a hosting a game as well as being here and I appreciate you taking the time to um hear uh about the athletics. Um, so I do want to uh the first thing that I have
sent to you all is the athletics breaks down from 2024 to 2025. Um, we have um added a winter cheer this year. Um, it has been a fantastic addition. I've been hearing a lot of people down below at the basketball game saying this is
amazing that we've added this. Um, between 2024 and 2025, our middle school and high school participation rates have increased. Um, and I also added a little uh projected numbers for grades three, four, and five. I've had these students at the primary school when I was down
there teaching, and these kids are very athletic, and if they keep going, these numbers are our projected numbers coming up in the next three years. Um, do you have any questions about this athletics report? It's kind of simple. It's the same thing as the breakdown. I did I was able to um spend a little more time and
give you percentages so you can see the increase in participation numbers. >> Yes. Can I just ask you about um u middle school sports and how we've decided? I mean, I know you're new to the position, but it's just curious to me that we have certain middle school sports and we don't others. Is it just interest? Um obviously budget has a something to do with it.
>> Yeah, budget has something to do with it, but it's not all that. It's also participation numbers. So, sometimes we have a influx of um bubble grades that we have a lot of students that want to participate. Um but this year we've kind of lost that bubble for a little bit. I know we're going to get it again once our fourth graders are in the school
system into the middle high school. Um, but it's basically comes down to numbers. So, if we don't have enough, um, we don't really need the middle school team. But if we have a lot of students, then we try to get that middle school team up and running. >> That's great because there are programs that do offer middle school that are
like, >> you know, um, >> volunteer groups in town, but not everything, you know, and it's a different level of um, commitment for kids, >> right? Yeah. You have town compared to, you know, middle school athletics, which is, you know, middle school setting them up for the high school athletics expectations. So yeah, it's a little
different. Yep. >> Awesome. Thank you. >> Any other questions? Okay. I don't know how you want me to go about the next steps of, you know, um kind of giving you a little synopsis of the
report that I provided you. So, I took it upon myself to give you um you know, our grades are 6 through 12 that we have here at the middle high school. We have about 823 students currently enrolled with projected growth over the next three years. Um currently, um this past
fall season, we had uh 31% of students participating and that was about 11 sports. And this year for winter, we've had 29% of our student population with 10 sports. That's the addition of the cheer. Um we do co-op with a couple of other schools since our numbers are so low and we really don't have enough for
a team here. Um I did want to highlight a couple of things. This basically this entire report outlines the operational administrative um supervisory and compliance related duties are required to maintain a safe highquality and legally compliant athletic program.
Athletic directors across Massachusetts consistently agree that this role is a full-time administrative position requiring significant daily oversight, evenings, weekend commitments, holidays, and constant availability for emergency and compliance needs. Um
while you know some may think that the athletic program program only supports a majority of students I sorry a small number of students um if you were to walk away from this right now at this moment and you would look down our fan section is amazing. We have a lot of our
students who may not be participating in a school athletic program but may be participating in other athletics. Um it could be a dance or a club team. they are still here per part um cheering on their classmates. Um I am constantly
from day to day from the morning hours until the evening hours even though I'm not physically in the building and present I am consistently um putting out fires. So sometimes I get phone calls from the bus company or from officials or from our assigner who assigns the
officials that you know we're either short, we're not going to have an official or something came up, there's an emergency. I have emails that I try to get to. Sometimes I can't get to them throughout the day, so I try to catch up on my emails um through that. Right now, we are going through our finalizing our
schedules for the winter season, and those are hard deadlines, and if we don't meet them, then we miss out on opportunities. We could have to um disqualify ourselves, get forfeited out of games. Um we have to make sure that we are ready to go, that students are um
coaches and athletes are all prepared. Um, so I am constantly working, um, long hours on my phone, um, by the computer, wherever I can get a minute just to step away and get some things done. I'm constantly doing that. Um, I have,
again, you can see this entire presentation I've provided you. Um, there's a lot that goes into being an athletic director, and it's considerably now been a um, full-time job. Um I've reached out to um athletic directors
within our midwatch league and there's a number of things. We also have responsibilities that some people aren't aware of. We are voting members and representatives for our school as well as our league. If we miss an opportunity to attend a meeting, we could be um not part we could be missing out on an
opportunity to vote against something that we don't agree with. Um we could be missing out on an opportunity that would um make us more successful. Um there are a lot of invisible hours. Like I said, I am constantly on call between emergencies, transportation issues, weather changes, which um so far is so
good. Not too too bad. Um safety concerns, constant communication with officials, coaches, administration, and families. Um I coverage of games during holidays and school vacation periods. While everyone's enjoying their vacation, I will be working. Um this is impossible to maintain another role at
this time. Um, I've asked other ads because there are some school districts that do do part-time via paper contractwise, but realistically they are doing more of the athletics than anything else. Um, there's a high turnover rate for any athletic director that does a part-time job because they
are pulled in multiple directions. Um, you know, and I'm not the type of person, and I don't want to speak about myself, but I'm not the type of person that will let things fail. I want to make everything 100%. I I do not want anything to fail because if I was not here tonight or for any other um game or
event or um practice, you will it will be definitely seen by the public. Um so I cannot let that you know fall on the wayside. Um you know there's a lot that goes into it and then each page kind of discusses what like month by month what
is the expectation. And I've also provided you with information um from the National Institute of Athletic Administrations Association and what our legal responsibilities are as athletic directors as well as what an athletic trainer does, what they need for certificate. Um and they are pretty much
like right now Dave is down there watching with the game. Um if there's a medical emergency, he's tending to the emergency and I am attending to the um first responders um moving crowd control. I'm taking care of all that so that we can get that person safely out of the building if we need to. So, um
splitting the role between athletic director and athletic trainer, which was mentioned in one of the previous um school committee meetings, I don't think that would be feasible. Um in general, having a split position is not feasible moving forward. These two positions should be completely separated. um as a full-time athletic director and a
full-time assistant principal. I know I spoke a lot and I know I gave you so much information that you can look over, but I can I'm free to answer any questions that you may have. >> What about combining the position with the athletic trainer? So, an athletic trainer
>> I I do not I I I provided that in the folder for you guys. Um there the athletic trainer is is needs to tend to the games and the practices. They need to be here. Um the athletic director doesn't necessarily need to be at every single practice, but I am here. I am a
presence. If anything is needed from the coaches or the students, I am here. Um obviously the athletic trainer doesn't do anything outside of their scope, which is medical treatment. Um they are the ones who are trying to get the students back into the game, back into practices, back into participation, and they are community partners with our
UMass doctors that we work with. Um and they are the kind of like they speed the process up so students can get back to playing. Um, but it would be impossible because during a football game, athletic trainers, we send in our athletic trainer to the games and there's been um
games where I've had a away football game and I've had two soccer games that I had to be here for. >> What do the Desi comps do in terms of full-time athletic director? So, like I forget what they are, but Maynard there are like 10 towns that are
DesiComs. Do they all have full-time athletic directors and athletic trainers? >> So, your question is, how many school districts have full-time athletic directors or more like Desi? >> How many school districts that are desic have >> like the same size as us, I think is what
>> um so I know of two schools that have part-time positions right now and that's all they do. They're not you can't get a hold of them very often. It's very difficult to even communicate sometimes with them. you get like a long wait period and things need to be done right away at most times. Um, comparable to
us, um, most of them are on paper part-time. >> Okay. >> And realistically full-time. >> Yeah. If they want to do the job, right? And you like I've spoken to many athletic directors and they have said that the ones who are part-time by paper
and go by what is said on paper they it's very hard to communicate with them and it's a safety issue. >> The specific towns just in case you happen to know. >> Sure. So West Boilston is a part-time. >> Um Tanto is a part-time. Littleton is a
part-time as of now that's going into full-time. Um, we have a lot of schools that are shifting over. Um, sometimes they tried out. North Middle Sex was a part-time, now it's full-time. Um, they gave them an additional role, which is nothing. It's more of like a curriculum
aspect to it. Um, but comparably with other schools around here, they're all full-time, even if they're part-time. Um, Tinsboro has a part-time as well. Um, but again, more athletics than anything else. And those are very those are very close in numbers with us same
student population. >> So I think I mean nobody wants to cut anything. This is not like this like I obviously want to have a full-time athletic director of course >> you know I have questions about a trainer just because I did go to high school 20 years ago. That was a long time ago but we didn't have a trainer and to me in my brain
>> like people get medical care through their doctor and they have insurance right. So when our trainer is doing things right that an insurance company should be paying for >> to me I'm not saying that's going to make my I just want to talk about that because that's confusing to me right
like if a child has a knee injury right and they could be going to PT that their insurance company is paying for but our trainer is doing the PT >> right I I don't want to be cold to that child who has to be here right but we have people who are paying for tutors
out of school for kids to read right Um, so that that's a question I would like to talk about like sure what the what the athletic director I mean not the athletic director what the trainer is doing, >> you know, and are we is there places we could be billing, you know, for that is there partnerships we could be doing with medical care where they're billing
insurance, right? I mean, I think that's something we need to think about when we talk about cutting teachers, you know what I mean, for a full-time and like I love sports. I'm not like Tony, I don't think I think we should have a full-time >> I like sports. I know, but I just I but
I think the reality is we are in a really crappy place. I mean, we're you know, financially I'm not I'm not going to sugarcoat it, you know. >> Yeah. >> No, I understand. Um athletic trainers are very hard to come by. Um we are lucky enough to have Dave here and he's
been fantastic. Um he has brought in um doctors to help us. They are um sports medicine doctors. They get kids in and out of like literally get them into MRIs if they need it right away. They work with the insurance companies. Um, it's been a great addition to have them on
board. Um, I I get where you're going with this. >> I was going to say, right, like my kid has a broken leg. You know, I'm going to my >> primary care doctor and they're and and I and and Jody, Dr. Fortuna did tell us, you know, there are some MIAA requirements. I get that. Yes.
>> Obviously, if you have to have someone at every game, there is some like there's some of that, too. you know, you're paying on contract versus so I'm not again I just I think that's something that I would and it doesn't have to be in this moment, but I'd like a little bit more fully fleshed out because sure, >> you know, if we're going to lose social
workers, too, right? One thing I would suggest to Dr. Fortuna at some point is that we're we're >> engaging with outside companies that can bill Medicaid for that kind of work or can bill private insurance, right? Um, >> none of this is perfect. None of this is what I want, >> but I think we have to be realistic
about >> Yeah. >> about some of those things. >> Yeah. I mean, we need a either a doctor or athletic trainer on site for the games. EMTs cannot diagnose anyone. So, if a student athlete um gets a blow to the head, um they could technically have a concussion. Um the athletic trainer or
doctor can evaluate them on site and let them know if they can go back or not. Um they can, you know, they can they they know the body better than anybody else. Um they can get the student back into playing right away. Um whereas an EMT you >> what do we do if we have three games at
once? Do we hire an EMT? >> So you don't need So you need an athletic trainer at um athletic trainer or someone comparable like a doctor at the hockey games and boys lacrosse and football. The other sports don't necessarily need them because of the high contact. They're not as high
contact. Um those are the sports that tend to have more issues than other um sports um because they're more, you know, physical, right? Um um but they do they do participate in a lot of things. They have to stay up on trainings with their you know medical practices and
like they are the ones who get the kids back into participating again rather than sidelining them and not knowing if the insurance company's going to improve an MRI or keep them longterm out or run from doctor to doctor and not have any answers. Um so that's why the athletic trainer is like the bigger piece right
there. Um, but yes, I do understand like you can have EMTs, but realistically and financially it, you know, if you contract an athletic trainer versus having to pay out, you know, little contracts here and there, it's a lot, it's less, it's not as expensive.
>> So, you think it's less money to have the athletic trainer than it is to get an EMT to comp >> every game? Absolutely. Yeah. because right now they're looking at we've I I don't know the exact number but we're close to the $200 range per game if that for EMTs um doctors.
>> Okay. >> Yeah. And I mean I mean any given season we have very many games. I mean if you're talking max it's like 20 games per team. So if you have, you know, 10 teams in a season and you have 20 games per sport,
you're that's a significant cost. >> So we're paying it. >> Yeah, we're paying it some way. Yes. >> Yes. >> Is that the question? >> Absolutely. I'm almost there, but um is
which sports require the most time of the athletic director and which sports require the most time of the athletic trainer because we need to make hard decisions. >> Okay. So, for athletic director, it's soccer. I mean, every sport necessarily because I am constantly making sure that
everyone's in compliance for everything. Um and eligibility is a huge piece with the MIAA. So if I miss um a form or deadline, then that impacts the entire program. Um so I am every soccer home
game, every football home game, I do go to the away games if they're close enough to make sure that our students and crowd control are okay because the two two four eyes are better than two. Um I go to the field hockey. This is for fall. Um soccer, football, field hockey.
I've gone to the other other sports but not as much as well. And in the winter time I'm at h ice hockey games. I'm at basketball games and we have different levels and different um groups. So we have boys and girls um trying to think off the top. That was a
kind of question I wasn't ready for but I am at majority of the games. Any games that require um crowd control um ticketing I am there at those events. And then the athletic trainer, they have to be at those three main sports. Um,
boys lacrosse, football, and um, ice hockey. >> Can I ask if there are other models where some of this is funded by booster clubs? I'm not probably saying the athletic director position. I don't think that's a good idea, but I I'm just curious.
>> I that I don't have the answer to. I could find that for you. >> Yeah. Like, you know, some of this other >> Yeah. >> I don't know. I again I want to pay for everything. >> I know >> I'm not Right. but I just >> it's hard there. I mean you got to understand there it's really hard,
right? There's a lot of things that need to be funded. >> Um so I mean we're going to get to the budget portion about what we're actually proposing. Um, but >> can I ask some followup questions about the role that you have as the athletic
director when you say that like like I get the scheduling part. How about this? The the the overall thing I'm trying to figure out is what is the workload division between the athletic
director and the athletics dire or the athletic department secretary. So, I can't speak for Courtney. She's been an amazing help, support for me. Um, she has been taking on the role of doing more of the finance and the
budgeting things for me since she is familiar with it. I have been working alongside with her to um get everything in order and make sure that we are doing it, you know, the way that we should be doing it to make it a successful program. Um I do I do rely on her for
things as in going through final forms and checking eligibility for students constantly because we have sometimes we have student it'll let us know when students are up for their physicals or haven't made payments. So she follows up with that. She conducts all of that for
me. Um she reaches out to um you know the MIAA if I request for her to. She reaches out to some of our vendors that I need. um she kind of finalizes a little budget for me and we work together for that. Um she doesn't do much of you know she
creates the tickets, she gets all the gate things ready for me and I'm constantly making sure that I am a presence at games. I am um ensuring that we have ticketing proper properly done. I am there to make sure the scoreboards work. I am there to manage the
officials. I am there to welcome the team. So there's there's a lot more that I do um in that aspect that Courtney is not expected to do because she is more of the bookkeeper for at this point, but she does a lot more than just bookkeeping. Like she is constantly
talking with families. Um she is sending out messages consistently. She has been an integral part of the program. So for the purpose of this discussion, do you think that you that the the sports programs overall
make like what do they make as a gate? >> Um I have that actually >> like you can buy it for the whole year. Are they making 50 grand? Are they making 20 grand >> for my gates? >> Yeah. >> I mean I can give you I we just started the fall I mean the winter season. So I can't really tell you what we've made
for that. >> How was the fall? the fall in total just for um it was $16,000 in gates. >> Okay. So, if we said we're not going to charge admission anymore, we would lose $16,000,
but would that be a diminishment in the workload for the athletic director equal to that salary? >> Well, then we wouldn't have money coming into the revolving account which wouldn't pay for things, >> right? I understand that. But like what I'm saying is if if we're paying if part of the workload of the athletic director
is managing the gate and let's say it's I don't know just to pick a number you could tell me better but like if it's onetenth of the workload of a full-time athletic director and the athletic director was making you know $100,000
then it h it you know like you're only really making a profit of $6,000 right because it' be $16,000 or whatever. Like you could figure this out. I'm not using the exact numbers, but you could figure out what the gate what the responsibilities were in terms of the amount of time you spend on managing the
gate versus the amount of money the gate generates. And so if we got rid of the gate, we could get rid of that part of the job. >> But then that's like saying I'm sorry, I'll you can speak. Go ahead. >> Okay. I The problem with eliminating the gate is how much the revolving fund is
currently paying for for our athletic program. >> Yes. So if we're making 16,000 in one season and we extrapolate that out over all three seasons, that's say it's 10,000. That's $30,000
of purchasing power that we lose with our revolving account. Yes. >> Which pays um for fees. And >> but didn't we move a lot of that to the budget last year? >> We moved some of it to the budget, but not all of it. Okay. Just because we
were in the negative last year. >> So, how can we be paying for things? >> Well, we're not negative. We have money from the budget into the revolving. So, >> because you can't close a revolving in the negative >> in the negative. So, right now it's paying back the negative we were in. >> I I guess what I'm trying to do is
figure out if there's a way of removing duties that would make it viable to have it as a part-time position. I mean, but that's like saying like you're going to go to the grocery store in your car without tires. Like that's, you know what I mean? Like it's kind of if we think about that
>> folks that walk to the grocery store, >> I I understand, but like you're taking parts of a program and saying if we took this out, this would be easier for you to do or more manageable. I I think that you can't take things out to make it more manageable. like you need all of those aspects in order to make a
successful athletic program because again those that money that comes in for Gates is going right back towards the athletics budget for our students not for not for me not for my salary or anything else. It's literally going back to them so that we can pay for things
because at this point in time, if we don't have any money coming into that revolving account, we can't pay the officials. We can't pay for pretty much anything. Like, it's that's where everything comes out of. Oh, yeah. >> And we can't remove a piece of the athletic program or a job or a
responsibility and say that it's going to be successful. Like, I don't I like I understand what you're trying to say, but I don't feel like that even just removing the gate would I use the gate as an example because it has a quantifiable number attached to it. Like we're going to know how much the gate is
worth. And if it's like, you know, the gate is worth 50 grand, we're paying the athletic director 100 grand and half the athletic director's responsibilities at the gate. Maybe we just do math a different way and instead of using a revolving account, we pay it like in a
different mechanism. I I think >> I I I I'm hearing you. I just I disagree. I respectfully disagree. I just think I just think three full-time positions. Again, I am not against the athletic department. I am not. Right. But there's three full-time positions we're talking about. >> Courtney's not full time. No, she's not.
She's half time. She's not. She's a parttime. >> So, I But I mean, okay, so that's two and a half. I'm I'm just >> If we have here's the problem. If we have kids in third grade and the reading the number of kids that are reading at grade level is 48%. Like this is all
nice to have stuff. the reading stuff is essential. And so when we're trying to make tradeoffs, it's not do we like this thing or do we want this thing. The first thing is what are we legally obligated to do? The second thing is what is the mission of the school and what is core to that mission? And then
the third thing is what are all the nice to haves? And like I this is unpopular to say, but athletics are nice to haves. They are not something that we are legally obligated to provide children. That is not the role of a school. And to the extent that we have 48% of third
graders reading below grade at grade level, we have a dire need there and you know like spending a lot of money on an athletic director is something that is very difficult to do because we're going to we're going to go to the town. We're
going to ask people who have, you know, all different sorts of income, some of who are on fixed income. We're going to ask them for a lot of money. And when they ask us, "How are you spending that money? Are you going to address this deficiency in reading?" And we say, "Well, we want
to be, you know, are we the smallest town that has an athletic director? Are we the 10th smallest town?" Like those kind of questions are hard to answer. And I'm not expecting you to answer them. Like that's why we volunteer to do this. We are going to be in the miserable position of answering those
questions. But like thinking through those problems when you have you know trade-offs like this it's just something that we have to do and the idea that anything is sacrian and anything is untouchable cannot be our bonus operenda. We need to put everything on
the table and carefully consider each piece. And if you're asking me do I like sports I love sports. We had season tickets to the Cincinnati Reds. I chose my college because it was closest to Riverfront Stadium. I love sports, but I
am not going to sit here as the chair of the school committee and say I would prefer to fund sports over reading. Like, I just can't do that. And I know that that's not what you're asking us to do. You just happen to be the person sitting at the table when we have these
tough discussions. But like if I'm gonna go ask a lady who's on a fixed income to skip a pill one week, one day out of the week so she can pay more taxes, I want to make sure that we are doing everything we can. And that means putting everything on the table, every
single thing, including sports, athletic director, athletic trainer, athletic secretary. We need to make sure that we can go to the town in good faith and say we have tried everything. And if at the end the committee decides that we we fund a full-time athletic director and
that's the will of the committee and the process is correct, then that's fine. That's what we do. But I want to make sure that we've gone through this and not just done it as like an exercise, but like really interrogate each part of our budget and sports are a large part
of the budget. And again, like I I asked your predecessor for data about impacts of sports on student achievement and he did not provide me with a single stitch of data. Other people did, but he did not. And in doing the research and
looking at the data, it is very clear to me that for a a sizable percentage of students, the way that you get them to school, the spoonful of sugar to get them to school is sports. And so that means it has a fundamental impact on
student achievement. So I don't want to think about getting rid of sports or curtailing our sports programs, but we've got to really interrogate how we spend our money. Every penny matters. Mhm. Well, this town is a very small town and I've become very familiar with
it for living here for a while and I have asked quite a few people who have been um you know have been having ancestors here for a very long time and sports does drive this community. Um we're very similar to other smaller towns as well that sports drives the
community. I'm not here to tell you anything different, but if realistically if you cut any athletic program even just by a mar like a small margin, the students will leave and go somewhere else. That is that happens. >> Sports drives the town, but sports
doesn't drive the votes. >> It doesn't. >> No, I understand that. >> Most people want to see that happen. Then they need to vote, go to town meeting, and pay taxes. Yeah, >> but if they're not going to vote, go to town meeting or pay taxes, then they can protest all they want. It doesn't
matter, right? Like this is a democracy. Those are the ways you say these things are important. Vote, pay taxes, and participate in government. You don't want to do that. You can complain, but it's not going to change the facts, right? If the town came to us and said,
"We will vote for an override to ensure that we have, you know, state-of-the-art athletic facilities and a full-time athletic director, a full-time athletic trainer, all of these wonderful things." And they put the money on the table, happy to do it, but that's not what happens. And so, I hear that refrain.
People say that all the time. People come in and complain, but no one does anything about it. Just the truth. This is a democracy. The things that matter are voting, participation in taxes. If you don't want to pay more taxes, then you can't have all of these lavish
things like what was the thing that Peter wanted? The hot dog thing or the the he went on like a hamburger thing cuz some other town had a hamburger thing in their sports uh snack shack. It was like, look, >> Peter, are you listening to me? >> Yes. >> I think it was the hot the hamburger
thing. But like we have a fundamental tension between what people say and what people do. And until those things are unified, it's what people do that is going to be the thing that controls what happens. And like I you know that's not I'm not you know this this is not
something you're unfamiliar with, but like the town can say that they like it, but unless they're willing to pay, we can't do anything, right? Like we can't go to the tri board meeting and ask for every single thing on our checklist. every single time. We can't go to the
floor of town meeting and ask for every single thing on our checklist every single time. I mean, they're just not going to do it. And so, how do we convince them that we're taking it seriously? And I think it is interrogating every dollar we spend. >> But we're at the point where half the kids in the primary in the in the lower
grades are behind benchmarks. Half of them. And they're not getting the help they need. And that gap, I don't know if we've gotten there yet cuz I just got here. that gap just keeps getting wider the longer we let it go without interventionists and then we're talking about sports as if it's essential and I think that on the nice to have list I
think it's top of the nice to have list and I think it's really important and that the points you spoke about uh retention and kids needing a reason to come to school and the intangible benefits of it but we're at the point where we can't afford to teach kids to
read and that's our it's kind of the basic I don't know what to But I did want to say thank you for what you've been doing because you've been doing half a vice principal and half an athletic job, but you've been doing them both full-time >> and I don't know how you're doing it. Um, so I just I don't know if anyone
said that yet. I just I did want to say thank you and thank you for the report. >> Thank you. >> You've been exceptional. I mean, every every time I have come for events that my son is participating in or not, you have been here. every every person I have ever talked to has like sung your
praises. I think that the contrast is incredible. I mean, we're not $100,000 in debt, so that's like a bonus. I I I just can't I can't say how good you have done it. And it is really
heartening to see you you just did this. You volunteered to do this. >> But it's also it's not sustainable, right? I mean, so this is the thing. I mean, we're not asking you to do this indefinitely, right? So, that's the thing. We're not This is Yeah, this is not sustainable. I honestly do not know
how you're doing it. I think you're doing it exceptionally well. Um, and I just I did want to recognize that you are doing two jobs this year and it's not sustainable and I don't think it's fair of the town to keep asking for that. And I think you've laid out the reasons why full a full-time athletic
director is needed. >> Thank you. I just wanted to make one comment if I may. Mr. Burns did a great job articulating why we need a full-time AD and then even comments from the committee on I have no idea how you're
doing it part-time and then we're asking why can't we why isn't it full-time? You know, we are so baffled that she's able to do it part-time, but we're saying it's not a full-time position. So, >> I don't think we're not saying it's a
full-time position. We are saying we have to figure out what the priorities are. >> Absolutely. >> For this as a town. >> So, I would like us to look into the athletic trainer portion. I would like to have a full-time >> a I would like but I think we need to think about what we're paying an
athletic trainer for and what other things we could do. Could we bring in more money for that? You know, is that a a cost? And there's probably no cost savings there, but I think to justify it to the town, I would like to see that that is that is something that we can
talk about, right? Because I I do truly believe we have to make a better argument than these kids can't go to their doctor that their insurance company pays for, you know, I just I and I will have a high school athlete at some point who will probably love, you know, I have kids who play millions of
things who will probably love to have a, you know, a a a PT here. I've heard wonderful things about him, but again, it's not about him. It's about the fact that, you know, I'm paying for outside tutoring for my kids because they're not getting what they need in school, you
know. So, I mean, that's >> Thank you everyone. And I want to thank Shannina for being here. And it's the ask of her tonight wasn't an easy ask. It's hard to sit in front of five people
and talk about why your job is important, but unfortunately, it's one of those positions that we don't have all the insight into, and we need her to give that to us. So, I thank you for your courage. I thank you for your grace,
>> which I've watched happen. >> Thank you. Thank you. And everything's in there for you guys in that little um so, you know, glance through it. There is a lot of info. Um, and it's a lot of info that I've also communicated with other ads so that I could develop something that's, you know, that talks
about every single piece of the athletic director position as well as the athletic trainer at the back. >> Miss Ferns, I your signature is excellence. >> Oh, thank you. >> You always do an excellent job. It doesn't matter what it is, you just do an excellent job. So, if we made you the
head of like the person that, you know, polished the floors in the in the gymnasium, you would ice skate on them. If we made you the head of whatever, you would do an excellent job. It's It is always always clear to me that you bring excellence every time. >> Absolutely. >> So,
>> thank you. >> To the point where you weren't the athletic director of the year, I was mad. >> Yes. >> She wasn't the athletic director of the year. >> I was mad. Yeah, absolutely. We write a letter. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you. Thank you so >> Thank you both. >> I mean, this sucks. I'm not like, this is not fun. >> Oh, it gets worse. I know, but I'm just I'm just saying that out loud to people now and people on the computer. >> Wait until we have the the the meeting
where we're like, "All right, everybody gets to pick one thing they really want >> and then everybody comes forward and then we're like find out the next meeting." No one gets any of that. >> Yeah. >> And it's people's job. >> I know. I know. I I just Well, let's move on. I didn't mean to to distract
us. I just, you know. >> All right. You got your budget workshop? >> Yes. So, I'd like to invite Mr. Mcamera out. Chris, are you aware that we refer to you as C money? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Are you okay with that? >> There's so many
money. Okay. >> Is there? >> I don't think so. >> Yeah. I couldn't hear that on. It was very >> Now it is. >> Okay. >> Hello. So what we're going to do tonight, a lot of what's in this budget book is stuff you've seen with some information
fleshed out. Like for example, we have 71 ELELLL students in the district with two teachers spread across four campuses. Um so we try to incorporate some of the answers into the book. Um my
plan for this is to have Chris highlight some changes that exist. um that you'll notice um in amounts and totals and then let you guys have at it with questions
and discussion. Okay, >> thank you. So, if you want to take a look at page 22, it is I believe I have a breakdown of the salaries and expenses for FY26 and the projected salaries and
expenses for FY27. Um, as you can see from FY 26 to 27, there's almost a 5 and a half% increase in salaries. Um, >> but so, um, wait, >> I think it's >> Oh, I'm on the wrong page. What number is
>> 22? >> Is it the one? >> 18,400 49,000. >> This is the table. >> It's not on my computer. That's why. >> 24 million. >> Yeah. Sorry, you can continue to talk. I just
want to be able to follow on. >> Okay. Thank you. >> So, and the expenses for FY26 and FY27, there's about a 7.72% increase. And then for the total overall
budget, what we're proposing for FY27 is 27,935,275, which is a little bit more than what we had at the tri board meeting. Um, some of the reasons for that are due to just expenses that we upped a little bit. Um,
>> I'm sorry. Is anyone found which >> which page pages are all messed up? >> Which one? Cuz there's a Lunberg public schools draft budget book. Look at the PDF. Yeah. Unless Chris, you changed something today. >> Nope. >> Okay.
>> Yeah. I can't find it on Tony's. >> It's not on mine. >> I have it. >> But not the on Tony's total. >> Yeah, but not comparison totals, right? >> Yeah. >> All right, that's fine. Go ahead. >> Okay, >> we're good. I'll look on.
>> Yeah. So, the increase in salaries is due to uh it came to light within the past couple of weeks that there was 10 paras that weren't really accounted for in the FY26 budget. >> I'm sorry. What? Wait, you heard that right. But the good news is
>> we should be okay. >> We caught it. >> Oh, for this for next year. >> No, this is our current year. >> This is the current year. >> Yeah, this is the current year. >> We caught it. Okay. So, thank you. And for just for information with adding
those pairs into the budget, we're going to be okay. I believe. >> Okay. >> For FY26, >> I did some math. We're running about 2.5 to 2.7% for each payroll right now. >> Yeah, >> we're at 44.6% expended.
>> Um, so we should be okay. There was a little flexibility in the budget that I found that made that okay. Um, and then for the expenses, one thing that I really wanted to note was if you look at the total for FY27,
it's 9, it's around $9.9 million. And Oops, thank you. And what makes up the breath of that is really four things. one of them being health insurance which makes up about 45% of
the expenses. >> Um then transport, student transportation is about 40%. And then between collaborative tuitions, private tuitions and grounds and maintenance, it makes up another about
20 to 25%. Um those are the things that are really driving up the budget. Um just the health insurance costs, maintenance of the buildings keeps going up. Um student transportation is obviously a
fixed rate because we have a contract through the end of 2028. >> Does that include special transportation? >> The amount that I just noted, the 40% does include special ed transportation, >> but not the 1.7 million on this list. >> Yeah, that does include special ed
transportation. Okay. So, one thing that would be really helpful to me is if we had a like one page that was like this is how much we expect to spend this year, right? >> This is what we would expect to if we're level funding like if not level funding,
level >> service >> service, right? We're we're offering the exact same set of services which is not acceptable, but what would that be? Right? And then what we're recommending, >> right? >> Exactly. just a three, you know, three in a row and labeled very well. This is
currently this current budget. Yeah. >> This next year is what we would do to offer the same level of service and you can even write which is not acceptable, right? But that we you know natural growth that absolutely has to be accounted for, right? And then
the third one, what we're we're really would prefer with the recommendations that you've made and you presented to the track board. >> Yep. So what I presented tonight really is a level service budget. Okay. >> Um it has no additions and it has no reductions in staffing. >> Yeah. >> Um
>> but it has restorations. >> No, it doesn't. >> It doesn't have any restorations including >> So that's why I think we want to be clear about what is the level service. >> So this includes all step increases for teachers that are contractual par professionals.
>> Um custodians obviously they are going to have a new contract come 2027. Um and then there's cafeteria and secretarial. >> Yeah. >> Um so those include all raises for for those positions >> for those positions. But that's a level
services. >> Correct. >> So yeah. So I think you know an expected FY 26 a level services effected you know for 27. Yeah. >> And then a recommended >> you know restorations right is what we're saying because >> I think restoration. Yeah.
>> Yeah. um which isn't a three-year rest, that's just the one year. >> Yeah. >> Right. Would be helpful. >> Okay. >> Um if possible. >> Yeah, that that breakdown would be good. If you could stick >> I don't have the the budget thing working. So,
>> okay. >> Oh, excellent. >> Yay. >> Oh, wait. What's that? >> You got to request access in the drive. >> I tried. >> Oh, >> I thought I gave it to you. >> I just requested it. So, but you can look. >> Perfect. Perfect. All right. I'll share.
>> Yeah, cuz I this is >> this is important. >> Yeah, this is important. So, this is a >> levels of levels where we are still >> is a 6.2 6.27%
increase. Correct. >> Could we figure this out without the health insurance? >> So, if you took the health insurance out of the >> health insurance is about $600 to $700,000, >> right? So, but do you mean take it out of FY26 and out of FY27 and see?
>> Oh, for the whole insurance. >> No, we're counting apples to apples department. >> So, when other town departments say we're asking for a 3% increase, you're asking for a six. They're not going to say it to us directly, but I mean the the public, excuse me, might look at this and say, "Oh, the schools are
asking for 6.5, but the fire department is only asking for three." the fire department is not including their health insurance because that's just the way that the budget was developed years and years ago. So, I think we should take the health >> insurance out of it like completely. >> Okay. >> Um
>> for a number, right? >> I I think we should have a number that shows it with it and without not remove it. You got to tell people we're doing >> Well, right. Like No, no, I didn't mean it like a >> a secret. >> Aha. We tons of money. >> Um but right cuz I would be very curious
what this 6.27 27 number would be if we didn't have the 20% for the health insurance, right? >> Mhm. Yeah. >> Well, I would >> it's going to do it. >> No, it would. >> We would it would basically be we would be if you took out the health insurance,
we would be less than what we were at in FY25 and FY26, >> right? We have to take the health insurance out of the Yes. >> Right. We can't we can't we can't pretend it's going down. >> Health insurance is about 4.4
So if you took out the health insurance, >> it would be the same as what we were funded this year. >> It would be less. >> Oh my god. >> And the >> I believe >> Yeah. >> do anything about >> Well, the health insurance is about
projected to be about $4.4 million. >> Oh my gosh. And how much was it last year? >> 3.7 I think. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. 25 just >> so I think the point is that we just want to show that >> the percentage I just want the percentage personally like >> it is such a giant piece of our that it
seems like we're asking for more but we can't control the health insurance >> so FY26 was 26287474 but then you minus the health insurance out of that and then you do FY27 and minus the health insurance and then you can see what the percentage increase is. Yeah.
>> Right. Am I making sense? >> Yeah. >> Sounds about right. >> So, >> it's not always the case. >> Chris, what do you think the If this is level services, >> what could we do and how much would it
cost if we really targeted the the reading scores in the early schools, in the elementary school and the primary school? like how much would those costs be? What of the things that are on the
table do you think would be most cost effective? >> So, where we typically hire at um it costs about 72,000 and then with health insurance if they take the most expensive family plan possible,
>> it's another I believe it's like 38,000 which is the cost. >> Wow. >> To the city or to us. >> Yeah. Um, >> so like $120,000 per position. >> It's about it's it's about $100 to $120,000 per position.
>> Okay. So like I I guess the thing that I'm trying to get at is a couple years ago Dr. Burn put the budget together and she had shown in coordination with Juliana that there were
positions like BCBAS that were they had a savings that was higher than what a similar hire would be higher hirs essentially were a bigger bang for our buck. >> Correct.
>> Do you have any insights based on the the the difference between this level service budget and our our projected budget that we presented at tri board meeting? Like are there positions like that where we should be really focusing on and advocating for those kinds of
experient? >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Okay. >> I love Chris. Anybody? Anybody who wants to hop in from uh behind Chris, what what kind of positions can we use and how much? And then Chris, how much will they cost? >> Yeah.
>> I mean, they kind of presented to us what they would need to interventionist. >> I mean, they want those inter interventionists, right? Do you think that's the best bang for our buck? >> Yes. They would just like more of them. >> More of enough of them.
>> Enough of it. Obviously some paras too for particularly the kindergarten that we've worked out something >> or for the five. >> Yeah. >> Um but I am concerned about the high school that there are students who are have like so many study halls. I think that's a real
>> it's a real issue. >> That's a that's a real issue, right? I've heard that from people. >> So um besides you obviously I believe you but I've heard that from parents too. not complaining at us, but just like, wow, my kid has, you know, >> I think one of the things that we talked about unan unanimously with all of the
building principles is that we have interventions at our level. Tim does not have it at his level. So, if we're going to look at this and we want to continue to progress and move our reading scores, you need to have that across all buildings. It can't just stop once they
get to middle school because if there's still gaps, there's no recovery or closing that gap. So, we need to look uniformly with all three schools or four schools, sorry. >> And look at how are we going to
>> Yeah, I absolutely agree with you, but I do think the primary school should have maybe one more than the other schools. I think that's just for the foundation. >> I think that's part of our ask >> and one of the things we are feeling the impacts of the cuts that we've had over many years.
>> Yeah. >> And I want to say that I think all of the buildings right now are struggling >> to meet the needs of the students because this is the year we're feeling the impact of all the cuts we've made. >> Right. And we >> principal Squire, can you come to the
microphone? The um also >> I'm just concerned that people >> the MCCAST scores that we've seen haven't even reflected all those cuts too and not the MCAT scores are the only thing we're looking do you know what I mean but like >> we did get their MCAT scores for this year >> the past year already
>> right but this year we had more cuts >> than like last year right >> yeah we cannot keep cutting down >> yeah we're not talking but like so the >> I want to be explicitly clear again we cannot cut a single position Like that
is one thing we have to be united on >> and there is more that we could have asked for but we were trying to be responsible and keep the growth within a reasonable level for the taxpayers. >> Yeah. So that would be interesting that
number right in this little chart I'm asking for like of what you know this is we're looking at level services but we're also looking for that respectful you know re like the one you presented what the cost difference is there. >> Yep.
>> So I think what we did as principles is we looked at our projection over three years. What are our needs for this year? What are our needs next year? And I will tell you what my needs are for next year. And I think all of the principles sat together with Dr. Fortuna and put what
our needs are, but then we had to prioritize because I don't think we're going to get the budget to fit all of our needs >> because of the impact of the cuts over the last couple of years. We can't, as Dr. Fortuna said, we can't
cut anymore. >> So Tony, are you asking for additional positions like that have been presented to us? M >> is there any changes that the teachers or the educators here would suggest that could bring down costs in other areas?
Is that what you're trying to say? >> Okay. So, I'm assuming you considered that when you formulated your budgets, but I think it's a good explicit question to ask, right? Is there other places we could be saving money?
>> I don't know. Right. that we >> Yeah. I mean, it's just a continuation of what we as >> how do we go about prioritizing, you know, comparing the needs of an athletic director to a kindergarten
parent professional or a third grade reading interventionist. It's really hard for us to make those decisions because we don't know. I mean, Emilia's side, we don't know jack about this. We don't know anything. I think just listening to what what everyone's
presenting, I think it's just as detrimental to cut your athletic as it is even your interventionist. Everyone plays a critical role in the more you cut and the more you take away. There's one thing that's going to give.
>> But I'm going to like paraphrase George Orwell and say, you know, all all men are c, you know, some positions are necessary and some positions are more necessary, right? Like we've got to have some way to distinguish these two things. And if we like I mean we could
just tell we could say to Chris who's the most expensive person who's the least expensive person to get rid of the you know but like that doesn't seem fair. And I think that you know like we're really in a dilemma as to how we do this >> you know I think I think if you if you listen to
what we are going to propose and what Dr. Fortuna is going to propose on our behalf. We put a lot of time and energy into it. And while it's not perfect and it's not going to restore every cut that we have made, it's getting us closer to where we need to be. >> Yeah.
>> And so I think strategically as a group we are going to have to the sooner we agree on what and we shouldn't I'm not saying we shouldn't have conversations about every detail we want to. We should. But the sooner as a group we coalesesque around the one budget that
we really are ready to push, right? Then we're not going to be in the position in the next few months as we have been in the past of sort of building the plane as we're flying it, right? Like like we are we're we're in the nitty-gritty right now, which is not where we had been in the past. We were waiting till
February or March to be in this nitty-gritty, right? So, >> you know, I think I don't want to speak for the four of us, four of you or whatever. There's four all of us. But, you know, I think we all agree with Dr. Fortuna. We cannot take any more cuts. So, that is number one. Like, we
could vote on that tonight. We are absolutely >> No, no, no. I I agree. >> Right. So, I think what we need to decide is how much over the cuts >> are we are we thinking we're going to push. >> I think that's my question. Is that is that sort of what
>> this budget that you have is extremely conservative and it is a I don't want to say small ask because it is a large amount of money but it is >> I mean next year's ask does not restore us to where we were last year. We're
still trying to rebuild from what we've lost. We're not trying to get better. We're just trying to >> Yeah. And I think out of the hole we've dug ourselves into >> strategically. I think we need to think about so other towns have done my
understanding is different types of overrides right is basically you could put more than one override on the ballot and whatever passes that's the longest or the biggest is the one that passes so you could do a tier one where we're just asking for next year and whatever the town like the town we're obviously still
working through the tri board process I'm respecting that process but right you can put a mask on that has that >> my question for today was sort of like are we thinking and then sometimes you could put on a higher one where you're promising just to spend to certain
levels to try to keep your school afloat for three years, right? So you may be asking for a three-year runway in an override. Now granted, once you vote on it, it's just that first year, but you there are mechanisms, right, that some towns do.
>> Absolutely. >> Um so that you're not asking people to go to the polls a million times. >> It does get confusing. Did you think we need an overwrite, Chris? >> Oh, that is not a fair question. >> But he doesn't know how much. >> Would you like me to answer? >> Yes. Yes. >> But also, he doesn't know how much money they're going to give us. We don't have
an in yet. We only have an out. >> Well, and part of we only have an out. And part of what's going to take longer this year is the turnover that's happening in the town in the finance office, >> which is unfortunate. I feel for the
town manager. She's really >> and she's and she's making she and the selectman are making a great effort to write that ship, but we still haven't as a town closed like Chris wanted to give
you the revolving accounts tonight. Yeah, >> we can't give you the revolving accounts because FY25 still hasn't been closed on the town side. >> Oh, that's hard. >> So, that's the best that we can do. And I but I think it's important to do
actually in this vacuum of information >> is what we need to start to restore yeah our positions >> and those asks the principles have made very clear >> um and those are included in this
document and we can definitely talk through them >> but this is what we are saying is essential for us to even think about moving the needle on our reading scores,
which quite frankly are appalling. >> Um, and we need to do something to address those. And it's not that our teachers are not working incredibly hard. It's just that they have nobody,
no backup to help with the tier 2 and the tier three interventions. For example, at primary school, they have one interventionist who's serving 53 students. You look at the number of students that need intervention based on
the um percentages of the dibble score. It's a heck of a lot more than 53 students. Yeah. >> But we're doing I don't know how she's even managing a case load that large.
Um, so these things are strikingly important for us. We've seen the only place that we've seen consistent growth is in fourth grade math, which the state has actually called to see what we're doing. But even though we've seen
consistent growth in our scores, our scores are still not where they should be. And again, our teachers are creative. They are working hard. The spotlights on excellence that I give you are real and they're all over the place.
But without that backup and about that support that we're asking for, I'm sorry, I'm on my soap box right now. Without that backup and support that the educators are asking for, the experts in the room are asking for, we will not be
able to move this district forward. And it's still going to be micro steps with what we're asking for because we are being conservative and we we are trying to be respectful of that woman that may feel like she has to choose between
getting her prescription filled this month and funding the schools for learning. >> And that that piece was really important to us in our strategy as we did this. Yeah.
>> So Tony, do you want to discuss So Tony, I think back to what And I'm sorry that I've sort of had a lot to say, but do you kind of want >> surprising? >> Hey, you wanted me on this committee. >> I know. >> I think >> I did. I do.
>> Uh so do you I think your question might be of all the suggestions that they've made of those, right? Are there things that they're saving money on the other end? >> Yeah. I mean, like, I think that what I want to know is if we're if we're
compelled to do horse trading in our discussions with the town, and it comes down to, you know, Anna's Anna Lockwood's very real concerns about a town this size having a full-time athletic director or the need for
interventionists in third grade reading. like which ones are the ones that when we when all the experts tell us we need to do both which do we choose? So, I my recommendation would be to
choose and I'll have Tim talk more about the AD position and having a halftime AP here um what that's done um to the school because the cost of that has
really been borne by the teachers and the students. So even though that piece doesn't seem as essential, it actually is given the number of students that are under scheduled with study halls. And I
know that's been a bone of contention in the town about whether we need study halls or not. So we have a high school that's not fully scheduled. We have more mental health issues popping up in our schools and in our students at all grade
levels right now. Um we so this year we haven't even attacked that problem. We're starting first with the intervention. So these aren't they're not suggestions, they're really
recommendations. and we haven't increased our supply lines at all. What you're truly seeing are the things that are out of our locus of control. You're seeing the health insurance. You're seeing the transportation. Um I was just
on a call with mass superintendent today talking about how superintendents aren't represented on the board that sets private um day school tuitions. um that that is a real problem. And
so these these are our best suggestions. I don't think there's anything on the other end that we can give up. So I would always say go with the academics piece, but I think it's all tied up in
the academics. >> Can I talk to that Tony? >> Sure. I think that what you're asking, you're coming at it from the wrong angle when you say if we have to choose between an interventionist and athletic director. I think that what we as a school committee need to say is we're
not going to choose. We need these things to function as a school and it is necessary and we this is what our superintendent is saying we need. This is what our principles are saying we need. This is what our students need to succeed. Both of these positions are
vital. we need to fund them and that it doesn't come down to like it did last year with the horse trading and comparing positions and deciding where to pick off because we >> and poor principal Squire went without those touchcreens for like two and a half years. >> We we're out of things. We are out of
things to pick off. >> They're coming that darn brand. Um, so what my point is that we have done the the horse trading and the picking off and we have picked off every single thing we can and that if we approach it as well what do we
prioritize? No, we prioritize the students and these positions are vital and we as the school committee go no we need these where don't make us choose between the elimination of high school sports and the kids in the primary more than half the kids in the primary not
being able to read. That's not a decision that anyone should have to make. That's not a decision the town should be making. We're going to say we need both of these things for our students to excel. We need sports for our high school students and we need our children to be able to read. So I think
when we look at it as what the comparisons are, we have to instead say nope, these both of these things are necessary. And also back in October, uh Dr. Fortuna actually sent us an email where she suggested a rubric for us which I thought was really
um not that I want to be making those choices but it's it's clearly like these are our core principles and ideas how would we you know give each thing a number if we get to that point right that we have to be >> if we get to that point I think we are going to have to reexamine how Lunberg
does schools >> you know like the one concern that I have is the department of education in the federal level will be eliminated. And when it is eliminated and the the states get the funding that Congress is
obligated the executive branch to provide, if those block grants are distributed using the current funding in Massachusetts, I would like I mean I think it's safe to say we'll lose money >> like so like we should not be thinking
that like we have to have contingency plans is what I'm trying to say. And I think that not having contingency plans, not thinking through these things means that like if for some reason the block grants go to the state tomorrow and we get 20%
less federal funding, what do we do? Where are we at? And these are things that we've got to consider because you know like if you just look at like the I'm looking at pages the title one title four >> like those none of those trend lines are
going in the right direction. >> Her budget I mean salaries are not in because of you started to move this budget away from her. >> Yeah. >> And uh Dr. Dr. Fortuna did send me a list of comparable um districts. And I'm working on a major spreadsheet with all
the contacts of all the superintendent and school committee chairs of those groups. And so at a future meeting, I'd love to see if we could get a a group of us to decide that we could send an email maybe from our committee asking these people if we could meet and talk about
>> absolutely >> comparable districts. And um so I am working on that. I'm not there yet, but I'm getting there. Um, >> so can Mr. Sanry talk about and I also can you also discuss the interventionist and what you had said at the meeting
about the high school interventionist and the dropout rate. >> Sure. And I think I've talked about that before. Thank you. >> I want you to say that again >> for uh for having me here. I really I don't envy your positions and um you have put me in charge of my our
middle school and our high school in order to support those students also. So we are one district. So it is difficult to make decisions based on a premise of it has to go to third grade. We are a full district. College and career readiness is as important as our third
grade reading scores. So supporting our students in the middle and the high school are is essential that um Miss Bzowski wanted me to talk about the intervention teacher that we have at the high school drastically reduced our dropout rates. Uh she continues to be a
phenomenal resource. But >> not drastically one of the years. uh last year uh I'm sorry I think it was 24 25 we had 100% rate of of graduation >> that is amazing I was amazed I want to highlight that like we had a 100%
graduation rate that's good that's very good >> and at the high school level that we have as I spoke many times last year it it's not about class size it's about choice for students and we have reduced that choice by 33 sections over the last
two years so when we say, "Oh, I want to get rid of study halls." Like, where are those 33 sections of kids going? >> Oh, yeah. >> That we've reduced. We have to create. I mean, uh the graduation council came out with um some
new recommendations around innovative paths on on how uh we educate kids at the high school. It's really what we had talked about, right? If we have students that want to go in the medical field, we want students that want to go in an engineering field, we have to be able to
provide them classes that are going to help them get into college and career readiness. And as far as the AD and the AP, those positions, with all due respect, Mr. Skull and Briny, I disagree. I think those both need to be full-time positions, and I
understand where we have to figure out how to do that. We have always had a proactive um response to our school community. So I have assistant principles that are
proactive in supporting teachers and parents and students. We had this 33 section reduction of classes. So now we have students who are in classes they may not want to be in which in turn
maybe increased the amount of behavioral issues that we have in those classes which in turns have been reduced at the amount of administrators that I can respond to those classes. So we're in this cycle that we have less choices.
kids are in classes they may not want to be in and we have less uh proactive support that we have had at the middle and the high school. So it it's not a recipe for success and I understand third grade scores. I my master's degree
is in special education. I was a special educator for 15 years. I understand the importance of early literacy at that age. we we have to be thinking as a district and how we support all of our students and and really that's my job. So I wanted to advocate for that. The
positions that I put forward to doc uh Dr. Fortuna are our priority positions. Um I know uh the AD and the AP um are our Spanish our world language position because we made a reduction there and
now uh we're going to have an eighth grade class of 155 when we had one of 105. It's just sheer numbers that we're going to need >> the bubble class number. >> Yeah. >> Um so yes, we need to restore some of that choice. And uh one of my other
priority positions was uh the band teacher. So you might ask why, you know, how how is that affecting third grade reading? It isn't, but it's providing choice and it's uh our band and chorus um numbers from our middle school are
dramatically increasing and we knew we took a hit there um after COVID. So, and it also does open up choice for students with providing a few more electives and that is only a point4 position. So, it's not a huge ask to come back to the high school. So,
>> I would agree with uh Miss Squire around that the principles have kind of worked at this and have come up with numbers for you that really is like our priority in order to keep services um available for our students at all grade levels.
How many students are in the world language classes? I think my son has about 30 kids in one of the classes. >> They do. They have about uh I think Spanish and French one of the largest might be 32. >> Yeah. >> Is that a Is foreign language the kind of class that should have giant classes got cut.
>> Yeah. No, I'm asking. >> No, it was from a reduction. Yes. >> But world language should not have classes that big. >> No. >> No. That's not optimal for the kids. >> No, it's not. >> No. >> Um it is a test. I just I want to make that point that >> some of this is just we we want to make
>> ask questions because we're going to talk about it, >> right? >> Um I do want to say thank you. I very much appreciate that the principles work together um as a cohesive team. I I very much appreciate the teamwork that you guys put in. You did it last
year that you're like you guys work together um within your schools and I I very much appreciate that. So that when you do come to us with a unified recommendation, there's a lot of confidence in that recommendation. So I do thank you guys. I appreciate that. >> Could you talk a little bit about the
bridge program and the the teacher that empire professional? Yes. >> Critical need. I'm not disagreeing. Okay. >> I'm just wondering if you could share a little bit more about that and I can the chain reaction that happens when that's not available to students. >> So over the past three years, we've had
two reductions at um the high school for special education. one was a TLC program that's being split right now in service by our interventionists and then we had our bridge program that was cut last year. The bridge program is for students that may have been in a subs separate
setting in the middle school but have the ability to attain a grad uh a diploma in the high school but need some significant support. So we were unable we made a reduction in that position. Where did those students >> those students were juggled between the
special educators that we have in the building covering their IEP and their cases service delivery grid um not as effectively as if we had a bridge teacher that was able to dedicate themselves to those seven students or eight students in order to to work
forward. And so by having that extra bridge teacher, it it um kind of alleviates some stress for classroom teachers also because we go to the expert of the bridge in order to make modifications and accommodations. So that takes that weight off of the
classroom teacher. Um and students are better supported and now we're getting kids to be able to get a diploma that may not have in the past. >> Is that um is it just the high school or middle school as well? just the high school bridge. >> So, do you anticipate middle school
students also needing that specific type of learning moving up? Um, there'll be more than those seven or eight that you were talking about that got dispersed. >> Yes. >> Among >> I do we have we have two subseppparate in the middle school and at the eighth grade we have transition meetings for
the high school to determine what path those students should be most successful at. And now bridge is not an offering that we have to offer to those students. So those students will move up to the high school and still not really have a true place where they they will be getting all their needs met
>> what we call a tweener right in between not quite here but not quite there so let's kind of service with what we have >> which is not ideal do students phase into and out of the bridge program or do they stay in it for the duration of their high school? >> It's a great question. It is a fluid
program. So, if we have a student that uh we knew was on a graduation track and they've flourished in the high school and their developmental skills have have improved, yes, they graduate out of the bridge program. Other kids go into the program that weren't in there when we
place them in eighth grade. So, it's a fluid moving in and out. >> So, there might be a handful of students in it at one time serving a large amount of a larger >> Exactly. or we might have a move in or we might have a student that you know um we thought was going to be more successful than they were in the
inclusion program and then we have that program as their least restrictive environment that we can place them into the high school. >> And as Mr. Sanria reported on this, the financial consequences of that is if we don't get the support that those kids needs, we're just going to be paying for out of district placements for kids that
can't get what they need in this in between that they're put in. um which also goes for Turkey Hill and the primary school. If they're it's just a chain reaction. So if they're not getting the needs that they're not getting their needs met where they are, they're going to be sent out of district
because we can't service them which is just going to add to >> cost much more >> and it's not optimal for the student optimal student. No. >> Um one of the questions that
>> Oh my microphone. One of the questions that students um the public has asked is about the STEP program >> and if the one of the assistant principal should they both be full-time
could run the STEP program and be an AP would that be a viable option? Could you just being newer to this can you remind so the step program is the like internship program they offer right and so who runs it now I don't know that
>> um Alexis uh our health teacher runs it so it's so it's like a class that's assigned to a teacher >> oh so they have a class as well and then they help you with your >> Exactly. Yeah. >> So you check in with them there's requirements for that piece that's the
person that's in charge of that. >> How many students utilize that? I don't have those numbers off the top of my head. >> Like is it >> It varies year to year, but sometimes it can be over 20 and sometimes can be a little less than that. >> Yep. >> Okay. Do you have to be a senior?
>> Um, yes, I believe so. >> Thank you. >> Can I ask a question to both you and Chris? How much is eliminating the coaching model? Go ahead. Say this. It's going to be more of a grant savings
than it is an actual budget savings because the majority of that salary >> it's grant related. It'll cost us around $10,000 for the restructuring. if um we moved the math coach back onto
the teachers contract, she'd be making more as a teacher than she currently is. >> That's interesting. Um but in your opinion, you don't think that's going to impact the student achievement numbers.
>> I don't think it's going to impact the student achievement numbers. I think um we were very fortunate in hiring Dr. Softi who has who's back there who has an amazing grasp of the standards and
literacy and I think she'll be able to fill in some of the gaps that we have. >> Okay. >> Can I ask a question about coaching? Did the teachers like the coaching models? >> We got split reviews on the coaching
models. Um, and it was through no fault of the coaches. It was actually, I would say, a district level roll out problem. I don't think we, from what I've heard and, um, from talking to people is we
didn't roll it out very well um, at the district level and so people could never quite see the value in having that coaching model. >> Okay. So if we discover that we are missing it, eventually someday it could
be added back in with a >> better roll out. >> Better roll out. Yes. And hopefully more teacher buying. >> Correct. >> One of the questions we got uh and I sent it to you >> is about the the ELLL position >> and in the past I remember the
discussion basically being we put the people where the kids are. Um do you think there's any need to do uh building assignments for the ELLL teachers? >> I actually without knowing their levels doing the mathematical equation there's
71 um ELELLL students and they're stationed um or placed pretty much between all three campuses. So, it would make sense for next year to have a teacher at primary, a teacher at Turkey Hill, and a
teacher at the middle high school. >> Okay. >> Awesome. >> Because we have two now, and you're recommending three. >> Yes. >> I imagine there are needs that arise. >> That's that's also going to depend. Sorry.
>> I just want to say that it's also going to depend on the access scores and what comes back with what the students need. >> You know what access scores are? >> It's it's a it's a way that they >> l Thank you. >> Say it again.
>> It's late. language acquisition. >> So, it tells it helps us determine where the students strengths and weaknesses might be and where they fall on a number scale of one to five on on um getting um more proficient with English. Um and so
>> all under you. >> Mhm. >> So, um depending on where these students score on access, you may have a cluster. Um, so like there were a couple of years where there really weren't a lot of students at the high school,
>> right? >> For example, we like >> and so to have a student to have to have an L teacher dedicated for the middle high school if we have a year or two like that isn't effective. Whereas if we have a bubble of students that are at the primary school, we may need more than than one. So we I still want it to
be it's not going to be as cut and dry. I don't think I in in it would be great for it to be cut and dry to one per per building. That's why I said the the simple math because the amount of service time that students get varies as
a result of that access score. >> So a newcomer um a student that's at level one at level two requires much more support than a student that's at level four or level five. >> And I think the principles can attest to the our EL staff currently and and they
have ever since they've been here with me. um they do a really good job near the end of the year for for giving placements as far as which kids might be good to be clustered together in a classroom teacher. So, it's not just a free-for-all drop in a hat, Johnny,
Susie, Joey ends up in X, Y, and Z classes willy-nilly. It's it's it's really thought out as to where their levels are. Um which ones may be placed. And in some cases, principles can honor that and in some cases they don't. But at least they do have that information
where where we do try to cluster them to a certain I I don't even know why would you do that? >> Because um for example, if if a second grader if there's three second graders and and they're spread out between three classes, then the L teacher might have is going
to have to be in every single class. Whereas if they were clustered together, if there's two or three and they're clustered together in the class and they're about the same level, that's a that's maximizing the bang for our buck, right? And and and also them having a having a group to be able to work with. >> And the ELLL teachers pull out though,
right? Or like >> No, not at all. >> Not at all. No, not at all. >> Not always. Ideally, it would be great for us to get to the point where we could have um a separate class, especially at say the middle high school level for our level ones that come in, level ones and twos,
where they like have no English language, right? It would be great for them to have a class that could be taught. We don't have that capacity to be able to do that right now. So, most of most of the work is pushed in. When we pull out, a lot of it is for that um reteing stuff or or pre-teaching,
>> but most of it is still pushed in though, >> I think. It's a blend of depend on the level. >> I mean, it's beneficial for them to be in the class with kids that are speaking English, >> but I would assume that in my mind, I would think they would be pull out as well. Just like you said,
>> the language and have no English skills. >> Some of some of that is pull out getting some basic language instruction that doesn't match what's happening in the classroom. But as their language acquisition grows and their ability to understand English and use English grows, um it's
beneficial to have the EL teacher in the classroom working with them on speaking in the class on classroom vocabulary on relating to stories and and comprehension, communicating with their classmates. So depending on the student level, the amount of time in or out is
going to be different. >> And also working with the general ed teacher, right, to show what strategies might be more beneficial for the students because the L teachers can't be there all day long, >> right? >> And then it's up to the general ed teachers to to make those accommodations. >> And I think it's important to notice
that we need another L teacher because right now kindergarten is not serviced by an L teacher. What are >> and do what are we >> how many kids are in need of that service? >> There are so currently because their
dibble scores are low they are being serviced by our interventionist >> and it's a consult so the L teacher will consult with the classroom but the kids aren't serviced directly through the >> and are they on IEPs?
>> No question. >> How many kids in kindergarten? >> I don't think we can ask. Oh, okay. I just >> There might be too few. >> Yeah. Okay. That's just That's really hard to hear. I didn't know didn't know there were kids who weren't. It's just in kindergarten though.
>> Just kindergarten. >> That's not >> preschool as well. >> Oh, preschool as well. >> Yeah. I think this discussion highlights an issue that I've been trying to highlight with the no more cuts >> this part is we have swaths of students
that are not being serviced are not getting their needs met and it's >> it's hard being I imagine it's hard being a building leader in this district and knowing that your student has needs
and knowing that you lost two positions in two years that could be fulfilling those needs. As a superintendent, it really is incredibly frustrating that I can't give my principles what they need to support teachers, to support
students. >> And that's why I'm so adamant about the fact that we can't sustain cuts and we need these positions. >> We need our kids to get services. Yeah, I'm not feeling great in this seat.
>> Yeah, we're all parents here. >> We're failing. >> We're feeling it as well. >> I there are so many like we've we've discussed so many I mean these and these are like I want to make it clear for people listening like these are humans
>> we're talking about. These are like literal children who exist right now who are not getting what they need. Um and that's that's difficult. And I mean, I I'm feeling guilty because we had so many cuts last year because we didn't go
for an override. And and now kids aren't they're not getting what they need. This town, we're we're letting them down. >> Yeah. >> So hard. Um Okay. What else do we need to cover in the
um any more budget stuff we want to talk about? >> Yeah. What I I feel like I >> So, can we talk about next steps? Just I think that would that's important to me. So, um as I'm new to this whole process and
we're a little bit earlier than we usually are, which I'm very happy about. So, thank you very much for all your work so that we can have this conversation right now. Um, you know, eventually we will have a budget that is based on the town manager's number. Is
that sort of what will happen? So, the >> the town manager will eventually give us a number. >> Yes. >> Of what she is expecting our budget to be under. >> But we've already given her >> this, which is great. Usually, it happens the other way around. Um, so she
will already be able to look at what we're asking for. Um, will we vote on it before that? Do we want to do a formal? >> My hope is that we vote on a school committee budget prior
>> to the town manager. >> To the town manager. Okay. >> And then get the town manager's number and then work through the tri board process. Yeah. >> About because there is only so much money, right? and then work through the trifor process about whether there's other means for raising and
appropriating funds. >> Okay. >> My >> but then coming to the tri board I'm sorry with a proposal already that we're not working on that proposal through the tri board. >> Correct. >> There will eventually have to be another budget that will meet >> the town manager's number though.
>> Okay. >> Yeah. So when do we >> we're hoping to do that. So, right. So, she won't be able to give us that number till after the governor's budget, which is in the end of January. Sorry to interrupt you, right? But they she won't know what the
>> um the and understandably, if she doesn't have a finance director, she's going to have a hard time with some of the projections she's been needing as well, like excise tax. And they did just hire a planning director, I think. So, um but that's a big part of it, right? Because it's property tax booth.
>> Yeah. So, Part of the reason I'm suggesting doing this differently than we have before >> is because we will be waiting a while um for the town numbers through no fault of
anybody's just >> what the circumstances happen to be. Um, and I think that if we can remain united and start to build momentum
now for what our kids need, um, then we will ultimately be in a better space when the conversation turns to raising and appropriating extra funds. >> Okay. Will we get a spreadsheet
breakdown of the or when will we get a spreadsheet breakdown of both uh the budget that you'd like us to vote on uh >> and then probably later the one that meets the town manager >> level?
>> Um we can definitely work on that. The problem is in order I what I want to Yeah. I guess is that a level? What I want to avoid happening for us is that
we forgot what I wanted to avoid because the microphone. I want to avoid needing the budget that has to be loaded in munis um because that is a whole heck of a lot of work and I want to avoid
having the 48 rainbow colored spreadsheets because I think that's how mistakes are made and things are lost. >> Yeah. So, I want to continue kind of along this path where you're seeing the categories, each category
where we're spending >> and then inter interrogating us about what goes in there without having to see each individual line item itself. only because if we're doing three versions of the budget, um we'll be able
to tell you where we are actually cutting from. So, it's going to be different than the process has been in the past. Thank goodness. >> Okay. Um, but we can still we'll still do a spreadsheet with breakdowns and
like we looking at percentage rises because if Yes. I'd like to know if things are >> it's very helpful to be able to compare and see that I'm not even sure what I mean there was you know computer services have gone up exponentially
things like that um >> but I do understand that the level of specificity >> in the past was first of all that's not how a school budget always works because we have line item transfers and because
our needs change throughout the here. Um, but I would still like something in the middle. >> Yeah. No. And what we can show you is the percent changed in the category. Yes. Um, year over year. >> Okay. And then Yeah. Explanations.
>> And then explanations. >> Surprises. Um, >> yeah. Even things like, uh, we hadn't budgeted enough. I think was it electricity or heat with the urging of the previous town of a previous town manager. Uh, and that's important information to know that this has gone
up because the actuals were different. >> Absolutely. >> Um, and I know that finance committee is going to want the actuals. >> Yeah. >> For every year that we have them and they love that. Um, >> and it is important too. I like I also like to see where we budgeted incorrectly and I know that you looked
at that too because this is your >> this is your first year doing this. Um, >> okay. Yeah, many of those questions Chris could probably answer for you now. Um, I know I'm not going to ask him to answer them for you now. >> He could. >> He's giving that look twice. Once when I
asked him inappropriate question about an override and no. >> Um, I guess my question is when it comes to the town manager's budget, is that a budget that we want to discuss before after an override vote would take place to discuss it before? I know in some
towns they don't make the cuts until an after an override fails. By the time an override happens, it'll be too late. And so I think we want to discuss it before because then we can talk about the cuts
that we have to make and the impact of not having the over. But we lose teachers when I mean the amount of >> my understanding to we lose people when we say if this vote doesn't go our way your job is being cut. We're not going to say that this year.
>> Okay. So how would that work? So we are going to talk very broadly about we need to cut this much money and not so broadly about people. And we, my understanding is we got pretty specific
about which positions in which people last year. >> And we can't do that to people. Um, it's not fair. And we need to in as soon as we say that when we get to that point,
we need to then talk to the teachers and let them know how that we're advocating for their positions and let them know the strength that we're trying to put behind our asks. >> Okay. So, what would a budget that we
vote on for the town manager's budget look like? It would be very broad categories. How specific would the categories get this? >> Yeah, it' be that spreadsheet. >> Okay. So, we're not Okay. Because that that was just not fair to people and I
think we lost good people as a result. >> We did because >> definitely and I don't think it was fair for the committee for you to be making those decisions. I really think the team that you have in this room is the team that should be coming to you with the
recommendations. Not that I don't love you guys and Emily is a fantastic educator, but the people with the knowledge and the expertise are these people >> and I rely on them. This isn't my
budget. This is truly our budget that we're talking about right now. >> Laura, I did inquire about doing an override earlier and my understanding is that you need a higher threshold >> at town meeting. That is why. >> And that is why cuz I would love to do
it before. >> I was going to push for but our town meeting is also set in our >> I spoke to Jen about this like months ago. Our town meeting is unfortunately set in our charter and it's the exact it's the first Saturday in May or
something I think it says. So there's no like playing with that. There's no um >> that is why I I was going to push for an override for next year in November, right? Because I think that this process is extremely stressful for every single
staff member because everyone >> the amount of stress that we put our staff members under last year and the year before. This it's not sustainable. It's not fair. This is not the way to employ people. This is not the way to run a school system. This is not what's best for staff. It's definitely not
what's best for students. However, a November town meeting, the threshold for a positive vote was so much higher. It's a lot higher. 67%. >> Yeah, it was. Yeah, I think it was it was the 2/3 in >> that would have made it far more
difficult. So, strategically, it's best to wait to May. However, I'm I'm not happy about it. But that's >> Yeah. >> No, I mean, I think I think you know, >> otherwise I think >> it is what it is, but it would have been better if we could do it earlier. >> Yeah. But that's the That's how it
works, unfortunately. Um, and I have promised school leaders that they will not be having to talk to their staffs alone, that I will be there. >> Um, I've really worked to
create an atmosphere where teachers feel heard. um this year by holding budget town halls, getting their suggestions, their thoughts on this proposal. >> Teachers thoughts are included in this proposal as well. Chris and I did um
budget town halls at each school um prior to doing this too. So, it's really been a very different process in creating this budget. >> And I I appreciate how involved the teachers are too and the emails we get and I appreciate I don't know if other
towns are like this, but the teachers are so involved >> special to this >> and let us know what's going on and >> really invested in our kids. >> Yeah. Invested. They they really care and it's just >> we're so lucky. >> I very much appreciate that. Even when
we get emails that vehemently disagree with what we've said or done, um I still I really appreciate that. Um, okay. So, I I thank you for this report
and thank you also thank you for the how conservative the ask is even though it's a large number. I I do worry that we're not asking for enough. >> Mhm. >> We could we could triple that. >> Right. >> I just I
I this is the bare minimum we we can get away with, I think. >> Yeah. Yeah. And I think my I'm gung-ho. I people knew that when I started, but I want to make sure we're planning well for a few years because I, you know, there was so much discussion the last few years about having, you know, only
one shot at it. I don't totally agree with that, but I do think we need to make sure that we're making a good three-year argument to the town, too. Not just the town officials. I don't mean them, to the voters, right? That we're not going to be >> every year um and and we can't control
everything, right? But we we are not going to be it. It's not always going to be a one-year sort of every year kind of thing >> because that's unfair. That's unfair to them. It's unfair to the voters. It's unfair to the taxpayers, right? And we just
>> we need to be able to do that three-year ask. Yeah. >> Exactly. >> All right. So, let's do this. Um let's go down the line. Are there any other comments you'd like to make? Questions, comments? No. >> Mandy, >> no.
>> Lauren, >> Chris for >> any of the uh subject matter experts. >> Thank you guys for coming tonight. >> Thank you. >> Always speaking up for your people and students.
>> They're awesome. We are >> That's one thing I >> See, I said I didn't have anything else to say. That's one thing I hope the town of Lunenburgg realizes having been in different places. I have never seen a
group of teachers more dedicated or more passionate about what they do. Even if we disagree, there passion is there and we all want the same thing for children. >> That's great. >> All right. So, let's move on to old business. The Q&A for 25 budget. Um, do
we have we >> I think that's for the public to ask. >> Yeah. Just the public. >> Is there anyone here? >> Excellent. >> Liz on Zoom. >> Yeah, that's what she's talking. >> All right. Um,
>> so I did drop a statement into the I had uh Liz dropped a statement into the the folder because I know last meeting we had talked about having a public statement about the 25 budget. So um >> we already released this. >> We didn't. So we had a draft. Okay. you
guys have given me some feedback um two weeks ago and of course right before the meeting I took the feedback that I had um and so I personally think we should post this somewhere and this does not have to be the final version of it but um post it somewhere send it to the
ledger um I heard another public group at recently talking about the budget and I thought misstating what um what happened so um I think we really need to have something in writing. So, um, >> so I'm happy. I can't really take
feedback from you guys outside the meeting. I don't know. >> I know. That's very frustrating. >> Yeah, I know. So, I don't know what we want to do. I don't need us to sit here 20 minutes and word Smith. I don't know. I would be comfortable with Dr. Fortuna or Tony if you take this. >> Do you think it does it violate the the
the open meeting law if we like if Mandy sends it to me? I send it. >> Yeah, it's Daisy Cheney. So why don't So why don't what I think what we could do personally is we could just send our feedback to >> Dr. Fortuna. >> Dr. Fortuna
>> and then Tony I would be fine if the statement came just from you like we didn't vote on it. It's just like the school committee chair says I don't know how you guys feel about that >> or we could vote on some version of >> I think you should all vote on it together. I I really I think unity and
that togetherness is going to go a long way for us this budget season. >> All right. Um >> so should we accept it as now with edits forwarded to Dr. Fortuno or do you want to wait? >> Because I think we should do it now, not
>> Yes, I agree. Let's get this out as soon as possible. >> You guys have a chance to read it. Mhm. Okay. I move to um make official our statement from the Lunberg School Committee regarding the fiscal year 2025 budget variances uh
pending any necessary edits that uh don't change the themes, tone, and message too much. >> I second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> All right. The only thing that I'm going
to add, Mandy, is I'm going to add a part about the budgeting in the public sector always involves the circle. >> Yes, absolutely. People are clear. >> I think it says that, but however you want to, you know, >> and also I I just thought of these two
things about greater accountability. If there's anything else you think we should add there, I'm >> doing these. Yeah, this is good. >> Um, >> thank you for doing this. >> You're welcome. You did a great job. You can be my spokesperson anytime I get in trouble. >> Thank you.
>> You could be my lawyer. >> Uh, all right. >> Let's I think you may have a a better more qualified. >> I don't know. He he probably can't represent his wife. So, depends what she did to talk with him. >> Let's Let's go on to the next agenda
item, which is uh comment on stuff for this meeting. >> And I don't believe there is there any comments, Liz? >> No. >> Anybody have comments here? Anybody here? Have we talked this to death? Um, do we want to do our reports?
>> Do we have to reassign because what does because Mr. >> Hopefully we don't. Let's like let's limp into 2026. >> It was our finance committee. >> Right. Right. Right. We'll if if we don't have somebody soon, we'll do it. I'll I'll volunteer to do it.
Okay. >> That'll just make it. If if we don't have somebody soon, I'll go do it. Uh, subcommittee reports. >> I don't have any. Randy, >> uh, we have these great blankets for selling from the PTL. They're $30. Um, we have some left. Pickup is tomorrow,
but if for some reason you can't be there, if you buy it online, you pick it up tomorrow. If you don't, I think we might have 20 left or so. Send me an email and I'll figure out how to get it to you. >> GHS parking lot after school till 5:30. >> Yeah, absolutely. And they're beautiful.
I've seen them in person. They're really big. blue as they look on the picture. >> Um I haven't seen the Lunberg ones yet. I saw a sample that was um but one of our members saw them um out and about somewhere and was like making all the kids, you know, middle schoolers just wear blankets. I we sold the lot to
middle school parents, I think. >> And their pajamas. >> Yeah. And their pajamas. Um and then we also have Saturday we're doing um Spongebob movie. I think there's a few tickets left to sign up. >> I don't think so. No, I think I think there's a few tickets left. We're getting close to being sold out. So, um
>> I have to say I I've done the movies more than once. It is a phenomenal experience. The one that we did that I remember the most was the Mario movie. >> Oh, we sold so many tickets with the Mario. >> There were so many people singing the Bowser song. It was just incredible. It
was like going to watch the Rocky Horror Picture Show. It was like the best. >> It is really fun for the kids cuz it's only Lunberg kids who are there. We rent it out and you know they're like can sit with their friends and and they can eat candy at 10:00 a.m. >> They sing that amazing ballisters.
>> So thank you to all the PTO. Oh and our special someone dance if anyone wants to sponsor us. I forgot our special someone dance which is our biggest event of the year is the first weekend in February and I'm taking sponsorships. Thank you to the businesses that have already agreed to sponsor us. Um we usually we
this will be our fourth annual we've sold out every year we sold 800 tickets so it is a big deal. Um >> it's pandemon 400 tickets and we had a lot of angry parents. So now we do two events. We do a 3 to five for the little kids. We do a
6 to 8 for the older kids. I mean you can go to either or there's not but that's sort of what we market it towards. and uh photos by Jen will be here and she does pictures if you want pictures with your special someone. Um it's really a great great event. So >> my daughter's too
>> I know I know this will be the last year. Mine is I have a fifth grader so I have a little one too but the fifth grader this will be the last year. He probably won't want to go with me but I'll make him >> No, I asked my son if he wanted to go what for? So I don't think he's into it.
Okay. So, we had the um uh the high school committee met on Tuesday, yesterday. Uh we talked about our consistent enrollment numbers and the need for an intervention teacher and
a lot about the budget um and the bridge program. Uh and that was about it. There were some up updates. Um, and that was that was really about it for the high school. Um, and then I got
to tour the greenhouse which great. >> Oh, nice. >> Yeah, it's it is amazing in there. And um, >> yeah, if you had a student at the high school, I think the horiculture classes look amazing. It's a whole bunch of student projects in there. It's It is full of plants. >> Um, and I forgot to ask Mr. Sanchry,
when do we do the plant sale? So, I think that's uh in May. >> In May >> before um the spring musical. >> Okay. >> Yep. And then uh for like 8th grade graduation, I believe there's still plants there, too. >> Okay. So, in the spring. I forgot to ask
you that because I think that that's a really neat event that we can push out to the community. Oh, and that was it for the last two weeks. >> All right. I I You did the high school. I I was in >> Oh, I did the middle school. Sorry, not >> I was unable to make the high school. Uh
I went to the school but >> sub or the uh high school committee and we have not had a meeting of policy subcommittee. >> So I think that's the end of the reports. Do we have any topics for future discussion? >> We need to sit down with Mr. Beardmore and talk about the track. Yes. And our
next meeting or when he's avail the next meeting we have that he's available. >> Y okay. Oh, and I do want to uh ask the town, but I know the town is in a lot of they're doing a lot of turmoil finance-wise, but I do think we want to find out about if there's any borrowing capacity that is not related to
overrides. Remember, we talked about that. What would you suggest I do? Should I just write Jen an email? >> Yeah, I think we should talk to Jen and Caesar. >> Yeah, just because about about some of the like bigger projects we have that may not be like we were talking about. >> It also might be helpful to reach out to Chris Bernard because he might have a better insight.
>> Okay. I I will put that on my list. So, all right. Okay. >> Uh, it is 9:20 and I motion to adjourn at 9:20 p.m. Good job. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> Yeah. I >> Happy holidays everybody.