Uh then I am going to call this meeting of the member school committee to order. Um so we're going to start with the pledge of allegiance. Please rise. Allegiance to the flag of the United States of
America and to the republic for which it stands. one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Okay. Um
and again, thank you to our retirees. Um both of them have the ones that came today and all of our retirees have been integral to the success of Luna Schools. I want to say thank you to Mr. Ivonne for stepping in to um the Turkey Hill
principal. we had a lot of turnover there uh in the past several years and he brought a a great sense of stability um and and really stepped up to the plate.
So, I very much appreciate that and we're going to miss you a lot and I'm going to miss seeing you there. So, um I just wanted to also get that out there. Um so, we're going to do public comment for prior issues. Is there anyone here?
>> Chris, >> uh Chris Sullivan, 108 Highland Street here in Lunberg. Um just a simple comment of um uh regarding school sports. Uh there was a comment made during the last meeting about adding it to the agenda and there being a discussion. So I'm very disappointed that it's not on the agenda this
evening. Uh there's a I think there's a concerted effort in this town to continue to see those flourish um and see if there are means and mechanisms to fund the things that we're losing. Um and so just to comment that I'm disappointed it's not on the agenda this
evening. >> Thank you Chris. >> Version 389 Memphis Road. We are not borrowing $47 million for the water treatment plant, just in case you haven't heard. That just failed. So, um I made comment that um you know, we're we're trying to find 10 grand to put a
music program back in the program. So, I just in full transparency, I did speak with Dr. Fortuna and I spoke with Cara um last week at the band concert. I would like to get an accounting of the music specific music chorus across the district of the programs, the things
that were cut. Um, I've also would like to ask that uh, Mr. Sheldon, Miss McGregor, Mr. Ballister comment on what the priorities are and as president of the Musicators, what we can do to fundra to fill those gaps. Um, because we just we we've got such a strong There were
120 kids on the stage last week. Here I was there. I mean, it was just unbelievable. And to see we've got 120 kids tomorrow going for Trills and Thrills and um, three buses full of kids tomorrow. So, I got my daughter at home sorting snacks and we got water
chilling. So, you know, um it's just we've just got some traction. We are so disappointed obviously that the override did not pass and the cuts that were sustaining. So, I would just I'm making a formal request. I guess I just would like an accounting of everything that
was um reduced and then working with the teachers and working with you as well. What can we fund raise for based on what their priorities are and we'll um we'll report back. So, thank you. >> Good evening. Peter Beardmore, 282
Pleasant Street. Um, this is the first public comment that I have made in seven years as a truly private citizen. Uh, so we'll see how long that lasts. Um, I want to talk a little bit about money.
Um, I recognize that the the defeat of the override was a lot of things. Demoralizing is probably very high on that list. Um, and I think it's caused a lot of people to
think about what do we do next? How do we approach this? two to one majority against uh seems like an insurmountable uh obstacle uh to think about how we fund the town
and our schools over the course of the next several years. Um I would encourage people to keep an open mind. Um I I think selectman Mi said very astutely last night that clearly there isn't an
appetite to go back and try to run the same play again for an override uh given what's happened. But I look at between 7 and 800 votes on the four side and I think
well it's give or take what we got last time. There was an opposition. There was a campaign and there wasn't a sufficient story ask message campaign on the other side to go and get this thing. And we
have 1500 kids in our schools and we came up with 7 to 800 votes. And I don't think that we need to bring back the same proposal. In fact, I wouldn't. I think that there are things that we can do differently. But we can't give up. We
can't we can't concede that the budget that we are going to run next year is the level of service that we can continue to offer in perpetuity in Lunberg. Um your job is to represent the kids and
that's going to seem a little ironic to some people who are here who were part of the many arguments that I had with Carol Archbo over the years about what your job is. Um but they don't have a they don't have a voice. They don't have a vote. And it's really incumbent upon you to
make sure that that voice is heard um to our executive leaders and to our our finance committee to our town manager and to the voters at town meeting and to the voters at the ballot box. And
candidly, there need to be more of both. On that topic, um I know there's been talk about do we reopen the budget and I think that there's a developing consensus amongst
members of your board, members of the select board, and members of the finance committee to not do that. And I wonder why. Um, in my opinion,
if things are as bad as we said they were going to be, and here we are, then we need to be clawing and scratching for every dollar we can get. Um there in the Senate budget
when you look at all of the sources of local aid, there's somewhere between 350 and $450,000 depending upon how you calculate it. Uh I haven't looked at the budget itself. That's what I'm told. Um that Lunberg would get if that budget
passed. Now, the problem with municipal finances, of course, or state finance is that budget is very unlikely to get through conference committee passed and signed by the governor inside of the end of July, right? That's probably the time frame. It's the second half of July.
Last year was an anomaly. They actually passed it, I believe, at the end of June. Um, so it could happen, but you know, it it's not likely. So, what do we do? Do we do we wait for an official budget and then figure out what to do
with this windfall money or do we start making a plan now and do we lay the the foundation in place to act upon those available funds. Um and in my opinion it's the latter.
You should be talking about what you would do with x amount of money. You should be making a request to the select board to schedule a special town cow meeting ideally in the month of August. There should be an article that gives you some leeway depending upon the amount of money that is actually made
available. But there's a scenario where the state could pass the budget in July and in August we can appropriate several hundred,000 to the school department. Now I recognize the fact that plans have
to be made. the schedule is set for the high school. Layoff notices have gone out. Teachers have quit. Families have decided to leave. Like all of that is happening right now. Um but I think that there are impacts that we could affect um across the board um that we could we
could put three to $400,000 to to good use if we put our minds to it. So I would encourage you to think about that. Um, nobody is going to do it based on what I'm hearing at the select board or the finance committee unless you ask.
So, I'm asking you to ask and to get organized to come up with a plan for that ask. And I know that the town manager um would certainly be I'm speculating, but I'm sure that she would be ready, willing, and able to to help you work through the logistics of what
that could look like. Thank you. Do we have anyone on Zoom? >> I do not see anyone. >> All right. Um, chair's report. >> Um, so before we begin, I'd like for us to take a moment. Our community lost
someone special this week. Um, Haddie, who you may have seen represented in the myriad of hope for Hattie signs and a lot of the color green, passed away. She was an important member of this community and I would like for us to hold in our hearts her family, her parents, her big sisters, her friends,
those who loved her, those who cared about her, our students and our staff and everyone who was affected by the loss of such a bright angel. So if we could have a moment of silence. Thank you. Um and so everyone knows there is a half
day on on Friday uh so that our staff can attend tomorrow. Um so we're going to move on the chair's report. Uh it was an eventful two weeks since our last meeting. Massive school alliance
featured some videos about the school committee. Uh we've had an influx of interest in the schools. Members received threats. People said some truly vile things. Members were harassed. Uh they had to deal with some
truly awful, heavily misogynist, hateful things being directed to them and harassment that directly came their way. I am so sorry this happened. This should not be the price to pay for volunteering for
the school committee. We have a lack of people in town willing to step up and volunteer. After this past month, past two weeks, I worry we're going to have even less people willing because this is not the price that we should have to pay this vitriol.
Every one of us up here ran out of post. Tony, I think, was originally appointed to fill a vacancy. It It should not be this difficult to find people But it is and I don't think that's good for democracy. I think a lack of options is terrible for
democracy. The concept of our government hangs on choice and the ability to choose our representatives. Creating a culture where we don't get to have choices is bad for democracy. I want us up here to be able to debate
and discuss options and examine other points of view and share our points of view. I want alternate options. I want people sharing their thoughts. That's the only way it's going to work so that we can compromise and work on building systems that best benefit
everyone. We are a town of 11,000 people. We are a small community. We are neighbors. We're friends. We drive on the same roads. Our kids might go to school together. We see each other out and about. We call the same town home. We are a community.
Humans are supposed to care about each other. Humans evolve to have social groups and social bonds. We evolve to take care of each other. And I'm really disappointed right now in this community and the wider Massachusetts community. I'm very disappointed.
Our job as school committee is to advocate for the schools. Our job is to speak for the kids. Our job is to make sure that we have an adequately funded school system that's giving the children of Lunberg an education that will help them achieve their goals and become
happy, healthy, functioning adults. That is our responsibility. It's what we were elected to do. That's our duty and it's one that we all take very seriously. Our duty is to kids, they cannot vote. They can't even make public comment at town meeting without a sponsor. They
have no voice in the decisions that have been made in this town, but the decisions that were made are going to affect these kids for the rest of their lives. With the class sizes next year, there's about a hundred kids, probably there's
more in each grade. That's over 400 kids who are going to have class sizes of between 27 and 30. That's four over 400 people who live in this town that are very much affected by that.
So asking for the override was our duty as school committee because that's how it was going to take to get the kids what they need. Uh I want to say that there is going to be an election for select board. There
are two openings on the select board and there's going to be a special election and we do need people to run for select board which on the heels of I don't think public scrutiny is the right word for it but we'll call it that. On the heels of public scrutiny, it's not looking very appealing to run
for public office right now, but we we need people to step up and run. Um so if you're considering that um please please do. There's going to be a special election soon. I didn't watch the select board meeting. So, did they say when it is? >> The district is August August 8th.
>> August 8th through. So, you're going to have to gather signatures to get on the ballot, but please consider stepping up and serving. Okay. And that's all I have for this week. Uh, I'll let you handle the graduation stuff. Excellent.
>> Okay. Student representatives report. Um, so graduation is this Saturday, the 6th. There's also a book and bake sale at the library on the sixth. I don't know if they're happening at the same time, different times,
so I'm not totally sure if they're supposed to kind of go together. Um, the last day for the district is June 18th. The fifth grade graduation is June 17th and 8th grade graduation is June 18th.
Yeah, the book of bake sale is I think always on the same day as graduation. It's one of their big drivers is people getting treats for after graduation. >> I like wasn't totally sure. I was like that seems like a conflict but maybe it's on purpose.
>> Okay, thank you. >> 92 graduations at 10, I believe. >> Okay, review and approve minutes. you guys. Okay. Uh, are there any issues with
them? Okay. Um, motion to accept the Can I get a motion to accept the minutes for April 1st? I'll make a motion to accept the minutes for April 1st. >> Second. >> Uh, any discussion? Okay. All in favor?
>> I. Motion passes unanimously. Um I number seven is review and approve line item transfers warrants and donations. Do we have I know we were holding off on that donation make it in this week the book fair donation. >> I don't
>> the Yes. It says the signature. >> We have one donation for Turkey pill um from their book fair sales. Oh, okay. So we have a Nope. I need you to sign that later. That's the living room.
>> Yep. Okay, then if I had opened it, I would know that. Um, okay. So, we have one donation in the amount of $255.38 uh from the book fair, the PTO. So, can I get a motion to accept this donation?
>> Motion to accept. >> Second. >> Okay. All in favor? >> I. >> So, that was unanimous. We'll just have to sign this second. Okay. Uh and then as far as transfers, we'll do that next.
>> Do we're have a lot soon though, right? >> Yeah. >> Next week's >> Okay. Yeah, that's >> Yeah. >> Okay. Can we also do a budget check at that point? >> Yeah. >> Public one.
>> Yep. Okay. uh you know before June 30th. Okay. Superintendent's report. Excellent. So, as Miss Barby was saying, it's been a week of just positions. This past week has been one of profound juositions in
our school community. We are navigating the heavy, heartbreaking grief of losing one of our bright young learners, first grader Patty B, while simultaneously preparing for the long-held traditions and celebrations of our graduating high school seniors. Holding both of these
realities at once is difficult for our entire community. Our hearts are heavy as we remember Hattie. She brought infectious joy to her classroom, friends, and family. The loss of a child is unimaginable, and our deepest sympathies are with her family, her friends, and the staff who loved and
taught her. We will continue to offer support to our students and staff as we process this profound loss together. At the same time, we look forward to Saturday morning at 10:00 when we will watch our seniors cross the stage. This will be a moment of immense pride and
accomplishment. They have worked incredibly hard to reach this milestone and we celebrate their resilience, their growth, and the exciting futures that lie ahead of them. The joy of graduation is a testament to the enduring spirit of our students and the power of education.
These two events, one a tragic loss, the other a joyful beginning, remind us of the fragility and beauty of life. They remind us to cherish the moments we have with our students, to support one another in times of sorrow, and to celebrate the milestones we achieved
together. We honor Hadtie's memory by carrying her light forward in our hearts. We honor our graduates by sending them out into the world with their love and belief in their potential. I want to thank you to our community for knowing how to lean on one
another through grief and how to lift one another up in celebration. Tonight, I want to take a few minutes, and I'm happy, Chris, you're still here, um, to discuss our district's relationship with our athletic booster clubs and parent organizations.
First, I want to clearly state how deeply we appreciate our parents and community members. When district budgets are tight, the instinct of our community to step up and support our student athletes is incredible. However, following recent consultations with our
legal council, it is critical that we publicly clarify the legal, ethical, and management rules that govern how these funds can be used. Relying on private donations for public school sports can create significant liabilities if we don't manage it carefully. There are
three main ideas I want to highlight tonight. First is the approval process. By state law, the school committee is the only body authorized to accept donations. Booster clubs cannot engage in major fundraising for items like
facility restorations or new equipment or transportation without keeping the district informed and securing final approval. The committee has to evaluate every donation to ensure it doesn't create hidden maintenance cost or unfair advantages.
Second, and most importantly, is Title 9 compliance. Federal law requires us to treat boys and girls sports equally. If a booster club raises a massive amount of money to buy luxury gear or travel for one specific team, the district is
legally obligated to use its own budget to provide an equal experience for the counterpart team. If the district doesn't have the money to balance the scales, we are at risk of a major civil rights violation. We cannot allow well-intentioned donations to create
gender in inequity in our programs. Third is separation and ethics. Booster clubs must operate as legally separate independent nonprofits. School staff, athletic directors, and coaches cannot manage booster bank
accounts, and they absolutely cannot be paid directly by a booster club. Any financial support for coaching positions must be donated to the school committee and processed legally through our official district payroll. Our biggest priority right now is
ensuring consistent transparent communication between booster leadership and our administration so that no one is caught off guard. We are having a meeting to do exactly that next week. To help with this, I am um sharing a
comprehens comprehensive relations with booster organizations policy from another district in our folder site. This policy addresses conflict of interest issues and clearly outlines what booster groups can and cannot do. Our goal is not to
discourage the incredible generosity of our community. Rather, it is to ensure that every dollar raised benefits our students in a way that is equitable, transparent, and completely compliant with the law. Academic gains. I am thrilled to share our district's end of the year testing
data, which shows clear positive progress for our students from the fall to the spring. Here are a few of the major highlights from this year's results. First, we saw a great jump in overall performance. At the beginning of the year, 55% of our students were meeting or exceeding our educational
goals. By the end of the year, that number grew to 67%. Even better, the number of students who are struggling the most dropped significantly, falling from 24% down to 17%. Our bis our biggest success this year
was in reading accuracy. By the end of the year, an impressive 85% of our students met their reading goals, a massive leap from just 46% in the fall. We also saw the number of students falling far behind in reading shrink from 27% down to just 9%.
Our youngest learners had an especially fantastic year. The number of kindergarteners meeting or beating their reading goals practically doubled, jumping from 39% in the fall to 79% this spring. Our early elementary students are also building a very strong
foundation in math. In kindergarten, 95% of students met or exceeded our growth expectations by the end of the year. In first grade, our classrooms are doing exceptionally well with 85% of students reaching proficiency and only 3% falling
far behind. In second grade, most students are right on track and severe risk is incredibly low at just 2%. While we are thrilled with this overall progress, we are still working hard to close the math achievement gap for our students with disabilities. This remains
a top priority for our district. When we visit classrooms, we are seeing wonderful changes. Students are talking more about math with each other. They are learning how to persevere through difficult problems, and they are confidently using academic vocabulary.
We also know that changing the way we teach takes time. Shifting from traditional teaching methods to having students take more ownership of their learning is a big adjustment. To better support our teachers through this change, we're providing more hands-on teachertoteer support right in their own
classrooms. Overall, we are incredibly proud of the hard work of our students and teachers have put in this year and the data clearly reflects that effort. Thank you. And I am thrilled to announce the appointment of Dr. Caitlyn Angulo as the
new Turkey Hill assistant principal. She comes to us with 15 years of public school teaching and leadership experience at all levels, primary, elementary, middle, and high school. Dr. Agnulo is also an adjunct professor at UMass Low in their doctor of education
program. Thank you to the committee and I'm happy to answer any questions the committee might have. That was a lot um that was a lot of information. One superintendent report. Can you talk about shifting from
traditional teaching methods to having students take home of ownership of their learning? Has that been a conscious shift? >> It's been a conscious shift that Dr. Softi has been working on with principles and um teachers through our
PLC's and through the coaching that she is doing with teachers. Um that's interesting. How is was there an age when that happens or is it
>> we're focused mostly at our um primary and turkey health right now. Um probably with the heaviest emphasis on primary I would say Dr. Sy and yeah it was been a very tough bittersweet time at the school right
now. So, thank you. Okay, let's go on to new business physical education credits. I think would you like to come up? >> Sure. >> And I'm going to invite Mr. Sentry up
too um to offer some of his perspective on this as well. Um I a couple weeks ago I presented about after school sports counting as physical education credits in the community for um people who are involved
in the athletics department and I just wanted to come support the idea again. >> Introduce yourself. >> Oh, I'm Eden Far and I live at 18 crossing. So, the idea of having um Lunberg High School athletics
um be able to wave the physical education requirement um that students have is one that's been talked about multiple times by the committee and I invited Mr. Sanry
tonight to give us some history on that. And we have Dr. Saki here tonight in case um we need more of a curricular framework around this >> and Eden had a great presentation last
time you were here with um statistics and independent research that she'd done and it was a very compelling case. So >> that's great. I want to congratulate Eden. She really makes us look great because of her the work that she does
not only in her academics but in this piece too. Great job, Eden. So, I think it's ironic that uh Mr. Beardmore is here today because um >> Oh, he's no longer uh we went 12 rounds around uh the PE
credit slashwaver. Um and I was not in favor of it. And um I'll give you a couple reasons why. I mean, and this has been something that we've been discussing in our school advisory councils. It's been very close
50/50. People wanting it, people don't wanting it. I just want to clarify maybe some of the semantics. Earning credit for a varsity sport that I that can't happen. That isn't aligned with Massore and it's also not taught by a licensed
teacher. I think the language we would want would that I would be providing a waiver. As we know, I think the only two required courses through the state of Massachusetts is physical education and a civics project. So, um some of the
reasons that I brought up the last time I came around, um not in support of a waiver for phys for varsity sports. one was with the new um the new physical
education framework standards. Um we didn't feel that varsity sports, the competitive piece of that hit all of the standards that were in our new um the new curriculum. Two is that when we have
PE classes, we can make them accessible and inclusive and adaptable for all. I don't feel that happens on a varsity sports team because you're you're trying out, you might not make it. Um, so what
happens if you're planning on credits and you get cut from the football team? Um, there's all kinds of questions around that also. Um, yeah. So, those were some of my pieces on why I didn't one that we can't
provide credits for it, but maybe a waiver for it. I did um ask the Midwin watch principles, that's about 31 other principles in central Mass, and I believe about three of the 31 other uh districts provide a waiver
for FISET. So, uh, when we talk about competitive sports not hitting all the standards, can you be more specific about which standards we'd be missing? >> Sure. Um, so we have like, uh, the state curriculum requires students to learn
about emotional well-being, injury prevention, motor skill development, health concepts that aren't explicitly learned in a competitive sport. Yeah, my the wellness aspect was part of my concern that you would have to figure out a way
>> to get the students the wellness aspect. >> I'm sorry I went blank for a second, but another one of my concerns is now that we have reduced varsity sports in order to receive a waiver, your family has to be able to have $375.
they have to be able to transport um to and from all of the sports in order to be even eligible for a waiver. >> That was my concern. That was an >> Eden came before that hadn't quite happened yet. So,
>> and now we have reduced some >> Yeah, it's not equitable girls lacrosse. So, now girls might not have as a large a competitive edge in order to get a waiver as I >> overseas. or even just getting to sports at this
point. Right now, we haven't really developed any kind of plan for that. So, >> so that >> that takes lots of kids out of the competitive nature of it. >> Can as of right now, can you walk us through what a waiver what exactly a
waiver does? Does it wave the requirements for the credit? >> Yes. So the the principal has the authority to provide a waiver for the graduation credits that the school committee provides or that the state provides. So I would say if you are
participating in a varsity sport that is we are dis determining that's equivalent to a quarter credit half credit however you were deciding that and I would wave the ability to have that credit as part
of the graduation requirement. We have had it in the past before it was the you would have to earn one credit of PE and then the other half credit it was you would have to do varsity sports junior and senior year and it would be a quarter credit waiver for each of the
junior and the senior year. >> So we h we have had this before. >> It was in the past. Yes. >> When did we stop doing it? Probably when the standards changed. Well >> well the standards changed only two years ago. I think we dropped the waiver. I I don't know the answer. I'm not even going to wager a guess. I'm sorry.
>> Okay. Um, you have the equitability. Now, you have an advantage academically if your parents can drive you to sports or you're at a disadvantage if your family cannot drive you to games or you
can't pay. That's I mean >> or now that you have a waiver for a PE, you might have an advantage of getting into a class that you don't have to take with our reduced car course load at the high school. >> Yeah. So if we gave a waiver or if you gave a
waiver, does that also wave the standards and the parts of the curriculum that sports isn't hitting or would we would we be able to require them to make up that part in like a half semester
class? >> I don't know the answer to that. I the waiver would would make the requirement for that PE course go away. >> You mentioned something >> and marching band was part of that also.
>> Not even with that necessarily, but my freshman and sophomore year I was signed up for PE classes and could not take them due to scheduling conflicts. you need three half-year classes to graduate, which is now putting me in a
spot where for next year I'm having to drop an honors course to take a PE credit that I've needed because we now only have one gym teacher. That is five classes per semester that that one gym
teacher can teach. And I was actually I was speaking with him. He does not personally agree with this for some of the reasons that you were mentioning about like the wellness component and stuff, but in my current gym class, he has never spoken to us
once about wellness. He yells at kids to get off their phones and you know, he gives us a workout to do. I would argue that yelling kids to get off their books might be part >> but I know previously when you know there were two gym teachers and their
workloads each were a little bit lighter. I took a PE class for one quarter and then I had to drop it to switch my math class and there wasn't another one I could go into. Um, and at that point we did have like some like nutrition assignments, but I think now
that's just too much for like any one person to keep up with. And scheduling, as many people in this room know, is already just terrible with the amount of teachers we have, the amount of courses we're able to offer. This would help
students like me who might not have the time in their schedule to take those PE classes without dropping other courses. >> So, can we hear from Dr. Saki who I actually asked to stay for this?
>> Yeah. So, I was going to talk about some advantages and one of them certainly would be to allow for more flexibility in the schedule, right? When it comes to electives, AP courses, um any other academic course for sure. Obviously, a waiver a waiver like this or a substitution pathway, whatever we want
to call it, um acknowledges the hard work that our athletes actually participate in. I think the draft that I saw mentioned freshman elig eligibility and like um uh acceptance onto a freshman team, a junior varsity team, and a varsity team. So, I don't think
this is limited to just varsity athletes, at least the draft isn't. Um the other thing too is thinking about uh liability for the district and thinking about um how we actually can um record like attendance and things like that. If
we just restrict this to MIA MIA sanctioned sports, it kind of um reduces some of that liability piece and that accountability piece. We can verify like what the curriculum is, what have you, attendance again and safety standards.
However, um and so this is something that I'm not unfamiliar with that my my when I was the assistant superintendent in NSHA, this is something and um something that we afforded to our students who wanted to basically get a waiver for PE because they participated
in varsity and junior varsity sports. The the one consideration here certainly is like that equity piece, right? um making sure that students do have access to the funds to be able to participate if they have transportation. Um and then obviously the ability to
kind of make the teams. I I would assume that probably a greater number of students would be able to make the teams if we're talking about freshman and varsity teams. I don't know definitively, but I would I would imagine that probably more of the kids make those teams than not. Maybe not
varsity, but the other teams. So at least um a significant number of students can participate. Um something that I would be a little bit weary about that I'm not sure about it caught my eye for sure is in the draft policy um with
the season ending injury. If a student were to have a season ending injury the exemption would not stay and then they would have to figure out how to enroll in PE and that could be like a scheduling nightmare,
right? that's something to consider. Um and then um you know the only other thing when it comes to equity is we obviously know that we have some students who participate in really physically demanding sports like really committed to martial arts or cheerleading. Um I don't know that I
don't I don't didn't see that on this list. I'm not sure. Um and so that is something that that is something that is a consideration. In my experience, some of those things actually counted towards the exemption. They wouldn't hear, >> right? I I know they wouldn't hear that.
That's the difference between my experience and here. Um, but what I would say is, you know, as a as a parent of a student who played varsity sports all three seasons for four years, it's incredibly rigorous. Um, one thing that
I was thinking about that is an advantage is when you have a student who is overexerting themselves. I mean, my son was, you know, like wrestling would be between 30 and 40 hours a week. And that's not an over over exaggeration. I know that, you know, if he's if he's
playing basketball or whatever he's doing in PE class, it doesn't seem like it's that much of a big deal, but it it kind of cuts down on that fatigue because he has to go to um to practice after school. And so that's a consideration. I mean, I think um I
definitely when Mr. Sandry asked me tonight if I was in favor of this, I said yes, but I did not want to go against him at all. And I still don't want to go against him. In in my past experience, it was really successful, but the conditions were different. Um I
don't think that it it can't be successful here. I just think that we have to acknowledge some of the challenges that we might have. And it's not for or against. We're just providing both sides. >> Yeah.
>> I feel like last year I just feel like we're not in a space currently staffing wise and for this >> to allow it >> right now. I don't think the staffing issues are a reason to do it because it
would free up their schedules and that. >> So, how many credits is they need? >> One and a half. >> One and a half and a half year. So, that's three half year classes. >> So, they would still be getting the wellness part of it like if because we
could I'm almost considering if we want to pilot this by allowing one half credit for one year of participation and we see how it goes. >> And may I also add, I know we've had some problems recently with like principal's discretion on things, but we
could also make it where school varsity and JV sports are kind of like those are fine. But if there is a kid who's in a martial arts and they can prove that they're succeeding, I >> I don't think that's an option. I think my rules know that they're
following the safety issues. Yeah, that's the big consideration. Um, it's also much cleaner from the equity perspective if it's an MIA school sponsored sport. Um, then we
we have ostensively some control over what is happening with that with that sport. Well, because I remember um our old band director telling us that back when it was a thing, marching band counted towards that. That's not like an
MIAA sport. I don't believe cheer is, but that's a school sponsored. >> Cheer is an MIA. >> Oh, it is. >> So, marching band would not be included. >> Other districts do include Ben in that as well. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. So, I would not recommend that.
No, I mean, is there a limit to how many waiverss you can do >> at all? >> I don't um I don't have that information, >> but my understanding is that the mass core requirements, I'm sorry, aren't mandates. They're more recommendations.
Is that accurate? Okay. >> So, they can still graduate. That wouldn't prevent them from graduating. I'll die on the hill that marching band is a sport. I walk around carrying the 40 lb instrument unable to breathe for
10 minutes because uniform high will there be an opportunity for it seems like you all are coming to a decision. Will there >> I don't think so. I don't want to vote on this tonight. I know it's an action item, but we're missing two members. Um,
and I I do want to find out which schools. Can you email me the names of the schools that >> U Mr. Prine just provided me one? I know one is Fitsburg and one is Littleton. >> Okay. >> Pembroke, >> Ash West, Franklin. >> Ash West, Franklin, and Taton. These
aren't in the Midwest. Um, Midwatch this. >> Ash West and Littleton are local though. >> Yeah. >> Perhaps we could reach out to them. >> Um, do you know if there's any that did it and then stopped doing it? Those are my favorite case studies because I I like to see what fell apart and what the issues were.
>> I haven't dived that deep. >> It's not a midwatch school, but I can speak from my experience as the deputy superintendent for teaching and learning in Brookline that we did it. And this
was something that my director of wellness was very eager to not do given the adoption of the new standards which are not optional with the wellness credits. And
I think just because it's something that we may not be teaching now, it doesn't mean it's not something we should not be teaching. And it's something that we at Dr. Saki and Mr. Santry should look at
because the wellness component almost becomes is equally important in the new standards as the physical component. >> I will add we also do require a health class for freshmen where it is mostly a health and well
>> is that health class a B credit? No, >> it's a separate health credit that we also need to graduate which would not be waved um this proposal. >> This also may be the subject of collective bargaining with our union >> and backbased bargaining. So yeah, I want to I think we need to look into
that. Um so I know I know it's an action item, but with two of us missing I think I would prefer to table it, but if you two have a different opinion We can certainly get that. You can
certainly get more information. >> Brooklyn had a director of wellness. >> I had 40 people working under me in the curriculum department. >> Much like every district we had as many kids in the high school as we have in the district here, but I had 40
curriculum people. >> Yes. >> How many do we have? >> 40. >> No. How many do we have >> in the curriculum department? >> One. She is. Hi. There it is. There's our department. >> Sure. That that was the answer. >> Yeah. I know people like to talk about
the administrative bloat and how Lunberg it's too many administrators which just sometimes I find comical because we have >> if this was something we did adopt, when would the timeline be? Like when would
we have to probably not for this year, but when would we have to know that we were going to do this for students in order to put it in place? Do you know what I mean? Like for scheduling and letting people know and >> Well, we're doing the scheduling >> now for next year.
>> Okay. >> I I imagine a waiver could affect people that weren't signed up and in varsity. So I think it Dr. Fortuna, correct me if I'm wrong, but once it was adopted, if it was adopted by the school committee, it now becomes implemented.
>> Yeah, I would think >> then there might be a roll 28 for the school year. >> Not 26. >> You're too far along in the schedule. >> Do you have any questions, J? >> Any more, Emily? >> Okay. Um, yeah. Thank you. And thank you
again, Eden, for pushing this forward again. I I feel like it's really powerful when it comes from a student who says, "Here's here's how this would benefit me and my fellow students and here's how we think it could work." Um, so thank you for all of that work you
did and thank you you guys too. >> Thank you. >> Yeah. Okay. Elementary school report cards. Mrs. Squire headed out this effort for us and Miss
Marbalo is here to join her. So in your packets you have our proposed report card and there's a little outline of how we came to this. So we developed a new standardsbased report card. It would be for kindergarten
through fifth grade. Um, and it's to better communicate student progress that aligns with state educational benchmarks. Um, our district undertook a thorough collaborative process to redesign our report cards. It was a massive effort that was driven by
community feedback, educator enterprise, as well as a commitment to student growth. So, think back to my end of Turkey Hill. We did a survey parents report cards when we shifted to the January progress. Um,
a lot of parents didn't understand our report cards. They thought it was very lengthy and some people don't even read the report card because they don't understand it. So, that was some of the feedback that we got. So, we looked at all of the standards and developed um report cards that will not take an
educator six plus hours to complete one. um and think about next year some of the classes are going to have close to 30 students in a class. So after we did that we gathered all of our community input surveys went to
parents teachers and then we sent a survey who would be interested because this was a volunteer basis. There was no stifen for this lots of hours two hours every other week. We started in September all the way up to April of
this year. So, it was a year-long process. We took each section individually. Um, and some of the committee members, I know it's on there, but so we had classroom teachers Jackie Favro, Patty Kil Cumins, Sarah Kenny,
Amy Harrington, Lyn Marbelloo, Heather Wiom, Rhonda Connory. We had instructional coaches Amy Resnneck and Jennifer Traverso. She was our reading coach. And then administratively myself, Dr. Bookas started and then we
had Dr. Sarfy. >> That's quite the team. >> It was quite the team. There was a lot of opinions. There was a lot of discussion. Um, >> a lot of back and forth. We did not always agree. But I think in the end our
final product is student centered that is parentfriendly. Um that I think will give a full comprehensive picture of what the students can do when you get the report card home. And I think by switching
instead of having a one two twop which parents having it more to the exceeding expectations meeting partially meeting or not meeting and there's I don't know if I include it in the packet but there was descriptions of it. We were still
going back and forth as a committee over email um just recently. So I think that would be it. I know this isn't something for school committee to vote on, but we wanted you to be aware that this was a massive undertaking and we definitely
extend our deepest gratitude to all of the committee members who volunteered their time, their energy to build a more transparent tool for student success. This is fantastic. That's
the report cards have been slightly inscrutable for a little amount of so long. Last time I reviewed it, I remember thinking, how long does it take the teachers to sit here and fill this out a long time? >> Because this is massive and it's I mean it's granular in ways that it's not
helpful for parents always. So this is this is wonderful. Um, thank you. Like I'm I absolutely love this. Would this be completed on paper or would this be translated into something that comes via P school? So, we would be working on it
over the summer to get it translated into P school and I don't know I know this year in January we did a paper copy but we also counted how much paper we used and I
don't know feasibly if it would be within our budget to do that for next year. Just being fully transparent with that. I thought it was wonderful because my my son got the experience of bringing home a report card and excitedly showing it to me and I realized my other kids
didn't get to do that and it would just be all right, let's log in and check the power school and to be perfectly honest sometimes I forget because they're doing fine and I feel awful about that but it's just >> I mean my oldest daughter's first year I forgot my power school password and she was doing okay so I didn't check and I
think like that's me. I think there's a lot to do that sometimes. And these are important because this is how the teacher is communicating and how you can check up on how your kid is doing and know what to work on at home. And that paper report card that was
really powerful for him to be proud of what he did and for us to go over and talk about like, okay, it says here maybe you're having a little bit of a hard time listening. Can we maybe talk about that? Like it was and go over his many strengths because he's wonderful.
But it was um I personally very much enjoy the paper report cards. However, I also know we have no money and to print it is expensive. It's time consuming. Uh distributing it is a logistical
difficulty. Um but I I really do love the paper report cards. I think I don't know they help the children feel proud and take ownership over what they've done. But this is clear. It still hits all the things that we
need to know and that you're you're assessing for without being ownorous. And we're hoping that more parents, while it's not so lengthy, but is still very comprehensive, will be able to read it a little better
on P school as it translates versus what we have now is very long >> and the language. So that was one of the other components looking at the language that parents are going to understand. If I'm not in education and I'm getting this report card, can I really
understand what my child can do? I was just going to say I like how the standards are more basic and they're still there's still the standards but the wording is shorter and simpler. I mean I'm an educator so I when Nora has her report card I know what to say but for someone
that isn't familiar with the standards this is briefer and clearer more simple that you can sit with a second grader and go over them and even read it to them and they might understand what they're getting graded on. love the
powerful action verbs. Like I you was gonna say we worked hard and making sure there wasn't a lot of repeating because a lot of the it was like the same. >> So we're like how do we I'm a parent because we want parents to be engaged.
We found parents were more engaged this year with our January conferences. >> Yes. because they had some more feedback. And maybe that paper copy was a piece of it, but by not having this big long document in P school, maybe more parents will go through and read it
because it is user friendly and gives more description of what your child can and what their areas of growth are. And we worked really hard on the strands in particular, scaffolding it for the grade level. So it was the same idea and just
changing the words to go with the grade level that they were in. We worked really hard on that so that way they knew what was happening and seeing the progression. >> It's very elegant like thank you for all that hard work and that really is a dream team. That's
>> um it's a lot of opinions in one room. Uh but this is this is lovely. So do we need to vote two of the stuff you just gonna >> we're gonna start this summer >> but we fig if anyone had questions you could ask us. Do you have any questions?
>> No, I think this is really a great great idea and all the time you put into it. Thank you, >> Emily. >> Okay. >> All right. >> Thank you very much, guys. >> Sorry. on our agenda are the FY27 handbooks.
My recommendation would be that the principles just go over any substantive changes that are in their handbooks to save us time um rather than going through the handbook. So, I'll invite the principles up to just go through any
substantive changes in their handbook. >> Well, this one will be short. >> We do vote on this, right? Because >> you do. Yes. So my handbook as it stands the only change will be the report card because
we wanted to present that first. So in it there it currently says it's a 1 2 3 4. We will give a little more description but other than that there were no changes to the handbook. >> None. >> Okay. didn't even have to
>> be principal. That's >> ditto. >> Oh, >> except for changes for names and dates. Yes. Turkey handbook. So, >> those things will change and obviously with the new report card, the report card references will change, but everything else is the same.
>> We had one minor change to the middle school handbook. Um, our middle school nurse wanted to require sneakers of every student uh, MPE classes because she had noticed an increase in injuries to feet and ankles when wearing Crocs or
other types of shoes during physical activity. So, we >> we Yeah, we put that in there. >> It wasn't in the handbook. >> It wasn't in the handbook in the handbook. >> I think it was a classroom rule, but now it's we put it in the handbook. And >> she's still looking for donations of
sneakers. >> She has been out on leave, but I'm sure sneakers would be great if um they're clean and we can >> So, if anyone has any gently used, brand new sneakers that they would like to in middle school and high school sizes that they would like to donate to the school
nurse's office or the gym. Um, it helps for when the students only bring Crocs or boots to school so that they can more safely move to the gym. >> And for uh the high school, we did not
make any substantive changes except that we are ready to provide an addendum if we need to after Desi provides us with our cell phone policy. That would be the same for the middle school handbooks or if there's any change to graduation requirements or a competency
determination coming up at the end of June through Desi also. So we'll be ready to move to provide addendums for those handbooks if necessary. >> Okay. Any questions? >> No. >> Okay. Um so I do need a motion to vote
to accept the FY27 school handbooks for the three schools. I'll make a motion to accept the 26 2027 handbooks. >> So good. >> Okay. Any discussion? All in favor? >> All right.
>> Thank you guys. I'll go back next should be fairly quick. >> We're doing school improvement plans in a minute. >> Okay. But what's next on our agenda is the fifth grade band proposal that Mr.
Ballister had developed. So, he had um reached out to me and asked about what um I had said that I thought we should do what's in the best interest of students.
And one of the cuts that was being made next year was fifth grade band. and his proposal is to have um a fifth grade band meet before school on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And um he
believes it would be appropriate to charge about a hundred um dollars per student with the goal of about having 20 students. And that is um less than the cost of an instrument or less than half the cost of a semester of weekly 30
minute private lessons. and he would appreciate the school committee considering this um during this difficult time. >> I if I may I greatly appreciate Mr. Ballister's proposal. We've talked about this last year when there was a
potential for fifth grade band to be removed. I think before the committee makes a final approval. Um, someone who knows the contract better than I may know, but I don't think there's a stipen in the contract right now for fifth grade ban.
>> That would be something that would need to be negotiated. And then the cost per student may have to change depending upon the stipen because the cost per student will need to cover the whole um expense for the program. But it's a great in between
to help us keep fifth grade band, get our fifth grade students into an instrument and um into music and feeding into our middle school program. >> Thank you. And Mr. Ballister's willing to get up early and his proposal.
>> It's his proposal and I didn't mention it to him, but it becomes a stipen position. It's going to have to be posted and hired the way all stipen positions are hired. >> Okay. Would you negotiate that first or can you take action?
You can authorize me to enter into negotiations with the union before the state to be brought back to the school committee for approval. Motion >> say move.
>> Can I get a second? >> Okay. Uh on favor of those negotiations for the the grade before school band. >> I I >> may I ask a question about this? Would
it be possible? I know like the elementary school for their after school programs there's like normally like a list that goes out or at least when I was there and then like kids pick like first, second, third choice. How much does that cost per student? And would it
be possible to add fifth grade band as an afterchool activity because I feel like that might be more realistic for parents. >> Quick math in my head. The stip what we charge for the afterchool program depending upon what the stipen is for the position um probably would not cover
it. Um for girls on the run the stipen that we charge that we charge families for girls run didn't cover the cost of the coach. We relied on a donation in order to finish uh paying the stipen for the coach. Um we charge $35 for the after school program here. Minimum
number of students um maximum number of days. Um it would likely be that the stipen for the band program is going to be more than the stipen for the six five weeks after school program because it would be all year. >> But like is there a possibility to make
band after school instead of before? cuz I know like anytime I have to be here early, >> Mr. Ballister is proposing before school I believe because Turkey Hill has their specials in the morning and he works in the morning. >> Okay.
>> Then the other end of that might be too is that at this point Mr. Mallister is uh 7. So his work day ends before our school day ends. So he'd need to leave and come back if it were him. >> Okay.
start that process and that would be fantastic. I know it's not the same as fifth grade band during the day, but it's something. So, thank you to Mr. Ballister for proposing that. Okay. Uh,
next up we have the school improvement plan for the 20 the school improvement plan progress for this school year. So in your packets, I gave a very comprehensive fourpage
update on ours progress on our our three goals. Dr. Fortuna gave an update on my reading. So I'm not going to reiterate that. >> You could reiterate the 95%. Um what I would like to highlight though because
and I brought this just in case you could not read it in your so the ignite tutoring which was one of our biggest things you can see the gap of students because that was not highlighted for Dr.
Patuna. So I will um students in K to2 we had 94 students that participated in this program I believe 93 94 um they received tutoring every day one- on-one for 15
minutes um all of the tutoring um participants that were achieving at or above grade grade level benchmark doubled so it they started at 33% % at the beginning of the
year and we're up to 67%. Um, our well below benchmark cohort went from 26 to 8. So that decreased, that's the trend that we want to see. We want to see our well below decrease and then are at and above. Um, and our below
benchmark decreased. It went from 42% to 26%. some of the highlights of this. So you look at the average time on minute during that 15 minutes. Our average time was 13.5. You look at the graph, it's it
says about 14. So average is 13.5. Um the shifts represent a significant uh closure of the phonics gaps in a short time frame. So remember, we didn't start this until March 9th. So from March 9th and
we finish it this Friday, June 5th. So the first quarter, 28% were identified as high growth. 88% were making steady progress. And when you look at your graphs, you can see the skills. So it has baseline right here. So you can see
where our students were a lot of kindergarten and first grade. And then the kindergarten group number of students. So this is where they're at for their reading skills. and then first and then we even have some in second grade which we did not have. So there's
a big significant growth in a very short period of time from this program. >> I was so skeptical of this because this is this is the video tutoring. >> It is another person on the So there's a person communicating back and forth.
another person and I was I'm so skeptical of how much this would help and I was very wrong because this is wonderful and it was what our kids needed and that's impressive >> and I think with the cuts that we have
next year and not having MTSS we've run this so we see the great gains that students make so >> is it so the funding for this ends >> this was grant funded. So, we did not pay for it. I know that we're looking
into what would the cost be per student. >> Is it not something we could get a grant for? Again, it was a one time. >> So, the it's been mixed. However, out of conference committee has come that they're putting $20 million um towards
this tutoring again. So, I don't know if we'd be eligible again, but if we were, it's something that we'd certainly apply for because it was so beneficial. Um, Dr. Sari has been working hard to get a discount because the cost of a seat is
very expensive and it's not something that our budget can support right now, even with our title one funds. >> $2500 per seat. >> Oh my gosh. >> Yeah. >> Wow. That seems a little >> but it works
>> much and it works. >> This is I like when I'm wrong and when the data bears out that something helpful. I just This is >> My daughter is one of the students in second grade that's been using this. Um she wasn't super below benchmarks, but I
have seen a huge difference and it's nice that it's only I was worried like I was like 15 minutes a day like I do literacy for 75 minutes with my kids. I'm like 15 minutes a day that's never going to do anything. But it's really nice too because she can tell me exactly what they did that day because it's 15
minutes. So I hear all the things that she's practiced. Um it's I was also very skeptical. I didn't want my daughter on the computer staring at a stranger that she doesn't know doing reading instruction. She also has a hearing aid,
so I was worried about that. Um so I I hope we could still do this. Um if we could get a grant, that would be amazing. Was implementing it difficult as far as staffing? >> So the leg work that Mr. Smith and I do to make this work.
It is a tremendous lift, but it has been worth it. Even during MCCAST, so during MCCAST, when we flip our unified arts schedule, some students had to come out for brief periods because the tutoring is fixed. Yeah.
>> You can't move it. So some kids were if you had PE and you had Ignite, you weren't missing PE to come to Ignite. Um they as we started moving along with MCCAST, they did come um because they knew it was just brief and
then they were going back. Um yeah, that was one of my irritations at this was that it it provided something private companies to come in and and provide the the zoom tutoring uh but without any financial support for
districts to make it happen. Uh so that is something I found a little but we needed it and it worked. So thank you for >> it worked for the it worked for the students. We also found some of our ML students which is multilingual language
It was provided in the language that they spoke. >> Oh, really? >> Because there's a whole I had to fill out >> each individual thing on where the children were at and then they did an assessment with each kid to figure out because some of our students their
composite scores were in the green, which means it's average. But when you pull apart the multiple components, some of them had well below or below in some areas. So, they were still eligible because we had so many seats. We had 117
seats and we couldn't fill them all. >> Okay, that's fantastic. Thank you. >> So, that is my update. >> Will I be getting a progress report? >> Yes. >> Done this week. >> So, yes, we have the the first quarter as well. I just haven't had a moment to
print all of them out because I have to print them out individually and send them home. And then when it closes June 5th, I meet with them the following week and we should be getting an end of where they left off because it comes with a QR code so you can see where your child's
at and provide some additional skills. We're making progress in math and our goal three, we continue to make progress with our community partnership and school culture. Any questions on mine? >> No, it was fantastic. Thank you.
you have a copy of our um school improvement plan and the uh reporting data uh behind it. Um this is the last year of this school improvement plan. So next year Mr. McGrath and his team will bring a new plan uh before you. Our
goals for uh both reading and mathematics were to have 80% of our students at or above benchmark by this time. Um we are about halfway there. So I I think when that plan was put together, it was a much more generic
goal than maybe we should have had um and we should have taken smaller chunks as we have moved forward. Um in English language arts, uh thank you Dr. Sari for presenting and giving me the data. Um in grade three, we're at about 63% of our
students at or above benchmark um using our dibbles assessment. Grade four, we're at 56.4 and grade five at 56.2. 2. Um, in math, we are right around that 50% range um, based on our MCAST scores of students scoring at or above
benchmark for um, for their grade level. I do want to add that um, Turkey Hill was recognized by the state of Massachusetts for our mathematics work. Um, and our fourth grade teachers were invited to a state dissemination project to tell other teachers in the state
about what we've been doing here, not just at Churkey Hill, but in Lunenburgg. um to get continuous uh growth from our students um and significant growth from our students each year. Um so when you look at the the MCCAST data and they present that uh that graph with the four
quadrants with growth and achievement uh we are on our way towards high growth high achievement and in both cases we're right about the almost the exact center of that uh that square. So we are making good progress uh and we will continue to do so. And in our our third goal of
school community, the last vocal survey uh 92% of our students indicated that uh a favorable to a very favorable uh perception of school, their relationship with teachers and their relationship with peers. >> Well, some some of the goals involved I
Ready, which not there anymore because of budget cuts, we had to lose that assessment tool. Um, did anything surprise you? >> Um, no. I think the work that the the teachers have been doing over the past
two years, um, particularly the need in their own professional development and applying what they're learning in the classroom. um the math PD that was that was brought in this year had a wonderful component of a follow-up with walkthrough
observations so that the presenter and administrators walk through classrooms uh observe teachers doing what they were taught to do in the professional development um providing feedback um and the teachers
are just amazing and that without much prompting do the same thing among themselves I tried this how'd it go what did you do different how can I make this work. Supporting each other to make their instruction more effective. And it's all points to what Dr. um Fortuna
was talking about. Um allowing our students to productively struggle um not just what's the answer, you don't know, here it is. Um laying work at it, get at it, work through different strategies to figure things out. um and and in making connections between
reading and mathematics so that we gain a clearer understanding of the language of mathematics and how that language can help us figure out the solutions to problems. >> Do you guys have any questions? >> Okay, so I have two school plans for you but both are similar in structure. So I
think I can provide you with like a snapshot in about 3 to five minutes if that's okay with you. So our student learning goal uh was based on teachers identifying students with and without disabilities that weren't performing where they needed to be in the classroom
through classroom based uh measures and then providing scaffolds and structures to ensure that those students would continue to make progress. About 6 through 12 about 75% of my teachers of
my faculty had that as their student learning goal in their evaluation process. So in October we met and we determined what measure they were going to use to determine progress. We talked about how they were identifying
students. Um those uh those evaluation artifacts and evidence were due to me on May 31st. Today is June 3rd. So I haven't had the ability right yet to aggregate all of that information for you. The ultimate goal is to reduce the
amount of students that in our subgroups that are performing and needs improvement on MCCAST. So I'll have more data for you uh when those August 2026 scores come out. Um I am very impressed with the amount of teachers that
participated in that student learning goal. I anticipate that our subgroup scores are going to improve. Um, do you have any questions around goal one? And it makes it a little bit different.
We don't have benchmark assessments 6 through 12. So, we use classroom measures in order to determine progress. Our second goal in both middle and the high school was around chronic absenteeism. We kind of attacked that differently in the different buildings.
In our high school, we were extremely fortunate to have an administrative apprentice this year participating in 500 hours to get their lensure. They were immediately put in charge of attendance.
That was their major uh goal because uh we aren't alone, but all districts are strugg struggling with chronic absenteeism. that rubs against once our code of conduct is and what our credit recovery piece is. It's it's all interconnected. So, this year, what an
outstanding job Lynn did with uh weekly check-ins with attendance. She provided me with some data. I believe after five absences, it was like uh let's see
uh 37 letters were sent out. And these weren't punitive. These were more supportive, like your child's been out for 5 days. Is there anything we can do to support you? Is there something else that is impacting their ability to get to school? And then we have what's maybe
not so nice a letter after 10 or more. And it says, you know, why don't you contact us? It seems that we're having a difficulty getting in. the amount in the high school and the middle school of students with mental health issues that impacts their ability
to come to school is it can it it's constant. Um I am very reluctant to provide double jeopardy like disciplining them for a mental health issue that they're being treated for in
a different place then that just creates more anxiety. So, we're really trying to be proactive and provide supportive measures for parents and families to get those kids back in here. So, um we are at about 16 17% for students
who miss 10% or more, which would be 18 days, and then that drastically drops um which is the next measure, which is 20% 36 days. And I think we're at about two to three% in each building, middle and high school. So I anticipate those
scores coming down. Lynn uh says in most of our cases that we have identified students that were chronically absent uh with the exception of two students that their attendance has increased in um
with the measures that we've taken. Now has it increased to make them not chronically absent? No. It might have been an increase where they were absent 32 days last year. maybe they're absent 20 days this year. They're still under that chronically absent piece, but we're making dramatic progress in order to
help them. Our middle school still depends on our behavioral health um support team. We have teachers that meet during faculty meetings. First meeting of the month is always child study and a piece of that is attendance. That attendance gets reported to the
administrative team. We have strategies of our um our school adjustment counselor making home visits. Hank going out and trying to coax people in um to the other end of the spectrum which is a
child requiring assistance which you petition the juvenile court and because they are making their attendance piece. So, we're using every tool in our toolbox in order to kids get kids back in here as part of our accountability.
They'll report out chronically absent um I don't want to say scores, how about uh statistics uh in August. So, we'll see uh how we fared um this year when we get those in August. And our third goal is more like a community goal like Norm had
spoke about on providing more opportunities for parents to interact with the school to come to more of our performances, to come to more of our band concerts, to come to more of our sporting events. Actually, at the high school, we had piloted a parent teacher
conference that happened in the spring in order to try to get more parents into the building. always it was always like a semester semester 2 parents weren't able to meet their semester 2 teachers because they didn't have them in
October. Um so we're working out some kinks with that. We would love to next year um reach out to families that we feel would be most beneficial for them to come in and have those meetings with parents um
in order to ensure they know what we can provide our our students. Also, um I'm Shenina and I are getting together. We're going to be sending out a survey for athletics on, you know, how many athletic events did you participate in?
Our middle school drama club and other clubs were well uh attended this year. Um so, progress with not only communication with families, but providing different opportunities for them to interact with
the school. And that's my three to five minute middle high school presentation. Like Norm had said, um our my goals expired um the last day of May 2026.
My school advisory council and I will be developing a new um school improvement plan which will align perfectly. You know, Dr. Fortuna is going to have a vision and goals that will be incorporated. So, we will have alignment
from our superintendent down through our schools right into our teachers to hope to continue to make progress. >> Does the high school or middle school ever do the culture and climate survey? >> We do. We do a vocal uh survey every
year with MCCAST in 8th grade and in 10th grade. So, both of our schools had participated in that this year. Um, I had a So, one of the absenteeism goals uh involved our SRO.
>> Mhm. >> I guess it doesn't matter because we're going to have different goals for next year, but is that going to affect the SRO's ability to help because now we've got half the SRO we had? Um, yeah, I imagine it will and there will be a
development and a new goal for that. But, you know, the the the power, the persuasion that Hank and Officer McNamera had. It was was uh they have their office right over here, right in between the middle and the high school. And there's always seven or eight kids in there with Hank.
>> Have you met Cash? >> I have. I met him today. >> Oh my god. >> Yeah. The little kids are so excited to see. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Evening everyone. Chris Stevens, director of facilities. Um, heck of a lot, but we got a few good points. Um from last last uh meeting there I was talking about the uh maintenance contracts um for here in primary and I was right. Um I did some
leg work got some other quotes and uh bottom line over the course of three years we saved about $30,000. Um the company we were going with was basically like the Cadillac dealer of you know what they did. We outsourced
and uh it worked out. Um we were locked in at for 3 years at $7,800 as opposed to uh just a loan for this building was 14,000 and then it was another I think 3,800 for primary. So they so 7,800 and
that. So there we are. So it's kind of a no-brainer. >> Um and as far as uh projects going on for the summer, um the ADA compliant bathrooms will be tackling that. Um, we have, like I said, we we have everything over at Pacios for the most part that we
need except for the sinks that we'll be getting installed. Um, but other than that, it's um that was a win-win right there. Um, there's some termite damage at Turkey Hill that's been there a while, right at the front office, and that's going to get taken care of this
summer. >> Oh, nice. >> Um, Alicia should be happy about that. >> No more cones in front of the door. >> No more cones in front of the door. that has been an eyes sore since I started and that was that's been on my radar. Um, we're also going to change over on
our custodial supplies um who we've been using. They've also were very expensive. Um, and I've spoke with them. They'll come in, they're going to change out all our paper towel dispensers, our toilet paper dispensers. Um, we're getting two ply instead of one ply at, you know,
same less money. >> That's the best news, >> right? So, you know, >> a little we're cutting down on all the chemicals. She was able to, you know, >> the current
everything's cheaper. >> The half, >> right? >> Yeah. >> Um, >> so all in all, it's it's savings across the board. Every every product that we we've bought from the from Hillyard dairy is more expensive than what this company costs. So, everything's just
going to be going down. Um, so that's >> before you move on, I just want to give you a really big compliment. Chris has been saving the district a ton of money by going out to bid on these things and not just accepting the state contract
numbers >> um, and doing competitive bidding, which I'm really impressed with. >> You're welcome. >> Thank you. Yeah, I feel every report I saved $20,000. Yeah, I just trying to
shave it where we can, you know, we don't have it. So, it just makes sense. >> Um I just was up with the electrical inspector um beginning of the week and the all the solar on this building is back up and running except for the one
array where the fire happened and they are look there's about seven seven arrays up there that are that can be separated. Um, so that's the last one. I think the company's looking at perhaps replacing that entire section because trying to integrate new stuff into the
old stuff. I don't think they're compatible really since how long ago this the stuff that's on this building was put on. Um, so we're just waiting to hear back on them what they're going to do with that and then take it from there. Um, we've had
um the grounds department, they're just, you know, nothing much. They are out mowing and keeping the buildings looking good. Um, sweet property management. They've been attacking the front. They're at it today to get it all looking good for graduation. And our guys are doing the same
everywhere in front of patios. Everybody just cleaning everything up and uh making it good for our graduation Saturday. >> How's the weather looking? >> Oh, >> I think we're going to do the bouquet. >> We're We're hoping that it it's going to come later in the day. year in the day thing.
>> You got You've got one, Chris. Right. You You've got Oh, boy. >> Got 117. >> What? >> I got 117. >> Yeah. >> The plan is to keep it outside right now. Okay. >> Yeah, we are set up to do it both ways
if we need to. So, >> last year was impressive, you guys. >> Yeah. >> Tim's like, "Yep, let's do a hat. Drop it a hat. We might have to do it, you know." So, we we'll be ready for it if we have. This stage was marching band props. >> Yeah.
>> Nice. >> Yeah, we had to get rid of that stage. That wasn't doing well anymore. That's gone. So, if we do have to have it inside in the meantime, unfortunately, there won't be a stage, but we'll I've got some other ideas for that, too. So, in the future, >> save us some more money.
>> We still have the blocks that were used last year for in the auditorium. They're old marching band props. >> Oh, yeah. I think we might have I think they're gone now. I thought they were in the auditorium. >> Maybe, but I think I think they had to get it cleared out of there, period. I think they got
>> I don't Maybe. I don't think so, though. >> Well, >> they're gone for the most part. I don't think there's enough to do a whole stage in, but a lot of them were bad and we really >> Let's fingers crossed for um >> good weather. Yes. >> Yes. Yep. >> Okay.
>> Um we got one new hire, Daniel Carroll. He just started Monday uh here. parttime custodian. Um, so we are fully staffed. Um, so yeah, there's no open positions at this moment. So we're doing what we can, doing good, and
that's all I got. >> It's been a long time since we were fully staffed there. So, thank you. >> I know it's I get it fully staffed and then somebody goes south and I get it fully. >> All right. Thank you. >> We're good right now. >> I think this is an action item. So we need to can I get a motion to accept the
facilities and grounds report? >> I'll make a motion to accept the facilities and grounds report. >> Second. >> Okay. Any discussion? Did you guys have any questions? Okay. Uh all in favor? >> I unanimous. Thank you very much, Chris. >> Thank you guys. Have a good evening.
>> Good night. Uh okay. And now we're at the end. So public comment for issues discussed tonight. >> Mr. all of it back. >> Um, first bit of news. Uh, softball won tonight, so they're on to the Elite 8,
which might be a first time in history is what we're hearing maybe. >> Uh, but a 10 to six, nine inning overtime sort of extra innings game. So, uh, lacrosse did not fare as well, unfortunately. But, >> um, but yeah, they softball win tonight.
So, um, wanted to talk about the sports game for a second. as a parent of of two student athletes. Um daughter is graduating uh six years of varsity track uh spring and winter and four years of varsity soccer. um the opportunity if
she had it to have a waiver um in any capacity which which would have given her an opportunity maybe to take a different course um another academic program um spare her from taking fizzed I think earlier this year as a senior in
the first half of the year um which my understanding is probably not an enjoyable experience as a senior taking a phys class with freshman and so forth so I would encourage encourage um you to consider that. Um one of the big reasons
I would I um I would say to look at that would be just the encouragement of more participation uh in high school sports. Uh whether it's a sport that might have cuts like a basketball or or or something like that or soccer team if the numbers if the numbers warranted. Uh
there's opportunity there for kids to participate in cross country, in spring track, in winter track. uh try something new, meet more kids, be part of the school. Um you have this year you have a significant number of athletes
graduating. Um just this fall alone you had 48 seniors participating in sports. 48 that's 41 over 41% of the class participated in fall sports. Uh you had eight seniors on basketball. You had four girls on basketball. You had 18
seniors participating in spring and uh fall and indoor track. um 12 boys on the lacrosse team, five boys on the baseball team, four girls on the softball team. Um the more you can participate, you can encourage kids to participate in the sport, I think a
waiver would possibly do that in some of these sports to get kids to come out and and participate and be part of the school, I think would be really really uh important and something I think students would definitely consider. Um we heard Mr. Samy talk about the chronic
absence of students um you know for various reasons. Uh, and this wouldn't solve everything, but if kids are participate, we've heard it from parents talking about athletics and the importance of it in school. Um, if kids are part of a sports program, they have to be in school. They have to be in school. They can't participate, they're
not here. And that necessarily isn't going to solve all the issues that maybe the high school's seeing, but it might solve some of those and encourage more kids to be in school. Hear from kids all the time that I can't miss school today because if I miss school, I can't go to practice or I can't play in a game
tonight. they want to be in school. Um, lastly, I want to put on my um I don't know if I can um because it wasn't talked about tonight, but I want to put on my parks app for a second. Uh I'm now the chair of the parks commission. Um,
and I just want to at least start in some capacity a better I I guess well reestablish a better relationship with the school committee and superintendent's office um regarding schedulingly and use of fields and so forth. I don't think it's been a
significant um issue in recent years. I think our former um uh rec director I didn't hear in our meetings a lot of issues relating to booking school you know booking field facilities and so forth to get programs
booked um but we really need to work parks needs to work collaboratively with the school committee with the superintendent's office in a very timely manner to get facilities scheduled so that we can run summer programming uh in the same capacity that we need to work with the schools and athletic director
to make sure that that our fields are up and running for baseball and softball use. Um it had we can't wait a month, more than a month to get access to a field. Um or to even get her access to a scheduling program. Um I dealt with that myself just doing summer league soccer
stuff. Um it took two years to get access to ML schedule. I I mean we we have to be working collaboratively together. And if from a parks commission standpoint there was a means of of fostering that making that happen better
and there's a way to figure that out. I want to make sure that we're doing that to make our um recctor's job easier uh so that we can provide programming for kids in the summertime. Uh we're under a crunch now where school is ending in a couple of weeks and don't quite have
field use yet to be able to run summer programming or it might be sort of approaching getting resolved but we need to get programming up and running in April 1 of May to get that you know to get that stuff rolling. So, I I wasn't
on emails, but the emails got a little contentious, maybe. Um, and that's not what I want. Like, that's not where I want to start off as, you know, my chair's parks commission. That's not where I want to be. I want to make sure we're working together to get all the
kids in town access to programming, whether it's through the school or through parks. um and make sure that we have um very smooth access to um you know figuring that out. We have had a good relationship. I think um it's been
a mutually it's been a mutual agreement of not charging each other for use of facilities and so forth which is my when I joined parks that was mindboggling to me by the way. Um but um we want to make sure that we're getting you know uh access when we need it and if there's
something that's missing or something we need we just need to know that as quickly as possible we can get that square. We do have a part-time rec director so she's only in 19 hours a week um which presents its own challenges. Um, and so the uh ability to take care of some of that stuff quickly
uh when she's in is really quite um vital for us to get program off. So if I do anything to help out, if we can do anything to figure that out, we need to meet together and sit down and talk like let's do that. But we need to make sure we're squaring that away as quickly as possible.
It's it's been a particularly difficult week. Um but >> no, I >> I know that. >> Yeah. No, I I understand this is a month, but this is a >> or more going. That's why that's that's the issue >> I think part of public. Yeah. Sorry. I just want to
um Okay, we'll listen to that. >> Thank you, Is there any more public comment? >> Sure. >> You lost. >> She has she has homework to do. >> She went home. So I would introduce myself as Jared Peron, 18 Whitetail Crossing, but around here I'm known as
Eden's dad um and Griffin's dad and Barry's dad. Um so I just want to reiterate uh in terms of programming, summer programming for the kids, we we tend to book our summer camps in April uh for our family. In fact, we're the summer's booked up now. So even if the town did offer something, you know,
we're we're full up. So and this happens every year. Um this is not a I don't even know who to point the finger at. So it's not criticism on any one particular person, but but as a town, you know, we really should have those things um in place for people to schedule during
April break. I think that's when a majority of the camps come out. Um I and I also I just wanted to say um if you know regarding um regarding what they're calling the waiver for the the PE credits. Um there are many many communities in the state that offer this
and they don't call them waivers. They offer them credits. They offer PE credits for sports. Um and I think and if I can help in any way, I'm I'm on the I've been on the parent advisory councils for 10 years. I'm on the middle school council now. I just follow my
kids up. Um, and if I can be of any assistance, uh, you know, with rounding up those because they they start with policy, right? They start with you all. Um, and if you need help rounding up those policies, um, Eden has collected uh, six or seven different uh, districts
that that currently offer this and two of them are local. >> Those >> Yeah, sure. So, Ash West and Littleton are are two of them. Um, >> does she have like the actual policies? >> No, but I'm I I would probably collect those for her. Yeah. >> So, um, so I just want to offer if if
you need help looking at that, I I think it's definitely and it and to me it's not a, you know, this policy would not be discriminatory, right? The policy would be giving giving credit to the sports that we offer our kids. There'd be nothing in this policy that would be
discriminatory. If anything, not offering certain sports is discriminatory, right? So, I don't think I don't think Title 9 is a good reason to not offer PE credit for kids who want to take other classes, right? We offer other opportunities to our kids or at least in my district where I work, um,
you know, offer early college and and thing all these AP classes and and I think any anything that we can do to keep kids in school, to keep kids active, to keep kids um, you know, we cut middle school sports. Um, we we have
to drive kids to every game. You know, most people don't get out of work until five o'clock. I I don't know how that's going to work for families and neither do you. I understand we're all on the same page here. But, um, but anything that we can do to get kids involved with sports and to get kids coming to school.
Um, you know, kids don't come to school to go to history class. Kids come to school to see their friends, to play sports. Um, and so, however I can help, I'd be happy to do that. I think we're good with the public. We got some
um we have anyone on Zoom? >> Okay. All right. And then we'll just do reports from subcommittees. Did anyone talk about that? Um so we did have the municipal building design committee on Monday.
Um the we kind of we're kind of stuck right now because of um finances in the town. The town manager had mentioned that we could go back and look at the TC Pacios plot which is
where this all started. It's getting repetitive, but we do have a survey out that hopefully got sent out this week to all of the department heads to talk about space needs so we can assess space needs versus space wants, which is not something that happened in the last
iteration and we're going to uh figure it out from there because that is something that we need to know. Um, and I think that's it. Okay. >> I really I did have a public I was trying. >> Oh, no. Go for it. Sorry. >> Um, I missed in my report earlier,
student council has a fundraiser next Wednesday at Cherry Hill. >> Okay. >> We have raffle baskets and ice cream. Like when you buy ice cream, a certain percentage of it goes to the student house. >> What day? >> June 10th. >> Wednesday, June 10th. Is it at a certain
time or it's >> I think it's like 4 to close. >> Okay. So, Hill day to go. Yeah, >> sorry. I just I missed earlier and I've been waiting to say it. >> Uh topics for future discussions.
I think we need to have a conversation about the finances in next year and our next meeting >> such as >> just I need to be more specific >> so we can reexamine an override request or um go for more.
I think we should think about or at least discuss it and put that on our agenda plan. The problem is it's we're running up against time. >> Uh you guys have anything?
>> Okay. >> Um in the sports discussion, we have a meeting with the boosters coming up to talk with the boosters. So depending on that, we should that on the agenda as well um to talk about what that's going to
look like or how that would work. Okay. Um if there's nothing else, can I get a motion to adjourn at 8:52 p.m. to all in favor? I I thank you. Thank you
everybody.