Good evening. Today is Tuesday, January 13th. The time is 7:30. I call the school committee meeting to order. Have everyone rise for the pledge of allegiance. >> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the
republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Thank you everyone. I would like to remind everyone that we are being recorded and streamed by WMCTV. Thank you. And we will move on to this
superintendence report. >> Great. Uh thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good evening. Uh school committee. Good to see all of you today. Um we have a uh lengthy agenda this evening, but uh many uh many important items to discuss. So
we'll jump right in. Uh the first item on my report is a finance update. Um, and it brings me great pleasure to open our update with an introduction uh of our candidate for our school business uh manager slashdirector of finance and
operations uh Mr. Muhammad Sadiki. Muhammad uh will be joining Malber public schools after spending I believe about 13 years in Worcester public schools as a senior financial analyst um and has had extensive experience and
managing uh multiple accounts in both general fund and in the grants uh grants world um and uh has also extensive background in budget development and budget building. Uh so we could not be more thrilled to have uh Muhammad here
this evening. And Muhammad, if you would like to come up to the podium and say a few words to the school committee, I'm sure they would love to hear from you as well as the community. >> Muhammad, do you see a green light on that? >> I do. >> Okay, you're good. >> Thank you.
>> Good evening everyone. >> Evening. >> My name is Mohammed Sadiki. I've been in school finance for about 10 plus years. Um and uh I just I would like to begin by expressing how honored and grateful I
am for this opportunity. Um I truly appreciate the the uh trust put in me by the school committee and the district leaders. Um, I'm excited to join Maro Public Schools and uh be part of the community
that I know values um uh the the collaboration and accountability and and cares about the students. So, um, yeah, I'm really excited, uh,
looking forward to meeting everyone that makes up M public schools. And, uh, you know, my approach will be to listen, learn, and collaborate, um, and, um,
uh, and just help the district uh, support um, you know, uh, with their goals. So once again, thank you so much everyone for having me and uh looking forward to joining soon. Thank you. >> Thank you.
>> Yes, Katherine. >> I just want to welcome you. We're really excited about having you and make sure that you know that um hopefully we can be a resource. The committee can be a resource for you as you're learning everything and stepping in. um please
don't hesitate to reach out to any of us to be able to help your transition here. >> Thank you. Yes. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> And if I could just add um Muhammad was selected through a very rigorous process
uh with a variety of individuals from different uh divisions of the district uh including our school committee. Uh so thank you to Michelle and to Katherine uh for the time, effort, and energy. also to Jody, to Patty, uh to uh Collia who's not here this evening. Uh but
there were many individuals involved in the interview process. Uh there were multiple rounds of our interviews and we also did um a interview with a an outside consultant if you will uh and a simulation activity. So uh to our
community who might be tuning in, uh please know that uh the pro process was very thorough. It took an extensive amount of time. There were many interviews and there was also a finance simulation activity uh that each of the uh finalists had gone through and very
happy that um Muhammad uh landed at the top of that list. So >> and and Karen Renlet too >> and Karen. Yes. >> So sorry. >> Thank you. No, no, thank you for that. >> He's very uh instrumental in this as well. >> Muhammad, once everything is settled, we'd like to have you come over to city
hall, submit the city finance team so there's a nice union between the two. Okay. But all in good time. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Great. Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Um, moving on. Uh, in your packet this evening, you have a copy of our updated
FY26 expenditure report. Again, this is a very comprehensive document that monitors our spending, looks at our incumbrances and our balances in each of our function codes across our $82 million uh, budget. So, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out.
Um, I know there's a lot of information there, but happy to address any questions you may have as you're working your way through that. And speaking of budget, uh, FY27 is, uh, very well underway. We have spent a considerable amount of
time with our cost center managers, our principles and directors reviewing uh first materials, supplies, resources, um and really looking at a multi-year trend of spending to get a deep sense of
uh what have we actually budgeted versus what we've actually spent over the past few fiscal years. um that has helped us immensely as we've thought about the projection of our resources and materials for FY27. Um so we've had a lot of rich
conversation in that space. Uh additionally we have met collectively as a team to talk about what are the staffing needs that we have in each building. As we know our staff is our largest part of our budget. It's about 80% of our budget. Um, so we've spent a
considerable amount of time walking through our FY26 budget and making sure that we have everything aligned and uh and clearly set up for FY27, but also thinking about what might we need moving forward as far as positions and where
might there be opportunities for reallocation of existing positions, right? New positions don't always need to mean more. Sometimes it means different than what we currently have. Um and uh lastly uh we have had our
enrollment conversation. Uh that is a really big discussion with the uh leadership team that is anchored around enrollment projections as it relates to our student class size and each one of our elementary schools, the middle
school and the high school. Um and so while there is still um lots of conversation to happen particularly in that space, we have had uh some very rich and deep dialogue already particularly with our principles uh and with our senior leaders in the district
to talk a bit about where do we think our enrollment is going to fall based on patterns and trends that we've seen across the district as of late and what does that staffing pattern need to look like to best meet the needs of our students. So, I know all this information is will be captured in our
budget book and in a formal presentation to the school committee um in uh I believe the end of February, but just wanted to highlight uh just the amount of work that has been done to date. And we are very happy that Muhammad has a lot of experience in this space because
this will be one of the very first things that he is tasked with helping us pull together uh and get into an a digestible format for our school committee and our community as a whole. Um, so we are getting a much clearer picture of what FY27 expenses will look
like. Um, equally as important, we will know soon what our governor's budget looks like as it relates to revenue, the revenue side of things for FY27 for Malbor. Uh, we believe next Thursday, the third
Thursday of the uh, in the month of January, the governor has to release her budget. And so, uh, we are anticipating getting a, uh, early look at those revenue figures. We hope by the end of next week. Um, I do want to just
underscore again, I know we've talked about this in the past, um, and I kind of keep beating the drum on this, but it is important to note that our in student enrollment is down by just under 400 students. uh that really matters as it relates to revenues and funding streams as we think about how we will be working
to offset expenses for FY27. So I say that just so that the school committee knows that the um leadership team, the district leadership team is very well aware of this uh and have taken into account that um kind of that
projection if you will, that very early projection as it relates to what our revenues may look like for next year. Um so >> um just a a quick comment slashquest around um the 27 budget that you're
putting together. If you are seeing things that you all are discussing that are somewhat standalone projects or needs that are impactful but yet smaller amounts of the budget that
we might be able to have some discussion with any of our legislators about. um potential earmarks within their budget. It would be great if we could start looking at at certain pieces that might be operational needs. I know at one point last year I was trying to look at
and it's it was far too much was the the bleacher project was was one thing and that was just too much. But if there is something that's kind of like standalone that we might be able to go towards our legislators and have any kind of
conversations, it would be great to have kind of like a highlight so that we can help on that discussion. You know, >> I'm really glad you mentioned that because the uh we are very grateful to our local legislators for the earmarks we did receive. Um, we did receive about 200, I know the school committee is
aware of, but about $200,000 in earmarks for special education funding, which has really been helpful as far as offsetting some of the costs. So, great point, Katherine. Thank you for mentioning that. >> Thank you. Um and along those lines, uh I will be meeting with um our DPW commissioner
next week to go through all of um our capital items that were in our multi-year capital plan to look at what's been prioritized, what's been done in really kind of costing out what may be some priorities as we look uh not only to FY27 but to future future fiscal
years. So that work is underway as well. >> Okay. All right. Uh you also have in your packet um a list of budget transfers from Karen Runlet just so you can get a sense of uh some of the transfers that have been made um across
function codes for various u expenses. So that is in your packet as well. And if we are all right, I can move on to transportation. Mayor, >> I think we're good. Okay, let's keep it going. >> All right. Um, so, uh, as both the
school committee and our community at large is aware, uh, we had significant issues with NRT, our transportation vendor, at the start of the school year. Uh, frankly, that, uh, lasted well into
our fall season. um through an extensive amount of collaboration and work from uh the district side in um a replacement of some of the leadership on NRT's side at our requests in establishing new
relationships. Uh we are happy to say that the service has improved. It has gotten better. Um, with that being said, we are still monitoring very closely the service delivery and the timely pickup and drop
off of our students uh both to and from school. Uh so I just want to assure the public that although things have improved uh we are still monitoring very closely our transportation services and transportation contract and will remain
very diligent on that process. Um that being said, the school committee may recall um that we did have a discussion that uh upon recommendation from legal counsel, we were withholding payment from um our transportation vendor until
uh we saw significant improvement in service delivery. Uh we are happy to say that we are at a point where we have started payment um because these services have improved to the degree that they need to in order uh to start making those payments. So I share that
so that the public knows where we stand but also uh the school committee will start seeing those in our warrant. Um we do have our invoices up to November. So you will see the invoices up to November um in our upcoming warrants. So uh just wanted to highlight that um and to thank
everybody for their hard work and just know that we are remaining diligent in our monitoring. And yes, I am gonna say um the moment that we see any decrease in their improvements, I'm certainly hoping that we are going
to pull right on back on on payment because they need to keep their act together. Um it's just not acceptable. Um not acceptable for our students, not acceptable for our staff, and it's disruptive to our classroom and to these
kids getting the education that they all deserve. and our staff should not have to be dealing with uh repetitive, you know, late buses, consistent errors. Um, so I just hope that everyone understands we need to see continued
improvement, not a pullback at all. >> 100%. And we'll continue to track and monitor as we have and again if we see any issues, I will bring them back to the committee and we'll take further action without question. >> Sure. Good. Y
All right. Um, moving on to student attendance. You have our updated uh December, the month of December attendance uh report, student attendance report in your packet. Um, you will notice a significant decline in our student attendance. um our elementary
schools um what at one point uh through actually through all of the fall we were right around the 95% marker dipped uh between 91 and 93% in the month of December. Uh our middle school also which was just under 95%
dipped to 91% and our high school attendance uh is very low at 88% for the month of December. Um mainly you will see that our freshman class uh the attendance is very very low in the low
to mid 80s. Um I know that it has gotten colder. Certainly understand how weather impacts transportation. Um being up at 3 in the morning on the phone with the DPW commissioner and watching weather forecasts for what feels like weeks in
advance sometimes of impending u snow events and ice events and things. I really understand, but I cannot stress enough to our families, please send your children to school if they are if they are not sick. Um, we've had conversations with many students that
are pushing that chronic absentee number. Uh, and frankly, the information we're hearing from them is it's cold. Um, and I understand that we live in New England, it's going to be cold. We have jackets, we have hats, we have scarfs,
we have gloves. Uh Jod and her team and working with the wraparound coordinators uh spent a significant chunk of time ordering a variety of sizes, delivering them to schools, calling students down to make sure they had what they needed.
Um it's hard to hear. It's too cold to come to school, but no, I don't want that coat. Take the coat and come to school, please. So, we need our children at school. We can't teach empty seats. to our parents who are tuning in. Um please know that if you need support in getting
your child to school, they need a glo they need gloves, hats, scarfves, etc., please do reach out uh to your child's principal or adjustment counselor uh or to me and our parents have my email. Uh we are happy to help in any way we can, but we need to get those attendance numbers back up.
>> Question. So, I making assumptions here, but I would assume that the parents that are listening to this are probably the ones that have their children going to school because they're engaged. So, what are we doing to reach out to the students, parents who may not be
watching this? >> So, I will let Jody speak to specifics as overseeing the student service work, but I can tell you >> I'm sure there's other communications that we're utilizing. I would just like to know >> y >> what other methods we're doing because again we can preach I think we're preaching to the wrong demographic here
but I'm just curious. >> Thank you. Uh so each of the schools do monthly um regular attendance meetings and we have our school adjustment counselors who will reach out to parents and we have our wraparound uh coordinators who are also attending
those meetings regularly. So they'll identify um families that they're working with, work with those parents on talking about the importance of attendance. Uh we are also we also have posted a um re-engagement coach position which we uh had adjusted a little bit as
far as um having one that's at secondary level for Wickcom and the high school versus one at each uh in more of a uh administrative level so that they can monitor the attendance and uh put together interventions. Uh we are um
working on getting an additional vehicle um to be able to have staff go and pick students, meet students at their home and be able to pick them up um to bring them into school. >> So we're trying lots of strategies. >> Oh, yep. I'm sorry. Um we also um have
uh Saturday attendancemies at Wickcom School. Uh the last one is coming up this coming Saturday or two more. And then uh February and April vacation, the high school is um hosting an attendance academy for each of those vacations and
they're identifying students to be able to um come to those. >> Okay. >> This piece of the work is really people work, particularly at the secondary level, working directly with the parents and and the and the teens, frankly. Yeah. Mhm. >> No, I just think having that information out there that we're doing every thing
we can to to follow up is really important, especially why we choose Malro, you know, like when we sending out that message, like it's really important to showcase all the avenues that we're trying to do for every single student that So, I I have no doubt
you're doing what you want to do, but it's again a good way to showcase all the different methods that we are. We'll make sure I I know that the principles have also been including communications about the importance of attendance in their weekly communications out with families. So, um we'll also make sure
that we're incorporating in like strategies for parents who maybe their child, you know, it's difficult to get them out of bed or out, you know, out the door in time for the bus. >> Yeah. Thank you. Um, I would also say that if there are
needs around, whether it be coats, hats, gloves, things like that, we have a really great community service network um in town. I mean, I know that um Miss Ryan and I are members of the Margin Virginia Women's Club, the Lions Club. There are a lot the Rotary there's a lot
of different groups that would be more than happy to probably support and or run programs of drives if we had something specific. So, um maybe that's something that if you're if you're seeing a specific need, um please say
something to us so that you know we can even be a conduit to some of the different community groups to get something going because I'm this community has been really really good. um they just need to have a focus of what's needed um to to get it done. I
mean I So just say the word. >> Thank you. That's great. >> Thank you. >> Absolutely. Uh and we'll continue to update the committee on our progress in that uh in that space. Um and the last item on my report this evening is an
update on my entry plan. Um so in your packet uh you do have a copy of our my entry plan. and you've seen it a few times. Um, and it's really broken down into three phases. Um, I will say that it was designed to be a 90-day plan. Uh,
we're stretching it a bit. Uh, which is okay. Um it's taking uh a little bit longer to uh to kind of cover all bases that I'm looking to as it relates to making sure that um I am meeting with and working with and really leaning into
the feedback from our variety of um community partners whether it's parents, our educators, our students, um community agencies, mobber economic development council um there's many partners that that we've
been working with. Um, but I'm really proud of the progress that is being made. Uh, our the first phase of our of my plan was focused on establishing key relationships. Um, conducting districtwide um, conversations and and
kind of this idea of a listening tour, reviewing key documents, establishing a communication plan. Um, all four of those components have been thoroughly worked on, will remain a major focus. These things are not a oneandone. Um, and I just want to make sure that our
community knows that. Um, this is an ongoing process as it relates particularly to meeting with those that are involved in helping our school system be a success. Um, I will say I think out of all the conversations that
I have had, um, some of the most challenging have been with our educators, but I think they've been the best. uh because I've heard directly from our teachers and support staff in the classrooms and really been able to lean into their feedback around what's
working and what's not and what they need next. Um I will tell you probably the most fun conversations have been with our students. Um those have been awesome. Uh I've had an opportunity now to meet with students in every building.
Um, and again, those will be ongoing conversations, but I've really framed the conversation with them around um, three questions. If I was going to change one thing in your school, what would you ask me to change? If there was
something that you did not want me to change, you can change anything, but don't touch this. What is the this? And then tell me your favorite subject and why. Um and the conversations have been incredible and as you can imagine very different right meeting with
kindergarteners at good now versus you know our seniors juniors and seniors at the high school. Um one of the things I have asked each student to share with me is um how long they have been with Malboro public schools. That's a really
important question. Uh because some of the kids that I've spoken with are young adults, frankly, at the high school started here in kindergarten. Actually, many of them did. Um so I was able to get a really strong perspective of what is that, you know, K1 or K12, some cases
preschool, uh 12 perspective look like from the student lens. Um equally as interesting has been those conversations with our new students. So, I've been able to speak with many students who started this year um and
really get a sense of how warm and receptive are we to new students to the school system. Um that has been incredible to be able to engage in those discussions and really get a deep sense
of the student experience. Um so that work will continue uh in an ongoing way. Um the work that we started this evening I am super jazzed about. We started the steering committee work for our
strategic plan portrait of a learner um uh focus and I was elated to see the number of staff and parents we had sign up for this. Uh we had over 15 participants um nine of which were
parents. So that may not sound like a huge number, but it's a big commitment. Uh the idea of the steering committee is that these individuals are part of this process all the way through. We have a member in our audience, a future parent who uh was part of our part of our steering committee, which was great. Um
so I was very pleased to see the turnout and to hear the engagement of that group. Uh this is a critically important piece of this entry work. um these schools belong to the community and so
it's really important that our schools are built and the strategic plan and porch of a learner are built and developed by the community. Um and so that was something that I think was really at the forefront of this evening's conversation. Um and the
energy in that space was awesome. uh we had an opportunity to start um kind of like the geeky quantitative our numbers and MCCASP stuff, right? Kind of like one group was really focused on that which is critically important and another group was focused
on the qualitative side of the feedback and our data. Um we had over 300 individuals participate in our survey. Um, so right we have a lot more individuals in our community, but at least it's a starting point. We had
about 343 individuals contribute to feedback around where they want to see the school system go. Uh, while we obviously want a much larger number, that's not a bad start. It gives us a foundational uh piece on which to start building the
work. So um, very excited. Um and this work will continue through the rest of the winter and spring and we will bring back uh kind of the findings and outcomes to the school committee as we move along through that. That really speaks to phase two which is this idea
around of my entry plan which is this idea around um analysis alignment and strategy. All of that is very well underway. Um, and I think you're going to see a significant piece of this emerge in our FY27 budget process. I
know we had some uh early conversation in the late fall around if we if we want to see what an organization prioritize prioritizes, look at their budget, right? Look at how we spend our resources. Um, I know from my lens it is
critically important and I know the school committee and our leadership team feel the same way to provide as much direct support to our educators, our students and families. Um, and so I think you're going to see some budget priorities surface in that process that will be running parallel to this
portrait of a learner strategic plan. Um, right that fiscal plan needs to match the strategic and instructional plan. So very excited about the work that is underway there. um that's really captured in in that second and third phase of our uh of my entry plan. Um so
lots more to come on this front. Uh but the collaboration is strong. Um I have never been so sure about the work that we are doing because of the community that we are in. Uh we have a very strong
community that prioritizes its schools and its children and that is evident in every conversation and in every space from the mayor's office to our school committee to our community partners to our families to our educators. Um and so it really is uh it's incredible to see
it start come together. One of the I will share just a quick anecdote uh and then I'll wrap up my report. In my conversation with the good now students, one of the kids said, "What do you actually do?" Right? Which is a fair
question. Um, so I I asked the group, I'm like, "Have you all seen the National Lampoons Christmas Vacation movie?" And they were all kind of giggling. A lot of them like they were nodding heads. Yeah. Yeah. Like they knew what I was talking the older kids knew I was talking about. I said, "Do you know the scene where the dad gives
his kid that knot of Christmas lights and says, "Oh, we got a little knot here that needs to be untangled." Dero cracking up. I'm like I have to kind of untangle that knot. That's sort of like my job. One of the main core functions of my work and I can't do that without
the feedback of the community. So a big thank you to everybody who has contributed to this and who will contribute uh to our strategic plan and portion of a learner and my overall entry moving forward. So >> thank you. >> That concludes my report list or questions.
>> Anything else? Good. >> Good. Okay. Sant the assistant superintendent of teaching and learning. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. >> Yes. >> Tonight, I'm going to provide the school committee an update on the graduate graduation requirements
council recommendations. And I kind of want to frame this as um what might be coming on the horizon. There's been a lot of dialogue around these recommendations statewide and
obviously a lot of changes have come um now that MCCAST is no longer a determining factor of graduation um in attaining a diploma. So the CD update as well as the graduation requirements we are preparing for the potential implementation of draft recommendations
from the graduation requirements council convened by the department of elementary and secondary education. My report this evening will highlight several of the council's initial recommendations to support our thinking about possible next steps. To be clear, none of these recommendations are
finalized at this time. They remain in draft form. And we really do want to uh just kind of provide a forecast, open up a dialogue, and make sure that we are um communicating openly about what could potentially happen and how to prepare for any of these recommendations that might become finalized in the future.
Um, as you know, recent changes to district policy and DESIE guidance require us to reconsider and redefine Marbor High School's graduation requirements and students um, pathways toward reaching a diploma. Under the council's draft recommendation,
graduation requirements are organized into several key components. The program of study component outlines required coursework. As part of completing 96 course credits at Marbor High School, students must successfully complete at least two years
of ELA or the equivalent algebra 1 and geometry or their equivalent uh US history course or the equivalent and at least one year of lab-based science uh or the equivalent. That's the CD uh requirement. Uh sophomore year there's
additional coursework that is part of the overall graduation requirement. So the next component um second from the program of study is the showing mastery piece. So this focuses on how students
demonstrate competency. Draft recommendations include the use of end of course assessments as well as capstone or portfolio projects. The state is exploring the development of course specific assessments that could be implemented statewide.
Additional guidance is expected as this work continues. And I will tell you that from a recent webinar and um open dialogue session that we've had with the superintendent association, there's a lot of conversation around just this subject and making sure that um that
unit is contributing with input to make sure we get it right. Um I will say that this the council itself is made up of a representation of a lot of of constituents. There are there's you know administrators, there's state um officials, there are student parent
voices. So, a lot of people are trying to get this as right as possible. So, we're just really right now looking at the recommendations and and digesting them. Finally, the career and college readiness component includes requirements such as completion of MYAP,
which we've talked about um recently, uh and a FASA participation, uh as well as MASSA, a required financial literacy course. We've talked a little bit about that. I I don't know that it actually has to be a course. It might be coursework that comes through a
math um course itself or unit of a a separate math course, but we can further and more clearly define that as we uh uh work through the recommendations. And then finally, the expansion of existing seals of distinction, including the seal
of biiteracy, which we have uh the honor and privilege of of uh noting in commending many students in our district who have earned that seal of biiteracy. And then finally, the recommendations for from the DESIE graduation
requirements council are intended to provide statewide guidance and consistency for districts across the Commonwealth. the most recent information from the council has been included in your packet this evening. So, it's all outlined relatively clearly in terms of those components that I mentioned and the criteria um within
each um along with a brief summary of the proposed graduation components and recommendations. So, tonight we kind of just want to give you a little preview of what the recommendations entail. I hope you got an opportunity to look through those uh recommendations from the council's
packet and I will tell you that superintendent defalco, assistant superintendent O'Brien and I have already started to wrap our heads around as well as principal Sierra Pina um what this means and and what to prepare for >> and this is will continue to evolve.
Correct. since nothing as you mentioned and nothing's set in stone. So I don't want to give too much attention to it if it's not going to be um concrete. So >> thank you Mr. Mayor. >> I'll entertain a question if you guys have it but >> I'll just make a comment that the end of
course is not going to happen without a lot of fighting. >> Yep. There's a lot of conversation going on about it because it basically is going against
what the people in Massachusetts voted for when they voted not to have um MCCAST be a graduation requirement. They are saying this document that you gave was actually developed by Desi. the um
uh that council that has been working on it was basically tasked to come up with different ideas, but we're told from the start by the commissioner um that it was his decision and it was
not going to be um something that specifically was going to come out of that council. So, um, >> so we shall see. >> We're working on it. We shall see. Yeah, it's a work in progress for sure. >> Katherine,
>> um, I was going to say we've had, um, some our own discussions, if you will, in our policy subcommittee, um, and we did with, um, the high school um, principal Sarapina. Um, specifically, we
did have some conversation around, you know, finals or end of course assessments. Um just because we have gotten some feedback just here on more of a local level with some of our own local alumni
uh that have moved forward into college whether it be a two-year or fouryear saying that they are um feeling like we are in a situation where we need to make sure that we're providing opportunities
for some course course finals to help them um be better prepared. prepared. So I think at least I know you know this is like from Desi but we've been talking at least on our level like what's what's a a way that we can all work together to
find um you know a happy way of of supporting our students and our staff on a level of success and um competency and and you know so I looked at some of their information and I kind
of went, "Okay, well, we'll see what happens." But we've been having some of our conversations here about how we're going to meet the needs of our our students. So, we'll see. >> Yes, that's the theme. We shall see. >> Yeah.
>> Okay. Anything else? No. Very good. Thank you. Okay. Moving on. The acceptance of minutes. Minutes of the December 9th, 2025 school committee meeting. Motion to approve the minutes of December 9th, 2025.
>> Motion on the table and second. Questions, comments, concerns regarding the minutes from December 9th. Seeing none, all in favor? Motion carries. Thank you. Minutes of the January 5th, 2026 school committee meeting.
>> Motion to approve the minutes of January 5th, 2026. >> Motion's on the table and seconded. Questions, comments, or concerns. It was a quick one. All in favor? Motion carries. Thank you. Moving on.
Public comment. Is there any public comments? Public comments. Any public comment? Seeing none, public comment for the third and final time. Seeing none, we are closing public
comment and moving on. Thank you. Action items and reports. Acceptance of donations. We have quite a few. So, here we go. We ready? >> Ready. >> Okay. Boston Scientific gift giving with employee match for $94045.
>> Motion to approve. >> Motion to approve is on the table and second. Questions, comments, or concerns? Seeing none, all in favor? Approved. Moving on. I don't think there'll be any questions, comments, or concerns, so we're just going to go by we're going to bypass that deal. Okay.
Yeah. All righty. Let's see if I can remember because I'm in the mail. We'll be in a group. Malber Rotary Club to assist families purchases essential items for $2,000. >> Motion to approve. >> Motion to approve is on the table and seconded. All in favor? Motion carries.
Thank you. Lo's Mexican Restaurant donation to assist families in groceries for $400. >> Motion to approve. >> Motion to approve is on the table and seconded. All in favor? Motion carries. Thank you. Okconor portraiture. Good. Now, check for student photo session.
$2,135.81. >> Motion to approve. >> Motion to approve and seconded. All in favor? Motion carries. Thank you. Okconor Studios Whitcom check for student photo sessions. $1,382. >> Motion to approve.
>> Prove and seconded. All in favor? Motion carries. Thank you. Okconor Studios check for student photo sessions for $1,67210. >> Motion to approve. >> Approve and seconded. All in favor? Motion carries. Thank you. Okconor
studio for richer check for student photo sessions $1,3314. >> Motion to approve. >> Motion to approve and seconded. All in favor? Motion carries. Thank you. Paul King, an NRT bus sneaker donation to
Richard School for $600 to $750. I'm assuming that it's just sneakers, so it's not cash, but for goods. >> Motion to approve. >> Motion to approve. Seconded. All in favor. >> Motion carries.
Speech. Hander supermarkets helps program for support can student activities for $336. >> Motion to approve. >> Approved and seconded. All in favor? Motion carries. And lastly, Hannerford Supermarket helps support Wickham student activities for
$348. >> Motion to approve. >> To approve and seconded. All in favor? Motion carries. All righty. >> Mr. Chair, was there Did we get a I think Tammy sent us um a corrected
page two. It was in with Mr. Sadiki's resume in a separate email. I just want to make sure that >> I have it here. It was 336 for the
Hanner Supermarket program and then the 348 for the week. >> That was the corrected page. >> Yeah, right here. >> Oh, okay. >> Page two. >> Yep. >> So, we're good. Yes. >> Yep. Thank you. >> Thank you all that donated. It's much appreciated. We appreciate the support
throughout the community. So, thank you. Okay, moving on to the superintendent contract. We reviewed this during executive session. Um, so the contract will be for four years to bring on the interim superintendent to now a superintendent
role. We had some great discussion and so now is the time to make it official. >> Move to approve. >> Okay, that's what I was waiting for and seconded. Is there any questions, comments, or concerns? No concerns.
>> No concerns. Just a comment that um you know, I can say easily on behalf of the committee and I'm sure on behalf of the district, we're thrilled to have you here. Um ups and downs, that's part of the process. It's all about working together
to make things happen for the betterment, for the future. And thank you. We're really looking forward to it. Now it's your chance to say nice things now. >> Five years to say nice things. >> Yes. I am very honored and we're very
excited. Um >> you inspire me to be a better mayor with the communication that you have. I know that you have the best interest in every single student and I'm honored and thrilled to work with you for the next two years. So keep up the great work. So um having said that, motion's on the
table and seconded. Um, we'll do a roll call just to make it official. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Excellent. >> Congratulations, sir. >> Thank you very much. >> Welcome to the district. >> Next up, the assistant superintendent of
student services and equity contract. >> Move to approve. >> Move to approve and seconded. Is there any questions, comments, or concerns regarding the contracts? Seeing none, do another roll call to make it official. >> Yes.
>> Yes. >> Yes. Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> All right. Thank you much. Motion carries. And school business director of finance and operations contract. We heard from Muhammad earlier today. And so, let's
kick it off to make it official. Shall we? >> Move to approve. Move to approve and seconded to another roll call vote. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Yes. >> Congratulations, sir. Welcome to the district.
>> Welcome. Welcome to Barber. >> Okay. Well, that was fun. All right. It's It's really great to have a strong leadership team. So, um, thank you all for being here and being part of the district and making our schools a better place to be for each and every student. Moving on. reports of school committee
subcommittees. Yes, Miss Katherine. >> Um for policy, we do have a meeting uh this Friday. >> Can't wait. >> We'll be talking about some of the you know some of the updates that we need to be making for the um CTE um as well as
um just around graduation requirements and such. So, uh meetings posted. >> What time? >> 8:30 in the morning. Can't wait. So >> where >> it will be at the superintendent's conference room. So >> okay, >> thank you.
>> Anything else? Reports from school committee subcommittees. Anything? Okay. Okay. Moving on. Members forum. >> Yes. >> Um I have reviewed the warrant and I'll be signing that on our behalf. >> Okay. Mr. Atul.
Hello. Just glad to say we started the tutoring program um slowly. Thanks to everyone, Principal Patel and Dr. Scaza and uh yeah, it was great. Um so we're gonna we're starting we started the past
couple weeks. I go to good now. Uh we have a bunch of kids. How many kids do we have going to >> Yeah. >> Yeah. So and then plus 11 or 12 going. >> We can't hear them at home. So 11 12. Thank you. >> Five of us going to Good now. Um at
least at Good Now we each get three kids each that we're gonna tutor. Um it'll be fun. So, we get to play a bunch of, you know, math based games or reading or, you know, integrating fun plus a little bit of learning. So, I think most elementary schools or >> so far. >> So far, >> um, >> okay, >> we can see how we can expand.
>> Want to make sure the public's aware. So, >> yeah. So, it's a great group. I'm glad we had a bunch of kids sign up. Excellent. >> Um, so yeah, >> that's great. >> Okay. All right. >> So, just is it after school? >> Yeah, Thursdays. Uh, for good now. I
don't know how it's working. Could be Wednesdays and Thursdays. >> Do you want to step up to the microphone? Thank you, Mrs. Patel. Sorry. So, the kids come after they're dismissed at at the high school. They're
there from around 2:40 to 3:25. We have like a a sign-in sheet, so we'll send them to classrooms. So, they're working with kindergarteners, first graders, second graders. um >> to a specific day I think was >> so at Jaric actually we have students
coming Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. >> Okay. Okay. >> So it's it's maybe a little less like structured than good now but we're so many so many kids we just wanted them >> Yeah. That's great
>> in as many places as possible. >> Okay. >> Great. Yeah. >> It's great. >> Thank you. Thanks to >> anything else for members forum. >> Well, just happy new year. >> Happy new year. Yes. >> On to Tony 26.
>> Okay. >> Anything else? >> That's it. >> Move to adjourn. It's on the table and second. Um all in favor adjourning. And that is a yes. We're adjourned at 8:19.
Thank you everyone. Have a great night.