All righty. Good evening everyone. Today is Tuesday, June 24th. It is 7:30. Um, so we will start the school committee meeting. So I call this meeting to order again at 7:30. Um, if I can have everyone rise
for the pledge of allegiance. I aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All righty.
Thank you very much. Moving on. If you could all just humor me while I say some nice words regarding the superintendent because this is surprise. This is our last school committee meeting with you being here. So, it's
your last report and it's a lengthy one. So, um I personally want to say it's been an honor and a privilege to work with you for the last 18 months. Your guidance and your leadership during my transition has been nothing but smooth and I thank you for that. Um, obviously coming from the city council side, I was
very nervous about coming to the school committee um and chairing it nonetheless, but um you opened your arms and welcomed me and I cannot thank you enough for that. So I think I speak on everyone here where we will miss you and um and enjoy your retirement. So having
said that please with your report. Yeah. Thank you, Mayor Christian. Thank you for your kind words again. Um, please join me in welcoming Steven Serpena as the next principal of Marbor
High School. With more than 16 years of experience as a school administrator in both urban and suburban settings, Mr. Subpina most recently held the position of principal of Groten Dunstable High School. He was formerly a principal at
Windham Hill High School in New Hampshire and held principal positions at the elementary level in Mthuan and a middle school and K8 level school in Haveril. He holds a master's degree in educational leadership and management
from Fitsburg State and earned a BA in history with a concentration in secondary education from St. Ansom College. Please welcome Mr. Serpena. Do you want to come up for a minute?
Thank you very much. Green. It's green. Uh, thanks. Thanks very much for having me. Um, I'm more than excited to be here. Um, I can't wait to get started, which I'm going to meet with the high school team tomorrow, so I'll be down here for the day. Um, I'm really excited. There's a lot of great things
that are going on at the high school that I'm starting to learn about. I had a great process. I got to meet a lot of great people. I loved getting to meet with the students. Um I just I'm really really excited and I think that uh Mob World's in a really great place and I think that as a team we'll be able to
continue to push the high school forward. So thank you very much. Um I will I'm I'll be here. Um I'll probably start getting things out to staff, students, and families um so they can have the opportunity to come in and meet with me. Um but again, I'm I'm more than excited to be here and I can't wait to
get rolling. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Welcome. Um my um school committee in um update on the Marbor public schools walking zones. My last update um building specific
meetings were held at Richard Kain and Jarrick schools during the first two weeks of June. Building principal shared revised dismissal and arrival plans at these meetings. Goodn now principal Mrs. Collins will be scheduling a good now
meeting before open door night. I'm going to publicly also state something that I've said at every single meeting. We know we probably made some mistakes. Please reach out if you think that your address is two miles from an elementary
school or two and a half miles or there is just no way to get from one street to the walking zone. Um we have discovered a couple of areas that you'd have to go through designated no walking zones to get from a street to school. So, um,
we're trying to correct and we are removing streets as we discover them or addresses. So, um, please let us know. Recent dental clinic. I would like to thank the dental associates of Marro for
once again hosting a free dental clinic from Marorrow students that happened. I included the flyer. Um, we're very appreciative of that event. I've also attached to the my report uh report uh the report of donation gifts
and grants to the school department during the 2024 25 school year. I am grateful to the many individuals and companies that support the Marorrow public schools. Um,
later tonight I will be asking you to appro approve the richer school educational plan. On March 25th, 2025, I was directed by the building committee to establish and lead a richer school
educational leadership team to develop the educational plan programming and visioning. Matt Wells, Robert Scaza, Lisa Richards, Kip Pantisopoulos, Rupal Patel, John Fletcher, Lin Medallu, Chris
Henry, and Christine Harrington spent two days visiting recently built elementary schools and our own elementary schools and then met on April 18th, April 28th, May 2nd, May 5th, and May 9th.
Members from the Vertex and Lamaru Paragano Associates and consultants from MPL integrated design team led our team through a series of visioning exercises that allowed us to identify what would be needed in any future elementary
school building to support our instructional priorities with a focus on our areas on our road map and what we need to support that work. The educational plan will be submitted to DESIE and reviewers for feedback and
revisions prior to the final MSBA submission. So this will be the first um draft. It will undergo multiple drafts but um it needs to be approved later tonight.
Also in your packet there are district and school improvement plans. At the last school committee, I submitted the district improvement plan. Tonight, each school is submitting their school improvement plans for your
review. You should notice an alignment of goals across the district. The district mo roadmap will continue to drive our academic achievement goal to increase teacher capacity for stronger tier one instruction which includes creating and delivering well
ststructured lessons including actionable feedback resulting in at least 60% of our students in each grade level K through 10 meeting or exceeding their projected growth target as measured by the 2026
spring NWEA assessment in both reading and math that um you will notice that that is an updated goal. Building leaders were going to be here tonight, but there was a slight change in plans. Um so we're available to
answer as many questions as needed if anyone has one or if not um we can forward any questions um to building leaders or have them return in the fall. Thank you. Questions? Yes, Miss Hennessy. Um, I just wanted to um say
welcome to Mr. Sapina and um with all of the transitions that are taking place um I'm sure I can speak on behalf of the full committee. If you have any questions that you need us, please don't hesitate reaching out especially over this summer. a lot of us are around and
um many of us whether we've had kids going through or um still in district um hopefully we can be another ear to help you. So I just wanted to offer that up and Mary I actually sorry but I needed
to say something to you too. Um, I'm going to first say uh, what a road we've been. and um Patty Sibilio, who's kind of like your
your right-hand man, if you will, and has been with us um for many many years helping um the superintendency over the years um is also retiring and um that's going to be a huge loss for the district as well. So, I do want to
recognize and and thank Mrs. IO um for the many many years of dedicated service. Um she's helped this school committee out uh tremendously and so I'd be remiss if I didn't mention her name too. Um Mary, I'd like to take a moment
to acknowledge the many years that you've dedicated to education. Uh it's truly a profession that has been fulfilled by your dedication to the students of um and public education and not by thank yous for the time spent
because that doesn't often happen. Um you've given your all. Um and for that I'm really exceptionally grateful because you've made an impact on our community. Hundreds if not thousands of students that have come in and out through these doors. Um, prior to coming
to Marorrow, you spent several years in the classroom in Cambridge and Somerville before stepping into administration role and then you've been in Marboro for over 22 years culminating as our current superintendent that we're so grateful for. Uh, you started working
in 2003 with John Collins at uh, as an assistant principal at Kain. Moved to becoming a principal at Jarrick. moved into another role as a principal at Wickham uh helping us all out there and then
moved into the role as executive director for primary and secondary education a few years before assuming the role as assistant to superintendent for teaching and learning. You gave Marbor everything you had and you've helped this comm community
tremendously. Um and this district became better by your consistent voice and advocacy for equity for all. Um thank you for your many years of service. You've always stepped up to do whatever you could for our students and
staff and you inspired so many of our staff to do what's best for the kids. Always putting students first. Um it has not been easy. Uh there have been challenges all along the way, but you
have navigated these tests and grown to meet the task at hand making success. Even if it was one small step at a time, you did it. Um I'm so very grateful that you chose Marorrow and my life is better
for having worked alongside you since I joined the school committee in 2008. I wish nothing but the best for you in your retirement. Enjoy all that is ahead on your journey. Make every single day count. And make
sure to sprinkle some of that Dixie Disney Disney Pixie dust to make it magical. Thank you again. Anyone else? No. Okay, we'll move on. Director to
you. Um, I think the only best thing I can ever say to anybody as an educator, as one myself, is that it would have been an honor and a privilege to have taught underneath you as a superintendent. Thank you. And that's the one I'm here. I'm say it's the best thing I can say. And the only thing I think I can say
better because I'm going to make sure I look this up and don't screw it up is as a musician and someone who I know uh you are of Disney, I'll put it into words that maybe you'll understand a bit better. Mary Murphy. Mary Murphy for let
us hold your banner high. Now it's time to say goodbye to all this company. Mic see you real soon. K Y why? Because we love you. Thank you Mary Murphy.
Thank you so much. Thank you. Good. Okay. Moving on. Director of finance and operations report. Mr. Wells, thank you. Um, first up, I just want to remind everyone about our food service feeding program that we have during the summer, the summer program. Uh, we are feeding all of our
students that are attending our programs within the schools. I want to remind everyone that the Mro Public Library will have lunch, uh, daily from 12 to 2, Monday through Friday. Um, starting on the 23rd, uh, going through August 22nd. So, June 23rd through August 22nd, 12 to 2. We just want to make sure that all
families are aware of that. Uh that uh program is open for all children up to the age of 18 and select populations from 18 to 22. So um if you are in town and you would like a meal um feel free to, you know, bring your kids over to the library. A nice cool place to to hang out during the day and get a meal.
So um the finance office, we are reorganizing the finance office to better support the district. Uh after approval of upgraded job description, uh the position of grants manager/accounts payable will change to the assistant director of finance and operations. This role will provide day-to-day uh
oversight and supervision within the business office. Um and we'll be focused on a number of projects that we need to move forward within within the business office. Mainly one of the big ones is making sure that Munis starts to reconcile and align with what our actual operation is. And that's in a lot of
different areas as we're identifying. uh just naming conventions within the actual Munis that have changed over time but have not been updated within the system but doing vertical integration with a lot of our other systems that are supposed to integrate with Munis and getting those align and getting th those
integrations set up so that we are more readily bringing data directly in and thereby reducing the number of errors that we have uh between systems. Um and within the packet is the latest year-to- date budget report for your review. Mr. Walls, how are we getting the word
out about the summer feeding program so people know about it? So, yeah, it has been uh it went out. It is on uh a number of different websites. It gets rebroadcast, so it's out there uh on Desessie's website. Um there's a few other websites that also grab that information and broadcast it out. Um I
believe we also sent home through um the um individual principal reports that what these feeding programs were. So we we get that out every year and make sure that we we get the message out to everybody. Um we also I'm not sure if it's posted yet, but we will make sure that it is posted on our website so that it is uh people can be aware of that as
well. Is it possible like can someone make a flyer and put it on somewhere like if people are at the library like or just places like where maybe even posting in the common rooms at some of the bigger places in town where maybe people might
be in need. just trying to think of how to get the word out like I don't know like maybe posting something at Countryside Village or I don't I don't know where some of the lower income students might live where they might so that they know about it. I
don't know if those communities have email blast to their people that live there. I just want to make sure people know about this because I'm sure they're not watching us. And does the food pantry know about it? Oh yeah. Maybe you've been assigned at the food pantry or something. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. So we can definitely make sure Boys and Girls Club, you know. Yeah. Yeah. Boys and girls. So you know, all the programs we try to make sure everyone knows about this. We're definitely feeding every, you know, every kid who comes to the school and we we had that last year. We had a number of kids who just showed up to the school and said, you know, hey, lunch comes.
Great. You know, we we we generally do the schools for the programs that are there, but it shows up when they're hungry as well. We can certainly will reach around and back around and see if there's anything we missed or if there's others. Do you is there a graphic that was already created that was sent out or no? Went
through the I believe it went out through the principal notifications. Right. Well, if there was a graphic or something, can you just send it to my office and we can post it on our social media as well? Yeah. And like the wraparound folks know about it so they're telling their families
that they work with. Yeah, we can we can send it to the community cupboard and there's other areas that we as a city know of that we can reach out to them. So, okay, just making my notes. Okay, thank
you. Okay, any other questions, comments for Mr. Wells? No. Okay, we'll move on to the assistant superintendent of teaching and learning, Dr. Scaza. Mr. Mayor, I'm pleased to report that we conducted getting started with into math training sessions for our elementary
educators this past June 12th and 13th. The sessions provided participants with the structure of daily lessons, how to assign work through ED, the digital platform, how to access the data that is collected from online assessments through the ED platform,
how to differentiate lessons with HMS materials, and how to use in math to support math workshop. Additionally, educators received their hard copy manuals and pacing guides, looked at grade level specific HM uh
manipulative kits that each classroom will be getting and learned what are the mustd dos from the program and how to navigate all the options beyond those mustos. Special thank you to Becky Kaya, Jamie Miller, Pam Migos, and Crystal
Oral for helping with organizing these training sessions. I was very pleased because we made a conscious effort to get some in-person training with this program prior to the end of this school year. So, with the thought that
elementary educators would feel more confident with the program and be ready to hopefully hit the ground running this coming fall. The feedback that we got from the trainings was positive. They seemed to be comprehensive. The trainers were were thorough and knowledgeable. So, I'm feeling good about those two
sessions. We have a draft math vision and if you recall not too long ago, I had presented a vision for literacy instruction for the district. This draft math vision is similar in its design. A team of educators and administrators have been
working with our consultant from TNTP to develop a vision for math instructions grade K through 12. This vision work was initially conduct conducted in an effort to support our educators and students with the core math curriculum in grades K through eight. However, the math
vision is intended for all math classrooms including our high school courses. This vision is meant to mirror our vision for literacy instruction and we received feedback from families and caregivers earlier this month that helped frame the priorities. And included in my report for your
review is the draft vision. I'll just read the statements quickly. Um for the public, it says uh in the opening preface, in Marble Public Schools, all students are mathematicians who grow into confident problem solvers with
choice-filled futures. Math instruction balances conceptual understanding, procedural skill, and fluency and application. It opens access to all learners through high expectations, productive struggle, rich discourse, and appropriate scaffolding. In all
classrooms every day, all students build positive mathematical identities by embracing mistakes, approaching challenges with a growth mindset, and taking ownership over their learning. Persevere through productive struggle by applying abstract and quantitative reasoning, taking risk, using
mathematical tools, and thinking critically and flexibly. Engage in mathematical discourse to explain their thinking. Justify reasoning. Collaborate with others. Build on peers ideas and critique the reasoning of others. Connect new concepts to prior knowledge
in real world context recognizing patterns and relationships across mathematical ideas. And finally, create and foster supportive classrooms with their educators where multilingualism, learning differences, and lived experience are strengths. And that is the same bullet in our literacy vision.
I do want to thank the team of mathematicians and educators who helped with this uh math vision. We had representation from the high school, from the middle school, and from the elementary school. And we had our lead consultant Katie Gardner from TNTP who
helped facilitate a lot of that work. So, thank you to all that were involved. Yes, Miss Hennis. Um, thank you. So, um, it was all tied in where the high school would come like they were part of it so we could get the whole trajectory going.
Okay. And um if some of the um elementary folks are trying to do their preparation over the summer, are they going to have um will it be you as a point person if they have questions or I'm just curious because I think about
if I was in their, you know, their shoes trying to get ready for the next year. I'd want to kind of get myself going before having to get back in. Um do they have that avenue already kind of laid out for them? Well, right now I'm the po point person for a number of things
including like the materials associated with the program um if they're needed, any of the trainings that need to be conducted for our new employees um any employees who maybe miss these sessions. And I don't know that we have many if any um getting them caught up and
connecting them to people who are a little bit more um familiar with math instruction. I was an English teacher. However, I can make sure that the team that we have um across the district can support educators and make sure that they feel comfortable and confident with
this program come fall. The point to note that is uh ad advantage to this new program is that the ed platform is the same platform that elementary educators have used with into reading. So toggling through that, navigating that and finding um where the resources lie
within the program should come pretty naturally to them. Um, additionally, HMH um was the is the publisher of our go math program that we previously used. So, a lot of their adaptation of an into
math program from the go math program should have some familiarity. I guess I was just thinking more I guess towards the differentiated lessons. That was an area that kind of hit me, especially once we were going through the um the SIPs for each of the
schools because there were some schools that seemed like they had certain areas where math needed a little bit more focus. So I'm really happy that you asked that question or brought up that point because I al it's not in this report but I will note now that we are also setting up a similar strategic
advising model that we used this past year with the IN2 reading program where uh principles and lead teachers receive uh weekly consult strategic advising and then the avenue to get that information out to the teachers. for example, how to
differentiate, how to navigate the workshop, the nuances of the program is presented through the PLC format. Okay. So, I'm I'm feeling confident that with that same framework that we use for the second year of into reading, we will have educators feeling themselves
confident with navigating not just the the program itself um but the nuances within the program when it comes to instructional practices. Okay. Is it possible um October, Novemberish to kind of come back around to let us know how
things are going so far and you know good things we're seeing or areas that need more challenge or opportunities? Absolutely. I I certainly plan to update the committee this upcoming school year with into math updates. will be um something that we're placing a lot of
focus on prevalent in that strategic advising model and I'm I'm very happy to make sure that you're all a breast of information as we go along. Thank you. Okay. I just have a quick question. The relationship with TNTP is that it's
grant funded. Is it is there a sunset date or is it So we have a handful of um relationships or contracts with TNTP now. some of which were grant funded fully through um uh a grant through the state. For instance, the Gleam growing
literacy equity across Massachusetts grant that was fully state funded. We didn't use any of our title grant or our individual grant funding for that. For the elementary uh TLT TNTP consultancy, we had to use our title one and title
two grant funding. We prioritize some of that funding in those two title grants. That's what I intend to do for this upcoming school year with into math and TNTP. So, we have the luxury of some state funded grant uh aotment. However, we're
prioritizing in addition to that some of our title grant aotment to make sure that we give teachers the support that they need to successfully implement to this this program. And they do a lot of like train the trainer kind of model stuff, right? Because you're because I'm just, you know, we don't know what's going to happen with those entitlement
grants, right? You just don't know. They know we're going to be okay next year, but who knows what happens after that. They're great at the train the trainer type of model and they're also really strong with sustainability after they are done working with a district. So that's what we're doing right now within two reading. They are developing a
sustainability plan for us. So when our contract ends with them within two reading at the elementary level this coming August, we should be able to carry on that work internally with a lot of confidence and efficiency because of all of the support that they laid out
for us. I had a question real quick though. I was curious, does this affect the accelerated program in the seventh and eighth grade? Because I remember we had the into math or go math supplement. I didn't know if it doesn't affect the accelerated program to my knowledge at
all. This is more of a core um curriculum program for grades K through eight. However, when you are in an accelerated program, I think you get addition to the that tier one program. Sounds good.
Thank you. Anything else? No. hopefully setting them up for calc advanced calc like you took last year. Okay. Thank you. Yes. Okay. Acceptance of minutes. The amended
minutes of the May 2nd, 2022 school committee meeting. Motion to accept the amended amended minutes of May 2nd, 2022 to reflect a couple of hyphens missing and Mrs. vote.
That's not the only reason. Okay. This is the 2022. Yes. Perfect. So, just to reflect the voting change. Yes. Um, questions, comments seconded, questions, comments, concerns? Seeing
none, all in favor? Motion carries. Thank you. Minutes of the May 2nd, 2025 special school committee meeting. Motion to approve. Motion to approve is on the table and seconded. Any questions, comments, concerns regarding May 2nd,
2025 meeting? Seeing none, all in favor? Motion carries. Minutes of the May 27th, 2025 school committee meeting. U motion to approve with a minor um amendment to note the absence of Mrs.
Hennessy and Mrs. Matthews at that meeting. Thank you. And seconded questions, comments, concerns with the amended minutes from May 27th, 2025. Seeing none, all in favor? Motion carries. Thank you. Minutes of June
10th, 2025. Motion to approve to note um a miter amended to note the absence of Mr. Giri and Mrs. Matthews from June 2025 meeting. Okay. Motion's on the table and seconded the
amended minutes from June 10th, 2025. Questions, comments, concerns? Seeing none, all in favor? Motion carries. Thank you. All right, moving on. Public comment section. Is there any
public comment from the visitors who are here tonight? Seeing none, public comment for the second time. Any public comment? Seeing none, last chance public comment for the third
time for this school calendar year. Seeing none, I close the public comment portion. Moving on, action items and reports. The approval of an updated job description for the finance office.
Uh so provided uh are is the updated job description um as well as the full job description of which the grants manager and account payable supervisor was hired under. Um certainly the uh new job description shows the expanded role that has been fulfilled by the individual and
run within this role. Um, she has done taken on far more than just grants over the past 11 years. Um, having grown into taking over all of AP, uh, handling the year-to- date report, making sure that is filled out correctly filed, creating new account numbers, um, and leading
through persuasive authority, um, to get work done, often having to wait until the business manager or to have decisions made. So, um, moving her, it is an FTE just being a new job title that's associated with it. It's not a new FTE within the district. Um and she will be taking on a greater supervisory
role to keep the wheels of business turning um in the absence of business. Okay. In the absence of what? I'm sorry. I'm the director of finance. You Yes.
I'm uh we spent a lot of time on the the building project and a lot of meetings over the past couple of months and that is not going to end anytime soon. very excited about the project but not in the office a lot sometimes can't delay uh processing of a lot of things that we do
so just to be clear we're approving two different job description with this one we're replacing the old job description with the new job description so grants manager accounts payable supervisor right um that's the old job description
that um was hired Um, and the new job description better reflects the role that she's been fulfilling for her. Okay. So, we will no longer have a grants manager and accounts payable supervisor position. Just want to make sure we're all on the same page. Yes. A
line item within produce. Yeah. Okay. Okay. So, motion to approve the job description for assistant director of finance and operations. Motion's on the table and seconded. Is there any further questions, comments, or concerns?
Seeing none, all in favor? Motion carries. Thank you. Approval of new position for human resource office. So this one is um a slightly different because it is a new position. It is not
adding an FTE to um the budget. It is converting a human resource um confidential office support to an assistant director position. Um at this
time an added supervisory level position is needed for effectively processing and attaining attainment of the school district's gold. A human resource generalist position will be eliminated to create this role. This will allow um
new hires to be processed when the director or the manager of the um human resources is involved in other bigger projects and it allows for the effective continuation
of that department. So, we're asking for permission um to create the new supervisory position. Move to approve the job description for the assistant director of human resources.
Is there a second? Second. Questions, comments, concerns? Yes. So I understand it's not a new FTE but there's definitely an increase in salary. So it is she would be directing
to other um human resource generalist positions in um the office and also be expected to be much more independent and initiate um a lot of tasks. So it is an increase in salary. Okay. And that was
factor. Yep. Yes. How did we get to this number? How do we get to this salary range? Um so um Patty Brown did a number of um c um she went onto her list serves and she
did a lot of comparisons and um started from the general where the current employee would be and proposed an increase. Is there a step increase or just We don't have steps in for our um
confidential office support. Yeah. Any other questions, comments, or concerns? All in favor? Motion carries. Marro public schools and music award
recommendation request for proposal Mr. Ros. So good evening. How is everybody? Uh quick background. Uh many many years ago I
identified a void in our music program whereas families were renting instruments wherever they saw a music store and there was no background given. They would go online. You would get these beautiful colored clarinets that
were red or black trumpet um and they were really poor quality. And so by working with the then uh chief procurement officer Beverly Sleeper, we proc we created an RFP for a preferred vendor that has been hugely uh
successful for our families and um so we have just um updated this process. So I'll just give you a little background. The Marbor Public Schools music department wishes to award a contract to a preferred vendor to provide our
students a comprehensive instrumental rental program, including repair services and or purchase of instrument, accessories, and other related items. The purpose of the student rental and repair service program is to offer students the opportunity to purchase or
rent quality instruments with the convenience of repair services offered at specific school locations. The goal of the MPS music program includes to provide students with a good quality instrument at an affordable price and an
easy monthto-month rental agreement so that the students are provided with the best opportunity to have a successful musical experience in school. Participation by parents and guardians in the school-based program is voluntary and they may choose to rent or purchase
a musical instrument from a vendor of their choice at their discretion. So currently David French is our preferred vendor. Um we were out to bid. We had two companies that submitted bids and we had a committee team together and we
looked at the recommendations. We looked at the technical and price proposal and uh the recommendation is to award David French um uh the RFP uh award. So, pursuer to section 12 of chapter 30B,
the school committee authorizes the chief procurement officer to award a contract to David French Music Company with a local address of 53B Otis Street, Westboro, Mass 01581 for the Marorrow Public School student music instrumental
rental program and services for upon contract execution through June 30th, 2028 with an option to renew for one additional 2-year term. from July 1, 2028 through June 30, 2030 in the sole
discretion of the school department with each fiscal year subsequent to the fiscal year in which the contract is awarded subject to appropriation. I obviously didn't write that little as that last but I think it but um I hope it makes
sense. Yes, I'm happy to take questions. Yeah, I just I guess a couple questions. Um, if I remember correctly, I feel like we had music and arts or music and arts or something like that a number of years
ago. Am I correct at that memory? Okay, good. Love that. Um, and I'm guessing just knowing our normal RFP process, it's just a matter of gathering the RFPs and normally it needs to go from a low bid situation unless there's been some
kind of issues and things like that. Correct. Uh, so RFP is different from IFB. With an RFP, you rate you weigh the relative qualifications of the proposals that come before you and determine who is providing you with the best service. Okay? Then you open price proposals to see who's offering the best price and
and it's kind of a comparison of the two, but first you say this is who I want to move forward with based upon the qualifications. So it's a qualification phase. Thank you. That's what I just wanted to make sure because we've had a few IFBs are different. Yeah. Yeah. That's low that that's lowest responsive
responsive. Okay, great. And then my next question is since we've had um a lot of changes within our music program specifically at Wickham and then at the elementary schools over the last number of years um I'm just trying to kind of
look bigger picture where we're hoping I'm hoping I'll put it out there maybe I can manifest it that we're going to be able to really um grow the PO C pro program back. Um, do you feel like this is going to be able to be in support of
trying to grow the program at the elementary by providing opportunities for testing of of you know some of the instruments and such earlier on to try and entice the kids? You know, just for the record, I'm hoping to
but the answer is yes. I mean the company that we're recommending um we're making that recommendation because they will provide an amazing uh opportunity for all of our Marbor public schools. So this is not just for the high school or the middle school. This is for
elementary school even for next year. So we had a situation where uh Jarrick school had a program and they wanted to kind of showcase the instruments and so this happened uh it happened this year. Thank you. because I was noting that, you know, the schools were listed in
there. I guess, you know, in my heart of hearts, I'd love to see it be able to be um pushed out as much as possible so that we can um you know, grow back the the band and music program. Um it's been stellar. You guys have been doing amazing stuff, but I'd love to see it
continue to grow even more, which means starting at the itty bitties so that we have the full trajectory. So, thank you. Okay. And Miss Rosenthal, am I correct that this has been our vendor for the last few years? Correct. They are they
are currently our preferred vendor. Yeah. Okay. That's what I thought. Thank you. And I just have a question. Can you just um let us know how like the I read that they offer the scholarship program? Yes. And how how does that work
operationally? How do parents find out about it if they don't feel like they can afford it? How do they know that such a thing? One of the things that we did um that I did with um our superintendent is we had a number of capital that we bought a number of
school instruments. So we have increased our school-based instruments. So that's been really nice. So no student ever will go without an instrument, but then we work with Matt and the um you know the uh the Aspen notification. If if
families qualify, then we go with that route. But um our current vendor is wonderful with scholarship instruments and also all of our printed music that we buy as a district. We get 20% off.
So great. And so kids can you know if a child expresses an interest then they can use the school instruments and then if they want to advance then the parents are notified that they are eligible for
right so we have a number of school instruments that families can use but at the same time we also have um rental opportunities for you know for families to use that as well. Thank you Mr. So, this is interesting that I've actually had experience with this
company. They were my vendor when I was teaching in Quinsey and we had replaced another longtime vendor with them because they offered so much more. So, I wholeheartedly support this. They're a great company to work with. From personal experience, I can say that this time. Great.
Anything else? Okay. Motion to approve. Motion to approve is on the table and seconded. Any questions, comments, and concerns? Seeing none, all in favor? Motion carries. Thank you. Thank you,
Jonathan. Moving on to the MRO public schools richer elementary school education plan. Thank you, Mayor Dumis. Um, as I mentioned earlier, as part of the submission of the preliminary design
program, the district has updated the educational program that will be submitted to the MSBA. Um, a group of Marble public school administrators have worked together to identify specific needs in the new richer school that will allow the
district to meet the educational plan. And just to piggyback on what um, Mr. Rosenzolaw was just talking about. We did we are including the band and orchestra areas in the educational plan because the hope is at some point they
can be restored. Um so we're asking for that the school committee approve the plan as presented. Questions comments before we so I'll move to approve. Okay. Move to
approve is on the table and seconded. Any further discussion, questions, comments? No, it's so much. There's so much such a big undertaking. I guess that was going to be kind of my my comment is it's a lot to go through
and a lot to understand. I'm hoping that this could be something where because I mean realistically I I read through everything but I felt like it was just I was overwhelmed with information in such a short period of time if you will. So
it would be helpful if we were able to then direct some questions if we had them. And I guess my question would be is that to you like how do we I don't know like well no you're not in
okay not with the ED plan. So so how do you like I just feel like you know as you continue to keep on delving into it what's our best way to focus on having some So for the initial ed plan just reach out to me. Okay. I mean, I did the
last one and I've updated um a majority of this and worked with the team in different parts. Um, Assistant Superintendent O'Brien um helped with significant parts and um other members of the team. Um and we spent two
leadership meetings working on it and looking at specific areas. So, I can answer that. It may change a number of times between now and final submission. the um it's the major part of it is just
to move it forward at this point and MSBA may have their own. Yeah. Right. Um I do want to note that this educational plan and this process that we've been going through and all those dates um we did in about two months what I think we
did in six to eight months during the last time. Um, time is money, right, for our building projects. And so we've been in an acceleration and and thank you for understanding why it's just a lot for us to go through where I felt a little behind on trying
to make sure that I was reviewing it. Hence why you and I were texting earlier today where I was trying to understand about some of the scheduling questions around specials and things like that for space allocation and such. So, thank you
Okay. Is there a motion? I did. I already made the motion. Thank you. Oh, yes. And then that was a question. Thank you. All in favor? Motion carries. Okay.
Moving on. Rich Elementary School study preliminary design program update. Um, so the before you tonight is a hard copy of the information that was in the packet. So it was provided by Vert.Ex. So you
have a copy to refer to as well as what's in the packet. Um, Vert.Ex is happy to do a formal presentation. We thought maybe it was best to do that in the fall. Um, but just to give you a kind of a brief overall of where we're
at, um, they've provided this book for you. So just to summarize some of the key points I think I won't take a lot of time but currently we are in the phase fe feasibility study um on page two of your packet of the of the book um it shows that the overall project is
looking at two options. So, one of those options is to build a 950 student K-to5 richer school or an 870 student K to 5 Richard school in an addition to Kane
School. The MSBA requires you to evaluate several different options to determine where the building will be and how much it will cost. Um, page six I thought was pretty good. It's um reviewed 25 sites, narrowed down to 10,
and now we're evaluating four sites. On page nine, there's a great illustration showing potential future enrollment at each school. So, you'll see like the different buckets of the school and how it will decrease the sizes.
Pages 10 to 20 are the various test fits for um one of the one of the MSBA requirements is to cost out addition renovation to richer and there are a couple of possibilities outlined.
Um, the addition to cane, one thing to note in this is it would not be covered through the MSBA and the addition also would trigger code updates which would be costly. Um, kind of a bummer. Can't just add on.
You have to do other things too. Um, another option is building a new school on the Uvitcher Field in the current building would be torn down. Other locations are being looked at. Some are already eliminated due to location, lack of sidewalks, wetlands, potential costs,
etc. You'll see lots of different graphs and building layouts throughout the the book there. Um, and then the page that everybody probably turned to first was page 28, which is the reimbursement rate from MSBA would potentially be 71.79%.
The city share would be about 86 to 89 million. with the cane edition, it could be 147 million. Um, I think that's kind of the overall um review of what's in this book. Does
anybody have any questions I can try and answer or I can get the answer for you? I just was trying to highlight some of the key things that have been happening to date. So, if I could add, so these are all preliminary. Yeah, the sites are also preliminary. This is the process
that we have to go through for MSBA. So that's why you have two different vehicles here. One is the educational component and one is the actual building and site location component. So you have the big picture here. So it's two different processes that kind of go simultaneously and then the working
group and the building group decides on all of these after numerous months of that. So, that was a great update, but just so you have an idea, that's why we're doing two different things. Yeah, there's there's been a lot of meetings and there's a lot of moving pieces and a
lot of things still being narrowed down over the next couple months. Correct. Um, the reason why it's before you now is so that you have an updated understanding of what the hard work that the building committee has been going
through with this MSBA process. It's it's been a lot and numerous departments um including from DPW to engineering to the school side as well as city side procurement um they've all been involved
Matt Wells as well. So um it's it's a huge undertaking and um it's a great reading material for you all to take a look but again nothing is set in stone as of yet. City Council has been given the same packet at last night's meeting because obviously they have to approve
the funding once we are there at that point in time once a determination is made based upon sites and the education plan and what direction we want to move forward with. Would you say that sums it up? Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, any other questions or It's a lot of information and we understand that. Um, but there's been a lot of months of preparation to get us to this point and we're not even close to being done.
Yes. So just for clarity, the three sites that are not 80 Foley Road are privately owned sites that the city would purchase if the current owner was so inclined to sell. Correct. Yes. So
the estimates that I mentioned did not include site purchase. Did not include site. Okay. And if I can just ask a quick question to make sure I'm reading it correctly from and also past knowledge at Kain if
we were going to go down that path the 1995 edition is really the modulars that were put on the back. Correct. Like that kindergarten wing ideally we'd love to make it two floors. Yeah. But in to do that, it MSBA does not cover it.
Correct. And it also triggers a lot of updates to the building which are are costly, but might be worth the investment. Correct. But that's something that they're still um evaluating and that's what we're vetting out. Yep. Exactly. Thank you. When I was
reading through this before, I was wondering if if the decision winds up being a new school on one of the non80 Fully Road um parcels,
what what becomes of Richard School as we know it. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. So, it could be we would still own it, right? that we could still have it like Hilddrth to be a place that we I I think the focus for my office is
to get a school built and then we'll cross that bridge. Yeah. Because we could potentially build on that site. So I again I don't have a crystal ball and um I'm may not be we may not be sitting in this seat when that time comes. We
don't we don't know. Oh god, I'll be here. Um, I bet um um my my you know the thing that keeps me up at night is if we are doing something that is physically involving
the current richer school, what do we do with the students during the construction? that that's all the things that they're looking at and that also goes into the cost estimate because of there's there's swing space has been mentioned numerous times if
that's the case. So that that's where more information will be coming soon. They're they're looking at all that. I figured you were but well I'm not person I just wanted to express why I'm up in Yeah, there there's there's a law going into it.
the I feel like there's a lot more information coming this time than when we were doing good now cuz it is at a faster rate because like Mary said time is money and even at this rate a new school wouldn't be online till maybe 2029 but probably 2030
um and I don't know if you want a comparison too because it was noted that when good now was built um it was at $33 a square foot and this is at 586 a square foot and we're also talking at really a 10-year time difference because
when you think about it, good now opened in 2020. This school would be 2030. So in 10 years, that's your price difference. And the good now reimbursement rate was also 57%. Much lower. We're getting a higher reimbursement rate. This time it could potentially be 71 to 82%.
So still expensive. It's a large investment. And we have also expressed that we're not looking for a fancy building. We're just looking for we we just need classroom space. It just a square building is fine. We don't need we have expressed that right as an
issue. I can't stress that like this is all preliminary. So there's I just want the people at home that are watching if they are watching like this is not set in stone like there's going to be numerous changes but this is the current update that we have to present. So you
know and the people at home and the residents know that this is happening and there's been a lot of work behind the scenes and so we're just trying to showcase what we've been doing because obviously a new school is needed and this is the process that this entails. So another quick question um and I
forget whether it was an educational or building so I apologize now. Um there was a comment made about not necessarily that we needed outdoor educational space. Um which I thought that was a
little interesting based upon some of what we had learned from good now that that outside space really was quite beneficial. That's a courtyard space though when we are defining um we looked at a lot of
schools um that have outdoor space. Um was it the Beals at in Shrewsberry specifically? Yes. They have um benches and demonstration areas all around um the campus. They have the luxury of
acres and acres of space. We don't imagine we will ever be in that position. So, a courtyard we said we would love if it's not expensive. Um, but that's way before that's getting Yeah. No, thank you for the clarity. I
just know that when we've talked about it, that's been I guess a real benefit that we've heard from administration and and the teaching staff over there that that's been great to have that. So, during the educational plan planning, we said courtyards are kind of a Marbor
thing. Not all of our schools have them. Okay. Thank you. And um one other question. So the model schools program are is that uh um it hasn't come into play yet, but there is no additional reimbursement for model schools anymore like there was when we did good now.
Okay. All right. 71%'s pretty good. It's pretty good, right? Yeah. Okay. And you know last time when we had the preliminary discussions about good now remember it came in under budget which is kind of rare. So fingers crossed could happen
again could happen. And there's no reimbursement for land purchase either. Yes. So that little fun fact. This is true. Okay. Anything else? Great. No need to vote. So it's just more information.
Information. Thank you very much. Okay. We shall move on to the policy for first read policy 1M animals in school. Uh thank you very much. So um tonight before you is a policy that we have
revised um animals in schools policy IM. Um, I would like to ask for a suspension of the rules so we could add the agenda item of actually voting on this so that we could hopefully get this on the books
um prior to us moving into the school year next year so that way we could do it tonight if possible. So, I'd like to make a motion for suspension of the rules. There is a motion on the table and seconded to suspend the rules.
Questions, comments, concerns? Seeing none, all in favor of suspending the rules. Motion carries. Thank you. So, I'd like to make a motion to approve uh the animals and schools policy with the amendments that are noted within.
Specifically, this has a lot of language about um an SEAL support dog animals, non-service animals that um was added in here. Um just a minor amount of background for you all. We have done a
lot of comparative with many different districts that actually um do have this as part of their policy. Um we have had some discussions with um some of the I guess different the high school. We did
actually talk at all levels, high school, middle, as well as elementary and um tried to do what we could on making sure that we had kind of thought through things um to meet the insurance needs, liability needs as well as in the
practicality of making sure that um professionally it was meeting the expectations of of roles and needs across the board. So there you have it. Okay. So there's a motion on the table and seconded.
I have one question on the last page 505 says approved. Was this actually approved a year a July 24th? Um yes it was because if you will recall that's when we were making the full transition
from the numerical into the alphabetical um of the website. So everything you know everything changed within about a year year and a half ago. I know. We just met in July.
Yeah. No, it's all good. Oh, yeah. July. Um, this was actually we had a special meeting and so we just added some of these to it at that point. Yeah. I don't remember yesterday. That's also I want to clarify that. Okay. Okay. So,
motion's on the table and seconded questions, comments, concerns saying checks, right? It does not affect chicks in school. They're still They're still welcome chicks in school. Sorry, I can say it.
That's why you're giggling. Okay. You want to hear that? No, but we're actually talking animal. Yes. Okay. We used to have little chicks. Got it. Talk to the hat. All right. So do I. Let's move on. All in favor
caris. Thank you. Thank you so much. Ex acceptance of donations and gifts. Here we go. Ready? Commonwealth of the Mass Middle Sex District Attorney's Office. The Marbor High School Allnighter $500.
Is this what you'd like to recuse? Motion to approve. Weren't you going to But do I make the motion? Voting yet. She can make the motion. No. If you recuse yourself, you can't make the motion. Okay, then I I I'll make that motion. Make the motion
to Not how that works. Make the motion to approve $500 from DA. Oh, should I recuse myself? My husband works for the DA's office. Yeah, you probably should. Okay, never mind, Catherine. So, I'm going to make the motion. Just occurred
to me to approve them. Motion on the table will end up seconded. Questions, comments, concerns? No. Seeing none, all in favor? Motion carries. Four. Do I have two abstensions? Two extensions. Yes. Two. Okay. You can still do the
minutes. Got it. No, I got that. Okay. Okay. You good? Yeah. So, I recuse myself from that. Yes. Yes. So, four approved, two recused. Okay. Global Companies Bober High School for $735.
Money. U motion to approve. Motion to approve on the table and seconded. Questions, comments, concerns? Seeing none, all in favor? Okay. Number three, Okconor Studios Jark Elementary School for $1,379
one penny and Kane Elementary School $874.17. Motion to approve. Motion to approve is on the table and seconded. Questions, comments, and concerns. Seeing none, all in favor? Motion carries. We're in our groove for the last one. All righty.
Fiscar 25 FC-186 title 3 part A immigrant children and youth for the Marro public schools for $23,471. Motion to approve. There it is. Motion to move and second on the table. Questions, comments, and concerns. Seeing none, all in favor? Motion
carries. Thank you. Like sometimes it's like hurting cats. I love it. Moving on, Mr. Chair. Yes. I would like to suspend the rules. Okay, there's a motion to suspend the rules and seconded. Questions, comments? Would you like to
say why you like to suspend the rules? To add an agenda item. Thank you. All righty. It's on the table and seconded. Questions, comments, and concerns to suspend the rules. Seeing none, all in favor? Motion carries. So move to uh add the agenda item that
was inadvertently left off the agenda for the superintendent who is outgoing summitive evaluation report. Okay, which is a compilation of uh reports that I received from other members. Okay,
there's a motion on the table and seconded to add the superintendent evaluation. questions, comments, concerns. Seeing none, all in favor is on the agenda. So, we completed the superintendent's um
evaluation um which showed that she met all of her goals for this year as well as proficient in all of the indicators in the um evaluation that we use. It's the DESIE approved
evaluation tool. Um it was not in the packet so because it wasn't completed in time but it will be po um online on the website um with the uh packet once the minutes are you know once it's posted in
a couple days. Okay. Thank you. Is there any to approve it? So, uh, I think we usually accept it. Accept and place on file. So, move to accept the superintendent's evaluation and place on
file. Motion's on the table and seconded. Questions, comments, concerns? Seeing none, all in favor accepting and placing on file? Motion carries.
Okay. And I will do my teach point. Yes. Okay. Reports of school committee subcommittees. Seeing none, moving on. Members forum. Um, I have reviewed and signed the warrant. Y.
Anything else from members forum? Good. Okay, I'm up. I am very, very sad to announce this and we saved it for the end of the meeting. so we can actually adjourn because it's very very disheartening. With a heavy
heart, it is my responsibility and my duty to inform the residents of Malro that we have lost a very vital role for the school committee. Um, Miss Heidi Matthews has passed away yesterday. She has been an incredible asset to this
school committee for the last 14 years. Um, I'm still in denial and it's actually hitting me very hard right now. So with having said that um she will be missed. She was extremely loved. She was incredible with negotiations and contract work. Um that part of her job
here will be missed entirely. So having said that it is very painful to say that she is no longer with us which is why we have flowers for her here and we wish all the best to her loving and caring family. Having said that I don't know if anyone
else wants to say a few words. um and Miss Hennessy. So, the last few days have been really hard and especially the last 24 hours. Our collective loss of our friend and colleague has been exceptionally
painful. Heidi was a fierce advocate for the Marbor students and staff as well as one of my closest friends. She cared so deeply for this committee and the work that we have done and that
we do day in and day out. This district and community have been at the forefront of her life over the last number of years, especially as she was fighting the good fight. and you, Mary. She was so proud of you
and the work that you did over the 20 plus years of dedication to Marboro and the education of our students. I hope that we can all be like Heidi as we continue to serve this community. She spent well over 20 years working
side by side with her husband leading Marbor Youth Soccer. She spent time supporting MASC, the MIAA, MEF, and almost 10 years involved with school
councils prior to being on the school committee as an elected official. These groups all mattered, but the line that connected all of it was always about the kids and the students.
her heart and head were always in the right place because it was focused on the kids that were in the center of the room. And that was a part of making all of the decisions that were going to benefit all students,
not just some. Equity mattered, access mattered, the whole child mattered. May Heidi be an inspiration to us all to have faith and hope in others and in
humanity. Fight like hell for what you believe in and don't just give in. Advocate to make things happen. collaborate to bring things to fruition and support people around you
so we can all work to improve our situation for our society and every single human. She was fierce. She was tenacious. She was dedicated.
She was strong willed and she was deeply passionate. I'm so grateful to call her my dear friend and school committee colleague. She will be missed by all who know her and knew her. And her life was a life
well-lived. But most of all, I will really miss my friend. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anything else for the members forum? Anything else? I know it's very difficult.
These were beautiful words. Thank you, Miss Hennessy. If there's anything else, let's go have a drink in remembrance of Miss Matthews. So, if we could have a move to adjourn.
Motion's on the table to adjourn. Any questions, comments, or concerns? Seeing none, all in favor? Motion carries. We are journed at 8:43. Thank you.