not e e e e e for e e taped by Middleboro Community cable
access media and broadcast on the same um please join me in the Pledge of Allegiance Pledge of ALG to the flag of the United States of America to the Republic for which it stands one nation
under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all all right all right our first item is public comment is there anyone from the public who would wish to address the board anyone on the board who
wishes all right discussion items uh we'll have report reports from actually we're going to take the report from the student representative first Ed yeah so to start off with the Mech um kindergarten activities celebrating the
100th day of school with math are in body movement um educational Focus student students learning about dental health Black History Month and historical figures uh the word of the month is courage teaching
perseverance um raising over what $10,000 in the change Wars fundraiser celebrated with pi the police event on February 13th um hosted a successful Mech literacy night to support young readers
and writers the kindergarten the kind the kindergarten is also hosting someone special dance tonight from 5:30 to 7: p.m. moving on to mkg they celebrated the 100th day of school on Wednesday concluded a six- week Special Olympics
program with great student participation plans to continue partnership with the Special Olympics next year and for Henry B Berkland launch the read to raise fundraiser on February 10th features nightly virtual read alouds by step
um the bus recognition program the bus of the month month initiative started in January first winners is bus 4 and T20 for the Nichols Middle School eighth grade course selection started high school counselors visited nms to guide eighth graders in choosing courses for
next year the math department is leading field trips this year seventh graders attended a a mysteries of math presentation with the part two coming later nms showed school spirit during dress up week ending with a white and orange basketball game featuring mixed
co-ed teams the core is performed and staff help officiate spring Sports and intermal signups are happening now and for midar high school the winter ball successfully organized by the student council course
selection begins February 25th for the 2025 to 2026 school year recognizing student students for Honor role for Quarter Two achievements winter week celebration and po Pune is planned for this
Friday scholarship information night was held this Tuesday at 6 PM in the blackbox theater teen Dating Violence awareness partnering with Plymouth County DA's office on February 27th boys state and girls State
leadership programs applications due by February 28th and the student Trooper program is open to Juniors interested in law enfor and you can find that on Brand's bulletin any said yeah H reports from school committies um
Sue sure thank you um a couple things this evening um first I wanted to U say that I attended Matilda at the nms and it was absolutely fabulous uh U my both I and my grandchildren uh really really
enjoyed it uh I have a public apology to the mech who the PTA who said I would I said I would go to the Pi Day today and somehow I completely spaced it out so I apologize but I'm sure it was um another wonderful
event uh but lastly uh I wanted to use my time uh dur during the time when I can give report that I wanted to make some comments uh and it's uh really a follow
up to some of the dialogue and some of the statements that I've seen on social media and I felt it really important for me personally uh that I wanted to say a few things uh for those of you that uh
followed me when I decided to run for school committee I talked about why I am here uh and why I'm I'm sitting at this table today and the reason why is because uh my parents myself my children my grandchildren we all came we all grew up
in this community we came through the school system I've dedicated my life my professional life to education uh and in my years of retirement I thought that this was a way that I could give back to the community from my experience both as a community
member here and also uh in education uh for those that have uh watched maybe uh these meetings uh you know that I've asked a lot of questions um my sole goal of being here
is to help things get better and I ask a lot of questions I get involved in details um and those that know me personally know that I am not afraid to speak out um and I'm not afraid to disagree
and having done all of that and again I can only say for a year um as I was running I heard of some concerns from the past about the when Carolyn was hired and some other situations that I was not part of and I cannot speak to
that but what I can speak to is what I have experienced since I've been here and I really believe in the last year that I have seen a district under the leadership really moving forward I've watched how the Strategic plan and
school Improvement plans have been um really worked um um I've seen how they were uh assessed and changes made and we can actually see the real progress that's being made not that everything's wonderful you're always working to get
better um I have also watched on Fridays as I get Friday flashes uh from Carolyn of the many things that she's involved in and I know that she is working hard seven days a week I most recently participated in the
budget process and was really um amazed too strong over word but uh encouraged by the way that I saw that our Town's resources were being used the creativity that was being used by her uh
leadership team in making the budget work but still focusing on what was important have I seen issues yes are there things car have I been down to carollyn office and ask questions raise concerns
absolutely but we've always spoken we've worked things out moov some things forward sometimes I don't think that she completely agreed with what I was asking for but she worked with me to do it I've listened to the community and I've heard some issues one was around
staff retention we did some work we put together data we made sure that that got put into her performance plan I also heard about the uh issues that were brought forward about teaching controversial and
sensitive uh issues uh it was listened to we listened to it as a result there are draft guidelines that are now on the website not draft there are guidelines that are now on the website have been distributed
to the teachers uh through email and through handbooks uh of ways uh that we can do better with that I saw I know a recent post from a colleague that we're not holding Carolyn accountable I have to
disagree again I wasn't here before I'm talking about this year um in her performance appraisal plan uh there are real goals there are real ways that we're going to assess it and along the way we have conversations when we need to again am I saying everything is
perfect I am not what I am saying is that I think that we have to recognize that we are moving forward that there are good things happening here under Carolyn's leadership and it's because of all of
that and my commitment to this community that I really think we need to find better ways to have conversations with one another um we need to work together we need to find ways that when we're disagreeing that we don't do it through
attack I think as a as a school committee I'm speaking as a me one member I think that we need to find ways that we are in places where we can have conversations around topics policies issues uh that are not necessarily in
this meeting but where we can go into more depth uh Zeke and I tried that and and we took a step into that with the budget meetings that we had it was a first step did I learn some things from talking to teachers and community members that I would not have known yes
um was I able to bring them up in budget meetings yes did they get Incorporated in some places a couple um will they be looked at at the future I hope so and it's something that I can follow up on uh we see in the upcoming uh review
of the literacy program that um the way that Carolyn and Terry have set it up that there will be um opportunities for input for the community I hope people join in and most of all I hope that our leadership and
I'm talking about all of us in the town work together better for and put our kids I know we're all trying to put our kids first for the school system but I think we need to work better together to do that um as I said when I was running
for school committee um as a value as as a follower of Jesus I will treat everyone with respect no matter what people have to say whether they disagree with me whether they yell at me I will always treat and if I don't
call me on it and what I would like to see is that we all do that so that we can work together and really make the district better for our students thank you thank you very much so that was uh very well stated
Jessica um I have almost the same list of topics on my uh my items to discuss um I did not go to the K fundraiser today
because I did not want to cough on anyone so um but I was so thrilled to learn that the mech between the K and the prek um raised over $10,000 over $110,000
um for their programs there and it is significant and it was not a fundraiser where people purchase things it was just all about bringing in Little Things students picking up Pennies on the sidewalk and bringing them in to add to the
collection um and I think it just represents how little steps can make big differences so I think that speaks a lot towards uh what Sue said as well so congratulations to every single student and teacher at
the mech um fantastic job um and I hope you all had fun putting some pie in the faces of the the uh police officers who volunteered to be mushed today um there are some wonderful videos online that
are super fun to watch um I also had the pleasure of attending Matilda Jr um I have attended far more than my fair share of student Productions um and I was blown away by
every single person who hit that stage whether they were on the cast or in the crew um especially grateful to the parent who came in to uh choreograph and it was really obvious how much fun everyone was having and I think
um it just shows so much promise for our Arts programs moving forward that that many students were involved and um enjoying participating in uh putting on such a fantastic performance um the one addition I have
that you didn't speak to is I know the uh World Language trip is leaving tomorrow um I am entirely envious of everyone and I just want to wish all of the students and faculty and um anyone
else who is joining uh chaperoning that trip of bonvoyage and safe travels and I hope that there is um a lot that you get to experience and learn and uh I'd love to hear some of those experiences when everyone comes back and get a chance to
get a a small taste of um all of the wonderful experiences that everyone got to share um and then lastly um I frankly was
um a gast at some of the vital that was posted online um unfounded blame and other statements that were said in in anger and hatred and without uh a goal
of constructive criticism or the desire to move forward and work together um I have have found Carolyn to be a highly capable committed and caring superintendent um I had some folks reach
out to me directly um and I just wanted to share a few quotes that I um I got from what they shared um Carolyn stands up for
students Carolyn breathed new life into a robotics collaboration for our students Carolyn supports and trusts administrators Carolyn's committed to keeping class sizes low through budget management Carolyn created better
organizational structures to promote better communication um and Carolyn is one of the hardest working people I have ever known um so I Echo these statements as
Sue said um we see a lot lot of what Carolyn does in the updates that she sends us and in her willingness to communicate with us on the school committee um and I just wanted to State publicly that I trust Carolyn to
continue her work for this District in the same capacity that she has demonstrated thank you thank you Jess again very well stated Chris so in the fall uh there were a lot of folks who were frustrated with the
buses and I said to them up here um I urge them to to have compassion when they talk to uh District employees because they are people and I can Echo that tonight and I probably end up saying it in the future as well um until
some of the the real issues are addressed uh and it's kind of uncomfortable well it's very uncomfortable because I'm part of the school committee but as an entity it became clear uh seeing some of the sentiments and talking to some of the
people that um there is a certain lack of trust or faith in the school committee as an entity going back years probably before any of us uh sitting on the stage were here um and I think that
as the bridge between the community and the district it's imperative for this committee and future committees to go about trying to restore that trust whether the trust the lack of trust is warranted or not uh the fact that there
is a certain level of distrust is unacceptable and I think it's very important for us to connect with the community to make them feel heard and to be as transparent as possible to continue to try to build
that Bond back between the district and the community thank you Chris again well stated Zeke uh um well it's hard to follow up through the the three of you
I uh I was on the board when we hired Carolyn um and I remember the sentiments then um that we should have been looking for
maybe someone outside of the district um and I had thought the same thing up until I sat down across from her and I listened to her talk and it was the most
inspiring moment I have ever felt and probably will ever feel in my entire time here on this board Carolyn is an amazing superintendent that we are
lucky to have in this District someone who's been in this district for a long time someone who cares deeply about every student and every teacher every
administrator and tries desperately to cultivate each and every relationship she has here in this district with every parent and she does not deserve the vitriol that is transpiring in this community
today uh to say that I am disappointed is an understatement to say that I'm frustrated is an understatement there are several things that I would like to say that I can't say up at this microphone but I
know that Carolyn is right for Middle borrow that's all thank you Zeke um again well stated I guess I guess it's my turn you guys kind of covered all the basis it's not very difficult to fall forward very
eloquent uh topics um Chris I would ask if you have any ideas on how to bridge this gap of trust we are certainly open to them and will certainly work towards that um I'm in a little bit of a different
spot I had to answer the phone and give uh reference checks on Carolyn last weekend and I'll tell you guys what I told them I would hate to see her leave but I wish her nothing but the best and I didn't want to give good
references to her because I didn't want her to leave I think I've worked with her hand inand since April and I'm kind of amazed at the time and effort she puts in um I the things that were said online by
people who are completely ignorant of all the processes that go on here are reprehensible and if you wonder why we have a bulling problem maybe you should look in the mirror because your kids see these things that you say from the safety of your home at a
keyboard we have two spots open for school committee on this upcoming election and we have two PE three people who have pulled papers so shut up and stand up if you have a problem there are there are opportunities to make differences here
in this community and no one takes them you sit behind a keyboard and act like a a bully it's you should be ashamed of yourself but that's enough of that I want to talk about something nice real quick I just was uh at the JB basketball game and the the girls are having senior
night for the vity team and the girls um the ch leaders are having a senior night as well and if uh doesn't matter if you have a kid playing a sport you should go to a senior night and hear what these kids have to say about their peers their coaches their staff and their Love of the Game doesn't matter what game but
it's uh it'll bring a TI to your ey and like I said even if you don't have a kid in in the uh as a senior but uh those are the great some of the great things that are happening in this community and those are the things that I'd rather focus on moving forward with that we're on to our next item
which is reports from the uh mea and they are not here tonight so we are going to go right to the superintendent's report carollyn okay good evening chairman for members of the school committee uh before I get into
business and I promise I will I just want to take a minute to say thank you um it's been a difficult week um but I can assure you that I'll continue to do my job the one that I was employed to do I will never stop in the
interests of the students the Middleboro Public Schools whether I work here or not and with that I want to get back to business because we have a lot to cover tonight including our budget so tonight we're going to be talking about a couple of things we are going to talk about the
Highpoint Treatment Center Prevention Services launching a survey that we've done over several years uh called the youth risk behavior survey we're going to talk have our final read of our academic calendar for the 2526 school year um and also have the school
committee vote we're going to talk about the msba uh statement of Interest process that I'm going to peel back facilities is here with me tonight to talk a little bit about our nickels roof and the work that needs to be done um and an exciting opportunity to have msba
help pay for that project or at least in part and then finally we're going to present the FY 26 budget and we'll also touch on the capital requests of which the Nickels roof was was one so with that I'll invite um Principal Paul
branagan up to the table to talk about the youth youth risk behavior survey along with um his team from highp point welcome this evening and um feel free to take us away and talk to us a little bit about what
the survey is how the students will engage with it and what we might do uh with the results that you collect thank you Mrs Lions good evening everyone um we're really um fortunate in this community to be able to have a
partner like middlebar matters through their work through high point and um I'm going to introduce the two people sitting to my right who have been really a great partner to the high school with programming through their grant writing and the the benefit of really ensuring
that there are services and programs and information to make sure that our students um are making healthy choices and one of them that you're going to see tonight is really some important data points as Mrs Lions had mentioned it's been a survey that we've done over many years and there had been a pause in
doing the survey um over the last few and it's a opportunity for us to bring it back which is why we're here tonight to learn a little bit about more about it and really what the goals are through highp point but also to seek your approval for us to move forward to be able to again sharing it with the community and I'll share with you if you
do approve it kind of what the next steps would be to make sure that a family have an opportunity to see it without further ad I introduce the two people who are here who have been really instrumental with a lot of our work here um K chapina and also um May hickey as well to kind of share a little bit about high point and the
survey thank you first I want to um thank everyone for allowing us to present tonight and having us as a part of the agenda um so the purpose of us being here again is to try and implement the youth risk behavior survey um to all
grades in the High School um so what really that measures is past 30-day use um peer and parental disapproval as well as peer pressure um the purpose of this survey would be for us to provide valuable dat
uh data and health and behavior risks um identifying the key areas of concern um so that what the purpose of the survey data would do is guide us into selecting and implementing evidence-based practice practices and initiatives that align with the student
population here in um midboro and um we also were able to recently obtain new PFS funding through a grant called uh Partnerships for Success so with that Grant um we are
able to um provide more funds into the community um so we are able to have 36 $375,000 a year for the next five years um so the PFS Grant serves the
Brockton and Plymouth areas in which we work in um focusing on substance use prevention in mental health um so that's why we modified this year's survey to include two additional questions um measuring mental
health um so we're really just trying to um make sure that the work that we're doing aligns with the responses that we G from the students um our the data would then go to our data analysts from Kelly research
Associates um and we would then go back with our team of 12 people to then see what initiatives would be best to to implement um the survey is completely Anonymous it takes about 10 to uh 5 to 10 minutes to
complete um we did provide you all with a copy of the survey um and did remove the gender question in its entirety um but yeah that's pretty much all I have and after at the end of the survey
there is some resources surrounding mental health that way we're not just leaving the students asking them mental health questions without providing them with additional resources thank you anyone have any questions or
anything I'm sorry if I missed it but um and then the report that we get back from it yes yep we would share it with Middleboro Public Schools okay thank you and um so sorry we just want to make it clear that the survey data will only go
to the schools um and then with your permission and only with your permission then we would share it out with our Coalition um but that is of course um only by approval by the schools we are not sharing that survey data with anyone else until we get your
approval and did this survey itself go through a process at High Point an approval process um so the can you be a little I'm sorry I just want clarification on what you mean by approval uh it's been my experience that
when in organizations like yourself that you have to go through a subject approval process yes so um Kelly research Associates is the one who developed this survey um the modifi version the youth risk behavior survey is something that's
typically implemented in all communities um and all schools um the only thing that we were we modified was the questions around mental health um not sure if that fully answers your question
but it does thank you you're welcome any other questions all right thank you very much just um Mr Farley just for the community to know that with your approval that what we would do is after the February vacation we would have a period of time where the survey would be
available online that we'd work with Sean ciano and his team to make sure that they can review it they can see the questions and they also have the opportunity with any survey to opt out so that way there there would be the review process and then what we would do is then work with um our team to set a
date we're targeting around March 12th because the target is we need to do the survey before the end of March um but to have the window of opportunity for review for parents to be able to review it and then to also be able to opt out if they choose so choose and then we would be in the process of putting
together the um the link to be able to send out to students on the day of the survey so all right so I understand a motion to approve the survey so move second I have a motion a second any comments or questions all in favor I I opposed
passes unanimously thank you very much thank you so much thank you thank you okay with that we'll turn to the calendar um for the 2526 school year what I can share is that we did remove draft two after last meeting
which was the least popular option um they have been available on the homepage and I can show you I updated these results as well just to give the committee the most updated numbers yet s two is still in there but as you can see
um not favored um it looks like draft one with 45% and draft three with 34.7% over 424 responses the data about the comments that we received also has not
drastically changed um there is a preference for starting after Labor Day as it allows students and families to enjoy more of their summer vacation and natural transition um some noted you know that difficulty of returning before Labor Day especially if families are
traveling um there were also numbers are members that you know advocated for ending the school year before June 19th as it is you know considered late in June if there are closures for snow that pushes us even further into that month they appreciate that the June date that
is earlier ideally by June 15th to avoid those extended sessions um school calendar days that have flexibility for snow days this was another factor that came up in needing buffer days because if there aren't additional days then if you have a large
snowstorm or a multiple storm event over over a winter then that that could push us again um later into the school year into June um and then finally there was some discussion about adjusting PD days switching to a full day in January with
an early release in March which is notated in uh these models as well well so with that I am these are still not pictorially great but these are your draft one and draft
three um and really at this point I kind of turn it over to the committee what information do you need or um what can I answer for you in terms of these two drafts any questions um Carolyn just to verify
the PD as laid out in the calendar is still subject to change the primary thing we'd be finalizing is the start and end I mean these are but these are pretty locked in pretty locked in now well so November is your voting day so
that will absolutely be y I mean unless the committee feels differently but we've historically closed the district on the voting day because of safety vote a host of reasons um the first two days there's historically been two if not
three um uh full day in service days at the beginning of the year and January 16th would be the fourth and final um this is actually a subject of bargaining we we are bargaining with the teachers the mea So in theory this could shift
but were that to be the case we would come back and have the school committee vote um for any changes it's not something we would take the Liberty with and I will say actually while we you know we've had discussions about those full day PDS happening earlier in
the school year so that January is also not an accident we have in the past used March but the teacher feedback an educator feedback has been that if you're going to spend a whole day that late in the year it can be very difficult to Now launch forward with that work with so little of the Year
remaining so uh the January date I would say is is also likely to stay unless there's some change in the in the number of days per contract okay I've got a question no go ahead just a quick question um Sarah zorus
Granite Road um just a quick question on the last Friday the 29th so the weekend like of Labor Day is that a contracted day that the teachers have off because I know this past year it was also off they had like the two PD days the 27th 28th
this is on draft one I apologize um they have the two PD days 27 28 and then n the 29th is um not not marked on draft one is that um intentional or is that like yep uh it's intentional because
historically there's been no it's a I don't want to call it a nothing day but it's nothing it is not a school day and it is not um a teacher in service day okay so it just does not count towards the 184 days of teachers or 180 school
days of students that's something that's been in the calendar you know over the years um it doesn't have to be which is why draft three has it as a holiday yeah that's why I wasn't sure because it's not
listed as a holiday on draft one so I wasn't sure with that draft three okay it's not a holiday any white block is just a non well no it's any white walk in June and in July and August are not counted as
days right but why couldn't they be in school that if we're going to if I I'm not for going before Labor day but why would that be a day that we would lose if we're going back before Labor Day it seems like you should maximize the days before Labor Day so if you look at draft
three draft three is it's an orange let me click over it's right up there is it on three yeah okay so draft three has teachers returning on the Monday Monday Tuesday students returning on the Wednesday classes on
Thursday a vacation day on the Friday and the Monday for Labor Day and then continuing but then draft one it's not listed as a holiday it's listed as the P like the PD the teachers aren't there so yeah which
I wasn't sure if it's in the contract that they don't have that they don't do PD or school that day when we go back um why it's different on the two drafts it is it is not contractual
okay okay so I guess I don't know if you're looking for opinions I prefer the after Labor Day because this already seems like we're going to start before Labor day but then go two days and then four days off so I think for a lot of families that's a big sacrifice so thank
you uh yeah I just had a a quick question on uh draft believe it's draft three I've only got draft one in in today's um drive for some reason that's okay um so on draft three uh when we're starting before
Labor Day uh what's the general consensus amongst students um and and teachers for um is that transitionary period like that extra two days that we start is
that like is that just a good like reset like those two like for for students is or is does does the two days serve any extra function to sort of reset the mind for the student to come into because it's it's awkward having
two days and then four days of I see I see principal white has a why don't you come on up to the table and you know Zeke what I'll tell you is that what I've learned about calendars is it's always about 50/50 you know you have you have people who really enjoy
coming back earlier because it means they're getting out earlier and then you have others that just could not agree less with that you know so I couldn't talk there because I couldn't reach so sorry so I know there's a always a and thank
you for the opportunity I know there's always a when do we start people like they want to start after Labor but then get out early in June and we can't do that we can't have that both ways um I this is just Lisa talking I like that be
I like that two days because again it's establishing those routines right away it's kind of those two days of getting back kids you know coming back from the summer it is it is a very nice transition kind of a someone set a soft open um to be able to kind of get back
get back in the swing of things as we know a lot of schedule my own schedule is different in the summer and just having those couple of days um to kind of warm up and get get the you know that's when we do our our our fire drill stuff getting all of the kind of the the
housekeeping stuff done and then coming in and ready to ready to roll after that after that long weekend and it is also nice to get out ear I like to get out earlier in June for that reason and leaving those every time there's a snow day we hold our breath because if it it
gets warm I know it's warm in August 2 but you're going to get it on either end um and just knowing that we have that buffer at the end we could have a 2015 again where we're here till the end of June and just
having that little bit of extra time is is nice to have and having those days at the beginning as a as a warmup but I know not everyone agrees with me I know some people like that traditional after after Labor Day time um so I think it just comes down a opinion but that's
what we do with those two days we kind of get all that housekeeping so it is it is more of a sort of a soft open a reset it's like it's coming off of transitions I mean a lot of our kids don't have the same schedules in the summer so for those couple days to kind of get get
those schedules kind of underway thank you very much thank you sorry I couldn't read anybody else have any other comments questions Chris yeah so option two we voted out but it was still
available so theoretically people were still answering question two up until today yeah okay yeah we left two up there you know I mean it was part of the survey and I brought survey results before so I didn't want to not have it there and now the surveys
adjusted um but those numbers really didn't sh two didn't have a lot of support carollyn can you bring the survey up again the survey results or the Sur results yep let me go back Sarah so on that draft three um with
having that Friday off we then have to go back as of like if without snow days for a Monday half day if you actually have school that Friday before Labor Day we'd get out the Friday before so it's really only taking two days off and we're going back you know
five days earlier so just kind of to consider if that isn't a contractual day I know it's Labor day but if we're going to commit to going back before Labor Day we should commit to not having a the last day be a half day on a Monday the way the calendar is printed now on Labor Day so
just something else to think about if they if this is a school day then does anybody else have any other comments or questions I mean I'll I'll say this is just a comment I personally
prefer three um based on the information uh that principal White has has given um but that being said I'm not opposed to one so if if the majority is going to vote for for draft one then I'm totally happy to vote for draft one whatever
that's all and again back to back to the survey it was 45% was draft one 45% was draft one and draft three draft three was 34.7% I would almost add two to one if
the biggest kind of dividing Factor was before or after Labor Day because that shares I agree I wouldn't that commonality I I think that you're I think that you're uh for those that chose to respond that you're really you're going
again or is that 70 somewhat percent people I don't think that's a very good idea yeah I I think the consensus from those who voted was at least as you correct ly State Chris for students to go back after Labor Day it was just the
the difference between two and yeah one was did the teachers go back before Labor Day or not so would anyone care to make a motion I move that we uh go with draft one second I have a motion a second to uh approve draft one of the
calendar does anybody else have any other comments questions all in favor oh I was just going to say anecdotally the majority of people are in favor of draft one and selfishly it's a day I mean if we go with draft one just as someone who
doesn't take a ton of vacation time I can use five days of PTO and take 10 days off so it's I absolutely agree with that sentiment and I I think it's pretty important yeah and and you know for asking for people's input and the people
that choose to give it I think is probably a wise idea with that all in favor of adopting draft one as the calendar I opposed passes unanimously thank you sorry Lisa
okay next item is the msba statement of Interest so with that I'll begin and call director Mike Peron up to the table to talk a little bit about um this program um the msba is the uh Massachusetts school building um
Authority and they uh oversee two different types of programs one is core program when you build a new school which is what we did here in this beautiful high school the second is the accelerated repair program ARP and what msba does is provides
partial payment um and I put approximately 50 to 60% truthfully I don't know if we are accepted into this program at what percentage we would be accepted um but it limits to certain repairs uh roofs Windows um and heat
pumps for more efficient heating systems um you there's specific criteria so in our case we'd be looking at the Nickels roof the roof has to be a certain amount you know certain number of years old and it needs to have a
certain amount of um repair that's needed uh meaning it has to be a full replacement you know not not a repair this program runs this year and not again for two years so it was important to director Peron and I that we bring this to the committee and have this
conversation tonight because if you elect to not go forward with this process this year which you can opt not to you need to understand that it'll be two years before this program opens again and the way the calendar works is we would apply this March they notify Us
in about October if we're accepted into the program and we the process for the roof repair which could occur the following summer or possibly the following after I say summer because it's an entire roof project so you're not going to be able to have access to that building outside of the summer and
I I'm not confident you'd be able to do it at a different uh vacation period um our nichels roof is roughly 27 years old I was talking with the facilities team today and they think actually it's probably a little bit older than that cuz the Nickels opened um 27 years ago and likely that roof was
up up for a year if not two prior to to that that open we do have ongoing repairs and leaks that we are managing um and particularly as we approach you know the end of natural life of a roof the roof cost is approximately $35
million and that's what it costs today so one of the biggest indicators for me about this program one of the things I want you to think about is that's what it costs today what will it cost in two years and are we going to have health that two weeks right exactly so the alternative
if you do not go through the accelerated repair program is to fund it all on your own so between director Peron and I we felt very strongly that this was a no-brainer we are here tonight um and a school committee vote is needed to seek your permission for us to submit what's
called a statement of interest that application is due March 21st facilities team director Peron and I are all working on this together the select board must also vote to approve this action I've been in touch with Town manager J mcgrail as well as the select
board through uh the capital planning which we'll talk about later in this meeting we do have anticipated cooperation from the select board um I met with the town manager this morning who was happy to share he feels the uh select board will be not only supportive
of this but he has an a concept for how we would fund the remaining portion um and he is confident that there would be no override needed which I think is a huge success for the community to be able to fund this roof in that capacity um and I think suggestion of good
collaboration with our departments I also need to know and I didn't put on the slide that this building also functions as the town shelter emergency shelter so yes it's of course important for our students in school Community but it's important to the community beyond our you know our school as
well um with that director Peron is there anything you wanted to you didn't n he's shaking his head no I think covered it um if there's any questions we'd be happy to answer them I'm in the portal and we're kind of working on this process now yes great question for me um
so the application process you said that they they could approve up to I think you said 60% but they were not guaranteed to get that if anything um let's say they come back and they are only going to give us 10% is there a possibility we go ah man that's a that's
not as much as we were hoping for we can push this off for another two years I'm not saying we want to do that but is that a possibility that we could do uh good question I don't once we submit a statement of Interest we are committing that we're going to go forward okay but
I would argue let's assume that happens that we're only given 10% I wouldn't assume that it would be higher if we waited right okay so um you know you have to kind of make those decisions at the time that they're in front of you but um and I would hope it wouldn't I
would imagine it wouldn't be that low but until until our I think it depends on how many people go to this process the funding that msba has and then percentage based on a formula that I'm sure they use yeah I would just hate to have um you know like oh we're going to
get 50% of this 300 this uh $3.5 million and then they come back and it's lower than we expected and the the town doesn't want to to Fork over they weren't expecting to Fork over that much that's my concern so sure well and and so just to give you an idea you'll vote
tonight's vote is just to allow me to submit the statement of Interest assuming we are accepted into the program I'll come back to you again with a more in-depth vote along with a select board vote to appropriate funds so it isn't the last time not by a long
stretch that we'll that we would talk about this but it is important to understand you know submitting a statement of interest is in some ways locking Us in I I think it would be disingenuous to think about it any other way thank you any other comments questions comment
um uh first of all agreed completely about uh the cooperation between the boards which was great to hear uh also that in the process uh as a member of the um budget committee uh learning that through this program we can also in the
future think about uh addressing the windows uh at the um Mary good K good school and hbb uh uh which was something that we were able to bring up because it came up in our meetings with the uh with the
school councils um was heartening that you know there is a fund where something that sounds like is really needed that we might be able to address it uh in the near future uh thank you for bringing that up i' had actually forgotten about that but I think that's an important point to Zeke's question were we to wait
you only you can only submit one statement of Interest so it it raises a very good point this isn't the end of the repairs that we need we very much heard about windows at the elementary complex so were we able to be successful in this round it does open up sort of
the conveyor belt of might we approach that in two years and try to address those windows at that time um so yeah anyone else have any other comment questions SAR is there a cost to um put that statement in to
apply no okay um a couple things about uh I I have a fair amount of experience in construction and Municipal construction uh the price will never go down Municipal construction costs go up an average of 5 to 7% a
year msba they either will or won't approve and they'll and there really not an appeal process and they're going to give us what they're going to give us and we take it or we don't um one of the guys I first worked for when I got into constru instruction used to tell people that the roof was
getting we' be on their project or whatever doing something he mentioned that their roof was getting older and people would hem and Har about it and I completely understand that and he'd say and I'll always remember this he go that's fine we do ceilings too because when your roof leaks you
don't find out an easy way you know it's a uh it's a pretty catastrophic uh failure um as we have learned through me so I think it would be wise if we uh submitted a statement of interest and
then we can go from there any other comments questions I'd like to make a motion to approve this action second motion hold on sorry sorry to interrupt through you Mr chair we GNA go there's I know you guys are really fast don't look at this text like that
because you're going to get a headache um in your packet you will find um two things one is that very long paragraph that if you want I can read out loud or one of you can read out loud the statement of Interest has a very specific verbage they wanted for the
motion what I gave you is the page that the um instructions which are a lot like assembling Ikea furniture if you don't mind my saying so about how to fill out this process so I gave it to you just so you could see the original body I didn't want you to think I took liberties with the motion and then I filled in the
relevant information with the motion so Mr chair if you want or if somebody wants to read it yeah go go ahead um sorry also in addition we do have it in our action items uh later so we can hold off but I'm happy to make the motion now I have the text up if you don't see no
I've got I see it right up here I'm not reading that all right so having convened in an open meeting on February 15 2025 prior to the S SOI submission closing date the school committee of Middleboro in accordance
with its Charter bylaws and ordinances has voted to authorize the superintendent to submit to the Massachusetts school building authority the statement of Interest form dated March of 20125 for the John T Nichols Middle School located at 112 tiger Drive Middleboro Mau 2346 which describes and
explains the following deficiencies in the priority category for which an application may be submitted to the Massachusetts school building authority in the future roof replacement and hereby further specifically acknowledges that by submitting the statement of Interest form the Massachusetts school building authority in no way guarantees
the acceptance or the approval of an application the awarding of a grant or any other funding commitment from the massachusett school building authority or commits the town of Middleboro to filing an application for funding with the massachusett school building
authority no so move with that said second now I have a motion to Second any other comments or questions all in favor I I opposed passes unanimously thank
you with that we are here tonight director Peron and I are very proud to share with you and present to you the FY 26 budget before I turn it over to director Peron there are many thank yous that are due and I'm going to begin with the leadership team the principles and
the directors that really put in um what I would call heroic efforts unselfish efforts in how they put this budget together I give them all of the credit along with director Peron of course this group came together and prioritized what
needed to be funded their goal was clear they did not want teachers cut they did not want to go to an override the town has given us 3% we're going to talk about the numbers I'll kind of defer to director Peron and this team got together they made priorities they made
concessions with one another for the greater good you do not see that in every town and we are in the very EnV enviable position of presenting to you a balanced budget this evening I'm incredibly proud and thank thankful for all of the work of
this team um there were several one-on-one meetings director Peron designed a new process this year where we went through line by line every single salary to double check our numbers um which I had never done before I've learned a lot already from director
Peron and I'm just thankful that we are presenting to you a product that we can assure you we have double checked and triple checked while I'm on my thank yous I wanted to make sure I thanked our subcommittee subini Zeke Lewis came
provided important Insight questions review Bob Sullivan from the um fincom was there as well um again I think really good evidence of town groups working together for the betterment of our students and with that I will turn it over to director Peron and you know
I'll jump in or if you if you uh want me to weigh in just give me a wave and I'll jump in and you just want to open your budget presentation out of mine I'm sorry what was that you just oh you've got it okay you're top right corner slideshow okay good evening thank you
for having me um we're going to go through the budget presentation there's a number of topics who want to cover and at the end obviously as we always do we'll open it up for questions so the first thing we want to talk about is the per pupil expenditure
comparisons um the uh Middleboro per pupil I know is 19,000 uh there it is 19,6 and the state average is
2,885 so we're just below the State average but as you look at the uh chart there we're right uh in it with pretty much the majority of districts across the state we also show you the uh comparison
of our um per pupil expenditure versus the dart districts that we are compared with uh and again you'll see the Middleboro is right in the middle uh attelboro and monoy are um at the high end and low end of the darkart groups
but Middleboro again is right there as you see with stoen probably right in the middle we want to talk a little about uh net School spending which is uh what districts must uh minimally spend on their Public
Schools um it's known as the foundation budget Foundation budget is made up of local contribution and the chapter 7 Aid that we get from the state those two together uh form the uh Foundation budget and net School
spending they're synonymous um and the Middleboro has to and every district has a um uh a number calculated by the state and you have to spend that amount middle borrow uh spends
118% of their net School spending or Foundation budget which obviously means that we meet net School spending what they do uh in the at the state is they again use the districts and where we fall the state averages uh
that 127% of districts spend uh above their uh net School spending uh and I again we did the in the right uh the white box there is the dart uh districts that we are compared
to and again you'll see we fall right there in the middle so what did we use as the drivers for our our budget uh the first is the uh strategy for continuous District
Improvement we have fixed costs contractual uh obligations and salary increases special ed tuition and services are a large part of our budget technology and Facilities obviously
technology is always changing in our facilities need um uh they as they age they need to have uh repairs and maintenance so we take that into consideration that's a big driver for our budget and then curriculum obviously
in education where we have curriculum costs and finally transportation for all students all these groups were what drove the budget building process we also had constraints in building the FY 26 budget um three that
come to mind uh at the top are special ed increases I mentioned this at our last meeting and that we would be coming to you with some information uh the mea negotiations and declining financial support So Special edit increases I
think this slide tells a great deal so in 2324 we had 2.6 million a little over 2.6 million throughout a District tuitions in 2425 the current year we had 3.2 actually
3,269 n66 an increase from the previous year of about 600,000 and then next year we're projecting that it's 4,740 241 that's an increase of 1.5 million
our total budget increas is 1.2 from last year so we had some issues to deal with in B in terms of balancing but we'll get to those in a little bit but that is an 80% increase over two years um and so it's something to keep
an eye on and and if you look at the number of students it's 24 to 26 to 30 so it is going up but that is not the sole reason for those increas in numbers it is the cost of special ed the mea negotiations are ongoing
obviously and uh the contract ends uh in June June uh but the third bullet really is the one that uh causes the constraint is that we are negotiating a contract um which we don't know at this
time what the cost is in terms of salaries and some of the other things so it's very difficult to build a budget when you don't know those answers so we put that as a constraint for that reason and we are living with the 3% uh
FY 26 uh budget from the town allocation the decl declining financial support um the there weren't reductions in these areas but they are less than what we received in terms of new money from the year before so Chapter 70 is
actually down from 104 per student to 75 last year it was the same thing and they bumped it to 104 this year they're bumping it back so we are getting additional money but it would have been more if they kept it so when you get less than what you think you're going to
get it's always like a double hit um could you would you mind explaining that again I I got lost so we probably received 320,000 in additional uh Chapter 70
money last year because they bumped up the per um per student aid to 104 a minimum okay and this year they went back to 75 so we're getting another2 200 and some odd thousand doll
but it's not the 320 that we got so it's a reduction in that case that we we always think you're going to get at or above what you got the year before well can I just take a stab at that so when you think about our Chapter 70 contribution which is right around 22 million 22 million yes right in change
don't quote me exactly but last year they gave us 1% over the previous year's Chapter 70 funding using the magical mystical Chapter 70 formula that nobody understands okay so last year we received a 1% increase this year we got
a half a percent increase so what it's one and a half to one oh one and a half to one sorry about that one and a half% last year to 1% yeah that's right it is a 1% increase this year um so that's where you see that reduction we came up
this number of roughly $56,500 one that helps thank you sure um and so that is one issue we had a 4.3% increase in the uh budget uh last the general fund budget uh from the town
this year it's 3% so the difference between a 4.3 and the 3% is roughly 473,000 so we had a budget increase of 1.6 last year and this year it's 1.2 can I break in again yes with
another question uh I saw saw it might have been in an article or somewhere uh the town's allocations to others continue to be the 4% and the school budget got the 3% do we have any explanation of why other areas got the
four and the town and uh the school got three no I don't have any information on that and last year it was four 4.3 okay thank you I would encourage you to reach out to the select board and ask
them that question thank you for the encouragement and lastly um we expect and it's kind of rumor so we're not sure but we expect that our title grants Federal funding which is in our uh that we use for the offsets that they will be
slightly reduced this year uh but we don't expect any increase there the FY 26 all funds total operational budget uh the plan here is we have um salaries and expense we wanted to show you that
there's 36 uh almost 37 million in salaries and 11.5 million in expenses and our all funds budget request not including Transportation we'll get to that later is 48,51
792 uh as a percent you see that 76% of our budget is uh salaries and 24% is expenses and that makes up that 48 mil 510 792 the FY 26 operating budget uh if you
take the 48510 792 and then subtract uh the offsets that we use we have Revenue sources other than uh Chapter 70 and the town allocation so we use 7 uh 6.7 million uh
just over 6.7 million and if you subtract that uh you get the general fund budget request for FY 26 is 41 m795 605 the 6715 that I just referenced here is the breakout of that in detail so at
line items uh all of these total up to that 6.7 I'm not going to read every single one of them they're pretty much uh uh similar for but a few and I want to talk about those if you look at the fourth one down circuit breaker we're using $3 million to offset to balance
this budget to the number uh 41,7 195,50 and in order to do that we had to come up with offsets to bring that 48 down to 41 million so the first one I wanted to talk about was circuit break
last year we used 1.5 million that is what we're getting this current year uh we are not using the money we're getting this year so we get that 1.5 probably a little more um and then we will definitely get that in more because
we're spending more this year that will come in next year unfortunately we had to use both in order to balance that's not normally the practice of Middleboro public schools and and most just you're try to keep a year out there um we just weren't able to do that this year the
other facility rental we bumped that up 150,000 so I wanted to mention that and lastly the uh last one on the line there is Food Service we haven't used food service but since uh the years I guess it was Co
um the free uh 100% um free lunch we have been able to like other districts grow our fund balance so we can use that money we've been given the go-ahead by the state to pay for things such as lunch monitors or even custodial service when they're
working in the cafeterias so we were able to take advantage of that the one piece we haven't talked about is transportation this is also a 3% increase over last years's um I will only call attention to the special ed contract
Service I do have some concerns that that number is uh it'll be tough to meet that uh but hopefully we'll find some effic efficiencies elsewhere and cover that but um this is 3% the 4.5 million
at the bottom is a 3% increase over last year so here's the summary of total cost from all sources so we got the operating budget of 41 m795 65 transportation that we just went over 4,
5219 57 we break out the circuit breaker and the DEA uh from the other um offsets because they are the two largest that we use so those last three line items come to that
6,715 th000 and when you add all that together our total budget is 53 m327 49 I can jump in here thanks um when we talked about this budget we talked about quite a few needs still within our
district this list is a very paired down list I think of what our leadership team would like to see occur going forward these are positions that I think are vitally important director Peron and I will be working on trying to work these in within the numbers here this includes
an additional teacher at the Berkland elementary school a school counselor at the Nichols Middle School a Futures Academy teacher which allows the expansion of that program a .5 career Pathways professional at the high school um a registered Behavior
technician full-time I didn't list you know specifics on lunch monitors and custodial staff in part because they have their own funding sources and in part because we have to determine exactly how much more we're going to
need still um that said these positions I think would are not nice to have I think these positions are things that we must do do um there's many more behind that but justifications for all of them and um what I'll say is you know
this is what our plan is going forward subject to change um our hope is to provide more if possible and our on our belief system is that we will not provide less if it if at all possible so with that that really brings
us to questions and again I I think that that those priorities were considered with the ones that we heard when we went to the schools um uh and at that time it wasn't real specific what the district was going to deciding what to do but as they spoke of
it this is very consistent with what the uh School Improvement I mean the school what do you call them school councils um were advocating for so um I strongly support that yes oh yes thank you for
that we did very much consider that input from from the school count the joint meetings of budget subcommittee and school council and you'll see that in the prioritization as well so that concludes and we'll take any other questions you
have um I have one so I remember last budget um we had taken from facilities believe that was what was that 300,000 or 500,000 565 so it's 150,000 increase and uh and
this year we we did take more I'm wondering how fast does facility rentals replenish that's a really good question so the reason we went with a higher number is because um as you know all these numbers are a plan it's a budget it's
um so we went in and we had that question when I first started um with uh the select board was questioning you know using too much money and running out of and um but that was only allocated at half of what we had in
facilities rental and the good news is that the last thing I so we're spending the budget down I'm only going to those offsets when absolutely necessary so the hope is that we won't even use the
565 because of um efficiencies throughout the budget so if we don't use the 565 I felt comfortable able that we had 715 uh that's about half of what we'll end the year at I think all right all right thank you so I think we're okay
there I I do worry about the circuit breaker one more but and those facilities that income has increased it is constantly coming in we're having a pretty good year I'm sorry I didn't understand um every day these buildings are being rented we're collecting
revenue and putting it in so and I'm I'm saying that we we've had some additional Revenue coming in for the pool and different things now if I recall um from the previous budget we had discussed perhaps the facility subcommittee
meeting to increase uh rental prices has that happened yet this year no I don't believe so so that might be something that we need to look into uh next year or or for the remainder of this year I think any other comments questions
Jess um just go back over the circuit breaker part again for me um so I believe what you said is we anticipated this year having to use this year's circuit breaker money but we
didn't or no so how it works or it's been working and it's been a practice in most districts is the sped director files for circuit breaker in July you're granted that money immediately and it starts coming in for that year most
districts don't touch that money that year they're using the year before so you always have one year in savings so we are going to receive 1,565 I believe uh this year and that's coming in every month and it's in the
revolving so that's what we should be using next year and we are but we're also going to have uh Miss Healey sit down and do circuit Breer again this July and get another 1.5 plus and we're going to need most of that Mr chair through you there's one item we
forgot and that's extraordinary relief under circuit breaker and I'm so glad this question was just asked because I would have forgotten it okay so circuit breaker is the reimbursement program through the state for special education tuitions above a foundational amount every year we file and every year we
receive a reimbursement sometimes your expenditures as they are this year they exceed 125% of your bu budgeted for expenses the state has additional programs called extraordinary relief which means help us we need additional
funding director Healey every year files for Extraordinary relief one because it doesn't cost anything two because there's no penalty and three because they always check our math for free it also gives her the benefit of doing three quarters um in March instead of doing all four quarters at the end of
June this year director Peron and I are fairly confident we are going to qualify for Extraordinary relief given the additional expenses for special education not a guarantee but the filing will occur in March so it is possible
that we'll know in the coming weeks to months if additional funding is available which would also offset that $3 million um circuit breaker uh usage in the same vein um the you still
got the screen up um the prepay line which is under facility rental uh we we've taken advantage of that if we have funds at the end of the year so that would act the same way if we have money at the end of the year and we can increase those prepays every dollar that
we prepay comes off that use of circuit break circuit so while I have concerns I'm holding my breath till the um extraordinary relief comes in and as we close out the year see if
we could put more into prepa okay so the 3 million that we're estimating of circuit breaker funds half of that we would have planned to use no matter what because that's how we use circuit breaker correct every
year so it is the anticipation of having to use the money we usually bank for a year as we go through next year's budget and anything more that comes in will cut off will yeah leave that much more in our circuit breaker
account um but it does put us in that kind of unfortunate position for next year's budget of knowing that we won't have the prior year circuit breaker to rely on and the
reality is that without using that budget money we are a million to a million and a half off a balance budget and I know from sitting in on the budget subcommittee meeting that I don't think the different departments could have
whittel down their expenses any further we're not going to ask people to you know bring in pens and pencils from home and all of those types of things in order to um get through the year um
which just realistically means that the only other place to to find those funds is under salaries and so I do think it's warant Ed to to use this money as we've allocated and um I appreciate that you're already planning in advance to
not spend it unless you absolutely have to so thank you for clarifying so uh question and request uh back to sources of income uh we talked about the
local and uh the state decrease in percentage uh was that consistent across the state do you have any view to that I should have looked a little further but I did see it was
pretty consistent I saw a lot of ones saw a lot of ones 1% increas that's what we got 1% increase yeah and where were we at one 1% we had a 1% increase yeah did
you see a lot higher than that oh there were some seven eight nine I think one was 11 it really is all over the map with 351 districts unfortunately you know you see you see less although I I will tell
you that when I looked at this information the communities that were also given 1% we're more rural than we are and so that was disheartening to me um because I don't think that I would classify us that way so you know some of these very very small communities in the
extreme left part of the state um so I don't know hard to say how that formula shakes out we're really we're really not given a ton of information about it thank you uh and the request is um
I'm wondering if you could provide us with uh a five-year look at and this is not to approve appr the budget it's more uh at least for my information uh a 5year look at pup Pew per pupil
expenditure um is just a way for me to look at um how we are funding our kids um what direction we're going yeah that's readily available state has all that on their Desi website
yeah I probably could go look at that myself it's a little I had a I struggled today to find it so so but uh through you Mr chair uh by way of review so tonight's presentation was you know for you to hear you for us
to present to you this budget next meeting will be our public hearing on the budget which the you know Community is invited and encouraged to come and participate ask questions get involved um and then the vote is set for the
meeting after so that the committee has the opportunity to consider that input that would be at the first meeting in March I don't have the date in front of me but I believe it is the 13th somebody somebody look at a calendar and
confirm but I believe that is March 13th um that just as an overview of our budget process and where we're headed yes March 13th great there two meetings from now so the the public hearing would be the next meeting which is is February
27th that's right oh and at February 27th I anticipate having the budget book that is available the last year's last year's budget book which is designed for an electronic format I will have some printed copies but I'd like to post all that information for the public hearing
the budget book director ciciliano and I worked on this together actually several directors worked on it with me is meant to be um a taxpayer's guide to understanding school funding so there's a lot of information in that guide I encourage people to read it take a look
at information that's included um it includes all sorts of information about not just offsets but um all sorts of title grants and Grant monies that come into our district and so that you can better understand how this works including a glossery at the end because
we realize that there's a lot of you know um difficult terms so it's designed to be to be readable by by anybody hopefully so that'll be ready for the 27th as well any other comments questions my only comment is trying to figure out how
monoy which is an 8 Mile Long Island is a dart district for Middleboro you know we could fit the entire Island on like a cranberry bog or something like that so the the dart District of Cranberry Bogs left over the dart districts do change every
year and I will share with you that is not an uncommon sentiment every year where there's at least one District where we all scratch our heads and say really so the the dart formula is meant to be similar in some capacity that
could be population it could be um number of schools it could be income there are all sorts of criteria I have yet to see an exact uh think they can fit the number of people that live in Middleboro on an Eight Mile Long Island
can you I don't think so no that's um just a clarify that's Hart and chadam not much different than what you're saying but yes okay all right so with that if there's no further questions with that we'll
turn into Capital requests because could I just say that I have budget books the massive budget book for those that haven't received them yet so I'll bring those up Bob did you have a question has there been a date set for the school to go before the um selectman
in the finance committee yes I spoke with Town manager mcgrael today and he said it would be Monday March 17th oh St Patrick's Day so we will celebrate the Irish and talk about the school budget at the select board meeting on the 17th that's
horrible I will note my displeasure on that date I will note that displeasure for you for sure In fairness I I'm the one that picked it only because I let me explain I said all those nice things
sorry I know I probably I probably should have quit while I was behind uh no only because I thought it was important that you vote and to adopt the budget before we're in front of the select board yeah yeah it was originally set for March 10th and you're going
March 13th so ni so with that I'll turn into Capital requests last week uh director Peron director ciciliano and um facilities we were all together I think I'm in the wrong uh slide deck but um each
department submits Capital requests each year to the town boards and this year we had three capital requests um two of which were a holdover from previous year requests because we haven't had a
capital project funded now in two years so we weren't right we went right back to the original list that we had we um only added the roof which we'll talk about in a brief moment but the paving of the Berkland and Mary Kay parking
lots remains our top priority um it is well needed if anyone's been in the parking lot you've you know noticed that need that's the projected cost of the paving the second project we talked about is the roof for the Nickels Middle School while we didn't ask for $3.5
million to be you know appropriated at this meeting we thought it was important for Capital to understand the SOI process the ARP program um and that the town would might want to take steps to plan forecasting that there would be a contribution
coming coming down the the line and then finally the Nichols Middle School this is a tech request for switches and access points at the uh Nicholls middle school and emergency shelter for $250,000 so those were the three three
capital requests that we discussed with cipc uh last week and we anticipate talking more about that process with the town as we proceed you're actually asked you you were before the uh Capital planning
committee more than two years ago asking about that parking lot yes I was because I was on it when I was on the CPC which was more than two years ago I can't remember how long ago was that came up and it still hasn't been
funded no all right and nothing from c um Capital planning for the past two years for the schools that's right all right Capital planning to my knowledge did not occur all last year so um these were the these were the projects that we went forward with for
this year and there are and there are more still because we are now behind in our long range plan which is also part of the budget book uh booklet and actually the budget booklet is still up from last year and you can you can take a look at that too all right thank you very
much um with that we'll move on to subcommittee updates unless there are any more questions does anyone have any comments questions no all right uh Jess um so the policy subcommittee met on February 5th um
we only were able to get through two out of the four items on the agenda um in order to allow those who needed to to get to the capital planning committee meeting um but we spent some time reviewing a proposed communication guideline for families um we are looking
at incorporating some of the language from the uh policy manual uh related to policy KH public complaints into some of that language and making some additional adjustments um so we made progress on
that um we did also review the student travel policy which is jjh I'm starting to have fun with all these letters so you're just going to hear a bunch of them even though they mean absolutely nothing um in reviewing that travel policy we did clarify that um
for uh student travel the school committee only needs to provide approval if the travel is overnight there is a late night return um or it is out of state uh so anything that is in state within the school day does not need
school committee approval they are often put on the agenda for informational purposes um but just so you know some of those field trips too um some of the local places are are informational and do not require
approval um but we are also looking at those policies to clarify the language uh between our student travel policy and our field trip policy which is J OA one says out of state one doesn't let's try
to make them similar um and we can also I don't know maybe we can have a decision as to whether or not Rhode Island is considered out of state or if it's out of state except for Rhode Island because you can get to Providence a lot faster than you can get to the birk Shear so yeah we can have a
consideration for that um so we're continuing to uh review that but it was just important clarification uh we also looked at our uh policy on student fundraising which is JJ uh we have proposed some language to
update that policy uh to put it more in line with the current uh recommended policies by masc um we're just doing some cross referencing of other policies including any relating to gifts and acceptance of gifts um we may not be able to propose
updates to all of them at the same time but we do do want to streamline and clarify those um it was also a request from the teachers that we provide some additional clarification and guidance on the gift and acceptance of gift process so that um I think also behooves us to
do so in a more timely manner um there's lots of other things to review um but one that people specifically ask about automatically come to the top of the list um we also discussed and uh as a subcommittee we uh approved uh some
language related to time sensitive items I know we've had at previous agendas questions related to you know PTA gets a great idea for a fundraiser but maybe a meeting gets canceled due to a lack of Quorum or something like that and how can we make sure that none of that
interferes with um the great work that everybody's trying to do um so we in addition to wanting to do some updates on that student fundraising policy that would uh streamline the process greatly
um we're also looking to incorporate some language about time sensitive approvals that language is with the lawyer right now to review and then hopefully at the next meeting we can bring It Forward uh for its first read for approval um so that's where we're at
right now made some progress and uh zek can sue now that most of the responsibility of dealing with the budget is done um maybe at the end of this meeting we can powow and throw out some additional dates to have the next subcommittee meeting and uh continue
doing this this process that is long overdue so that's where we are right now all right anybody have any comments or questions all right consent agenda I would entertain a motion to
uh approve the consense agenda as presented so moved second have a motion in a second to approve the consensus agenda as presented I'll read it off real quick um we're going to approve a fundraiser from the Middleboro High High School National English Honor Society they're going to
donate used children's books um we have a donation from raicho Excavating for 2000 thank you very much for $2,000 to the Family Resource Center we have a donation from the Middleboro police Superior offices neba local 96 to the
MHS student council an MHS class of 2026 and we have a donation from oh Ohio pile to Middleboro high school so I have a motion and a second any comments or questions all in favor I I opposed passes
unanimously uh action items we have one action item left which is to approve the surplus of the Middleboro educational television Surplus equipment so move second I have a motion in a second any comments or questions all in
favor I I opposed passes unanimously entertain a motion to adjourn so moved second motion and second any comments or questions all in favor I I I opposed passes unanimously thank you very much have a great night thank you