I'd like to call this meeting of the Ner Vancet Regional School District School Committee to order. If you could all stand for the flag to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands one nation under God,
indivisible. A reminder, this meeting is being live streamed and recorded and can be accessed on Facebook. All right, so getting into our regular business. Um, we do have minutes to approve and I would entertain a motion to approve the meeting minutes of
May 22nd, 2025 as written. So moved. Second motion by Sean, second by Heather. Any questions or comments about those minutes? Seeing none, all in favor? opposed abstained and I say yes.
So that is unanimous. Moving on, I would also accept a motion to accept the B bills and payroll warrants as presented. Second motion by Sean, second by Heather. Any questions or comments on
those bills and payroll? Seeing none, all in favor? Opposed? Abstained. And I say yes. So that is unanimous. Um it is the end of the it is
beyond the end of the school year for our seniors as they graduated last week. Um so our next student representative will be present at meetings um likely in the fall. Um public input this evening. Is there anyone from the public which who
wishes to speak? If you could introduce yourself um your name and your res um your place of residence. Hi, my name is David Brown Hall. I live in Phil Center 55 Williams Road and I
was concerned about uh the lack of a band at our Memorial Day exercise. Um when I it's hard for me to explain, but the Memorial Day exercise in Philips is a
big deal. It's the one holiday in the year that the community gets together. And so the not having a band uh really resonated with me. And then I so I wanted to find out why. So I went to see
Colby uh principal young and he explained that uh that there is now a concert band and no marching band uh but that there is a stipen for the marching band component to that musical
experience for the kids. So um no crying over spilled milk as my mother used to say. So this Memorial Day has passed. Now I'm looking ahead at next year. Okay, you have a concert band. Can that band is my question. Can
that band come to Philip on the We always had it the Sunday before Memorial Day because Templeton always got the band on Memorial Day. So we always had ours on the Sunday. Can that band come to the center of Philips on Sunday? And
I don't know. Do you want them to sit and play the national anthem? That's my one question possibility. The other is we'd really like to have some great trumpeter play taps in the cemetery. We
played it on a uh DVD today and just just doesn't cut it. Okay. And perhaps if you don't want to march, could we have a couple drummers that maybe could do cadence as the group walks? It's only 800 ft from from the center of Philips
to the cemetery and 800 ft back. So, those were some questions that I had. Is it possible? Am I asking too much? Um, we'll if if uh transportation is a problem, send me the bill. I'll pay it.
Okay. But it's important for the town of Philipsson to have this component because it's the one part of Okay. another chance that the old people in town of which I happen to be one see their tax dollars in fruition. You know
what I'm saying? So, um anyway, so that's my first issue. The second was when I came over on Memorial Day to see if in fact did Templeton get the band. No. No, they didn't. But I noticed that
the flag pole in front of the senior high was bare Memorial Day. Flag should be flying and you have a flag pole. In fact, the ropes on that flag pole 5 years ago I spent out of my $100 out of
my pocket. And I redid the lines on that. Nobody asked me to do it, but I noticed that the ropes were wearing out. So I changed them one weekend and didn't say anything to anybody. I just did it. But they were bad. Then I looked over and I said, "Well, middle school's pole.
There's a flag flying. Great." Came back at night. The flag is not illuminated. The the flag code is not mandatory. It uses words like should,
not must. But if you choose to fly the flag um after sunset then it is this the words should be properly illuminated. That means a dedicated light to the
flag. You have a light here on this wall back on the outside of this wall and one outside the used to be the old art wing there. the back building that light the entrances to the school. It would take
very little money to buy a two-headed fixture, continue to illuminate your doorways, but at the same time, then you could illuminate the poles. In the case of the senior high, if then they could fly the flag 247 and
didn't have to worry about Memorial Day and getting kept something coming in and doing the flag, you must say to yourself, geez, doesn't this guy have anything else to do? And uh but flags are a thing with me, okay? And after I count my pills in the morning, my day is pretty much open,
you know, as to what I can do. So uh uh and then flags are my thing. Okay. Some people collect uh you know whatever books or porcelain or whatever. I collect flags. Okay. And then if you come up to 55 Williams Road, you see my
flag pole illuminated. And also each day you'll see a foreign flag flying underneath the American flag. And I change it every day in the hope that some kid up the road will say, "What wonder what that flag is?" It's never happened in 21 years. But I keep trying. I keep changing that flag every day.
Today is New Zealand, by the way. Okay. So, uh there it is. That's all I have to say. I don't want to make it difficult, but I think those two lights could be quickly done and and not a big expense. And then you could you could
decide uh you know whether or not you want to do have that flag up there 247. Again, the code is not you're not going to get arrested for the for not illuminating your flag, but they do suggest that when you salute the flag
today, I miss that. You know, we don't do that in the school anymore, do we? I don't recall doing it as a sub anyway. I don't recall doing this. But you won't you won't believe that. I started school in
1940. I was five. first grade and we saluted the flag this way. You will not believe that perhaps but it's called the Bellamy salute and then the Germans came and the Japanese they kind of ruined that so do this. Okay. So anyway that's
all I have to say. If you have any question I I had a feeling you were pre-war so thank you so much for coming in today. Honestly, this is exactly how we want folks from the public to engage with us when they see something that concerns
them or that they have eyes on. And so, um, luckily, um, we did get a heads up in time to make sure that there was an agenda item. But out of respect for your time, does any is anyone opposed to moving the Memorial Day agenda item up so that Dr. Cassan can speak to this
item specifically? All right. Wonderful. So, we'll we'll move up the Memorial Day agenda item. Thank chair and thank you Bhoff for bringing that to our attention. You know clamity with the fence. Um first you know the only explanation we
have is that the um there was no school on Monday of course and they do not keep the flag flying 24/7 uh or pardon me 24 hours at the high school because it's one of the duties of our life skills uh classroom. So they pick it up, they put
it down, right? And so it just it it it got it got past us in terms of it should be flying, of course. It should be flying. Um the dedicated lights um as a flag man myself um a long time ago um in
charge of all of that. Yes, exactly. You know, we we I didn't have a problem necessarily. it was illuminated enough um in most in most occasions, but we should have a dedicated light um to both uh to both flag poles. And that would be
a fairly simple um simple thing to do without a doubt. The other pieces quite frankly is that we'll, you know, we're we'll we've got great kids. So I I don't I don't expect that anyone would say no.
Um to the to the just at the very b the basic request of drummers trump. Whether there's going to be a marching band or not, I don't know. Um and so there's there's the marching band answer. someone is going to have to volunteer in
order to uh you know do the marching. Trust me, we have a lot of requests for the marching band. People have wanted that for a lot of occasions. We're trying um we just have not had any takers for the past four years and precoid pre-COVID so more than that um
at this point in time. So we'll see in terms of the band itself again we'll talk to uh Mr. S is our music teacher. Our band teachers done a fantastic job at the high school. If it wasn't the middle school, we'll move him to the high. Was it the middle move to the high
school? Fantastic job. And what I'll say to you is that we will of course push pretty hard for that those type of things to happen. Um I would be lying to say that if I were to say go yes, it will definitely happen. I'll need to see um whether or not the kids
will in fact I don't want to say want to do it. They should want to do it, but will not will they do it. Um, and so again, we have good kids. I think if presented the appropriate way, you know, I think that they would probably love the opportunity quite frankly. Um, they
did a great job at the Memorial Day program for the high school middle school high school in the gym. Um, they did an outstanding job at graduation and so they would like, I'm sure, like to perform more um, and would like to do bigger and better things. So, you know,
we we're on it. I know Mr. Young has already had a conversation with you and um as soon as we soon as we can get to those items meaning the items with the students the other items we will take care of um and we'll we'll be doing that as soon as July one comes once we've uh
we moved F once there was one other thing I I mentioned that the possibility if if the band the concert band was willing to come on Memorial Day we could provide seats if they want to sit
and and perform the but for them to perform the national anthem as we're raising the flag. I mean that really is the the crossing on the cake. So to certainly the other thing I think we can do is um we're trying to make sure
we have regular chairs meetings on the calendar for FY26. Um so this coming this coming school year. Um, and we could certainly proactively bring up, you know, what are some ways that we can positively showcase our partnership of
which I can I would certainly be happy to say Memorial Day could be one of them and what opportunities do we have to, you know, potentially engage the school or students. Um, because I think it's also important for us to know like what are the programs that the towns are
running and where might there be other opportunities for us to engage. So, I'm so glad that you came tonight and brought up this important um topic. Um I know that, you know, we take, you know, honoring our veterans and our flags very seriously. We say, you know, the school
says that pledge every time we say that pledge. Um and so we just really appreciate the way that you engaged with us and, you know, are holding us accountable but also very understanding of, you know, the realities of running a school of students. Yes. And the last
time I spoke to a group from uh from Naragan was asked me to speak to the senior banquet about five years ago and they introduced me unfortunately mentioning my senior year at Watertown High School in
1952 and they said we'll now hear from three D's, two C's and a B. I'm not if I may, I'm sorry, Madam Chair, but um Keith Parker, our wonderful facilities
um director, um he sent me a text and he the middle school flag is now lit. Excellent. So, give it away. Fast work for me. Look at Ask a new show. Don't get Don't
get used to that. Well, thank you so much. We welcome you to stay or to go as you wish. I hate I'm expecting a phone call. My brother is passing in California and uh this I'm not the hospital's got to call me when
he finally leaves us. So, I I really want to go because I don't want to interrupt, you know. Serious. Well, he's 83 and he's my kid brother. So, but thank you for listening. Thank you so much for being here.
Um, NDAA is understandably not here tonight as they wrap up the end of the year. Um, and so we're moving into our budget updates and I know Amory was unable to be here this evening and so Dr. See, I will hand it over to you for any update she had as it relates to FY25
or FY26. Well, we're in the final minutes of FY25. In terms of the bank, hey, um I think that um Marie, the last time I was here, I was not here the last meeting, but we were we're going to make it by the hair of our chin chin in
terms of FI25. And so that is still that is definitely still the case. Um, in terms of FY26 budget, I can say that, you know, well, we're still we are going out address this
later in the report. Uh, environmental, you know, we're received already, I think, two resignations. So, we'll we'll start seeing kind of the the eb and flow of of um teaching staff, educational staff, period. So, we'll we'll see how
that all uh how that all pans out. But otherwise, um, we're happy to see FY25 close, quite frankly, and u excited to see FY26. Thank you. So, um, business manager report. I know that
uh, Amory had requested that we discuss the refund from Minute Man Showa Health Group and I believe she asked you with that as well. Um, just for the record, I think it's a poor excuse not to be here just because your daughter's being that's different. Thank you for
asking. So, in FY24, the district was assessed 420,000 thereabouts based on our member percentage of the group. So then Amanda Schaer um if you remember or you don't know used to be our health um our
medical care healthcare buyer carrier group to cover any so what happens is that they they held back monies because they have to worry about what's called runout claims just because it ended it doesn't mean that you know insuranceances aren't still being applied to whatever bill whatever you
know service that was being provided. So so that happened for about 18 months. So, we really just got monthly reports, you know, they'd have a meeting every month. They're like, "Still good. We're closed." But, you know, and they would give an update basically on each each
district that was at that point or at some point attached and and show health. So, in the end though, if those funds were not needed to cover the district's runout claims, then they would be returned to the district. Now, again,
this was 18 19 months ago that it all started. We had no expectation, no idea. They didn't have an idea in terms of if there would be any monies available, you know, that would be returned quote unquote to the district. Well,
um it it finally went through its its 18month runoff runoff um claim period and the district received a refund of $472,56261. um based on the same number and percentage of the group. So basically there's all this money sitting in there
and then after everybody's claims were you know uh done when they came in then they disturbed the money the percentage. So that was our that was our share in regards to those monies and this made up again these the member premiums paid
assessed along FY24 and that were not needed once the runa realized that they are just further away. So here we were sitting on well at that time we did not receive the check and we knew that we would not receive that that those monies for a bit even though they said hey you're you're going to receive these
funds was a probably a month or or so and then we finally received the jud in that time we called our auditors and said how do we classify these funds what do we do with these monies we were still on FY obviously in FY25
um and but there was it it just not as simple as just adding that you can't add to chapter 7, you can't add to your budget without you know obviously going through quite a bit and we knew that the monies would come to us probably time to really help us with the FY well it will ultimately help us but
at in FY25 budget process right for FY26 we knew that it wouldn't come in time um to help factor that at all. So what what they're saying what they say to do is we're going to classify these funds as miscellaneous income and it will fall to END which we've already done mechanical
piece of that and meaning that we've said it's miscellaneous income and and that's where it'll it'll stay until the end of FY25 which all unextended funds as you know fall into excess inefficiency or END but once
END is certified in the fall because that is that is really the trigger that is needed in terms of what do you do with these funds. The school committee then can vote to use them. Okay. Our suggestion is to use those funds to help
cover the FY27 anticipated shortfall um whatever it may be quite frankly. So, um, again, this was one of those unknowns cuz we knew how much money total was in,
uh, this run out. Um, I'll call it a couch, but no one knew exactly what was going to be left, but that was our share. So, that is in fact what the what will take place in the fall. And then of
course we will be sitting on whatever other funds will fall into as well. So I don't know what we don't know what the total amount will be until they actually certify it. Um one of the concerns is that uh really you are penalized if
you're anything over 5% um in END. Um technically they could reduce your chapter 70 by that amount because you're not supposed to keep that much in excessing deficiency. on a you're supposed to spend the money that you get so to speak. So the state
doesn't like it when you're um when you're keeping more than that won't that won't be an issue because as soon as it's certified we'll we'll allocate whatever we're going to allocate towards FY27. So I I just want I'll pause on
that just to see if there are any questions on this on this topic. And just to be clear there's no need to vote tonight. This is justformational this evening. No votes are necessary until you know we start actually
moving but to that end any any questions. All right. So we'll move on to technology leases. Okay. some technology leases before this will need your vote. Um, excuse me. Uh, before you, I'm sure
I know that's in your packet that you have, um, a technology lease that needs to be approved. This buys 45 iPads for use at Templeton Elementary School. And as you know, roll over leases um, fairly
regularly. Um, it's it's a good money saver, so to speak. So bless you. Um and then the other, you know, the other lease that we're talking about is this by is also a
340. So there's an Apple lease and then there's a Dell lease. One for iPads and one. So we'll get a motion on table. I would entertain a motion to approve the technology leases as presented. So motion by Sean. back in by Heather. Um,
opening up the floor for any questions or comments about those. Yeah, this was obviously in this is a budgetary item that we've already previously for. Correct. Just so everybody understands this. We're all right. Exactly. Now, so that way
Yeah, understood. Thank you. Any other questions are gone on this? Seeing none, all in favor? opposed abstained and I say yes. So that is
unanimous. So next we have reinstatement of extracurricular fees for FY26. So just as a reminder for folks um that's the rates for sports activities um with a family cap. Um I'll hand it over to
Dr. see because he did collect some information or had um some help with collecting information, but this is something we anticipated and knew we needed to bring back as we worked to improve the FY26 budget. Um because
unfortunately, while we were able to cover for FY25, FY26 did not allow for that. Um so I'll let you run through some of the numbers. So among the myriad of cuts or reductions that we made in order to make the numbers work for refer 26 you know you know a lot of the
revolving transportation etc you know was a lot of every a lot of things was you know getting to the number that we needed to get to. So, one of the um one of the caveats that was presented during um the uh budget meetings um earlier
this spring was that given the fact that we would not have the monies that we were well I say anticipating or we've had previous that we would have to then um reinstate um athletics athletic fees in
order to um help you um balance with the game style and the costs that are you know that are obviously associated with athletics. Um so um so in any event this is this is the information I I
presented this I believe this information a couple years ago Brad you know called around not much has changed so this information if you remember it from the last time will look if not exact but very close to what
you which you reviewed last time in terms of how what other districts do for sports uh fees. So what I'll do is I'll again get a motion on the table and we'll open up the floor for questions or comments. I would entertain a motion to
reinstate extracurricular fees for FY26 at a rate of $150 per sport or activity. $50 per sport activity for lowincome households and $600 family cap per year. Motion by Daniel.
Uh second by Hank. Um questions or comments about these fees? Sure. Sure. What are we what are we defining as a low-inccome household? Is that is that already Yep. So um if you hearken back to when I
show you the um chapter 70 um foundation enrollment money there are I think they were 86 or not even by students who are identified as low in so we know who they are. So the state yeah the state defines
we we don't measure that is what I'm saying that's already been measured it's fall on that category that now also know that no child has ever been turned away. So just because you didn't make the lowinccome list from what the state that
doesn't mean that you know that there aren't hardships that can't be you know that that aren't realist. So um there's never been an opportunity where someone is like well do you even make the list? So we again we know our students very well know students that has never never
participated in an extracurricular activity um you know they could not they couldn't afford the um this is extracurricular so I just want to make sure I I say that I I had sports you know because that's generally what people are looking at the most but
you know it be be the the big items such as the play marks on band as we talk Um, and of course again nothing works. Quick comment. Um, I I just want to um make sure that we put on record that this was not
something that we wanted to do as a school committee. We worked very hard last year to remove this barrier for our students to be able to participate without having to worry about the fees. And we did that um alongside many of the chairs and the
other um agencies in the town and that given the budgetary challenges this year um and some decisions made by the town we're not able to sustain this. And so I'm hoping that in moving forward that we can continue to foster those
relationships with important town May members so that we can eventually get back to this point because this is something that all of the kids benefit from and I know that for many of the people in the town it was very important. So um definitely not
something that we wanted but it it's a it's a reality that we have to do this again. No, thank you for adding any other questions or comments. Okay, seeing none, all in favor? Opposed? Abstained and I say yes. So
that is unanimous. Facility use fees and Marie does work hard. So the fees for custodial services will not cover the cost of their salaries in the 426. And I think that again it's
public comment sitting right there. But we gathered the rate schedules from my dad all brought our fees in line with that area. We last updated them in FY21. So before you you have what are the
proposed um fees um our building and I've always said this I'm always happy with folks using I really am um it's it's always a credit to us credit to our facilities groups and it's always nice to show off a little bit because I think
we we have a great um venue here for a lot of things we're we're just going to it it just isn't um finan financially feasible to keep the fees that they as they were and as we point out these are more in line with what everyone is you
know charging around us we were actually low um so and uh I think additionally asked me to note that our last update was an FY21 so uh might have a
time all right I would entertain a motion to increase the rates for facility use fees as presented beginning July 1st, 2025. Motion by Sean, second by Heather. Any questions or comments about that close rates or does anyone wish me to go
through those line item by line item or is it sufficient that it's attached? Okay. Are they the new fees will I assume cover those services? Exactly. So, we were running deficites. Yeah.
Any other questions or comments? Seeing none, all in favor? Opposed? Abstained. And I say yes. So that is unanimous. Okay. So general fund to stabilization account fund transfer.
So we budgeted this for this FY25 which was seven. Um you know then the school committ school committee must vote to actually move this. stabilization fund was established in the early 2000s I I
believe by um Steve Hen um was the superintendent at the time for capital projects only which we have some coming right it's only been funded once with the original deposit of
$50,000 so as of as of April 30th the balance is $51,968.37 so the the transfer of of course increase that and give us a little bit of a you know a cushion or at least a place we can go to in terms of
um if something facilities wise needs to be fixed etc. I would entertain a motion to transfer $25,000 from the general fund to the stabilization account. Motion by Sean. Second by questions or comments about
that particular transfer. Seeing none, all in favor? Opposed? Abstained. And I say yes. End of budget trans end of year budget transfer.
Okay. This is an annual event. Um, someone asked I think last year maybe the year before was that why do why does Eric Gans only transfer funds and so I'm going to tell you as a formal business manager someone
you know this is this is an annual task because given what can happen with well a 24 million budget you know some things are realized some things are not some things cost more money some things don't so we have to we have to balance prior to July
So this is the way we do that. Uh so before you you have I believe the budget transfers and the reasoning or the purpose um in the comments as to why and how. And so just to just for clarity uh we
are removing $236,985 from instruction as we had three open special education positions that could not be filled. um those services had to be built by contractors. The contractors actually fell under the
student services line and so that $236,985 was added there. The other key move um was related to um tuition. So the number of schools of choice students going out of district ended up being less than the Cherry
Street sheet estimate. Um so that was less $148,950 and that full amount was moved to fixed charges where it covered um enrollment and health insurance increases during the open enrollment which falls after the budget was
certified. So I would entertain a motion to accept those budget transfers for FY25 as presented. Second hang second by Sean. Any questions or comments about those budget transfers? You can always tell a tight budget is a
thing you like to know. You can always tell how tight a budget is by how few transfers you have. Yeah. Because you're spending everything. And so when I see only two transfers, I said I go, "Oh boy, that was close." So nice job by Ann
Marie and I know you know that, but if even if that she was here, I was I would compliment her. She does a fantastic job managing this money, honestly. And she's one of the very best in this area. Don't Seeing no other questions or comments. All in favor?
Opposed? Abstained and I say yes. So that is unanimous. And I would like to second that. Thanks to Ann Marie because um one of the things we fixed for next year is it was quite a tight turnaround between our previous um school committee
meeting in May and this first meeting in June and she hustled to get all of this in so that we all don't have to have a second meeting in June. So if you see Amry, please give her a big thank you because it means one less meeting for
everyone in this room. All right. All while trying to All while trying to prepare for a wedding. Yes. And we promised her a nap day. All right. So, we're on to the end of cycle summary. Um, so, uh, just as a
reminder to folks, so I'm going to run through this and kind of go through what my methodology was, how I took, you know, individual inputs and brought them together into a singular picture. Um but essentially this actually has to be submitted to the state. So that's why we
have to vote on it and then the what what we submit is then officially submitted to the state so that I don't know lives on in perpetuity. Um and so I will run through um since there it's a
bit repetitive so bear with me through the document. It it actually asks you to put the same information in multiple places. Um and it was fun to try to transfer between uh a Google doc and
this um so just bear with me. So um so to summarize the the first section here, step one is to assess progress towards a goal. So that was a professional practice goal, a starting student learning goal, and a district improvement goal. All of which um the
the I'm going to say that the average responses all were meant not only average but also majority. Um and since those are covered in more detail later, I'm going to leave that there and and keep moving through. Um the next was to
assess performance on standards. Um those were standard one instructional leadership, standard two management and operations, standard three family and community engagement and standard for professional culture. Um here the the
rating is not a did not meet to exceed it. It is actually unsatisfactory to exemplary. Um and for all of these the overall rating um once calculated was proficient. Step three is to rate the overall
summitive performance based on step one and two. This particular scale is from unsatisfactory to exemplary and the overall rating was again proficient. Um where I had a comment box for
transparency. I tried to include what the ratings were um across the folks that participated. We had five participants out of seven which is actually pretty good. Um so thanks to those who took the time. Um and so the individual ratings for this were one exemplary and four
proficient. Um so go running through these um comments um three folks commented here. First commenter said, "While there are key areas to address EL students, special education, staffing stability, consistency, and communication across schools, grade
levels, and is always budgetary concerns, this district has committed to growth and improvement and again battling the odds with grants, creative problem solving, and strong student centered culture. Dr. C has empowered his teams to pursue opportunities that have made our district one of the most vulnerable in the surrounding area. We
are on a great trajectory. Let's keep up the momentum." Uh, commenter two said, "I would like to thank Dr. Cassavan for his continued efforts to serve our entire district community. His efforts are seen and appreciated." And commenter three said, "Overall, Dr. Cavant is doing a great
job and is without a doubt steering our district in a direction that will not only benefit our current student population, but is also ensuring that populations to come are set up to thrive and succeed here. The development of programs like our ELELLL courses and the MVP program are showing a true dedication and desire to help students
of all paths succeed and grow as individuals and to gain an education that will suit them best. I believe Dr. Cabant knows that not all students fit the cookie cutter traditional school model and his time and effort on developing programs like the ones I mentioned above demonstrates
that. Okay, moving into the superintendent performance goals. We're back to student learning goal, professional practice goal, and district improvement goal. As a reminder, all of those were um received a met um level.
Um and then we get into district improvement goal one and district improvement goal two. Both of which also were listed as met and all of that evidence is available within there. Um there was no opportunity for further commentary on that.
Um so then uh and at that in that phase they then go into standard one instructional leadership for which we're review we were reviewing IB instruction IC assessment ID evaluation i.e E data informed decision making and overall
again all of which um came in as proficient those individual ratings now have a comment came in as one exemplary and four proficient um so commentator one said Dr. Cassidment is setting, maintaining, and continuously improving upon the district's high standards of
instructional leadership. The district's commitment to building programs that cater to a depth and breadth of student needs is, as the rating says, exemplary. It would be hard to name another district in our area that has access to as many programs and opportunities, including Project Lead the Way, MVP
Academy, Earlin College, AP courses, thrive program. Additionally, Dr. CSV has ensured the school system is not only using multiple modes of assessment star, Dibbles, MCCAST, others, but also invested in a central way to view this data analytic view to ensure teachers
are empowered to address student learning from a datacentric perspective. To maintain this exemplary status, just as a reminder, individual, this is based off of the individual rated. Um the district needs to focus in on improving outcomes for vulnerable populations including our EL population which more
than doubled unexpectedly in special education for which the entire state struggles to maintain staffing levels with reasonable case loads. Commentator 2 said Dr. Cavan has demonstrated a strong commitment to fostering instructional excellence by clearly defining and implementing universal
design for learning districtwide. Datainformed decision-making has always and continues to be effectively used to ga to guide the district's instructional practices. Commentator 3 said, "Dr. Cassavan has done a good job of providing clear, fair, and equitable
guidelines for staff and administrators using sorry, administrators across the district to be reviewed against. Furthermore, the implementation of new data systems like analytic view has made data from evaluations and student performance far more accessible and easy to use when making decisions for the
district, which is why I rated him proficient as I he has met the necessary requirements for this rating. On to standard two, management and operations. Um what we were looking at was standard 2C scheduling and
management information systems and 2E fiscal systems both of which came in as a proficient rating for an overall rating of proficient. In this case all five ratings were proficient. Um for so commentator one said
RE2C regarding 2C the district has made strong progress on the standard over the past two years under Dr. C's direction. Investing in analytic view has given teachers and administrators a single view of data for each student as well as student groups, meaning classrooms, grade levels, etc. Additionally, the
move to school brains for IEPs has centralized slash streamlined tool usage. I look forward to a time the district transitions from observing SLarning to demonstrating impact from data/inssights collected from analytic view as well as to witnessing the
outcome investments in universal design for learning UDL is largely due to these future opportunities that give them training. Regarding 2, Dr. C's budget presentations have been consistently informative, insightful, and educational for our communities. Efforts for
increased engagement have been made via chairs meeting and inclusion of town reps on financing facilities. More frequent chairs meetings and regular communication are budget matters and union negotiations will be key to FY25 FY27 budget planning. Not going back to
time. Dr. Cass commentator 2 said Dr. Cassaban continues to put his heart and soul into a transparent budget that aims to meet the needs of today while projecting the needs of tomorrow. He has aimed to develop a comprehensive long-term strategy for district operations with a focus on sustainability and adaptability. This
includes both proactive financial planning and ensure and ensuring districts well positioned to meet future demands. Commentator 3 said, "The scheduling and information systems used across the district in an effort to maximize student learning and education are well-developed and well implemented,
and it is clear that there is ample time for administrators and staff members to collaborate with one another to better learning. When talking about the budget, Dr. Came is an excellent job at communicating the importance and needs for our district, and his effort and dedication is clear by his resiliency
against cuts in funding and communication issues with district towns. He does an excellent job with our budget earning him the rank of proficient. Uh standard three family and community engagement. This was 3A engagement and two 3C communication.
Both of which received a proficient rating for an overall rating of proficient. In this case um individual ratings were a bit more split. There were two exemplary, two proficient and one needs improvement. Averaged out that was
all. So commentator, there are actually four commentators here. Commentator one said, "At a district level, I find there are multiple examples of strong communication and engagement. Examples include urgent or emergency communication, community videos, surveys, and meetings with key town
representation. The website continues to be a valuable source of information, continually improved upon with resources like regional agreement information, and communications from the individual schools. At a school level, improvements are also observed with a particular nod to the efforts to streamline the student
handbook, especially dress code, student expectations, disciplinary actions. That said, there are additional opportunities for Dr. C to improve communication consistency across schools, including the use of school brains as a communication tool with caregivers within and across grade levels, as well
as how weekly communications are distributed. Some schools send an email and give access over the website um and app. Others only give access over the website or app. Commentator 2 said, "Dr. Cavan has
made consistent efforts to build strong relationships with families and community partners such as growing places in the Templeton Senior Center. The compassionate communications with families following emergency incidents has fulfilled the district's community's desire to be informed while maintaining
the privacy and dignity of the affected individuals. These conditions are often contradictory to each other and are not easy to meet in balance. This year in particular, I felt that Dr. C's efforts were exelerated. Commentator three said, "Dr. Cavan excels in the area of family and
community engagement. He provides important information in a timely manner using various methods of communication in order to ensure preferred methods of information sharing are considered. Dr. event participates and encourages participation in all chairs meetings
that provide time and space for multiple town agencies to partner with each other in order to understand the unique needs of the towns. Commentator for said the communication from the district to community members is mainly affected with some areas needing minor improvements such as an expansion beyond
newsletters and one-way media for the desi rubric for a 3C. However, the minor corrections needed do not hinder the effectiveness or the ability of the district to communicate appropriately and has the effect of make of mostly making families in the district feel seen and
heard. Um standard four professional culture. This was 4 C communication and 4 D continuous learning. Again proficient ratings um with overall rating of proficient. In this case, the individual ratings were one exemplary
and four proficient. Commentator one said, "As a sitting member on our WEC and LMC labor management committees, I have been a direct witness to how Dr. C engages with staff, creatives, creatively solves problems, and communicates both when we have something to celebrate and when we have something
to address. The culture of this district is a true statement to the supportive, encouraging, and accountable work environment that Dr. C works to cultivate. The staff want to be here. They engage productively. They are committed to our districts and are centering our students at all times. The
culture extends to our students and further to our community via the community videos and other efforts to build a learning and growth culture that prioritizes belonging for all students, families, and staff. Commentator 2 said, "Dr. Casp leads with integrity, respect, and transparency. His interactions with
staff, parents, and the community are consistently professional. He sets the district up for success by ensuring that it operates in a collaborative and positive environment. And commentator 3 says, "Communication between the district and its staff members is certainly efficient and does have a positive effect, allowing staff members
to use feedback and evaluations to improve their students learning. And thank you very much for listening to me talk." Uh, so I before we vote, I would open it up to school committee or to you Dr. see if anyone has any questions,
comments about anything that I just went through. All right, seeing no questions or comments, I would entertain a I'm on the wrong one. I'd entertain a motion to accept the end of cycle summit of assessment as presented. Motion by Sean.
Second by Heather. Last chance for any questions or comments. Well, madam chair does he does want to speak. No, I know. I'm sorry. I was just waiting for the book, you know, waiting for the chance to do that. So, first I want to thank everyone um you know for the for
the effort into this. I think that um there's nothing more I think laborous than than the superintendent's evaluation honestly. And you know, I as I'm reading all those wonderful things that I allegedly or supposedly had done, I I think I wrote
in my letter standing on the shoulders of giants. Um many of these honestly many of these things um have really come you know come to come to the forward or you know to fruition the wonderful hopes that they have working with me and well she's not here tonight but um certainly
two of them are sitting right to my right who really does a fantastic job. marshing every one of these initiatives and then you know making it you know sustained which is hard to do in a in a financial you know trolley district at
times. Um, one of the things that I think that, you know, we're we're talking about, I want to just get on the format for a sec, is that, you know, this has come a long way as someone who's been here nine years. Um, the evaluations have looked very different over over the years. Um, I thought this
I thought I think that this allows us to make a little bit more streamlined and I again, we we are open. I'm open. open to, you know, any improvements that someone might want to make because I I'm not doing evaluations. We don't know how
easy or how userfriendly it is, quite frankly, especially with all the evidence that we're just literally pouring into these documents, which are sometimes 20 or 30 different, you know, um, you know, uh, attachments or what
have you. The one thing I as I see here uh and to be very candid, you know, um in my waning years, um one of the things that I want to make sure that we that we do a better job is that if there's needs
improvement, I need to know. And here's why. I think I think I said last year very candidly, I'm very appreciative of the work and and the thoughts that people, you know, you do. We work very hard here. Um, you know, we we do we pour a lot into
this. This isn't an ego thing at all. Whether or not someone rates me exemplary needs improvement, you know, we can we can battle that all day. But it was it's a missed opportunity. So, if there was a need for
improvement somewhere, I should have been told. I should have been told or if nothing else there should have been a comment here because these improve if if someone wants me to learn from this then I need to be told I have eight
bosses my eight bosses should not have a problem with telling me that something needs to improve. I said this last year I said it the year before and I've said it before.
If we're going to get better, then we're going to have to be okay with that with that uncomfortable conversation. We have a board chair and we have a vice chair. So, if someone doesn't feel and I and I don't know why that would be, but someone should be going to the board chair next year because that we've
missed an opportunity. We could have been because somewhere along now this is a two-year process. This is right over two years, right? This is a two-year. This is the end. what could have been better. That's a missed
opportunity. Did kids get negatively affected, staff, etc. I would have I would have appreciated to know that. So, in any event, I I want to say that out loud because I think it's important. Is it am I worried about the needs improvement? You heard my whole spiel last year about evaluations, right? They
are important, but only if the feedback loop is completed or at least initiated. And so that's that's my only not a critique, but certainly something that you're going to be hopefully you're all here for many many many years. I love
you're going to be supervising a new superintendent someday. You're going to need to feel comfortable providing appropriate feedback when it's when it's, you know, when it's applicable. And I think that that that's what I'm
that's my that's my charge is to prepare this place. You know the leave it better than you than you to talk right to the world. So again I I don't want to seem ungrateful. I'm very grateful for these comments. I really am. And I but I do
want to get to a place where when folks have some, you know, something to to add, I would really like to know that. So two things I 100% agree with that statement that if anyone is saying that there is an area where need their voice
needs to be sure um the second thing is just me playing devil's advocate we have two new members it could have been someone who has not had the opportunity so we don't know we don't know what it was but clearly we have addressed it in this room to this moment so I would but I would add
though this is a public document this is a public request we have to give that information out don't here that doesn't matter to me but if you are new or you just don't know this information is a public record and so so I'm not
interested in that part of it I'm interested in what could be done what could be better so what I so I would very quickly add is you know first of all for for the polling's information should they be listening the superintendent evaluation is an awkward transition for a lot of
school committee members because Everyone is used to a standard evaluation which happens in a private room with one or two other attendees and is conversational. Nobody's voting on
it. Um so it is a big big transition to doing this in public. And so it is very common to Dr. C's uh point that we see someone puts a needs improvement but there's no comment that clarifies exactly what needed improvement. Um, so
yes, I echo what you say. I would add that even in some of the proficient or exemplary ratings, there were some very specific comments about what work needed to be done um, in order to maintain that
rating, whether it be, you know, I know that there were a lot of efforts made for EL students this year. We were out of compliance, but we're not truly, if I please correct me if I'm wrong, we're not truly going to be in compliance until next year when all of our different moves are made. Is that
correct? We made it into compliance by the end of the year, correct? Well, our we are in compliance with service delivery. We are we just are submitting on Monday our final uh continuous improvement plan for EL.
So we are not necessarily out of compliance with our um tier focus monitoring review from desk but we are in compliance with our services. So, so the comment sort of stands that we made tons of progress over this year and we're closing out some really great
efforts and next year we'll we'll um special education has been a huge challenge that is impacting students. Um and so we do need to see consistency there though it was further recognized that that is
across the entire state of Massachusetts. it does not give us an excuse by any means and yet it is a I'm going to say a collaborative challenge faced by the state. Uh I also heard and this is a theme from a few years is that
district communication is great but there's still a lot of work to be done for consistency across schools um and even within a grade level um so yes so that's the so those were the big things I picked out so we wanted to make sure
those got specifically called out if anyone heard anything else please mention it but I saw you writing some things down well no because I think that what we so what happens when feedback that is you know maintained is that the very things not it won't they they won't
be as specific but those those items for improvement have made it of course into our next plan so so and so I think that that's what my question is so there is an issue that I did not
address I don't know what that issue is so guess what it didn't make it into the plan. I don't know what it is. So would it be fair to the superintendent to rate him again it needs improvement say in
communication when when there has been no feedback and so this sounds like I'm I have solid grapes. I truly I I this is important to me
because I don't know what needs to be fixed and so and so that can be frustrating for someone who may be new coming into a job like this going what do you want me to do and I think that that is I I think we could say about manager and so that's that's my only
point to it and I think that I we we I really did appreciate what was what yeah like yeah we got we have from that of course we did and so any but that's that's all and so I would just close by saying
that like so what has always been said to me what I always say to my team is that if any of the feedback I give you is surprising then I have failed um and so so what I would say is what we really want this to be is that we're
giving ongoing feedback throughout the year related to the district improvement plans, whether that you schedule that one-on-one with Dr. C, whether you schedule that with me or Danielle, whether you bring that up in one of the subcommittees. Um, so let's I think
let's all just make that commitment going forward that we do need to raise any concerns as they come up. And with that, we already have a motion on the table. And so, um, all in favor? I
opposed abstained and I abained. Okay. And I say yes. So that is unanimous. All right. I am going to hand this over to Miss Sukchi. Uh I'm going to let her in a natural way go through her three items. But for transparency,
the three items she intended to speak about today, which is general instruction update with a specific focus on endofear data. um as well as the district's strategic improvement plan which we will need to vote on once she goes through that. Thank you. Um end of
year data update is is just just that tonight is a very brief update. Um today was our official last hit on fast testing for biology. We have a little couple makeups that we'll be doing over the next few days, but we are our staff is and students are happy that that is
in the groovy mirror uh for our high school. Uh that was a long process this year. Um also this week we just finished our end of year benchmark assessments um for our primary grades using dibbles for early literacy and then using star
reading star uh math. So I will bring those to the committee that uh summary of the data report for that in uh at this point it sounds like in July. Um and so we'll be u unpacking that as an administrative team. Our teacher leaders have been working with grade level teams as they've been finishing. So, while our
windows still open, some folks had tested earlier and so they're in the process of um of looking at that and assessing their impact and such. Um, next is our district strategic improvement plan. We sometimes call it
our plan. So, if you you hear that acronym and you're not quite sure what that means, it's our district strategic improvement plan. Um, and so the reason we are talking about this is our current plan is coming to an end. So, we have been developing three-year district
strategic improvement plans. Um, our current plan was for 2022 through 2025, and you can see a summary of that here on the screen. Um, our big strategic objectives or our focus areas were on developing and strengthening a multi-tered system of support for
academics and for social emotional learning um to strengthen relationships um and culture through communication um and such. And the third bucket was really around systems and structures. And so this year what we did is we've
gone through a process that that DESIE Department of Education um puts out to support strategic planning for schools. And the process is called planning for success. Um and so there's really three stages that we go through to to um
support developing our new three-year strategic plan. And so the first is to analyze our current context and say what have we done in relation to our previous strategic plan um and where are their strengths and opportunities essentially
within our system. Um and so we did go through processes to review and celebrate progress that we've made in our current DEIP plan and that has included um updates and reports periodically to the school committee on the things that we've done um and data as well. Um and then we looked for a lot
of input in the process of sort of saying okay where are we currently with strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Um so there's a process called the spot analysis which is again another acronym. Um and through that process we looked at feedback from a wide range of stakeholders. And so while our
administrative team um spent a lot of time our teacher leader team also gave a lot of input in that process. Um we we pulled out and looked at community survey feedback both from our previous communication survey and also from last year's um student opportunity act survey
where folks had prioritized um focus areas for that plan as well. Um we also surveyed our school committee and got feedback from our school committee. And lastly um looked at student feedback through our um our vocal survey data
which is students giving um feedback on school culture and their experience uh in the classroom and in their schools. So I say that to say we have a lot of data that went into that process, a lot of voices and a lot of um kind of saying okay where are the common patterns or trends across our data points here. Uh
then we did a process to um use a protocol called back to the future where we're really saying okay this is where we currently are. Um where do we envision our school and our district down the road? What what are the things we would like to see uh you know 3 years or 5 years down the road? And then we
backwards plan and say okay here's where we are now. Here was where we'd like to go. What happened in in the process in between? Um and then we use the information from both of those stages to create a plan um based on our desired student outcomes. And so with all of
that said, I want to give you just a snapshot of what that what that some of those data points included in relation to this year's plan and then I want to share with you uh our summary of next year's plan. And so when we unpacked uh you know all of those things and we looked at okay right down to it, how did
we do compared to the student outcomes we set in this year's strategic plan. Um I'm proud to announce to you that our first two goals were met um which were really around as you can see here student behavior referrals and we not only met that we exceeded that. Um, and
we did talk a lot about why, and a lot of that I we do think is due to um, the last couple of years revisiting behavior expectations with staff, but also revising our behavior um, matrix in our handbook to really have a more of a
roadmap um, for certain types of behaviors and how we respond to those. U, we've also gotten a lot more fluid with the use of our Swiss data system for tracking student behaviors as well. Um, we also have met our goal of a 5% increase for students at or above
benchmark for reading and math on star as of our MOI data. So, because we had not yet finished our benchmark window for end of year, we use our middle of the year, we tracked um beginning of year, middle of year, end of year over the last three years up to MOI of this
year. Um, so we were excited to say we we've met that goal as well. We have not met our goal of narrowing the achievement gap for students with disabilities in ELA or math um on MCAPS. Um we actually have seen an increase in that gap over our threeyear span of our
plan. Um we've seen an increase in that gap statewide as well. And I don't say that to to say, hey, we're following the state trends. Good for us. No, we know this is an area of need and you'll hopefully see that reflected in our plan for this year. Um, and then our last student outcome on retirement plan was a
10% decrease in the number of students bailing each quarter from middle school and high school. That is yellow because we've partially met that goal. And what I mean by that is we have met that goal when we track that data for our high school. We have not met that goal in completion when we track that data for our middle school. However, what's
fascinating looking at the trends with that data is that our high school has seen significant drops over three years. And in that year one they had implemented um and developed a teacher assistance team on tag team process. Our middle school started that process the
next year and you see a decline in that middle school data in that year that they implemented. So we are anticipating that we will see those trends continue given that we now have some sisters and systems and structures in place to support and track um students who who
may need some additional supports um in whatever that may look like whether that's academic whether that's social emotional or attendance or whatnot. So we are seeing some um evidence that some of the things that we put in place have been um successful regarding that um student outcome for students with
disabilities. One of the things that we we really looked at was not just what does our data show and how and what action steps have we taken, but also what obstacles have gotten in the way and what has prevented us from being able to see progress. Um, it's noteworthy to to just share that we have
had a challenge. Um, and I don't think at all this school year have we been fully staffed in our special education department. So, we have had um, for example, we have two positions that have been open all year in our middle school. We have had solutions to fill those, but
in some cases they are not filled with with um you know full-time certified teaching staff. We've also had to go outside of our district and utilize um related service providers who are contracted service providers, excuse me, um who are not on staff with us, but they allow us to stay in compliance. So,
we've had some um some quirkiness with staffing in our special education department as well. So, we do know there are some um some barriers that we are working through and I hope you'll see those also reflected um in our new plan. So, with that in mind, we have drafted a
new strategic plan um for your consideration tonight. Um it would be strategic plan for 2025 through 2028. That feels crazy to say 2028, right? Um and you'll see that our three big focus areas and I hope you see a reflection of
some of the feedback that was given in Dr. Pascan's evaluation as well. Um you'll see that our three big objectives are around elevating academic growth and achievement for all students supporting identified student groups specifically students with disabilities and EL which
were named as our vulnerable populations and populations of need in Dr. Cascan's evaluation. um and continuing to strengthen our infrastructure uh for operation infrastructure operations and sustainability which speaks to the budget concerns that were mentioned as
well. Um underneath each of these objectives, we've laid out u three major initiatives for each. Um and you'll see there's a communication focused um strategic initiative 1.3 uh which speaks to a lot of the cons the consistency
challenges that were brought up. Um and those are then further reflected in the copy that you all have um that outlines our roadmap for school year 26. And so while we're asking well tonight you'll vote on on our objectives, our initiatives, and our student outcomes,
I've also provided with for you guys uh in your packet our roadmap which outlines more specifically what are the action steps for each of those initiatives we have put in place and plan to um to go through for next school year. Um and so I want to just shine a
light quickly on our student outcomes here. Um, one of the things that you'll see in our student outcomes is you'll see some consistency with some of our academic related outcomes. You'll see in addition in bullet two that we are going to start also utilizing student growth
as a measure because in our previous plan our measures were all focused on achievement and sometimes there's significant growth that's made but if students don't move an achievement level it's not represented in the data point. And so we want to balance looking at
growth and looking at achievement. We've also um um included or narrowing the gap with students with disabilities utilizing both MCCAST and our district benchmark assessment so that we're triangulating data and really looking at
multiple data points when we're tracking these subgroups. Um and then lastly, we're going to continue to focus on um failures at our middle school and high school. Um, and you'll see that we we removed a goal for decreasing
um, student referrals because we feel confident that we are in a place where that feels sustainable for us and doesn't necessarily need to be a focus. Um, and so um, with that said, you I hope you've had a chance to look at the road map and I don't plan to go over that in detail, but I'm happy to answer
any questions that folks have. Um, and I do hope that what you see reflected in these new initiatives, um, excuse me, objectives, initiatives, and student outcomes represent the feedback that we just heard in Dr. Casian's evaluation as well. We'll get a motion on the table. I
would entertain a motion to approve the 2025 to 2028 district strategic improvement plan at Dent as presented. So by Heather, second by any questions or comments about the DEP that's been pres been been
presented ambitious. Yeah, I read I read it today. I was impressed. So I love a road map. Your new Good luck. See you. I appreciate your work on this, especially continuing to focus on
the achievement of gap for students with disabilities. All right. Excellent. Well, we look forward to hearing about progress as we move this forward. All in favor? Oppos? And I say yes unanimous and thank you
for bearing with me is my brain formally moment barely forgot where I was in the motion. Thank you. All right, perfect. Um so new business, we did not end up with any surplus items. Um we continue
to have a school committee vacancy in Philips. So if you know of anyone, send them our way. And we do now have our our guidelines or handbook for new school committee members. So we do feel like we can share that um and help make folks
more aware of what is required of a school committee member um so that they have a good understanding of what they'd be walking into. Um so MSC annual conference I have a little bit of a different message than I've had the past couple of years. So um the conference is
being held again this year. um they have said that the dates will be November 12th to 14, 2025. Um so last year um feedback on the conference and this is not specific to our school committee was that the
conference was highly overpolitical. Highly and for those of us who attended we all had had some of the same reactions. doesn't mean that there wasn't also some good content but especially the forums
were charged um and so I they have not yet released their agenda which is also unusual usually by now we have a good idea of what the agenda is who the speakers are and so what I'm going to say is in this
moment I am sort of holding back on anyone who wishes to attend convention certainly speaking to me and Susan, I'm not going to prevent anyone from attending. It's a great networking event. What I am saying is that my my recommendation to attend or to spend
that time, take those days off from your day jobs, I'm I'm holding back on that until I see the content. Um, in previous years to that, I I had a much more positive set of feedback on the content, the speakers, etc. I I don't Things went
weird last year. Thank you. That's the nicest way to go about that. Um and and I will say that that was the consistent feeling regardless of political affiliation um for various members who were attending and we were hearing that from folks sitting around tables with us
as well. So um we're we're hoping to see kind of them take a different attack, take a different approach. Um but um more more to come once that comes out. I think the timing of last year's conference was very difficult.
Terrible day. So that is very difficult. Oh yeah. There was there was a lot there was a lot to to unpack as as super dig. All right. Um, so we did have an
outstanding item from last time because I did forget this item on the agenda. Um, and so, um, Mr. Casease, Sean did agree to be our leazison. So to PTO and as such to make that official, I would entertain a motion to appoint Sean Case
as the liaison to the NRSD PTO. So second motion by Heather, second by Daniela. I'm so excited. Um, it was any questions or comments? I'm going to second. All in favor? I oppose abstain. And I
say yes. So, thank you so much for that, Sean. Um, and if you need to know who the current uh you won't really need to work on this until the next full year, but if you need to know who that contact is, don't have it. Um, Susan, we did already talk about
Memorial Day. Um, and so what I will do is hand this over to Dr. C. Um, for any other items we may need to cover, though I do know I do know that one of those items is student family handbook, but it looks like there are pictures being
brought up um at least behind us. Apparently in this one school committee meeting in nine years and um before him all that'll be the last time apparently that
way. So um Memorial Day um Oh god. Right. So the rain almost ruined it. Um it didn't ultimately we were able to hang in there. Um, and I'll get to the kind nuts and bolts of that about all
that in a minute. But, um, so we really we have two programs. I think the elementary program is probably the more widely known because it was close to a thousand people out on our our football field including kids. Uh, but you know, we also have the middle high school in
the gym. It was absolutely fantastic. Mr. um MC's it um gym Rio, right? He probably I don't know that I've um I don't know that I've heard more
touching speech. Um what he did is he went through in great detail about the the five young men whom flags fly in our in our foyer. Don't fly, but probably in flags. And he knew all of them um while
growing up. And it was it was very touching. And I'll tell you, you could hear a pin drop 600 kids in that gym or whatever it was. And you could hear a king drum and telling about each of those. You knew them personally. It was it was unbelievably moving. Um the you
know want to thank the honor guard all American Legion. They do a great job. They're always with us. 373 Thomas and the band. Um again I've already talked about how wonderful they are. See this is why you show senior week. Um, senior week was fant fantastic. It always is.
It's the best week. I It's busy. It's tiring. It's a lot of those things. Um, I was actually a parent um for for all of them, which was neat. Um, so, you know, my my youngest graduated class of 2025 and I just got to just say that they did such a great job at the
athletic award, senior award, scholarships, backward were all fantastic. Want to thank um the congregation of church, pastors Stephanie Flynn. They were awesome. And when you just keep moving, this is why you don't do the fly. So, I want to thank Stephanie for doing a great job.
She really involves the kids. Um, and it's really very interactive. It was fantastic. Um, again, thank Mr. Young and the class advisors, Miss Lions, Miss Smith, and everybody who made that happen. It almost rained. It almost rained. We made it though. And so,
sprinkles. And if you felt the sprinkles, just really honestly, just listen. But it'll be like it didn't go. Um, so last night, uh, we had, oh, pardon me, sorry, Tammy awards. We were up for a couple
awards, but we actually won best house experience. And as Ann Lions will tell you, if we would not have won that award, there was going to be strong because our spies went to each one of our um to the folks around us and
there was no one close in terms of the house. And and by the way, in many other aspects, I I think that we had probably the best set too, man, and I think you would agree with that. U but I'll tell you, this is a big deal. It was fantastic. Um congratulations to all all involved.
It's fantastic. And our own student rep also received an award. Yes. That is not your average cast. Not average cast member. That's right. We also had a middle school student nominated for Rising Star.
Really? He was fantastically Joe. Awesome. That makes sense. Okay. Um they were awesome. We actually had a um a tried and true offer in the house yesterday of TBS. Paul Reynolds came to visit and um he I'll tell you he's a
patient man. Um he is no he is he's a wonderful man. I'll say that for the record. He sat there for 3 hours um till 9:20 and signed every possible book paper uh and talked to
every student individually. Unbelievable. Um and so it was very well attended. Um it was again what a great guy. Uh it just just really was very personal. when the kids, you know, the kids just ate them all. It's
fantastic. Um, I don't know that we have any children in school. Um, I don't I don't think we had any children. I think since we both Where are they? Um, we talk about Red Sox. Actually, was
the uh socks. Yeah, the Wox. Thank you. Um, down to the Today was the Sue. We have they're just everywhere, honestly. And um it's fantastic. And we've got uh the let's see the ball stretchy fourth
at Polaro Park and then TES fourth graders in LOL water turbines canal systems weaving those machines. It was just it is a busy time of the year. Well, you haven't seen all you know out of state. So there's a lot going on which is great which is you
know exposing kids to the uh you know just all the different things that actually are aligned with the curriculum just for the record. um memorial. I want to go back to the world. So, in a sense, there's a myth in we're
not going to be able to have the elementary all at the same time any longer. Um parking, although we did our best, we cleared every possible spot that we could, it the police chief received the
police department, not police chief. I'm sure he did too. But the police department received many many many phone calls. As as parents, we know that you will literally park um anywhere. We'll park on you park in a person's house to watch your child sing for two and a half
minutes. And apparently that came pretty darn close because they were up on sidewalks. They were they were it it wasn't good. So, a lot of complaints and we've had them kind of before, but not like this. We're going to have to
probably go to a split method which we've done with the holiday concert. So, hey, two game two and then three and four or some some iteration like that to to kind of have them up here in inside
the auditorium. It it it was bad. I Steve Fliss who was our SRO and one of them and was fantastic. He came out and was like, I don't I don't know that I've seen it this bad. you know. So, so I mean it was just again it's not funny. It's not because if obviously if
someone's you know your property is being parked on and you know right up there and people's driveways were partially blocked people stop parking at stop signs so people don't know that the car is actually not stopped when it's far. It was it was it was apparently a thing. So um so we're going to have to
make some plans you know that are going to be a little bit different. Um and that's not a bad thing. We're still going to celebrate like you do, but it's just going to probably have to look a little different. Um, or just find, I don't know, a field or you know, it's
it's a lot and and I just to bring it full circle to what we discussed during our last meeting is I do know that this would also help us to address should we have to move the event indoor space to potentially do so, you
know, split up the grades. So it is a longheld tradition. Unfortunately, sometimes due to external factors, traditions have to adjust and change. And so there will be a lot of thought going into what that looks like for next year because I also got the debrief
after the uh police came to talk to Dr. So and they're great and the and listen, I'm not just saying this. the police department are fantastic with us and they understand but it at some point it becomes a public safety issue they threw in obviously they're annoying it's piece
we're too so it that's understand so um last and certainly not least the MSBA we've talked about the roof and I sent out an email the phone I think it was last week before time doesn't land but we're we're nearing the point where they're going to produce the little
feasibility report which is basically going to say this is what's along with your roof or you know this is here are the issues and so we're very close they've done a lot of tests they just finished the core tests on many on a lot of the sections of the roof um infrared
etc etc so we expect that um really almost any day should be that report should be really in our hands in the week or two so I just I give that as a um I give that as a kind of a heads up just so because I will communicate that
out once I receive it. Um, and then we're going to we'll we're probably going to have to meet with both towns during the summer, which we don't generally do because, you know, it's a it's it's a downtime enough of the towns to let them know what the conditions are for the roof because, as I put emailed,
there are some time frames that are I think I just maybe just keep checking. I can't remember if I sent them to the whole committee or Okay. Anyway, I will check. I honestly it's Don't place me on the spot. No, no, no. Sorry. I honestly just but anyway, we've communicated that
out and some decisions are going to need to be made and so the OPM will come and and discuss the the condition of what the report is and we'll we'll go from there. Um early early reviews is that's that there are some issues that that
need to be addressed. I mean, but they're not going to get into that until we actually I do you did send a note to the town just providing the website so you can copy me on that. Uh you had also in your superintendent's report wanted to talk about some staffing moves as a
reminder. Thank you. Um so oh boy I'm not even sure how to do this. I'm not trying to honestly do this succinctly because we've had a lot this is reminding me of uh 2020 where you know we had a lot of moves prior to actually co happening.
So, um, we, as I've sent out before, you know, Mary at the high school is moving on to another district to be the principal at the high school. Okay. In order to, so what we did is we took Michelle Landry
is the assistant principal at the high school, who has many years of middle school experience, and she is going to be the principal in principal of the middle school. Um at the same time we had an interim assistant principal at uh the elementary
school case because she was an interim she couldn't factor into any decision because again she was just an interim she wasn't you know a contracting I'll call contracting employee. with um what we're going to do is move Janet
Smith has many years of experience um at the elementary as down to the elementary as the assistant principal. So let me just stop for a second. Marcy Rice Mill Vice principal council. Can we open this up and look at it in
the next document the handbook and the reason that I'm asking for that is because the moves are detailed and because some of these ones that you're labeling as interimm are not labeled as interm in this document and so I think it would be I don't know where and I apologize for combining two different
items now. Um, but if we could review them in con connection with this and if we need to add interm to any of these positions, we can make sure that note is taken down, we can have clarity and not have it then
question once we get to the next agenda. I'm looking at it now. So if you want to hold on um I actually already made that update. This is not in your draft. So I can pull that up right now and I don't although I will double check through.
So I apologize for interrupting but I I could see people looking at it and starting to write things down. So I thought why not? Do you know how you're supposed to shut your computer down at the end of every day and not just close the screen so
that it updates? Guilty. You want me to just hold still hold until it until she reboots or do you want me to We all have it open. Okay. Okay. He wasn't sure. I just want to make sure that running
through it and we can go. So at the elementary school, Matthew Rosmos is the principal. Janet Smith will be the interim um assistant principal which we will note. Middle school will be Michelle Landry who will be Heidi Babaka will be the interim. She you know we cut
her Heidi Babaka's position as the assistant PPS director. cut that position during the during the budget, you know, uh, process and move her to the middle school assistant principal, which she has experienced in her former district. The high school Kobe Young principal um, and
Aaron OD, interim assistant principal. Um so Aaron OD uh she is licensed just in case we're going to just given the number of moves that have happened in a very short amount of time. Um she's going to remain in the NEA um and is
she's going to remain in the union um uh for this for this stint. And so she but she's she will assume all all middle school I mean high school assistant principal duties with the with the exception asterric of um evaluations but
potentially if we get into a bind we might approach to see if there are non teachers just to help again even though you get one princip so so in other words It's a lot.
I mean, I'm looking, you know, at folks who do them all the time. So, you understand. So, those th those are the when I say the the large the biggest um pieces that have moved this year um or again in the last say two and a
half months. um you know that would be that a lot of it was precipitated by the budget cuts and so some things had to be were going to be moved around other things presented themselves as people moved on um Mary moving on was you know
she was again she's the constant professional she was letting me know the entire through the entire process that wasn't you know on the bingo card necessarily it, you know, as we were kind of planning for all this, you know, getting back. Um, but it it
those things happen, those things happen here. Um although we've had an incredibly long run with the administrative staff um that we have you know currently right now honestly this will only be my second assistant I mean my assistant second middle school
principal um you know and you know so that's again great grandkids for she was and she's done a fantastic job. So, those are the big moves that as as of right now. Um, we're hopeful that no
more will take place. Um, we do have a couple teacher resignations, but again, we'll, you know, we'll kind of save that because I'm not sure what we can read that things are sort of settled. Yeah. Right. So, at this point, I don't think I'm missing anyone. I don't think I am,
but I hope I'm not. So, there there it is. So we'll, you know, we've gone to the bench, which is here. I talk a lot about capacity building. We we are trying to always, you know, train up um and find folks with from within. That is
the smart move, period. And it doesn't matter if you're a big district or a small district. Um and so, you know, we we're kind of stretched a little thin this time because we weren't expecting this many, you know, these many moves all at the same time. But, you know, there it is.
about we did post internally for the Oh, sure. Sorry. Before we move into the student handbook, uh any questions or comments about All right, that's really Dr. C's
perview anyways, but anyone question the inter. All right. So, moving into the student family handbook. Um, we were not necessarily anticipating that we would get this done for this meeting, but very
excited that legal came back um in time to not only, you know, to get this on the agenda within the appropriate time to meet open meeting law. Um, so you know what I will say is that we understand this is a limited time to review a lot of information not just
this but a lot of the other the DSIP etc. And so if for some reason this anyone's uncomfortable we we could push this but that said what I will add is there's a lot of benefit not to pushing it because this gives this the district a lot of time to get things up and
running and things out there. Um, and what I would additionally add is for this um, upcoming school year, the changes were far more limited in scope than they have been previous years when there were
big changes to like dress code and discipline etc. So with that, I will I'm not sure which one of you is speaking to it, Miss Superchie. Um, I will hand it over to you to give us a high level overview and then we'll get a motion on the floor and then if anyone has any questions or if they're concerned about
voting on this at this time, we'll certainly address that. Sure. Um, so I have no doubt in the last 48 hours you've all read all 155 pages of this detail. Um, I'm just going to highlight our where the major changes were. Um, and there there were essentially eight
major changes. Um the first is that under our bullying section, we had added definitions to better be in alignment with u mass general law and we added um retaliation prohibited. Um those things were in our and are in our bullying
intervention and prevention plan and they just were missing from our handbook. So we updated our handbook to be in better compliance there. Um second is that we did add language about search of students and property uh which was absent um and not detailed enough in our
handbook previously. Um we added a civil rights complaint policy for our food service program. Um interestingly our our attorney brought this to our attention and he said you this is something I am recommending to just about every district I've been
reviewing. Nobody's had it and should have for years. Um so we are adding that so that we are in compliance there and at his recommendation we put the um director of people personnel services um as the contact for that. Uh our fourth
major um update is that we added again language that was absent in our handbook regarding educational opportunities for students in foster care and educational opportunities for students of military families. Um, sixth major update is the addition
of language in our um, which actually is not major, this is really minor, but we added a after living our behavior matrixes for a year. Um, we added just very minimally some language that we realized really was missing in that. It it's it is pretty minimal. Um, and that
was again at the recommendation of our district's attorney. Um and then we had added you'll see a section added on public benefits for insurance to fund certain special education related services. So this is a requirement that we we annually have to submit to
families of students who receive special education services and we have been but we have been submitting it individually to families through letters. And so by putting it in our handbook, um it allows us to just make sure that that information is out there and signed off
on by families through our signature handbook. So it's just streamlining process and there's no reason all families shouldn't have access to this notification um as well. So we we it's just an adjustment to practice for us. Um and then lastly for major changes you'll see under our high school section
update to the competency determination to align with our now new updated policy and program of studies. Um and then there are minor changes throughout um things like with our new contract. We have a new start and end time for middle school and high school. So we've
adjusted bell schedules and that um and and again a couple other minor updates but those are our major updates that you'll see in the handbook. So before we put a vote on the table, is anyone concerned about voting on this right now and getting this business
done? No. Okay. Excellent. She's very I'm going to amend the motion the suggested motion in here to include the edits related to the interim positions. Um so just be prepared that I'm going to
add. I would entertain a motion to approve the 2025 to 2026 student in family handbook. Um in including the edits to to adjust the middle school admin positions to interim
principal and interim assistant principal and to adjust the Templeton Elementary School assistant principal to interim assistant principal. believe it's so you mind if I may add the inter roles would be high uh excuse me the
middle school principal role and [Music] the two high school high school assistant principal and middle school principal so the high school assistant principal is already correct in the document
so it's you said middle school assistant principal not so that is not okay No, I was saying a lot of interums because we have so many. So, so the fact is that that's her role. That's her role. So, I apologize. Let me
I might chair. Also, um in the past when we voted on the handbook, we've also given the district um the ability to adjust any positional changes that happen before the start of the school year. So, we don't have to bring it back to committee if that's okay with you. That is fine. Um sorry, I'm only saying
them now because of what's in front of us in this moment. Um, so let me All right. I would entertain a motion to approve the 2025 to 2026 student and family handbook, including the ability for the district to continue making changes to positions throughout the
school year as necessary, but for the purposes of initial publication, adjusting um the the labeling of the middle middle school principal to interim principal and the Templeton Elementary School assistant principal to in high school
assistant principal, which Okay. The elementary principal. He absolutely said assistant principal for elementary right now. Yeah. Sorry. Does anyone need me to repeat the
motion by Shaw? Second. Second by Bill Smith. All right. That's why the confusion the confusion is about I think what I just say the confusion is this there isn't because of the way we have to structure we should
struct not have to structure these things is and again it's a it's a longer story but but Jane Smith has done yman's work for us in this district and she she of course was the first choice she was the assistant principal for for reasons
that we're not going to go into here and they're not nefarious or anything it's just that she felt best suited there at this point in time. So, so with that there'd be an opportunity again and you want to keep that as a minimum because there could be an opportunity. She's still a contracted employee. She's still
employed by us. She still she will be employed by us. But I just want to make sure that to explain it out a little bit further and that's why I was trying to name the positions and not and that's my that's my No, that's not my So, the motion is on the table. Any questions or
comments about the handbook in general? Seeing none, all in favor? I opposed, abstained, and I say yes. Um, and you could tell we've all made it to the end of the school year. Got it. All
right. So, the um there were no items uh not reasonably anticipated. Um school committee comments. Does anyone wish to make any comments this evening or has everyone commented out? One one comment about the um TS morality
program. I think we talked about it a bit maybe in the last meeting. I know I've lost track of when we actually met last but um the parking. So I was one of the lucky parents who got to park in the parking lot. One of the last people able to park and it was craziness. Everyone was parked on sidewalks, whatever. But I
have to tell you that means two things that our families are showing up. Oh, absolutely. Second thing was is that I was so impressed with how helpful and patient everybody was when it was time to figure out how to get out. There was no arguing. There was people helping
each other. And so the message of the home definitely carried over into the parking lots. And so despite chaos, the exiting of the parking lot was handled very well. That quote is entirely true. I experienced the same. Although I I was
not a long time ago. I was the last person. I did not park anyone's yard just to be clear. All right. So, running through subcommittees, although I I'm not sure there's a whole lot here. Finance and facilities. We were supposed to have a meeting next week, but that actually has been cancelled because there were no
agenda items um to close out the school year. Um district operations, we covered that uh thoroughly in our last meeting. Um and there is no meeting this month. Labor management committee, we covered that in our last meeting. There is no meeting at either of those two um
subcommittees this month. Um lays on to CPAC um just got started. Um I don't think uh there's any reports. So we will look forward to that in the next school year. And we literally just voted in our PTO leaison. Uh student advisory council
is also getting started up next year. And so I would just point to our legislative representative to see if there was any talent. Excellent. Um so the only thing I would draw your attention to is Susan and I did have time. So if you go to school
committee meeting dates it references that our next meeting is Thursday, August 14th, but further to that there is the FY26 meeting schedule. There are two that I want to call to your attention because they are off schedule. Um or several that are off schedule. The
first is the August 14th meeting um which is the second Thursday instead of the 1st or the 3rd. That was done deliberately because it gives us enough time before the beginning of the school year to make sure that we have um immediate business done before the first day kids are in classes.
Um early August would have been too early to be vacations. Late August would have been too late. Um so then running through we did make adjustments to February and April as per usual due to um uh school vacation. So
we just make sure that we don't have meetings during those weeks. Um but I will call out that we've already started to you know put in bookmarks for possible multi-board meeting etc. Then fast forward um we have to have two meetings in May because of
reorganization of the committee etc. Um and you know making sure everybody knows where they are and what their responsibilities are after voting. Um but then what I did do is since we all sort of felt a bit rushed um and I thank
everyone who did get their their uh evaluation stuff in because I know the opposite of the world may turn around. But for next time I said you know what really we don't need two meetings in June. There's just not enough business. What we do need is time. So, I made the
executive chair decision that we were going to do it uh um because that's just going to give everybody just that little bit more time to get work done, especially Borie um and yet also make sure that we're not having a meeting
after the close of school. Um immediately after the close of school, nobody wants to come in for that long. Um I don't believe we need executive session this evening. Excellent. And therefore I would entertain a motion to adjurnn. Motion by
Sean by all. Thank you everyone.