You need a phone app. >> All right, guys. We're going to call uh to order the regular meeting of the Nova Regional School Committee at 6 o'clock p.m. tonight on October 8th. If you would please join me in the pledge of allegiance. I pledge algiance to the flag of the
United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Uh so next on the agenda, citizens comments. We do not have any citizens
looking to comment. So, we're going to move on to the next item which is executive session and I will take the liberty of moving. says here, um, I'd like to move to enter into executive session tonight at 6:01 p.m.
pursuant to Mass General Law Chapter 30A section 21 A2 to conduct strategy sessions in preparation for negotiations with non-UN personnel or to conduct collective bargaining sessions or contract negotiations
um with non-UN personnel. And the chair so declares as I do. The session will include the school committee, the superintendent, director of human resources Jessica Murdoch, assistant superintendent of teaching and learning Laura Friend, assistant superintendent of finance and operations Ross Maluran,
and the director of student services Rowan Demos. Deanch um committee will reconvene to open session at the conclusion of the executive session. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> All right. Any discussion? You declare it. >> I declare it.
>> Yeah. And we need an oral roll on going in. All right. So, I will start by voting. Yes. Shandor. >> Yes. >> Uh Scott, >> yes. >> Robin, >> yes. >> Matt, >> yes. >> Jackie, >> yes. And Sharon, >> yes. All right. So we already
There's more. >> You know, by all means, make yourself comfortable when you come in. Huh? >> So if you come, >> we're in executive session. >> I know. She you get to use my office and do homework, whatever.
>> There's some accepting coming in your way. >> On your phone, you can yourself. >> All right, everybody. So, we are back in regular session. And we do have a couple of things to get through before we get to our new friends
in the room, which is very exciting. Um, the first thing or the next thing on our agenda here now that we're back from executive session is the consent agenda. So, I'll turn to Amy for a motion. I move to approve the consent agenda of October, 2020, 2025. >> I'll second that. Any discussion on the
consent agenda? >> Seeing none, we have a puzzled look scope. I just don't remember seeing the documents associated with >> C and D. Are they attached to the meeting? >> Let's have a conversation about that. CD. >> There is a grant. So, you're talking about the comprehensive school health
services grant. You're also talking about the Friends of Music. >> Fair enough. My lap >> donation. Oh, good. >> Oh, good. >> Wonderful. Uh, any further discussion? All those in favor of the consent agenda? All right. Thanks, everybody. Uh, next
item is the school committee chairperson update and I have nothing in addition for you this evening. So, I am pleased to announce that we have our student representatives here. Our um our representative who has been with us for so long, Ryan Nitro, and we have a new
student representative who we're very excited to turn it to you to say something. >> Feel free. >> Great. I want to introduce to everyone Maria Almeida. Um, Maria uh is very excited to be here with us as we've we've talked about. Uh, I first
met Maria two years ago when we had our first advisory group. She stayed on uh the full principle of the the the superintendent's advisory all year last year. We'll be again this year as we are convening I think in two weeks. Is it Ryan? >> Yeah, some some in the 20th.
>> Is that part of your um so anyway want to welcome and introduce Maria to the group. She's going to be a great addition to the committee. Should we applaud? >> We're thrilled to have you. Feel free to introduce yourself. >> Okay. So, there's really not much to say, but um well, I'm just really
excited to be here. Really excited to be a part of this. >> What grade are you in right now? >> H >> what grade are you in? >> Oh, I'm a junior right now. >> You're a junior. Great. And what town do you hail from? >> Lancaster. >> Fantastic. I like that cross representation. It's been very exciting to watch Maria grow from, you know,
everybody enters in high school as that nervous freshman wondering what life's going to be like and growing into the leader that she's becoming. So, we're very excited to have her. >> Yeah, I can definitely second that. See like some stuco and she's kind of been around kind of doing the same things
that I have been for when I was little here. So, it was definitely cool to see too for me. >> Um I I think we can get into it after after that. I think she's ready to go. Right. >> Um uh so as you guys know we had the wolf day um pretty recently. So I'll sh
I can share a little bit about my experience during wolf day and she can share hers. So I started I I love the back the backyard game. So I think that's fun. And I think um it for like the Nishoba community, I think it's I
think it was an important thing to have um cuz people were were actually kind of going out and hanging and interacting with each other, which is like awesome in in kind of today's world. I think having the phones like stay in the pocket while we were out at Wolf Day was
definitely a big thing. Um and then I tied dad a shirt which I was pretty proud of. My work came out of not that not the artistic type, but other than that, that's what Wolf Day kind of had in store for me. >> Yeah. Um, so for me it was also
extremely fun. Um, I stayed the whole time at paint face paint face paint or whatever. >> Um, because I just got so entertained and I I started by getting my face all painted and then I painted a bunch of freshman faces. It was amazing. And I
think just us um the upper classmen being there and doing those things like not being afraid of putting ourselves out there, it shows a lot to them because at the beginning there was like nobody there and then we started getting my our faces painted. I started telling my friends to get their faces painted
and everyone was there. So yeah, that was a big thing that I saw like us doing something and they like seeing how it's okay to do that too and coming out and just having fun with us. It was pretty amazing. >> I I ended up there too at the very at
the very end. I got a little got a little action on my face. >> Um so outside of Wolf Day, um the PSAT is coming up for the juniors. Um senior
senior class photo on Friday. Um so I'm sure sure we'll be all organized and ready for that my class. Um, yeah, college apps are going for a lot of a lot of us seniors, which is fun, exciting, nerve-wracking, all of that.
Um, and then for the athletics, um, soccer's having a breast cancer awareness game tomorrow night, which we've been we've posting about everywhere on Instagram, try trying our best to get to get some numbers there. Um,
and then the Massachusetts Association of Student Representatives is still having their assembly coming up on the 18th. Uh, I'm going to talk to Maria a little bit about that outside of this. See if she's um interested
um and then on Tuesday, October 14th, some of the high schoolers are visiting all the middle schoolers um to meet with eighth graders about the high school. I did this last year for the extracurriculars. Now I'm going I think I'm going to hop
in between the world language program part um and uh and the extracurricular part again. So that's that's what I have. I think I think I think it covers covers most of it unless Mary has anything she wants to add that I missed. But
>> well nothing out of the top of my head. I'm also going to be Are you going for so? >> Um yes. >> Yeah. I'm going to be going for Lancaster and I'm going to be talking about um also world language, but I think I mean I'm most likely going to end up talking about something else I hear.
>> So, uh yes, about su and all this fun activities. So, pretty excited. >> Yeah, you'll be be able to hear about what happens at both both of those um middle schooler schools. Should be should be cool. >> You have any questions or anything for us? >> Absolutely. Thank you so much, guys.
>> Can I have a comment? Yes. >> Um, for those of you that were on the committee two years ago, you might remember it was around this time of year, Hansy and Ava, our representatives at the time, brought forward that they were working with students on school spirit because that was important to them. And they wanted to put some
efforts together and they specifically pointed to elevating Wolf Day as a way to connect and build relationships with students because when you have that, it impacts engagement, impacts attendance. So to hear that you guys are setting the example on that school spirit and
getting other students engaged I think is tremendous. >> Thank you. And that's definitely something we talk about in SUCKO like we always um they're trying to find out more ways of getting especially
I would say especially the seniors because they tend to move a lot. We're trying to find ways around that, but also get the freshman really excited about it because I mean I guess nowadays as Ryan said like with the phones, no one really gets excited about things anymore like that. So we that's something we definitely working on.
>> Oh, is that the notes? >> Yeah. Okay, that's what I was trying to open up. Yeah, thanks. So yeah, so um so that's definitely something we try to look >> and then yeah Stuos Suo's Maria Maria is way more involved and in depth with
Stukco than I am, but I I go to a meeting when I can. Um and they're doing different they're on the topic of school spirit. They they have different ideas for Halloweens like we're try to do a costume contest for like a spirit week, something like that and then have votes
for for that like the most spirited something like that. something. That would be definitely cool. >> Yeah. Last year we did costume contest and throughout the day we kept taking pictures of people and putting them on the TVs on around so everyone could see and it was pretty fun. And also it's not
written here but we had a meeting today and we were um talking about a Halloween hunt cuz we normally do one for Easter and it was it was pretty successful last year. Like I mean I feel like people were really excited about it throughout the day. That's all I could hear. So, I
think doing a Halloween one would be really cool, too. >> Fantastic. Um, any questions for the students? >> And I understand that there are more wolf days to come. >> Yes. Yes, definitely. And yeah, suco
it's like well integrated because StuCo kind of comes up with different ideas for what um kind of activities WJ can offer and then also each teacher has kind of the opportunity to start their own little workshop. So it's it's fun >> and I think that um the communications
subcommittee chair and the school committee chair, the two of us are going to be joining StuCo in December. And so we have that meeting set up everyone so that we can do some outreach and head down to talk with the whole group. >> Yeah, I look forward to it.
>> All right, everybody. Maria, thanks so much for being here. We appreciate your time, your energy, and following in Ryan's footsteps. He's um a really great example for everybody who's been there. So, thanks to you to Ryan. >> Yeah, he's been pretty great. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> So, as always, guys, you're free to
stay, but you do not need to. We know that you're busy, so you can kind of come and go as you please. >> Yeah. >> All right. >> Thank you guys. Thank you. >> Thank you guys. >> All right. You're moving faster these days. >> I know. I'm healthy. >> Stay that way, kid.
>> All right, guys. Uh, moving on. Here we have the superintendent report. So, I'll turn over to Kirk. >> Thank you, Madam Chair. And I'm going to take a moment to break protocol. and for all the right reasons. Um, I want to take a moment, forgive me for
just a second, just take a moment to, um, acknowledge and remember uh, that we lost somebody really important in our community this week in Chief Luke Hamburger in the Balden Police Department. And uh, Chief Hamburger was a great
partner of the school system. while he was only chief for around a year, uh we talked, we collaborated. Um his support to the school system combined with how they called on us for support when there was a a fire nearby and they needed um
to stage vehicles and um he's going to be missed. Um and and so we're all feeling a loss around here this week. And I just wanted to acknowledge that calling hours have been planned for on Sunday 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. at McN
Watson Funeral Home in Clinton and the funeral service will be on Monday October 13th at the Steepo Fellowship in Lancaster. Um it's important to note um Chief Hamburger was a student here in Nishoba and a resident, longtime
community member. Um has relatives in the system now. Um and so uh um our hearts go out to them, their families, and their loved ones. Okay. Um let's move on to talk a little bit
about um the calendar uh for the 2627 school year. We have convened the calendar and I have to admit to the committee that I was ambitious and hoping to bring a recommendation to you at the next meeting and I would like to declare right now that will not be happening.
Uh rather we should expect something. Sharon, we think maybe the second November meeting or the first December meeting. I'm looking to Sharon because Sharon is your representative on the calendar committee. >> Um the reason uh why we are looking now
to do this work, this is typically something that happens a little bit later when we bring it to the committee in February. um is that we have work to plan relative to the high school and that when we leave the high school in the
spring of 27, June of 27, we begin abicking and demolishing that high school right away. >> And so we're looking to gain as much time as we possibly can for that period of time to do the demolishing and baitment. So, we need to look at the
FY26 calendar to do that. And what we have working against us is it happens to be a year where Labor Day falls on September 7th, the latest start we could possibly have. So, uh I'm not bringing forward any
recommendations today, but we will be bringing those forward in the future. We have teacher representatives that are on that committee with us as well, uh that will help us walk that. In addition, uh the governor has uh signed this summer that uh September 1st will be primary
day across the state of Massachusetts in the fall of 2026 and we have the offcycle election happening uh that November. So that will impact some of the activities that we have and we're going to be looking to build some efficiencies. So, I'm just signaling to the committee that work today and we
will come to a recommendation either the second meeting in November or the first meeting in December depending on uh the work of our calendar committee getting those things um completed. >> So, I'm going to put that we're going to be voting on that on December 3rd just
as a place marker. >> I like it. Yeah. >> Okay. >> I think that's great. Thank you. >> Okay. Next, uh I just want to let you know that October one is the annual date of which we uh do the count and submit our account for enrollment to the state.
Um so that work uh we have that count from October 1st and in front of you is the draft number. Just know it takes the state until about the first week of December to certify numbers all across the Commonwealth and post them on their web pages. So, these aren't official
numbers, but it does give you a sense of how we're doing with enrollment all across the system. I just want to point out a few things uh to the committee here, and that is the columns. You'll see a column labeled FY26
pro that means projection. So, uh we do a projection on October 1 to October one numbers annually. And so the way this would read for Florence Sawyer is last year at this time we were projecting
Florence Sawyer would have uh 738 students. It actualized at 728 and the FY October one FY25 number is where Florence Sawyer was last year at 734. So you can see that Florence Sawyer
came in um uh six students less than last year's October number and 10 students less than the projection we had. Uh you would note that in kindergarten
69 students actualized we projected 80. So that is the number that is nearly impossible for us to project is the kindergarten number. So most of the places where you see that at center school for instance you'll see a similar
effect. Uh center school is is 12 students under what a t the projection is and I build the kindergarten projection based upon the average enrollment October one enrollment of kindergarten in the previous five years. It's not an exact
science. is just a very general way to look at it. Um, so if you ultimately look at that, our total projection for the district at this time last year was 2,966 students. We were four students above that projection.
And then our October uh number last year was 2,990 and we looked to be 20 students below that this year. As I look at what our forecast looks like, um it looks like we are stabilizing in terms of that decline in enrollment that
we have experienced over the last 5 years. And so uh we'll again do more of that when I come give the uh school choice presentation in April of of where we are with our enrollment numbers. But um
I will take any questions on those two items before I turn it over to Mr. small Karen for the road construction update. >> Scott, >> so I just wondered why we have three sections of pre kindergarten and Mary Rollinsson. >> Yeah, two of the sections are half days.
>> So there are half day sections and full day sections. So they're not all the same. >> There's only two sections by I'm I'm not following the logic of why the other schools have two sections each and then rolling times three. At Florence Sawyer School, section one is a full day
program. Section two is a half day am program. >> Okay. >> At center, we have a full day program and a second full day program. >> Okay. >> At MRE, we have a half-day program and an afternoon program and then a
specialized program. >> And this is largely determined by IEP. >> Yeah, this is determined by students because this is an integrated uh preschool model. So, it's determined by IEP commands. >> That's the right short answer. >> Boom. Um, what other questions do we
have about the enrollment piece, if any? >> I'm just noticing, Kurt, correct me if I'm wrong. I'm trying to think forward to school choice, maybe I shouldn't, but don't you want to keep the high school classes around 220? >> Yep. >> Okay.
>> And we did that this year >> uh when you did school choice. >> Yeah. But what actualized is more students coming to our high school once we did that. So that's that's a good thing. But we set that limit at 220 because what we're really trying to keep
it under at the high school is 240 >> to manage our departments and our things. So we're under that 240 threshold. So think of the 24 to1 classroom ratio times 10 is how the the 240 comes actualized there. >> What's the capacity of the new school? Uh the capacity of the new school is 900
and I've only said this a thousand times. >> Yeah. 9 and 75 students at 85% capacity which rolls out to like 1,086 students. >> Okay. No problem. Thank you. >> Yep. >> So we're we're still in a good spot. >> Yep.
>> Any other questions, Amy? >> So the other thing I noticed is that her enrollment is down 20 from last year. >> Yep. But I feel like usually you see we I've in my time on the school committee
noticed a drop between the enrollment and eth 9th grade and we're not seeing that this year. >> We didn't see it as pronounced. >> Yeah, >> I don't have my computer in front of me. >> It's like only four students difference between 8th and 9th grade. >> Um
>> can you scroll down >> at the >> Well, but those are two different classes. that class of 9th graders, this >> so I'm not looking at the data right now. >> The class of 229 when they were in eighth grade was something like 250.
>> Okay. So that >> so we did still have we still had students that elected to go to CTE programming um or charter. It was it was a significant drop. However, it was somewhere around uh 15 to 20 students
lower this time than it was in previous three years. Okay. All right. Any other questions? >> All right. Let's see. >> Uh we'll turn it over to assistant superintendent to talk about the road construction update.
>> Yeah. Thank you, Superintendent Downing. Um as you're all aware, uh there is the bridge closure on Route 117 in Bolton, uh just over by the Lancaster line. Um overall we had minimal impact on student arrival uh this week with the first
week. So a couple of tweaks that were made during the day on Monday that mitigated any late arrivals that were minimal in Lancaster. So um we had another construction meeting update today with the Mass DOT. Uh the project remains on schedule. So, thank you to
the Mass DOT for the updates, but also without surprise, you know, our our um partners in both and Lancaster have been excellent with making sure that our buses are a priority and that uh the light timing, the signage all uh helps us get our kids to school on time and
safely for that matter, too. Um so, a lot of priority for them, for us. So, thank you to to all of our our law enforcement partners. Um you'll see here that we're going to start a new section in the common um with all the construction and updates on the roads that are happening across the district.
Um you know these are necessary projects but they are what they are. Um so we'll continue and update and inform the community through the common with the road work section. Uh any major pieces that come up like the 117 bridge closure will certainly get updated in a more specific notice. Um I will say we'll
have a update on the four bush project that's coming up with the uh replacement of a culvert. uh that will begin October 20th and last approximately a month. So had that pre-construction meeting this week and uh bus companies already aware. We're in partnership with town of Bolton
and we're we'll be in good shape um and going from there. So that's that's it for the construction update for right now. That that common went from a simple superintendent newsletter once a week to like an online magazine now, right? So
I'm glad to hear those updates are going in the common. Any questions on the construction? >> I just have one thing that's somewhat related. I was at the high school at dismissal this past week and I noticed our principal at the front entrance directing a thousand things. I noticed
Mr. Kaiser in the parking lot directing cars like this. I saw Mr. Walker in the middle of 117 directing cars like this. Um, so despite the construction difficulties in front of that building and all the complexities of that zone,
um, they are really moving people. >> Yeah. >> Quickly. I was so appreciative of that extra duty they were doing. >> This is this is a small way that that you're sharing appreciation for Chief Hamburger because he was the one that got them into the online courses on traffic management so that they were
prepared and could do those things. >> They looked official. It was pretty good. So, good job. >> No, but they looked official. So, anyway, thank you, Russ. >> Great. At this point, I would like to turn it over to Assistant Superintendent
French. She has a special guest uh here tonight to talk about the math curriculum update. Assistant, >> thank you, Superintendent Downing, and thank you to the committee. Um, I'd like to invite our curriculum director for math and science and everything in between, Candace
McBry, to share an update relative to our 6 through 12 math curriculum update. give you an update about what's going on in those spaces, share some information about family university offerings that we're going to be offering to share information with families and then
potential possible immediate next steps and future next steps. So with that, I turn it over to Mccertie. >> Thank you, assistant superintendent friend, and thank you to the committee for allowing me to come and give an update on um our 6 to2 math work. So as
you're aware last year we had entered the curriculum review and we an we took time to analyze our current practices and um through that process we decided that a new curricular resource was needed. So after reviewing many options
and piloting two of them we had decided to purchase Imagine Learning's Illustrative Mathematics. We felt that that best met our vision for student learning and this curriculum is now being implemented in grades six through eight and algebra 1 at both the eighth
grade level and high school level. So we wrote and are following a comprehensive implementation plan for how this roll out would go and I found out yesterday that um our plan is actually going to be used as an exemplar by Desi. I got an
email asking permission for that. Um, and they also used our instructional vision at a most recent um, implement network meeting as an exemplar uh, that we like looked at and talked through. So, I'm really proud of the work we've
done, but it was really nice to see uh, Desessie highlight that as well and recognize um, all of our hard work there. So as part of the implementation plan, we hired a consultant Heidi Sani who came highly recommended by some peer
districts and she has a podcast and is well known. Uh she's actually speaking right now at some national conferences. So she will be helping me in leading professional development for our teachers on the early releases and also throughout the year through walkthroughs
and other opportunities. Uh we provided professional learning already to math teachers, special educators, instructional assistants, and our administrators. Uh and that learning will also continue throughout the year in stages.
Teachers introduced illustrative math to families that were able to attend the open house. And so now we will be offering two virtual um informational I'm calling them coffee hours but um
times for parents or families to come and learn more about it. So that will be in the comment but it's going to be October 16th from 9 to 10 and October 20th from 2 to 3. We'll also record a presentation that we can um send in the comment as well for any families that
can't make it. and we'll explain all that in the comment coming out this Friday. Uh in addition, the high school math department continues to be in phase one of the review cycle with a focus on still analyzing our current practices, exploring course offerings and course
levels. Um we're vertically aligned in many ways um with grades 6 through eight. Our 9 to2 vision was built off the 6 through 8 which was built off K to 5. Um, and algebra 1 at the high school, as I said, is now using the same
curriculum as algebra 1 in 8th grade. And this year they will be exploring HQIM for geometry and algebra 2, seeing what's out there. Uh, the department is also participating in a book study on productive struggle and using what they
learned there to impact their teaching. and the entire 6 through2 team continues to make gains in coherence, collaboration, and vertical alignment. The algebra 1 teachers as a whole have agreed on common end of unit assessment
questions, which is huge. Um, they've met for horizontal meetings twice already this year, and we will continue that practice. Uh we're extending our STAR math screener up through geometry in order to align um and gather more
data. And lastly, our teachers across all of the grade levels are using what they've learned about building thinking classrooms to intentionally foster that productive struggle and heighten student engagement in order to deepen math thinking for all of our students. And so
that is the update I have and I'll welcome any questions. Thank you so much. Uh, what questions do you guys have? >> I have a question. Unless you do. >> No, go ahead. >> Um, >> formulating one. >> Yeah. Okay. So, break and think. I'll
I'll give you some think time here. With regard to materials, how is this going to affect the materials that the eighth and the ninth grade kids use? Do we purchase those already or what do they look like?
>> If I would you would you like me to >> textbooks? Yeah, we have um so it's a online student book and teacher book at the eighth grade level. They also have workbooks that kind of complement the online version, but there's an online
platform that um is being used at the high school level and at the eighth grade level. >> Got it. So would you say that the ninth grade kids who are taking algebra in ninth grade which is only a percentage of the kids what is it maybe twothirds or half
>> I don't know the exact number >> right like some number of kids are taking algebra in the high school because they didn't qualify in the eighth grade which is fine >> do they do all their math online >> no >> okay >> no so >> they have workbooks for the ninth grade too
>> so the department had decided not to purchase the workbooks books um mostly because they felt like what they needed printed they can print right off of the online version and the workbooks themselves are kind of they didn't think they were as appropriate for a high
school level student. So um yeah but they can print all their work the tests we have printed uh that sort of thing. >> Got it. So there's no textbook per se that we purchase. >> There's a re not that not a physical one. There's an online textbook. So the
kids do have like a reference book to go to >> that they can access. >> Yep. >> Okay. >> I would add that these have been purchased um that you may remember that we had applied for and we're were thankful to receive a grant to support the purchase for the material. So that
helps support the materials adoption and purchase for both the eighth grade materials and the ninth grade materials as well. So currently we're um Miss McBry is deeply involved in collecting feedback from our teachers working with Mr. Melbourne the department ahead at
the high school even with Mr. Walker the assistant principal who's supporting um and Mr. Richard who's supporting the math department to get feedback about how how everything is going, what support is needed and what decisions we need to make as we look ahead to next year and algebra 2 and geometry.
So maybe this is not yet appropriate because the teachers need to do the evaluating still, but do you think that one I wonder if you're including special educators in that conversation, but also is it a good idea to ask the kids, the ninth graders, what they do?
>> My question with one mind. >> Yeah, it is part of our implementation plan to get feedback from our students as well as the teachers and the special educators have been part of the trainings and they're also part of three out of five of the uh early release
professional development we'll have this year as a way to gather their input and we also have them involved in our horizontal meetings. So trying closely to have them has have as much a voice as possible um in the feedback about how
it's going. Um and I will say you know the teacher the eighth the six through eight teachers are also evaluating the usefulness of the workbook. There are definitely pros and cons. So you know we'll look at is that a necessary um
investment or not. So >> kind of a followup. it's related. But um the workbook issue I think um is also something that's present in my mind because I have a seventh grader who's
using this um new curriculum and so I want to ask a similar question about seventh grade. So, was the decision made to purchase digital textbooks for all of the grades? Because and and if so, how do students access
the printed version of this stuff? Like, is that on the parents to print out the material? Because that um I think that would be a useful question to to ask students and parents and teachers. Um,
>> right. So currently grades 6 through 8, every student has a workbook. So some teachers are opting to keep the workbook in the classroom. Um and some teachers have it going back and forth, but it's not up to families to print any
any pages. >> Yeah. Because I think if you if um when you are going to ask for feedback, I think it would be important to ask parents for feedback too because there might be that's an issue that we're dealing with on this this curriculum
>> is how to access the printed material. >> Okay. >> Another question. No, I was going to say we have the opposite problem that the workbook is really big and it takes up a lot of space in a big backpack on a
small person. So, I do think getting parent feedback would be really important. Um cuz it's it is like this thick >> in a binder that is this thick. That's just one >> in Reese's defense. She is mighty. >> Um >> it's like a publishing feeling though.
Well, it's >> like we can talk about it should be three books instead of one book. >> Yeah. Yeah. >> Yeah. I have a I have one other quick question. I did hear you say that the STAR assessment is going to be exercised at the ninth grade now. >> Ninth and 10th. >> Ninth and 10th and 10th >> through geometry >> because geometry some kids will take
geometry 10th grade. >> So I know that I read in the comment that the star assessments are going to be part of the parent teacher conferences that are coming up in November. Will the freshman and 10th graders also
have access to that data if they sign up for conferences? >> I'm going to say yes. >> Amazing. >> Yes. >> You know, it's part it's one data point. >> Yeah. >> Part of the larger data picture for each and every student, but it is it's a data point that is intended to be used to
help inform instruction and and relative areas of strength and opportunities for growth for students. So, um, it's it sits in that space and and we, you know, we're going to continue to work on building our teachers knowledge of how to use the data and talk to parents
about the data, but it is important um, as a district that we are providing families with that information. So, we continue to work at that to support our principles and our teachers. That is the goal. I mean, as MCCAST loses its teeth, and we're going to talk about this in a few minutes, but and waiting for that
autopsy report in October, having this more readily available data to help kids and help teachers is so big. Um, I know that high school conferences are harder to come by and maybe a lot of parents are like, that's the kids' responsibility. I'm going to step back.
If I don't have a conference with the math teacher, should I email and ask for the data report or um if I may, I I think what what we will do is we'll I know Miss McBry works with Mr. Melbourne all of the time. They will
communicate a communication system and a process to address that need because we recognize that not all families are able to make it to conferences. So stay tuned. >> Amazing. Any other questions? Thank you so much. Thank you. That's
fantastic. Great work. All right, everybody. We're gonna keep rolling. I think we might have leap frog one element of the of the superintendent report. Did you see the budget timeline? >> Oh, >> you're assistant superintendent. Uh, let's talk
about the budget timeline. >> Absolutely. >> Thank you. I did that last month as well. So, so those of you familiar with the process that are on the committee from from previous iterations, um we bring forward the budget timeline annually about this time of the year. Uh
so we identify our benchmarks um and talk about the work that we will do ahead uh not only within this room but um at the administrative level and then also the work that's done at the budget and warrant subcommittee level. Um so you know the purpose is obviously to track ourselves and work through the
budget um and to publish that out but it's also to provide clarity to the public so they understand what the benchmarks are relative to the budget uh process. So, within the the link, um, when you go to the timeline at the top, there's a short blurb explaining that,
um, it will also point you to the upcoming FY27 budget development page, similar to what we did this past year, so that the links to the school committee meetings will be in there with any materials just focused on the budget, so the members of the public don't have to sort through school
committee agendas and meeting materials. Um, also for people who are new to the committee or have not done so before, please visit the operations, excuse me, the finance and operations site. Um, and you can check out the educational videos uh that explain the budgetary process and also uh you can take a look at the
regional agreement video and there's lots of other information on there that's relative to the budget process. So, thank you. >> Yeah, it's a huge wealth of resources. That web page is fantastic. Highly recommend people check it out, spend some time. Any questions on the budget
timeline? I'm noticing that there's one budget and warrant subcommittee meeting that's plugged in for February 12th. Should we be adding the other budget and warrant meetings to this timeline or not necessary? >> That meeting is specific to the budget
workshop process. So, as we and that's really for this committee. It's it's there to go back to that budget and warrant subcommittee to say is there anything else like what are the other things we need? So it's a temperature check in the budget season. >> Okay. So that's the only budget and
warrant subcommittee meeting that is going to be very specific to the budget discussion. >> No, there were others. I don't know what happened. It's a live doc updated. >> Um so expect an update by the end of the night. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> Wonderful. Thank you. Any other
questions? All right, I think that wraps up the superintendent report. >> There we go. >> Wonderful. Thank you so much, Kirk. Um, so guys, we're going to move on to our next item here, and that is the new business piece. We have a policy if one,
which they're calling the middle school pathway exploration for career and technical education. It's a bit of a misnomer. I'm going to actually Should I turn it over to you or to Jackie? you can kick us kick it off. Go ahead, K. >> You bet. Um, so this isn't about
graduation requirements or competency determinations or any of those things. This is middle school pathway exploration for career and technical education. This is the the language that comes straight from the statute. So, this was passed last year and this
policy now simply reflects the law and the law that's been written. So as you look through the policy um you can see the over the overview and uh pointed to uh outline what the
collaboration between NHOBA and our CTE schools are. We all three of our towns participate at Minute Man. Um and so these bullets sharing of information uh by October 15th of each school year is
required in the law. Now, inviting all eighth grade students to take part in a tour day during the school day is required by law as well as presentations at our schools. Um, and ensuring that any student that's absent uh due to attending that would be recorded as
present in your your system. And that um the last part is the hosting school may transport the students, but they are responsible for the transportation costs. Um, and then we're also required uh to include uh the pathways. Uh, so
there's a link to minute.org in the event there's one of the pathways at Minute Man were to change. That's where it would be memorialized. But what you see uh in the policy today or what they currently have and we'd be notified if that changes. And the last two elements
are providing records to CCT uh schools and programs. Um, and I see a couple of just typos that need to be corrected with capitals. Um, it just reflects what's already in the law within 10 days. If a parent is requesting their their student records,
we need to supply that within 10 days. So, if they sign a release, we have to follow the same regulations. And then, of course, the maintenance of records. Uh we did uh bring this before the policy subcommittee uh and we debated it over two meetings and uh then we
provided it to our attorney uh who gave it to their their policy arm of the office. They reviewed it. It all checks out at u our council's office and there you have it. >> And um so Jackie, you are serving as the
chair this year. Yep. >> Um one of >> there's one last thing. >> Yeah. This policy is a mandate. The school committee is required by uh state regulations now to pass a policy and submit it to the department by November
1st. >> All right. So Jackie is going to serve as the chair of policy this year. So we are very uh grateful to you for taking over the reigns. Do you want to just give the committee a quick rundown on how we adopt new policies and how this
one is going to fit in? Yes. So, typically what happens is we get recommendations, not necessarily specific state regulations to have updates to current policies or make new policies or policies subcommittee meets
to review those recommendations. oftentimes we meet with Superintendent Downing and discuss possible implications, differences between what was being proposed, whether it be at the state level or what is um being presented by
MASC. And then as a subcommittee, we review those and decide what we're going to put forth to the school committee for a first read through. So what you see here is the policy minus some minor edits and formatting issues. Um this would be the policy that we would be
asking the school committee to vote on at our next meeting. Um the one thing that I did I guess we had kind of um you know made mention of it but the specific title is referring to a middle
school pathway. This is separate from the innovation pathways at the high school. And so I just want to reiterate that for our community, any families that are listening, um that these are two separate things. This is really more to have very clear expectations around kids
in middle schools and that they have the opportunity to go to a career and technical education program and that that's clearly spelled out in our policy. All right. And so the way that we do this is Jackie's subcommittee, I'm going
to call it Jackie subcommittee. um they bring to us a policy and this is what we call the first reading. This is your opportunity to tell the policy subcommittee anything that you would like to see changed or you know minus like silly grammatical stuff. Um
then Jackie takes copious notes and then when they meet next they revise this and they bring back to us another version that you will see sitting in the consent agenda that will act as the second reading. We could pull it from the consent agenda if you see fit. If you
want to just debate it, you don't like the second version or we can just vote it through in the consent agenda. >> May I comment on that? >> Yeah. >> There are going to be three elements here. This policy competency determination and graduation
requirements that I have to submit to Desi uh through their portal and I also have to submit the school committee vote into the portal. it would probably be the cleanest for that submission so they don't have to interpret our consent
agendas that for these three particular policies we put them in unfinished business just to have the the record of that in the minutes of >> it's a tech it's it's we we could do it in the consent agenda but it makes it easier for me when I have to submit it
into the portal to point to the minutes of the agenda. >> Got it. That's fine. All right. So what what comments? >> But normally that's the case. Yes. Just these three will do that for. >> Go ahead, Scott. >> So I have a few things. They're relative
to be minor, but first of all, is Minute Man the only school that that applies all under this policy? Correct. >> Second of all, is that bulleted list an exhaustive list of all the programs they offer? >> Current list. >> Right. So that was my followup question, which is whenever they change the program, do we need to rebote the
policy? No, because we're referencing the Minute Man website which is an ongoing >> Mr. Don't that bulleted list. Doesn't that have to be changed every time they change their programs?
I brought up this very question to comply with the regulations DES putting that is not >> you must list the programs in your policy and it's >> and my final comment is the font size is
inconsistent. Could we please make it all 11 points or larger? >> Yep. So that was the >> Hey, we got to fix it. Make your pretty. >> Thank you. Yeah, absolutely. >> Chair, >> um my question is about the bus transportation
and it so is I think what it says is that this it the minute man may provide transportation and I think what that's doing is saying we're not responsible for the cost of that transportation.
Is it are they required to provide that experience like that opportunity or do kids if they choose not to transport kids for a visit then do parents need to take the
responsibility to do that if they want to visit or >> there are parallel policies out there for the CT schools that they've been passing vigorously this fall and so that's their responsibility and that's not for our concern.
and our we just know that they may provide transport. They have the right to do that and if they do that they do it at the right cost. Man has always done that >> and that's always been the practice but that's just not in the purview of
this committee that decided. >> Do they give you model language? >> Yes. >> Yeah. So is this pretty close to the model? This is the desi model language that we had with the exception of we added the bullet on the transportation because that wasn't in the model language and we wanted to be clear that
the transport is at the cost of the hosting school not the cost of the show >> and so just so you guys know we want to keep language very close to the model that MASC provides to us well this >> for clarity it's from desi >> from this particular one's from desi
that's unusual >> yes >> um okay so any other commentary on the substance of this? >> Uh the very last bit the maintenance of records are those records considered like
student records and not subject to open record laws and that kind of thing. >> Mr. Simon, you asked such a good question. Yes, they are and no, they're not. So,
if they're identifiable to a student, yes, it's a student record. Is it a public record? It depends on what kind of record you create. So, if you create a general report,
and I and I say create, not asked to create, but if you create a general report that is not um identifiable as a student record, then it is a public record. [Music] that anybody could request.
>> Any other questions? >> Assistant Superintendent McCarron is the expert on records in the district. And I hope I answered that close enough. >> All right, everybody. So, uh, the policy subcommittee is going to take this back to their next subcommittee meeting. They
will doctor it up. Probably not much because there's not much that we asked them to change. So, we will find this second reading in unfinished business at our next meeting. >> Yeah. >> And then you said that you're going to be bringing two additional ones. Yes. Soon thereafter.
>> Yes. So, we should have we're meeting on October 29th um with Superintendent Downing and Assistant Superintendent Laura Friend and someone else. >> Uh perhaps Miss Spec is joining us or is it Dr. Boon that's joining us for that
policy meeting? It could just be the assistant superintendent. >> I think I think >> we have working group meetings with a group of people at the high school. So I think we can represent their >> their opinions at that their interest at that meeting. >> All right. So more policies to come. Thank you everybody. We will move the
agenda now to the uh next item is unfinished business. We have none at this time. The next piece is going to be subcommittee reportouts. And I'd like to start with the audit advisory. I will give anybody else time but let's start with audit advisory because Scott has some pressing business for us. But what's going on?
>> Yes. So, as mentioned at the last meeting, we had a vacancy on the audit advisory committee. Um, a Bolton resident, which is the township that we have a vacancy for. U, Mr. Jeff Tackle has graciously agreed to serve on the audit advisory committee. He's a
longtime Bolton resident, has been helpful in getting other community projects done. So, I think he'd be a great addition to the committee. And so, hopefully the committee will agree to appoint him to the advisory committee. So, we're going to break with our protocol just a tad here and try to um
get a vote tonight if that's okay with everybody. >> All right. And so, do you want to make a motion, Scott? >> I'd like to move that uh Jeff Tackle Bolton be added to the audit advisory committee. >> I second that. Any discussion?
>> Excellent. All those in favor? Any opposed? Wonderful. Welcome, Mr. Tackle. We appreciate your service. Thank you so much. And uh I wonder if there are any other subcommittee reports. >> So just for policy subcommittee um so
you'll be voting on the CTE uh pathways policy at the October 22nd meeting and then we will have in that next iteration um the first readroughs for the graduation requirements and the competency determination policies. Um,
and given the timeliness, I I think it would just be really helpful like what everyone did today. If you have very specific questions that we can address then and um take care of before the next meeting when we vote would be fantastic.
Right. Any other subcommittee reports? You already mentioned the communication subcommittee is meeting new student council um on December >> December. December STCO meeting. >> Yeah. And we're going to um have another
meeting before then to just review the plan for that meeting um on October 15th and the goals. Any other subcommittee reports? So everybody, we have our planning
calendar. I wonder Alita, do you have it handy to throw it up there? Um, our next meeting is going to be, as you know, remote. Uh, it will be on October 22nd.
So, we have a few things already listed. Uh, we will be adding an executive session. So, I'm going to put that on there. >> The 22nd, right? on the 2.
So, more to come on that. So, here is what you guys can see on the planning calendar. MCCAST presentation is a big one that that information has just been released. They put the kaibos on the portal, correct? Okay. We won't talk about that now. Um, and there's just a
couple of other things. Is there anything you guys would like to see added if not to this meeting to the parking lot? Is there stuff further down? >> Um, no. >> Okay. >> For now.
>> For subcommittee. you asked me to do the building committee. >> Yeah. Okay. So, let's finish this and then I'll go >> um anything else for the agenda building. >> As always, guys, just shoot me an email. >> The other thing that comes to mind is we're working on a proposal for um
>> what's it called? >> Yes. >> And we expect to finalize that at next week's BMW meeting. So, I think that that school committee meeting might be the right time to provide a first view of that proposal.
>> All right. And so, um, we could do E and D. Could you just scroll down a little bit? Um, >> how do you feel about that? I think this will be like a first and second reading kind of situation so we can get feedback from the committee before we finalize it.
>> Sounds good. >> Any other things? All right. Without objection, I'm going to roll the agenda back to one more subcommittee um sheriff. Okay. And that is for the building committee. >> Yeah, building committee. We have a really important meeting happening next
Thursday night. This is uh the uh guaranteed maximum price approval meeting that is happening um next Thursday evening on Zoom. You can find those links uh will be posted appropriately. The committee has worked
incredibly hard over these first three years to get us to this place. We used a um construction manager at risk methodology which brings us to this point. So if we had used the design bid build methodology, we wouldn't even have a hole in the ground today because you
would have to get to the 100% before you could proceed. But under construction management at risk, we were able to start in the early trades and get moving with the process. So this meeting is going to be the aggregation of the bid packages that we've approved throughout
the process brought together into one document uh for approval and ultimately um submitted to the MSBA. So we're really excited that we're at that benchmark. It's an important benchmark for us next week. >> Any questions on the building committee
meeting and where we're at with that? Have you guys got to see the building construction? It's pretty impressive. I had to walk all the way around the back to a soccer game which took me like an hour slow, but it is really building out the back side of it is gigantic right now.
>> It is. And madam chair, we are uh right now we have it on our schedule for the school building committee to walk the building prior to its December meeting. And so I would extend that if any member
of this committee wanted to join us. I just need to know in advance so we can have PPE prepared for you um to have a chance to to walk the construction zone and check it out. >> And they did alert us at the last meeting that they're looking to button
the building up by the end of November. >> So >> yeah, >> and they're going to start heating putting in some temporary heating. So I mean they really are turning corners every single day. >> Yeah. The final concrete slab should be in there end of November and uh it'll be
weathertight and so they will do temporary heating so those wintertime workers can stay stay warm while they're doing their stuff. >> Yeah, that's just good construction. So, how do we let you know if we want to walk back? >> Just send me an email. >> Okay. >> I and I I'm going to send out an
invitation. So, I send the invitation out to our leadership council as well. Okay. >> All right, guys. I'm going to move to adjourn. All those in favor? Jackie. >> All right. Good evening everybody. Thank you.
>> Thanks everybody. Thank you for having me.