##VIDEO ID:x0zW0TQB1yE## e e e e e e is 6:31 so we're going to get this party started even though I know a few members are still um coming in uh so I'm going to call to order the regular meeting of the nishoba regional school committee and if you all would care to please join me in a pledge of allegiance if you just mute I will you can recite on mute I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all all right so we'll move on to public comments and there has been no mission for public comment tonight so we're going to keep moving beyond that and go right to the consent agenda so Amy do you have a motion for us I do um I move to approve the consent agenda of December 18th 2024 I'll second that any discussion all right seeing none we'll take a roll call vote uh Amy Cohen yes myself yes Robin yes Scott yes Sharon yes Amy vessels are you frozen Amy yes can you oh there we go yep got you hi John sorry I missed you earlier uh how vote how do you vote yes and shandor yes excellent all right guys moving on to the next item here school committee chairperson update I snuck this into my update um I'm wondering if there would be any objection to flip-flopping the January meetings thereby making the budget Workshop the virtual meeting and the other meeting in person yeah so can I get a thumbs up if you guys are good with that is that okay John us the dates I'm trying to pull yeah absolutely so the the budget Workshop is scheduled um oh boy can I Kirk is it the 22nd for the budget Workshop 15th but no 15th and 29th then correct 15th and 29th so right now the budget Workshop which is a little bit of a slog for everybody and there's a lot of like document access things of of that sort so we thought it might be a better use of our brain power to make that the virtual meeting and then have us be in person on the 29th and then just kind of resume as it's already scheduled so we would have back-to-back in-person meetings so everybody cool with that so you're not actually changing the date of the budget Workshop you're just changing the budget Workshop to a virtual meeting and changing the meeting on the 29th to inperson meeting you got it okay all right great all right so be it so Alita if you don't mind making that change if possible I know that's a pain in the neck for you but thank you for switching that all right guys so moving on now to our student representative report and we do have Ryan nro here to share with us his update hello thank you so just this the winter sports you're kind of getting a start so boys and girls basketball started and as well as hockey the other night um both basketball teams won hockey tied um after school today some of the class officers started working on the yearbook we uh took pictures for the yearbook photos and then um we're kind of just starting to get the yearbook Club in this folio starting to get pictures of um each class as a whole ready for the yearbook um the our youth advisory council is meeting tomorrow during long block I know superintendent Downing is on that and and then we will um we just finished our Middle School visits a coup so like a group of kids I think it was 15 or so broke up into a couple different rooms I was in the extracurricular room so I talked a little bit about um CL class president and then also this and so that was that was a really cool experience kids kids seemed a little interested but a little shy a little shy at first and then um we going spirit week right now it's um until break and Ava and I both applied for one uh director positions at our this Massachusetts Association of student Representatives she did um director of communications and I applied for director of resources and then our winter performing arts and um in different bands have all been performing these past few weeks what we got questions that's fantastic thanks Ryan I see Amy as a question y when will you guys find out like when is the election for the director um so they review our applications the application deadline was Sunday the 22nd and I think he was gonna um one of the people we talked to at the initial meeting who a and I were kind of close with and runs it um he said they're going to look at it through um January so we'll keep we keep you guys updated okay and is Eva at the wrestling match tonight uh I'm assuming so I think so yeah there a wrestling match going on so go to show yep that's fantastic thanks Ryan any other questions from the committee hello I'm sorry oh hi Mr Melbourne um all right so Ryan I did want to tell you this um I know that you are a busy guy and you might not want to stick around and maybe you just want to watch on YouTube there is a pretty important topic later on that's very student um uh of probably high interest to students and it is the update on the math and science curriculum and how the school is um kind of altering course there a little bit so if that's something that you want to stick around for it's like just a couple of bullets down and you have every right to participate in that conversation if you do stick around if not um if you just want to watch it on YouTube or catch it on tape later it might be something that you could talk about in your next report I got nowhere to be I'll I'll stick around until then okay great fantastic I know that that's um uh uh an interest for you right so good all right guys so we're gonna keep going here with the superintendent's report we're gonna head over to announcements I'll turn it over to Kirk Madam chair thank you for the recognition uh before I get into my uh announcements that are in my report I want to bring to the community's attention and to our committee's attention uh today we delved into the world of our digital release of the report cards uh it's my understanding that there may be a technical issue regarding power school and we are have notified them to that technical issue we're preparing a message out to the community in case people are saying anything having any difficulties in receiving their report cards uh so more information to come but I just wanted to brief the committee on that as this is a live in action moment that's happening right here during the school committee meeting so um we will be on that and get a communication to our families to let them know that we've reached out to our vendor uh regarding um the complication uh but moving on to the written report in front of you um as you mentioned in your report Madam chair uh we will be having the budget workshop on January 15 U for our new committee members um to manage expectations and bringing forward that first run of the budget it really is a workshop we're bringing all the things forward to you that we wish to have in the here in the school system and so it's it's really heavy to the expense side in terms of that first um uh budget Workshop so I don't want anyone to be alarmed or shocked by what will look like high assessment numbers and high budget increases because we will not receive all the information on the revenue side and some of our other cost drivers until later in January possibly early February it's really mid-February we begin to tune in solidly uh to what what um the actual forecast for our towns will look like which is prior to our joint finance committee meetings and prior to the hearing uh so um just want to head everybody up to that um uh moment in time as we prepare uh for another budget season um the second piece is we had the great Fortune at Florence soer school to host Senator Robin Kennedy uh she was scheduled to join us last spring and a conflict arose which forwarded us to her visit this fall uh we had a chance to tour several classrooms uh both in the Sawyers wing and the Emerson wing of the campus and we had an opportunity uh to really have some good FaceTime with Senator Kennedy and and discuss a little bit of some of the financial structures that uh can be limiting for us in our budget construction and and she has pledged her engagement with us as a member as of the uh education uh committee for the state and we look forward to more work with her uh she was very excited to see the Civics work we're doing so we've invited her back to Florence Sawyer school for the race to the presidency uh annual uh unit and uh hopefully she would be able to join us for the student debates and the last announcement I have for you this evening is the high school graduation competency determination as you know um with the passage of ballot question two in November mcast is no longer a competent determination requirement by the state of Massachusetts to receive your high school diploma as a result it falls be back to Local School school districts in determining their competency determinations uh we have a policy uh for graduation requirements for our students that is our locally defined competency uh determination we are getting live information from desie on guidance on how to handle competency determinations there was a a a webinar with desie this afternoon at 3 o'clock which we're not ready to brief the committee on as we digest the impact of that information uh that we've learned but I uh have put two documents into the meeting materials tonight uh one is policy ikf for our graduation requirements along with the FAQ memo that we got from acting commissioner uh of Education uh I'm making a request to miss vessels if we can review these at the policy subcommittee meeting to look to uh policy ikf uh to look for any language adjustments and I should have more information by the time the next time policy meets to bring to this group as we just want to ensure that um that is defined here in Nel and clear to our residents and our students uh but to be clear right now uh mcast is not a requirement for any of our students in currently in the school school system and so as they're proceeding along they're taking their courses and meeting their graduation requirements we'll be confident that uh our local competency determination uh uh requirements uh will be met in time for graduation this year and so I'll end there with announcements because uh we'll start with strategic work and and Miss friend will uh uh introduce that strategic work but uh any questions on any of the announcements provided this evening Amy you're cool with the addition to your next agenda thank you I know I've been keeping Miss vessels busy lately with some uh policy emails and guidance so um I look forward to our next meeting all right I'm not seeing any questions on those matters so it looks like we can move to uh the update on the math and science curriculum that's great and so uh I tucked a presentation in this superintendent report tonight but I want to uh introduce assistant superintendent friend who brought a team of fabulous Educators here tonight for you all to learn from uh take it away assistant superintendent a team of two an awesome duo um so with that I would like to thank the committee for approval of our fy2 highquality instructional materials professional development and purchase Opportunity Grant um which you will hear a little bit more about from curriculum director Candace MCB and we're excited to have received that Grant because it's going to help support um our movement um with material adoption at the middle school um but without further Ado I would like to introduce kenis MC birtie who is our curriculum director for Math and Science and uh Nate Melbourne who is our de department head for mathematics at our high school and miss mcbd and Mr Melbourne are going to provide an overview and an update of our curriculum review process for Math and Science respectively Miss mcbrady is going to begin with an update of uh phase two of science at the high school level 9 through 12 and she's going to give a little bit of an update about what's happening with open sad 6 through 8 and then together uh they've been working very closely Miss mcy and Mr Melbourne on our 6 through 12 review for mathematics so I am deeply grateful for the partnership that they have engendered with one another and the collaboration and the guidance and the alignment as we work to really strengthen the learning experience for our students uh and support our teachers with what they need K to 12 and specifically 6 through 12 so I'm going to turn it over to miss MCB who's going to start us off and I think Miss Masterson is going to uh show the presentation yes thank you assistant superintendent friend and thank you Alita for um leading the presentation for us I'll just wait till it's up hi I'm happy to be here tonight with Nate Melbourne the district's math department head at the high school to report out on the curriculum review status in the areas of math and science in grades 6 through 12 before we begin I would like to acknowledge both Nate and Linda Pier the science department head for their collaboration enthusiasm and knowledge sharing throughout these reviews it's been um instrumental to our progress next slide please so for this presentation we will update the committee on the status of the 9 through 12 review and 6 through2 math review as outlined on that slide next slide please so I wanted to take a moment to just remind the committee of uh noa's curriculum review process and that this process consists of five phases for this school year 9 through 12 math is in phase one which is the analysis phase of our current practices 6 through eight math will be in phases one and two this year with the end goal of investigating and purchasing new highquality instructional materials 9 through 12 science is building off the work from last year and is now in phase two refining their curriculum more details will be shared for each of these domains in the slides to come however I did also want to uh mention that 6 through eight science is still in phase three as we are carrying out the implementation of open Sayed this uh last year they implemented two units this year four units and next year will be full implementation of all six units and that work is going really well next slide please our curriculum work aligns with the district's strategic plan under strategic objective two as well as our development of portrait of an isoba graduate and our vision and values ultimately we do this work to Ure the best possible education for our students next slide so now I will talk about 9 through 12 science um and as you recall 9 through 12 science completed phase one of curriculum review last year taking a close analysis of our current practices tonight I want to provide you with an update on the work that has been done to date and also what will continue to unfold the focus of phase 2 work has been broken down into three priorities that being curriculum core sequencing and offerings and professional learning for teachers the first Focus encompasses the Department's work to carry out the vision for science instruction part of that work is a revision of the curriculum in biology chemistry and physics to include all three dimensions of the Next Generation science standards those dimensions being disciplinary core ideas crosscutting Concepts and Science and Engineering practices these three dimensions are the foundation of the ngss and are also the foundation of innovation in stem Industries in a three in yeah in a three-dimensional learning approach students are given the opportunity to think like scientists and Engineers to strengthen their critical thinking skills integrate skills into content tie content directly to the real world which then empowers our students to be lifelong Learners and responsible Global Citizens this approach is in alignment with the vision that the department has for Science Education in addition to that work with the ngss standards into the curriculum Linda Pier has been working collaboratively with teaching and learning on alignment in Science Education 6 through 12 some of the main components of the open-sided curriculum including anchoring phenomena inquiry based learning and student discourse will extend 6 through 12 the next focus is on course sequencing and offering through last year's thought exchange it was suggested that there needs to be more clarity regarding the course offerings and differences between science courses this was also adjust in the equity report and analyzing barriers that exist to Advanced coursework this will be explored during this phase of curriculum review and recommendations given and the third Focus will be on professional learning for our teachers science teachers attended the be 2024 conference uh just last week on Next Generation science standards powerful strategies and resources for teaching science the feedback from the Department was very positive and teachers left with many resources to help revise current curriculum the learning that occurred there will resume and be used during the early release professional development to adapt at least one unit in biology chemistry and physics that is our work for the year and our next immediate steps are to ensure we have skill progressions in our courses and explore the course sequencing and offerings as they pertain to electives and barriers next slide and so we'll transition to math now um um and the steps that have been completed at this time and what our next steps are as scheduled in the district's review cycle documents 6 through 12 math has entered phase one and has been analyzing our current practices the 6 through eight math curriculum council is working through phases 1 and two and 9 through 12 is working through phase one this year and will enter phase two next year as was the case with our curriculum reviews nishoba has partnered with Desi's hqm implementation Network and this has created a partnership with other districts and strengthened collaboration this support has also been important as the council moves through the process the curriculum Council has worked hard to write a vision for Middle School mathematics that builds off of the K through five Vision they also completed a data review to analyze if current practices are meeting our vision Equitable practices are in place and that the curricular materials are working for all students it was determined that there is a need for new core curricular materials and thus we have moved into phase two as assistant superintendent friend mentioned earlier tonight nishoba has secured the 2024 2025 highquality instructional materials professional development and purchase opportunity for stem and this grant acceptance allows for an offset of the cost of curricular materials but also provides professional learning from tntp to assist with phase two and also the implementation of new hqm next slide please as was the case with K through five literacy we are only moving forward with curricular options that meet or exceed the expectations for ED reports and curate in the areas of standard alignment the district is currently reviewing three programs and these programs are illustrative math Carnegie Learning and Amplified Desmos these three curriculum materials are not only highly rated but also extend up through the high school vertical alignment and sequencing has one has been one of the drivers of the process and I'm thankful that Mr Melbourne has been part of this process next steps include engaging feedback from our community our math instructional coaches will be completing a unit study in each of those programs and we will conduct field testing we'll be looking to make a decision in March and we'll keep the committee updated throughout the process within the superintendent reports our teachers are excited about this work and are looking forward to engaging in the field tests and determining the best option for curricular materials for our students students and so now I'll turn it over to Mr Melbourne to talk about 9 through 12 math great thank you so much Miss MCB for your introduction um we can go to the next slide please so as mentioned I'm Nate Melbourne the math department head at the high school and I'm very thankful for having been a part of the 6 through eight process so far um and I'm also thankful for the opportunity to share this evening on the 9 through 12 process um at the high school level we're in the beginning phases of curriculum review process uh the process has multiple phases including prerequisites Equitable access to advanced level courses placement decisions curriculum choice and instructional strategies to begin we have engaged in a review of the findings we have so far including the equity audit and mcast and course enrollment data and the findings of the k38 review that review has led us to the beginnings of deep analysis um we are recognizing the need to review current course sequence current course prerequisites and available placement options from 6 through 12 as we are engaging in this review we are also working with the math department to build a 9 through 12 math instruction Vision at the high school just as was the case for K through 8 our next steps will include surveying our community and then following this we'll use the information to make our recommendations around courses and programming that is the High School go next slide and pass it back to miss MCB the work uh with the curriculum review is multifaceted and we are grateful for our teachers and our leaders who continue to lean in to these reviews on behalf of our students as we continue to work to improve and Excel in our practice we thank you for your support and your time tonight and we're now wondering if there are any questions that was great thanks so much guys um let's see if we have any questions in the room or comments go ahead Nei yeah thank you so much for um such a professional and succinct presentation um I wanted to just ask some follow-up questions about a stakeholder input that you used to come up with some of the recommendations and um and how the data that you reviewed I think is part of seeking the stakeholder input um framed like from phrase one framed your work for phase two are you referring to uh oh go ahead so are you referring to 9 through 12 science or what part of the review I saw this the same I saw that mentioned in the 6 through eight math um but also in the 9 through 12 science and math I think it was mentioned in each in each part of the work that's that you presented Out on Just referred to a little bit differently um and it sounds like you collected data that informed the work that you plan to do but I was wondering if you could explain a little bit more about some of the conclusions from the data more specifically sure um so for 9 through 12 science we had done last year a survey of our students and a thought exchange with our families and from that data there was um the identification of like the three High priorities of more Hands-On materials Real World um exposure to science and knowing why they're doing what they're doing and so as we worked through kind of those as well as um just a need for more I think training around ngss we are using what we're learning through um like that professional development in order to put more of those real world um experiences and really those critical thinking skills that um our families were asking for and then students were really uh wanting what what came out a lot in the survey was around the why and wanting to know like what they're learning how does that apply to their life now and how does that work in the future and so that is also part of you know the cross cutting Concepts and so really trying to like review our curriculum in that light so that is for 9 through 12 science and then for 6 through eight math the data we've analyzed so far is the mcast data over the years and the star data that we have both growth and proficiency and so from that and then from you know what teachers are seeing in the classroom we are seeing that the current materials we are using are not um you know having the results that we would like for all students and so that's where the the thought to go on to phase two had come from and our next steps are to survey our families and our um students regarding math 6 through eight as well and then that's similar for 9 through 12 kind of the I feel like I asked a very very broad question you did a really great job of answering it um and I kind of put you on the spot so thank you so much was that it Amy or did you have something else I I I do have another question but I don't want to any I see other hands up why don't you go to them first and then we can come all right okay okay good um so over to Amy vessels uh yes my question um I know that we've talked a lot about with the equity Equity report um you know making sure kids can move between an accelerated class to a to a honors class to an AP class so there's it's you know they don't get tracked into one so that there's more um ability for kids to to move into those higher classes or whatever so I guess what I'm wondering is are you looking at that with the curricul review in terms of looking at is there a big gap you know is there a big gap between like what they're doing in honors versus what they're doing AP versus what they're doing in um you know like the other levels so that kids you know what I'm trying to say so that it's not it does if a kid moves from one track to the next it doesn't feel like a huge gap so that if they want to move up into that higher track it feels uh I guess more doable is that something that you're looking at in your curriculum review I would suggest perhaps Mr Melbourne take that one on and um the the short answer would be yes but I'll turn it over to Mr Melbourne yes sorry I didn't mean to interrupt there um yes absolutely so I would say that is the primary focus of where we're at right now um we our our big quote from uh Mrs friend earlier was that our goal is to increase the sealing of each and every student by eliminating barriers and that is the most true thing um and that is exactly where the the math department is looking and it's kind of as you said it's it's twofold we're looking to um eliminate barriers that exist currently um in terms of as you said getting locked into a track um but then also the consistency uh across the curriculum horizontally and vertically right so we do want to make sure that um there's a shared experience across you know for instance Algebra 2 or geometry regardless of of what the level is and then that there's consistency from six all the way through 12 in terms of um the content thank you so much absolutely thank you all right Ryan has a question yeah I just wanted to like assert to you guys that kind of the the real world implications and like the science for example uh that it does really do make a difference because um I think with like some of the AP classes when you have like specifically um outline curriculum it can be tough but like uh my chemistry teacher we were like doing this whole lesson on molecular bonds and then he ended up showing us how um in modern day there's like artificial gecko skin that kind of uses that same idea and just like showed you like kind of why it's important like all the things that it can do so I think that is one thing that is very important and then also in the past with different levels when they talked about different levels I think um what has been really helpful for me in choosing what classes to take is the the teachers who kind of took the time or set aside um a class period to really explain the differences of each course and kind of your path in the rest of high school like if you take this class then the next year after that this is kind of what you'll have available to you so I think like having um kind of like a uniform explanation of the available courses would be is like really helpful that's great thanks Ryan your perspective is so useful I'm so glad you're here thanks uh let's go over to John hi thank you thanks the presentation there uh quick question the the math uh websites you guys have the illustrative math and Carnegie Learning is that I assume kids don't have laptops in class this is more like they're assigning homework through these websites is that or is that extra learning or what is that um we are a Ono one um District so each kid will have their uh Chromebook their Google Chromebook and so each one of the options is a Blended curriculum where there are digital um components some heavier than others but then also the physical like consumable copies where students will have a workbook that they will um be able to complete so that's in all three okay all right that's very that's great thank you you're welcome all right back over to Amy yeah thank you so my question has now has to do with prerequisites and sequencing I saw that come up on a few different slides and um so I'm wondering where you are in that process and if um was kind of hard for me to understand whether you've already come to some conclusions about whether you're going to be moving around the order of science classes in the high school in particular I'm thinking about physics being nth grade course and how because it's a ninth grade course it affects AP choices that are available to kids now because it's listed as a prerequisite for higher level classes so is that some of the work that's being done now or if you could talk more about that that'd be great sure uh yes so that is the conversation and the work now is trying to one be able to clarify the difference between physical science and the physics with engineering class because that seemed um it like it needed some more clarification and then discussing um like the level options as well as the sequence and I know that Dr Bon and um Mrs Pierre have been already like talking about that and working on next steps but decisions have not been made yet so is is Will those decisions be made in this phase so that they would be and if so when would when any changes be implemented I can answer that Miss mcy um so Dr Boon will present the program of studies for the committee's review uh I believe it's in January um and so any substantive changes would be communicated at that time at this juncture we are not looking at any significant major changes changes to prerequisite that's going to involve more discourse conversation and Community input um but we will certainly keep the committee updated as we move forward will the community inut input be a part will be will that factor into the program of like will that happen before the program of studies is put out in January so I would defer to Dr Bon but I I would anticipate that we're we will not be seeing any significant changes for uh next fall um those decisions um would have an impact and we would want to make sure that we were moving forward very thoughtfully and carefully um and that we're comp you know communicating the bigger picture as it relates to any changes so those significant changes are not imminent um with fall of 2025 but we will certainly keep the community the uh committee updated uh before before I go over to Jackie just a quick um I just wanted to insert a quick comment about the physical science versus physics as a ninth grade course so um Candace you said that there needs to be more clarity in helping people understand what the courses are my understanding after watching two of my kids take that ninth grade class is that it really is a physics class it's not a physical science class so um explaining to people what the courses are is one thing but are you talking about like having the teacher shift a little bit so that the course is more like a physical science class as opposed to um what is ultimately a physics class in practice right now I think like that is the conversation of um you know it was intended to be more of a physical science class with the engineering in it and so I think looking at how the uh class is described and the the content that is covered with in it is all up for conversation right now and what Mrs Pier has been talking with the Department about got it and then I guess my my follow-up question to that would be because math is so intrinsic to those engineering Concepts my concern is that by teaching engineering at the Freshman level so many kids haven't had any algebra yet and so it almost makes it impossible for them to take the engineering piece because they're just not developmentally ready for that because of their math because they were they weren't mature enough maybe to take the algebra in eth grade and so that's my concern is that by by keeping that physics and Engineering component in the nth grade that it's actually disrupting a more natural progression of learning for kids and whereas you could keep physics at the 11th grade level and many more kids will have had the math they need to do well in that engineering course and so is is Al that's like all part of the conversation you guys are having it is and like um assistant superintendent friend said I don't know that it you know that there would be a change for the upcoming year but that is the conversation of where where that course belongs um and what's best for the kids got it that's great um I see Jackie's next go ahead Jackie you um I am just curious as part of the curriculum review are you looking at student data around what courses what course placement is recommended at the middle school level overrides and how successful or unsuccessful students are based on those recommendations I do think that would have some helpful information in terms of like how how we're assessing kids and making determinations about placement yes so I know that oh sorry Mrs Prim are you going to speak I was just going to say I think it speaks to the uh a larger need of reviewing um our course placement recommendation process in all content areas it's highlighted here um to U Madam chair's Point around the implications with a math recommendation being tied with with the physics and and it's all interrelated but it does speak to an identified need to review all of all of our placement process as students enter into 9th grade and I know that Dr Boon and I have spoken about it and I know that she has spoken about it with the department head so I Look to Mr Melbourne to see if you have anything there to add because I know you've been deeply engaged in looking at the data access and enrollment to advanced level courses the implications of the decisions that are made in seventh and eth grade and how they have a future impact on access to advanced level courses at the high school we're aware of all of this and all of this is part of what we're engaging in and looking at and reviewing so Mr Melbourne anything to add there yeah that was perfect uh Mr friend I would just add also that Mr and I have specifically with regard to the math placement process talked I wouldn't say ad nauseum because I don't think she's sick of me just yet but we've talked a great deal and also um you know we've sought out um the different placement processes in neighboring districts and looked to quite a bit of research actually um but yes the specific data itself is going to be our very next kind of step in the math department as part of our phase one to look into um exactly as you described the placements process and the success level and um everything else just to make sure um that we are again not creating a process that is prohibitive of Student Success I just want to say how excited I am I know that this isn't like exciting for certain people but the curriculum is kind of a lot uh to unpack and to learn but it it's a for anyone that's watching in the community like I have to just drive home how important and wonderful it is that our district is willing to go through this process and how there's a real amazing opportunity I think to meet the needs of all of our students so thank you agreed let's go over to Amy Cohen one more time thank you I for acknowledging one last time I just want to use this opportunity to um urge the committee that's doing this work to consider um seeking some more feedback from um families on the sequencing and um prerequisite decision making that will be happening because um you know I can Echo what Leah's experience with um my children in those classes has been and I can tell you that um it seems as if physics first might be one of those um blockades or hurdles that's keeping kids from accessing other higher level science classes at the high school because it's prerequisite for AP biology as as the handbook is written now and so um that's my plug thank you thanks Amy any other questions guys I think I just have one more question and this might be best for Kirk or for Laura uh I know that a lot has gone into developing a vision for math learning and Visions for perhaps all of the disciplines are you guys also I'm sure you are but um I just wanted to ask it out loud how is this fitting into or getting couched into the portrait of a graduate I I think assistant superintendent be fabulous at talking to this but I know our Educators can do it too because it's being embedded so who wants to take it yeah we're not going to let you answer that question superent Downey I mean I I mean I think I would it is you know we hope that it's infused in in all that we do um but I I would like to turn it over to Mr Melbourne I think who you know who is was closely engaged with students Miss mcber I see you in classrooms all of the time but Mr Melbourne you have kiddos right in front of you every single day can you talk to um this question about how we're working to bring this to life in our curriculum documents in the classroom with pedagogi um we're not there yet but we're certainly in process if you would if you wouldn't mind yeah and um and I would Echo and reading through you know our math instructional Visions from k through eight as they exists now um and as we're developing the 9 through 12 that is really our primary focus right so a focus of creating students who are globally competent citizens right we are focusing on communication and empathy that um everything we do it's more than just math so you'll see a lot of discussion in there about um the thinking process and the the collaborative process that is math and um I you it's a huge Testament to how well kind of all the teachers have shared you know the responsibility of creating um a true nishoba graduate that meets all these competencies right where it's not just that we're teaching you know solving quadratics um we're focused on the process of learning itself within math so um yeah I think it is definitely uh you can you can see it in all of the existing um documents right um so you were saying I think that each one of the disciplines M maybe it was just science that we're looking to see one unit developed this year and implemented next year or is that happening in science or math that is happening in science there's a goal for at least one um we're hoping for more but um it's it's we want the process to really we don't want them to rush it we want to make sure um it's very thoughtful and so the work that's been happening so far will be implemented next year but I don't know in the in the early release times there's a possibility that they'll be working on a unit that comes up later in the year the one they started with right now in biology was for like their unit one and so that would carry out next year all right so Ryan you heard it here first and you can kind of spread the word that your math and science educators are doing this work and that we should be seeing an evolution uh slowly but surely so yep got it thank you great thanks Ryan um all right so Kirk I think that that might uh wrap up that portion of the superintendent's report that's great thank you I kind of snuck that presentation into the report if you noticed there yeah it's fine and it was a good one so we want to thank Candace and Nate and of course Laura for all their hard work thank you guys for being here and for for giving us that great presentation good luck with your work great job guys great job team thank you thank you so much awes um all right so everybody we're gonna move uh from the superintendent report and we're going to head over to uh new business which there's a few things here um Outdoor Classroom approval is going to be the first item here we heard about this last meeting think so Amy would you mind um starting us off with a motion here uh we actually haven't heard this one miss bito this oh I'm sorry yes um if you wouldn't mind may I kind of introduce what we're doing here I guess you should because I'm clearly mistaken go right ahead and understandably so because we've had a few steps in that we needed to make in getting our Outdoor Classroom experiences aligned and as you Rec our principles came forward uh early in the school year to say that that was our goal to do that and so they committed to the fifth grade and do having our Outdoor Classroom experiences uh for our fifth graders and it was at that time they said well we knew there'd be a lag there for the Florence Sawyer students and so Madam chair you uh heard on the sixth and uh excuse me the current fifth and sixth grade students and how that was going to adjust for the Florence story students what you have before you tonight is now the Outdoor Classroom that is aligned for the three fifth grades so we have principal zabic um we have principal Bates I want to make sure we got everybody and principal Blanchard here tonight um to ask your consideration uh so we can uh begin that process for our fifth grade students Madam chair and at this point I'll take it over to Mr Bates uh but I think uh Madam chair also um I had signified vote on here we recognize that it's it's uh our policy to wait until the next thing so we can we we don't necessarily need this vote tonight we can put it into the consent agenda of the next meeting I just want to be clear about that yeah I think that that would be fantastic um that's a good way to do it thank you yep so with that I will turn it over to Mr Bates Dow can everyone hear me okay uh that was a little soft Joel so maybe just in y can you hear me now yeah all right thank you superintendent Downing um and good evening thank you very much for this opportunity to present our new District aligned trips to Outdoor Classroom tonight my colleagues and I are seeking your approval to initiate the process that will allow all of our district fifth graders a rewarding common experience in our planning process we've been mindful of strategic objective three initiative five grow a pre 12 nishoba identity to that end we researched the Nature's Classroom sites that could accommodate all of our fifth graders at the same time we found that our options were limited to only two Nature's Classroom sites uh those in great barington and Freedom New Hampshire both of which presented some logistical challenges as a result we turned to looking at sites that could accommodate all three schools within the same time frame uh fortunately we didn't have to look much further than oceanwood camp in Ocean Park Maine this has been the site that Mary Roland has used for many years and the site that our fifth sixth grade cohort will be using in the spring so what we present to you tonight is an opportunity for all of our fifth graders to experience Nature's Classroom at the same location all during the month of October ensuring consistency across the district Mary rolinson has the first week Florence Sawyer has the third week and the center school will have the fourth week I appreciate the opportunity to uh present this on behalf of my colleagues and we're happy to answer any questions that you might have all right great thank you Joel uh does anybody have any questions about this element sorry I do my your golden hand is broken go ahead ja this is um I guess less of a question to our amazing principles but more of a question and or comment for consider itation for the school committee and our um Administration So currently some fundraising happens for some activities so for example I know our eth grade students often as a class will fundraise for their big field trip to uh DC in the spring and I'm just wondering as we're kind of thinking about fundraising alignment across the district if we do fundraising like let's say for example I'm a fifth grade parent in Stow and I want to do fundraising um it's always been that if you're doing fundraising as a class it's shared and distributed with everyone and so I don't think that that's necessarily anything that's happened specifically for Nature's Classroom in the in the past but I do want us to think about and I guess at some point in the future discuss from an e an equity standpoint how we would do that fundraising across the district across three schools so not appropriate for our conversation today but just something that I think is important that we think about in the future Madam chair if I may yes go right ahead uh Dr reinard I I hear you entirely you've given a beautiful example of why there is an element in the Strategic plan around and nooba Foundation because if we were able to inspire families of which the school district cannot create just as like the school district cannot create uh a PTO U that is a 501c3 organization and that's what we need and so that type of structure would go a long way in addressing the kind of um ideas that you're presenting here tonight so I recognize that's a question for another day uh but it's definitely something on our mind as well that wouldn't be prohibitive in your mind though Jackie okay no definitely not because I know how we've always kind of operated having a current fifth grader and and a ninth grader there was no fundraising efforts made at that time um but it's something for us to think about because I do think as we're building a districtwide identity and shared experiences for all of our students and families that's something that we should think about and I'm glad that superintendent Downing and the district is thinking about that so thank you great any other questions all right well I'm um very grateful to all of you guys for syncing this up it's a long time coming and I so appreciate all the effort it took to help it evolve into this I know Joel is bearing the brunt mostly of just trying to make sure that all the nobody loses anything in this effort so I really appreciate that and uh we look forward to taking our vote next time so thanks thank you for your all of you guys yeah thanks guys for being here we appreciate it thank you thank you all right guys uh without objection I hope we are going to take the dear J um item off of this agenda and move it to the next agenda it is really just um and it needs further discussion at the dear J level as all and they asked if they could just have a little bit more time to make sure that they are advising Us in the most appropriate way with all the information they need so more to come on this if that's okay we'll move that to January 29th then yeah that's fine because their their next meeting I think is January 10ish Jackie um so we're g to we'll meet with them then and and hopefully come to some more clarity on that yeah Scott I just want to clarify the reason there's no materials in the packet for this meeting is because it's just not ready to be discussed about yeah we deter we it came to our attention after the agenda was posted that we weren't going to be ready to move forward on this item so I left it on the agenda um because I had to and um just let you guys know that we're gonna move it forward yeah thanks awesome all right guys the next item uh looks intimidating but Amy vessels is a master of this so she is going to escort us through this uh land Minefield um so what Amy has here is a list of new policies that her subcommittee not new policies but revised policies that her subcommittee has been working on you guys have the spreadsheet that identifies anything that is kind of substantive it also provides you with all the redline versions that show you what is changing what we like to do here procedurally is Amy is going to help us look at or she's going to highlight the couple that really do require your attention it's more than just changing comments and such and then we can give her our feedback she's going to take some notes and then she'll bring it back to her subcommittee um because there are a couple of prickly ones in here so um I'm going to throw it over to Amy vessels and then you guys can give her your feedback all right so um the first one that um I wanted to call your attention to is chca um that's the approval of handbooks um we talked about this one because the what they currently what we currently have is like the policy change that they had the language change is a little bit different from what the mgl says and so we talked about that and I asked Kirk about it and um basically what mgl says is that um that the school committee is to approve any handbooks for 9 through 12 um and that um like the other handbooks for the other like other handbooks are can can be available as it says here for like information informational purposes but it doesn't really specify in this policy that we're approving like 9 to 12 I'm not really sure why they didn't do that since that's what it says in mgl um but that's pretty much what our um practice is right now is to approve the high one um and so I didn't know we kind of talked about it as a committee like do we want to make it more specific to fit what we do but also what mgl [Music] says any comments or feedback for Amy on this questions go ahead Scott so um I guess this is the second paragraph looks like I guess there's three sentences so the last sentences talks about therefore the committee expects handbooks that this sentence is a mouthful and um so I think there are a couple grammatical improvements that can be made to help make it more readable um for example I think handbooks requiring approval should be hyphenated because that's AFF it's you're saying one thing and without the hyphens it's just awkward reading because then it says handbooks requiring a approval be approved it's so that's that's just one request and then the timing so prior to publication I think should be at the end of the sentence just from a readability point of view you know be approved by the committee prior to publication okay so you want the handbooks requiring approval you said you wanted a hyphen there yeah you're kind it's kind of one word in the manner of speaking handbooks requiring approval is like the um subject of the sentence uh well if you put a hyph in there that means that both those words are acting as an adjective for approval I don't think that's what's going on there well handbooks requiring approval is one object right you're it's a single item you know if there was such a word a single word that could mean handbooks requiring approval that would be that word there it's just an awkward phrasing right I agree with the awkward phrasing I'm not sure uh if I would change it in that way I guess is what I'm saying yeah I don't know about hyen it but maybe we could I my can I just interrupt and ask you Amy is this Redline version um what masc said we should use yes this this like wording is from masc yes and so I'm telling you with the original we had had both mgl and this in there but I thought it was confusing so I'm telling you what mgl says it basically says the same thing except for the fact that where it says um um it says uh committee approval will be necessary for any handbooks that like any handbooks is the weird part because really all that it says in mgl is 9 through 12 and that is our practice and so that's why I asked Kirk about it and he said yeah you know that's our practice and that's what mgl says so I I guess I don't understand why they didn't change it that way so I'm wondering we talked about it as a committee should we change it in that way to match what we do and match what mgl says you're asking us yes all right so mgl says that we only need to approve the high school but this is basically putting us in a position to approve all of the handbooks because every handbook has conduct standards of conduct for employees or students right it's only oh schools are only required to do it for 9 through 12 or committees are only it's it's 9 through 12 that they do you know where this language comes from that says require um all handbooks that include student conduct uh well if you pull up the mgl tag at the end of this you can like look at what mgl says like that link is available there I don't know if you w to and does it does it talk does mgl say that the conduct of employees or students so it says let me pull it up here hold on Sor I have it open too let's see it says um in each School building containing the grades 9 to 12 includes the principal in consultation with the school council she'll prepare and distribute to each student a student handbook setting forth the rules pertaining to the conduct of students um the school council shall review the student handbook each pre to consider changes and um the annual review shall cover all erors of student conduct it doesn't really say let's see [Music] um uh yeah it didn't really no so I would I didn't think about this before but you might want to look at our current BD B GD which is also C HB because it talks specifically about the standards of conduct and that cross references and says standards of conduct will be included in staff and student handbooks these handbooks will be reviewed and approved annually by local school councils and by the school committee as noted noted by Statute or regulation and in accordance with nrsd policy chca I just think it's creating a new floor and I mean Kirk are you opposed to us approving all the handbooks um no I'm not opposed to us approving the handbooks that is a matter of the depth of work that the committee wants to get involved there we update them anually we have to always uh submit them for our coordinated program reviews and and and targeted reviews we do with desie so there's lots of methodologies that are used to review the handbooks um that would be the pleasure of the committee yeah I don't see I mean it's it just adds another thing to an agenda but I think that I mean It ultimately master in the law says that we have to review any handbook that includes student conduct or employee conduct so I feel like it's just because one master and RW says that we definitely have to do the high school handbook there's there's a lower floor here of approving all the handbooks so I think it's fine the way that it is me save a little bit of grammar issue I don't know anybody else want to uh jump in on that one Shon wa was waiting politely I don't know if she left decided she didn't need to comment I know I just had a suggestion for the wording of That Awkward sentence but I think it's irrelevant at this point because we've figured something else out all right great um next I'd just like to say that the prior to publication part though I still think should go at the end because the way the sentence read now it's like prior to publication by the school by the committee so it's like the committee's publishing it you know the way it's written so anyhow yeah I agree you on that one I just I don't think the hyphen thing I I don't know if I'd put the hyphen but I definitely agree with you on that one fair enough said the English teacher my suggestion on that was to put a that in in before uh before the handbooks requiring approval just put it that so therefore whatever whatever that handbooks requiring approval I don't think we need the requiring approval anymore because we've decided that we're going to do all of them so it would just be therefore whatever whatever that handbooks be approved approved yeah well I mean if ever there was a handbook that didn't include student and employee conduct we wouldn't have to approve it and so I think they yeah I mean you can add the that you can change the before or before publication to the end but I'll leave it to Amy to work that grammar out she is the master after all right all right anything else substantive Amy that you want to share with us any other policies um no there was the um one that we talked about some was the gbbd the online fundraising and solicitations but we asked Kirk about that and Kirk you said that's not allowed in the district they're not allowed to use like a GoFundMe no that is that is correct okay um so that one is not an issue then and then the only other one I was going to call attention to was um jbb and not for any kind of issue but that was one that came up in the equity report and I know um this is one that dear Jay talked about so I was just going to call attention to that this is that policy hey the whole thing is red I think is this what changed um me pull it up here I don't think we had one before yeah yeah oh that's all I thought we had this we have JB yeah not jbb yeah forgive me for not having it all committed to memory what is JB JB talks about equal educational opportunities and talk specifically around um Mass General law regarding educational opportunities for all students and that no child shall be excluded from or discriminated against in admission to a public school of Town got it and so this one kind of um goes above and beyond and speaks specifically to equity awesome anybody want to weigh in on this or have anything to say here all right thank you guys for bringing that forth that is something that dear J was interested in seeing added okay that's it that was it anybody have anything else on the ones that are kind of on substantive go ahead Scott so there are two that I have thoughts about one of them is C is and Charlie e as an Edward Y what do you think so the third paragraph um the membership composition Etc the the second sentence talks about however the school committee wishes to be kept informed of the establishment and dissolution I I think we need to be more directive than saying we wish to be kept informed I think we should be saying something along the lines of the school committee should be kept informed it just needs to be a little bit more directive in terms of you know to me wishes is kind of like well the superintendent feels like it he can't if he does he doesn't have to I think it should be more clear than that got it um any comments Sharon no I have a different policy I had a question about okay okay anybody um have an opinion on what Scott is saying here Amy or Sharon or shondor anything that you wanted to weigh in on that I do this is do you think it's I understand and I also I understand what Scott's saying and I think that this is happening so I don't I don't know if the way that we change the word but there are things that are happening all the time that are being communicated and funneled through the chair so I don't know if we want to just think about what type of word would we feel comfortable with oh I'm sorry Amy uh because Sharon I think yours hand is a different item Amy I'll take my hand oh that's okay Amy Cohen go ahead no mine is for something else too uh John on this matter um I may have missed the last discussion there about wording but uh when I read this I thought it it sounded fine the way it was originally wasn't sure why we need to change anything I was uh the expenses I just don't know how that works was my only question in regard to that but I thought it read fine the way it was um can I get a thumbs up if you guys want to put it back to shall be kept informed all right looks like we might have a consensus here um so maybe am me just shift that back so that it is it defaults to we will be informed okay um anything else Scott you said there's one other there's one other um Jay is and John H is and Henry that was mine as well yes so mine isn't so much a change here as much as an observation um you know this talks about principles making a reasonable effort to meet with students who Miss five or more unexcused school days um I don't know my my son's a he graduated last year but he missed a lot of days last year now maybe they were considered excused and for a meeting wasn't wasn't called for but at no point last year was I contacted by the principal about his absences and again I knew about them and maybe because I you know sent emails accordingly they didn't contact me but I just wonder if we are in fact following this practice based on my own experience we should be if this is the policy yeah um and I know that student absenteeism is on the front of everyone's mind right now so perhaps these proced procedures are being shorted up as well any anybody else have a comment on this one Sharon I think you said you did yes so I'm I'm finding this whole policy about absences and excused absences versus unexcused absences I'm just finding it really confusing the policy this policy that we're reading now appears to be very much the policy that I've always thought that the district had regarding absences and a parent ability to um you know contact the school and say my kid is sick today and it's an excused absence but there was a lot of conversation earlier about attendance and what is an excused absence and what is not an excused absence and parents can't excuse absences any longer and maybe that was excuse absences for illness any longer and I'm I'm just confused about what really is the policy well Kirk can you definitively say that this syncs with what the high what the high school and all the schools are doing right now is something that we're working hard on right now um to to build some consistency with and we have notifications that go out to families when um the students absences get to 10 regardless of the reason um it's 10 days out of school and so when we do that we're working with what are the the procedures so for instance often times we know we have the student uh that was out for illness and it was notified to the nurse so the care and concern call of hey a letter will be coming home but we well recognize uh that um your student was out due to this illness here's the factor if administratively speaking we're coding and running through these absences one at a time and and defining them as is an absence from school just a parent saying it's excused uh you know then we have no standards for going to school um so we have to be very it's it's a very nuanced um issue and in the state law the the law is around seven days over a six-month period And if you're in violation of that the family can be fined $20 so even the state um uh law on school absences is outdated in needs revision as well so um I might suggest that we we table moving this policy forward so that we can dig deeper into it to address some of those questions that Miss Pac for instance brought up yeah I agree Amy why don't you note that that this one's gonna come out yeah because this is this is so operational that we perhaps need Kirk or Kate because at the high school is really when this rubber hits the road so where kids start actually being like academically punished store I mean it's it's K to2 don't get me wrong yeah there's it's it's an issue k to2 for a whole host of variety of reasons and we want to be mindful of all the various scenarios that families are facing regarding uh School refusal and School attendance um which is why I've instructed the the principles of we're going to notify and have conversations with family when it's just absence whether it's a sickness whether it's a a religious holiday whether it's a vacation once you get to 10 it's just a standard notification and that's just and that notification is hey here's we we see that you've been uh that your child's missed 10 days of school this is providing you notice to be mindful about that in terms of uh School attendance but as always if your child's sick we don't want a child going to school sick so it's it's the soft entry into those convers ations that for a handful can get very complex right oh Jackie go right ahead and I'm wondering because we're going to table this I know that dear J is working on an equitable decision-making tool that once it's approved by the school committee for use that it really will I think talk through these types of policy IES and how what are the implications both on the policy side but also on the operational side so that might be something worth waiting for to use thanks Jackie uh Amy no um I have another policy oh a different policy okay anything else on this policy Sharon nope you're gonna wait yes I I do um sorry I was trying to un mute myself but I was already unmuted um there's another component of this maybe just to think about a little bit further and that's the piece about um if a student misses 10 consecutive days that they are unenrolled um I I'm really uncomfortable with that and I know that it was a little bit more Nuance than simply that straightforward there was a meeting and some other things required um but I I feel like that does not take into that blanket statement does not take into consideration again different factors that might be influencing an individual situation um where they may be missing an extended period of school um and it feels punitive yeah I'm uncomfortable with that got it all right so Amy table this one we'll we'll um perhaps have to meet in more in depth with Kirk and his team Amy Cohen you had something different yeah thank you um policy jfbb dash one I don't know the dash is necessary but it's un school choice yeah I wondered um if this was an opportunity to in reading this policy it seems that there's nothing in here about an item three the random drawing being held being witnessed or recorded or held in public um made of able to be viewed by the public um is that something notice yeah is that something that we would want to try to incorporate in a policy on school choice I know that we've kind of observed that we need to we might need to Shore up that process so that there's less questions about how people are selected for the for school choice um and this seems like a way to do it KK do you have an opinion on this oh you're muted Kirk thank you for that policy's outlined that the policy's meant to to mirror the statute and so uh the question before the committee would be do you want to do anything that goes beyond what the statute requires regarding school polic this policy I I would be in favor of that I don't know how the feel committee feels I don't know if this is another one we need to table and just kind of do some review of what other districts are what their practice is um but I would feel more comfortable with with that I actually think that um not only might it make res residents feel more comfortable but I actually think it would cover our people to actually have um yeah an opportunity for people to attend or view so that there can be no misrepresenting what's happening it's a it's we publish it to families to come and attend when they apply and so we send out the invitations and we do it in the school committee room and U last two years in a row no no one has arrived no one has okay so maybe that's something that we could do also we can announce at a school committee meeting I mean not that everybody watches us but um it can be in the meeting materials it could be announced and that it's only for people who are in the lottery to attend I imagine right correct yeah so maybe we could just maybe make it um more public and not just emailed because I know I miss emails all the time but so um Amy could your subcommittee maybe consider this um also it's like an equity issue as well so maybe Jackie you can kind of put an ear to this as well at your next meeting to think about making this more not more transparent but just more publicly announced okay anything else guys in the list all right as always we appre appreciate the policy subcommittee and this hard work so thanks guys for all of that ex out all my policies hang on okay uh next item on our agenda we are just a tad um early but that's okay I think that Ross is ready for our finance and operations update Ross I will let you introduce our director of facilities for the capital planc great thank you than very much um so we have three items for finance and operations this evening the first item is our annual presentation of the district's Capital plan that is submitted to the town administrators prior to the change of the calendar year per the regional agreement I'm joined this evening by our facilities director Rob feswick and Technology manager Sue Chi um Alita would you mind pulling the presentation up or do you want me to drive it tonight I didn't hear you it doesn't matter to me um I can do it yeah why don't you go ahead thank you sure so zelia's pulling that up uh last week at the budget warrant subcommittee meeting we reviewed the capital plan in detail um we went well over the uh allotted time on the agenda but I think that was time well spent and prepared us for our overview this evening and we provide promis to provide a brief overview of not just the plan but also the process so as and if you just go forward a couple of slides to yeah you can go past that yep so I also can you go to the the introductions real quick Le I just want to make sure we also acknowledge um third slide please thanks uh Pam Sylvester who is our facilities program coordinator who does a great deal of the leg work on building an invoice Ing and all those types of things but also coordinating um Kylie Harris who works in our department obviously coordinating with towns on payments and then obviously our partners in uh colleagues in the towns including the town administrators next slide please Alita so here are the essentials of the capital process I know we have some new members who may not have seen uh the presentation before but essentially we have an ongoing need uh or ongoing assessment of our Capital needs um that happens throughout the year um but by the end of the calendar year we do need to submit our five-year Capital plans to Our member towns um so we present this information to the school committee not for Vote or approval but simply for uh the education of what's in these Capital plans so you're well aware once it goes to the towns then each town has its own process for taking that information in whether it's through cleargov and Stow or a form in uh Bolton that's new this year with the New Town Administrator from that point it is really to the towns on how they handle these obviously we uh Mr fuk and I meet with each Town Administrator to go through these pieces sometimes the dpws are involved um but quite often it's really just that meeting with the Town Administrator to to go through the plan in detail that point on through January until about April they're making their decisions on their Capital um requests uh Stow is unique that it has a capital planning committee that we present our information to uh and they also uh either uh approve or sort of support or do not support uh our Capital requests on the town meeting floor so in May when those Town meetings occur sometimes these things are voted um and approved sometimes they are not sometimes they don't make their way to the town warrants um but if they are approved and after that town meeting we we start to work on how are we going to implement this Capital project when is it going to be scheduled who's doing the work if it's going out to bid how's it going out to bid all those pieces and being in really tight communication with the towns around this if it does not get approved or does not move forward to the town meeting then it just goes back into the next step of the capital cycle um that I am going to show you next um Alita if you move on to the next slide so for the the committee's um information these are the four uh things that we submitted to the town of Bolton for Capital last year for fy2 um you can see that one was uh approved and is currently under contract and moving forward the other three have been re committed for FY 26 uh in Lancaster uh on the next slide we had a total of three projects all three were approved by the town Administration um and through their channels and their processes and we have two complete and we are just waiting on one more for a pending start date within the town of Stow we requested four things three uh were supported and approved um through their process one the existing conditions um assessment was not uh we'll talk a little bit about that more um as Lancaster did move that forward and it's been completed uh if we go to the next slide so Mr freeswick um does build the capital plan um and works with uh you know the host of people that we have working in the district on maintenance projects and uh installations all those types of things repairs uh and his own uh information to identify issues and deficiencies that are coming up and looking at how those fit into the capital plan and then works with known vendors and contractors to build and price those estimates that's the process in Bolton and stow it was the process in Lancaster but because of the building assessment that was approved by the town last year an engineering firm came in and did a pretty extensive building assessment and we have a very extensive report uh Mr F would can talk a little bit more about that but again it provided a great more of detail um not only by experts by segment but also as far as prioritizing costs what would the escalation be over time those types of things that really do help us build a much more informative Capital plan uh so now at this point I'm going to turn it over to Mr freeswick in um also to Suchi sui is going to present the information on the uh camera servers and switch Replacements on Bolton's slide he's not going to repeat the same information on the Lancaster and Stow slide it's the same information information the same need across the district so uh Mr fck will present the first couple of pieces of information and again wheni uh provides his piece he's only going to do it for both and so we're not being repetitive this evening thank you thanks Mr mcaren uh good evening everybody I appreciate the time to talk about the capital request for FY 26 um as Mr mcaren said um we're going to be um resubmitting the building condition conditions Assessments in Bolton um that assessment will Encompass the Sawyer building the Emerson building and also um central office um like Mr McCaren said you know with the project that we undertook down in Lancaster um it's going to give us a much much more robust um look at our buildings um you know from Roofing architecture Plumbing Heating um electrical all things that are inside of the building um one of the other fy2 request is the propane tanks over at the Sawyer building there's five 1,000 gallon tanks that are below grade um those propane tanks are owned by Suburban Propane uh which limits us to go out for competitive bid for our um propane each year um you'll see two numbers on there um I'm working with a propane company right now um and they've had some success in working with sub uh Suburban Propane and buying out the existing tanks um which will eliminate the need to dig up the existing tanks and have them replaced with the associated piping and tanks the second number you see on there is the full excavation pulling the old tanks out and uh installing new tanks at the Emerson building the flooring in the classroom in the hallways uh is at the end of its life expectancy um a lot of the carpeting in the classrooms uh is heavily stained um as you can imagine you've got a lot of little kids over the past you know 20 years um you know it it makes quite a mess um start to tear in some areas um and just a wear and tear on the VCT VCT Tile that's inside of the classroom uh inside the hallways Emerson exterior door replacement uh the doors are at the end of their life uh we've had to make a lot of repairs to make sure that the doors are closing properly and locking um you know that's obviously crucial for building security um chi I can turn it over to you real quick so you can update on the server camera replacement in the next Network switches okay thank Rob um hello I um so for the for the uh T stuff we put in two requests one is for the switch um so switch network switch is is a device connect other uh equipment on the network like U computers servers storage copers printers you know kers so because of their uh uh their function is like to to link everything together so all device talk to talk to each other and also you know this is how like all the device connect to internet um we have multiple switch in each building and um the age of all these switches um it is almost all like 10 years plus oh now like a typical industry uh standard is like uh we should like replace this device on like seven years you know on that cycle um we make it work for all these years but really uh we reach to a point uh we should think about replacing them so the the camera and the server for the cameras um as device U Store all the video cameras for the uh security reasons and also how to process all those videos and uh those servers uh we have one server for each building and uh the server lifespan normally is like around five years all the server we currently have is about like seven plus years old so they also reached to that point and also couple server particular the one in high school uh there are some failed component so we kind of no longer have redundancy in place so if something happen U we're going to lose all that function all together so that is kind of a critical piece we should replace so that's kind of the two thing we put forward you know to the community for consider Al I think we can move on to the next slide quick question about the text stuff if it's okay to ask now uh yeah why don't we go ahead and do that and then we can move on to the rest that's fine uh it uh I brought it up in the budget and warrant but I I don't think we an answer there um for the the tech items uh I see that they're repeated across uh the different buildings I assume that there is some economic benefit to buying for all the buildings at once and getting better pricing uh is is that something that we're able to do is that something that's included in these estimates Z actually is one of the reasons of course when you buy multiple like the price comes down another another reason we like to propose and hopefully we can get approv in all town all s Town together is because of High School new building and so in the new building of course everything we there will be new and the switch we put in there is this like a a new brand it's much Advanced like a lot of AI driven you know building so we want we want all the switch uh in all buildings compatible with the high school so that's another reason we should move forward you know and we hope like you know we all three time can approve all together I I'll answer this answer as well Mr Simon this is the complexity of being in a regional school system as this is a capital item and according to the regional agreement these are the items that we need to bring forward to the taxpayers of each individual town for the buildings that um in each of those towns so yes there is power in purchasing when we can do them all together um it takes quite a bit of of coordination between between our towns to make that happen thank you okay why don't we um move on to the Lancaster Capital needs so for FY 26 um these Capital requests um are a direct result from the existing conditions assessment um that was performed this summer um the exterior masonary uh chimney from the boiler um down in Lancaster um there's signs of fail in Mortar joints at the top of the chimney um and you know as those mortar joints deteriorate water gets inside um you know underneath the brick and can cause premature failure of that chimney um and that was one of the findings that you know we we need to get up there um you know redo those mortar joints and make sure that that chimney is watertight um same thing for the windows and doors the sealant around the windows and doors uh over time you know from UV degradation um you know there it started to fall apart um and that's going to introduce water behind you know behind the door frames window frames um so we need to replace that to make sure that we're protected from water vapor and air intrusion same thing with the brick uh control joints veneer control joints um over time same thing with the UV degradation that breaks down so those control joints the cocking needs to get um removed and put new cocking in there so we don't have um water getting in behind that brick and causing the to fall apart colonade column bases um this is in the front of the building um at the entryway um same thing where the where the columns meet the um concrete walkway all that cocking is starting to deteriorate so that needs to be removed and replaced um through the existing conditions assessments um you know we looked at a lot of different issues known issues in the building um and for years and since I started and even before um there's been some moisture issues inside that building um and there's been some mitigation work that's tried to take care of that there was a French drain that was put in on one side of the building to try to see if they could get the moisture um away from the slab of the building um but one of the recommendations from lero Corp was to um do a performance diagnostic on the 62 univ vents classroom univ vents that are inside the building um so we would have a firm come in do diagnostic testing on those univ Vents and then from there um you can see an hbac step two um doing the servicing and maintenance to repair any deficiencies that are found in those unit ventilators on the next slide I just want to make one note of a correction and again we won't repeat the information on the network switch replacement and the reserver replacement uh but the network switch replacement for Lancaster should be 117,000 $186 not the 173200 so Alita I'll get you the corrected slide to post for the meeting materials FY 26 um request for Stow um we're putting forward the existing conditions assessments for Hail um that was brought to the floor last year at annual town meeting it was not supported so we're bringing that back again this year um the water storage tank inside the out building um stores the drinking water um you know for the building um it's starting to show some signs of rust um so through our D our fiveyear annual fiveyear D inspections that was one of the recommendations is that we pressure wash prep and repaint the exterior of that storage tank so it lasts for much longer um fire alarm control panel it's it's at its end of with life um you know as things break in there it's becoming more difficult to find replacement parts so we're going to be upgrading the fire alarm control panel there um the carpeting in the auditorium uh is at the end of its life there's a lot of rips in it um it was actually noted in our preoccupancy walkthrough with the fire department this summer um you know that we need to take action on that to make sure nobody trips and falls Center School um the original part of the building um that's along 117 the uh Gable ends um and around the window um the front windows um the paint needs to be um scraped and repainted and security cameras and the network switches uh just on the last of the buildings is just the high school and that's just simply for the camera server replacement and that actually should not say Center inhale it's just for the high school obviously we're not looking to replace the network switch there because that would be part of the building project as explained by sui uh Alita if you go to the next slide so our next steps are we'll be submitting the fiveyear capital plans to Our member Town administrators uh through the process that they prefer in each of the towns uh we will uh likely as part of their requests submit backup in the form of quotes pictures um specs things like that um you know sometimes it's a report from preventative maintenance about something that's going on but we try to provide the backup for them and have the um explanation so that they can move forward with their decision- making and again through January into April they obviously do their processes and if something moves moves forward to the annual town meeting it gets presented as uh you know an article and hopefully passes and then if it does we go ahead and start working on how we're going to implement that Capital project and if not we put it back into the uh process for the next Capital plan and uh as part of the meeting materials this evening um on additional resources you can find the actual full Capital plan you can see the difference uh in the Lancaster schools we did a um a screenshot of how those things are broken out with priority as well as there's a link to the regional agreement I know that's on the um school committee page but for the public you know the information about how that capital budget um is uh assessed for the high school but also the process uh as well so thank you Alita are there any questions regarding the capital plan for myself uh Rob freeswick or sui Ross can you very quickly just re-explain what you said about the high school with regards to the you said that there was one yeah so yeah just it should on the it says camera servers but in parentheses at Center and hail that was from the previous slide uh just when I was setting up the tables so that is the correct cost for just the high school for just their security camera server obviously we would not be upgrading the network switch because that's going to be part of the building project as that moves forward thank you any other questions around the capital plan Ross I'm not sure if you said this at the very beginning and I'm sorry if I missed it um as the committee might notice that the existing conditions assessment is only on the capital plan for Stow and Bolton that's because Lancaster paid for it at a pocket last right so specific funding source like I don't want to quote the town of Lancaster but they did fund the building assessment report um we'll be providing that not just to Lancaster but to all the other two towns as well part of stow's capital planning was that they they felt hesitant and I and I and I understand their their justification that they wanted to see an example um so this provides a real world in District example of how we've used the building assessment we can continue to use it um so for example in Lancaster with regards to univent uh you know the proposal of having those further diagn tic uh studies done and looked at in in more depth and also potential maintenance to those or upgrades to those is in the plan as well as what the cost would be to do um the full un events with in sections of like 16 I think it was but we have over 60 so it's really a million dollar project if not more to replace all those unit events but the the building assessment provides an Avenue and Alternate Pathways to address issues or dig deeper into issues to prevent the higher cost um coming up sooner so those are the types of things that we're seeing as beneficial not all high priority items that we're not putting all those forward for the next year's Capital plan but we're we're working to segment those out um in in bju in our recommendations but obviously you know the the town owns the the the capital or excuse me the building assessment just as much as we do and they can use it uh to make an adjust um you know or or find more information excellent thank you go ahead Amy yeah my question has to do with um you know the school committee's role in all of this you know like for example in the town of Bolton it looks like um last year we also the the administration put forth the request for the building floor replacement and it was not funded and so it's showing up again this year um but this is really up there's two steps for this to get funded one is that the select board members have to agree to put it on the warrant and then the next one is that the has to be voted to be funded at the town meeting but as a school committee member we don't really impact what's happening throughout that process true yeah Amy I think you bring up Miss Co pardon me uh I think you bring up um a very good point a couple of things we could look to this committee um and we don't have to do that tonight we can we can certainly look at our our future agenda to take a vote of support for these items as a as as a marker that the school committee is pushing these things but also uh the participation and attendance at Town meetings and vocalizing support and the importance of these items and advancing them forward I think is another critical piece it is always help but you are right that we don't have the fiscal levers to pull to advance these items forward so we have to use our political levers uh to create the compelling cases of why we need these items but if in the case of um things that continue to get not funded um at some point the will those end up being assessed to the towns yeah so so if it if it came down that we had to use um assessment levers for that um we would look to the processes outlin in Massachusetts General law gosh it's been a little while since the building project days I'm I'm remembering chapter 71 section d and n as the methodology yeah I would have to go back and look up but yes I mean ultimately if we got into disrepair and the building could not function without it th we we would have to take those costs and use assessment levers for that I will interject and say that this this is for the whole committee really especially new members but very much for the communities to understand that the we are a quasi autonomous body but we don't own all of these properties and so the regional agreement tries to build a bridge on this because we can't compel the towns to keep the buildings in good standing and it was um a real debate on the regional advisory committee that just rewrote the regional agreement and um you know I went kind of toe-to-toe with a well-respected member of a select board on this matter and I wanted the lever in the regional agreement that we could force the issue on this and so um I lost that debate um and the towns are completely in control of managing the physical structures that our kids go to every single day so our Partnerships are actually our informal Partnerships are really important to keep that communication Line open and I know that um Ross's team really does that and Rob too does a great job um helping the towns understand what is absolutely necessary you know this is not a list of wants this is a list of needs and I think that making sure that the town leadership and all of the community community members understand that when they're when they don't vote for these things at town meeting that they're just kicking the can down the road on on a handful of them that are actually very important to student safety so that there's a rub there and I want to make it really clear that we're aware of that rub and um the community needs to understand that if they make decisions not to fund these things that it could have real impact on teaching and learning so thanks Rob for that one more time we appreciate you U making this happen as is required by the regional agreement and uh thank you sui for your help as well and identifying those items we really appreciate it so good luck as you go forward thank you appreciate it hope everybody has a good holiday season you too thank you thank you CH all right Ross uh keep it rolling with rates review yeah thank you uh so we annually present proposed rate increases for several of our sectors that bring in fees or tuition that ultimately are used to offset cost within the district uh the First Rate proposal uh for this evening is our Extended Learning I'll wait for aadita to pull up the slide deck so I don't get ahead of myself so our Extended Learning Program uh is you know providing after school and before school care for K to5 students that um register for the program and obviously those are at their own schools uh so we run three sites at Mary rollinson Florence Sawyer school and the Center School uh last year you may recall uh that we did an extensive comparables review in order to set the level for this type of service not just in uh local but uh ex me neighboring districts but also local districts and found places um where they ran similar programs so that's why you saw the the larger increase from FY 24 to fy2 for FY 26 um presenting a simple 4 and a half% increase uh this does two things it keeps uh Pace with our unit c Extended Learning staff's increase and also provides uh the ability for the district uh to also keep Pace with its planned and historical offsets from Extended Learning um Al if you go ahead and just move on to the after school I just want to make sure the committee is aware that they're all four and a half percent um so again this allows us to make sure that we're meeting our payroll needs then we're also um keeping up with our historic offsets that come from the Extended Learning um revolving account um and again we did the comparables last year so we don't feel that it's necessary to continue that process this year although in a couple years we're going to want to go back to that same process um Le if you just go ahead to the preschool rates uh the first thing you'll notice is obviously that we've moved to just the five half day and the five full day we no longer offer the three full half day option and speaking with our early childhood administrator Kristen Ryan she felt that we were going to continue not to offer the three Half Day next year so that's why that's not here uh the 6 and a half% increase is a little bit more than it has been in the last two fiscal year increases and here's why if we take not just uh let me provide a little bit more detail if we take the uh usage of tuition uh which is to offset salaries of our preschool staff um that are in these programs uh where kids are paying tuition rate for some of these slots they have a contract that not just has their increase of a percentage but also folks move upsteps and over Lanes based on education um credit changes so the net result of all those changes from year to year for the preschool salaries is 6 and a half per. so that's why this keeps uh this goes to 6 and a half% if we were not going to keep up with the the pace of those salary uh changes we would put more onus on the operating budget and less onus on the uh revolving fund uh and tuition uh to support those salaries so it doesn't necessarily increase or decrease the percentage share but it just simply keeps Pace uh with regards to the facilities rentals so before I I do any sort of uh review of what's being proposed um we did do a look at uh the historical Revenue that has come in um from the facilities uh use over time you can obviously the major dip uh in fy21 when basically the the buildings were essentially closed due to covid for any rentals fy22 we actually still saw limited use of the building um but many of you will remember that the uh TV show Dexter filmed at nooba Regional High School for several days overtook the campus at the end of the summer and 78,000 of 107,000 was due to uh those filming contracts we've seen an increase from 23 to 24 and what we brought in year to dat for 25 we are a little bit under paace with the last couple of years um as as of the end of November beginning of December however some of that is due to the fact that we had uh limited use of the high school campus this summer which we typically see a lot of uh programs come in and use the facility so uh that's just a historical piece on the last slide Alita I am just presenting a simple 5% increase to keep up with um you know inflation some of our our facilities contracts uh those types of things and again um no other changes by besides the fact that we're just um changing the rates by 5% so at this point I can take any questions on the proposed rates anybody have any questions I have a quick question for you Ross I feel like the last time we looked at the I don't know if it was the end of year report but I think last meeting when you presented it seemed to me that the after school program was running in the Black by quite a bit so why is it necessary to increase the rates if it's paying for itself and then some so what I would say is that when we do the budget um we talk about offsets I'm going to present what historically was used um for those offsets the offsets have actually decreased in the last few years the amount of what they were as compared to what they had been in the past so I'll present that information about I think we need to get back to the level of offset that was coming out of the Extended Learning Program in order to um get back to the that that level because you're worried that those those costs are going to reappear uh well historically the district has used more of the Extended Learning fund to offset the budget got it that has gone down a little bit most likely my understanding was because we brought in you know less during that that year that we had nobody in our extended learning program for covid so we sort of backed off on some of those offsets but now we can get back to that and start to use that Surplus but also keep up with the pace of what's necessary okay I fully understand the um the question that you're proposing uh I think presenting to you in the committee uh what those offsets have been will Pro provide a little bit more context on that and we vote on this um at like on the same day as the budget Workshop so before we vote on these rates we would be hearing more about those offsets right correct okay Amy yeah I I think this follow follows up to what Leah is saying for the um preschool monthly tuition proposed rates I would feel a bit more comfortable approving a 6.5% increase for fiscal year 26 if I knew um that we weren't pricing ourselves out of the competition like I just don't know where how that compares to other choices that parents have at $1,100 a month H so I don't know if you're able to put that in context for us I don't know if that information is easy to get I tried to do some Googling and couldn't find it out myself yeah no when we did that we did that uh last year or the year before Miss Cohen it does become a little bit complex because we are not a eight hour to 10 hour program that some preschool daycare is some of our other neighboring districts Also may have a uh a larger um Grant type level of funding through idea or maybe a universal pre there's a lot sorts of wrinkles within these types of programs that make them all a little bit unique and comparable but it does not mean that we can't look at uh those types of things yeah Miss colen I know that Mr de Manch is in the meeting this evening and and is listening in on the conversation and we'll direct her to work um with Miss Ryan our director of the earth ched program uh to see what we can do in terms of understanding some comps you're looking for thank you very much any other questions lot to take in there all right not seeing any uh then we will perhaps move on so more to come on that guys we'll vote on it um at in January now we can talk a little bit about the um no uh fy2 November operating budget report y thank you so the last item for finance and operations this evening is the operating report as of the end of November um the report was presented and discussed with budget and warrant subcommittee last week uh the first note I want to share with you is that we'll continue to need to offset the special education budget with additional use of circuit breaker uh we expect that additional offset to be close to the additional offset that was applied last year I want to stress that this is an addition to the planned offset and we'll discuss special education budget and offsets a little bit more in depth next month as we present the budget uh also at the suggestion of budget and warrant I've added a standing note regarding the surpluses we see in our buildings uh in those cost centers uh they're at this point of the year due to salary uh attrition so while I say that publicly each month uh while I present this report we um want to make sure the public has that information as well so that footnote is now added uh just lastly uh facilities and uh substitute teachers um I think I've said a couple times either here or definitely at budget and warrant with substitute teachers we're doing a little bit of a better analysis of our usage over time uh taking up that covid year um and some of those impacts um I think in building a little bit more of a um more accurate budget um as you can see our prediction is that we will use um more than is uh in that cost center uh however with facilities because we had a little bit of a warmer start to the winter uh we're trending uh in the positive right now but again that can change at any point during the winter based on conditions um snowstorms uh cold snaps all those types of things uh but otherwise we're looking uh good in that department so I can take any questions on the operating report I'm not seeing any Golden Hands any other questions all right everybody thank you very much for that Ross that was all very informative we appreciate your time and energy yep and I have my notes for Budget to make sure that we're we're answering those questions providing that information awesome thanks thank you all right everybody so on the agenda next is um we have no unfinished business so I would like to make time for any subcommittee or advisory reports if there's anything you would like to make the committee aware of all right so I'm not seeing any pressing news to um provide oh Kirk has something I just I'm I'm just crosschecking takeaways Madam chair um I'm going to look back at uh some clarification on the handbook policy although we think we're going to move forward with that to see how that supported attendance policy getting some clarity and some language on that um the school Choice policy regarding uh public uh participation if you will how that's written into there and then we're going to look at some preschool rates is there anything I'm missing for takeaways and Miss vessel knows the of the work that I've I've asked to move forward in regards to the competency determination yes um will you be coming to our January um six meeting yeah Miss Masterson will make sure that's on my calendar okay I I hope Amy to have you read my mind yeah I I I hope to have some more guidance on the confidence and determination um I know it's being reviewed uh at mass and the Tri County Superintendent I received an email this afternoon that we're making a priority on our agenda that I believe is the ninth we don't I don't want us to feel like we have to have confidency determination so by like the end of January we don't um but I I'll reach out to you directly Miss vessels on because I think it's best for us discuss once I've been able to hit those round taes to get as much depth as I possibly can through the wisdom of the superintendent and and desie yes thank you thank you what a storm that's created all right thanks for that Kirk appreciate it Amy Cohen and I I I I have to acknowledge assistant superintendent friend as this is an issue she's um digging deep into and participated in the webinar this afternoon on behalf of the district so uh we're going to be working closely together with Dr Boon um uh for uh guidance and language on that so great uh Amy Coen I apologize when you said Amy before I thought you were talking to me it's very confusing um I just wanted wanted to ask if you could remind me when the um communication subcommittee should any need the date in January yeah my my meeting with Dr Boon is tomorrow okay so I have my regular meeting with Dr Boon and then we're meeting with our advisory students uh so I will have that information for you uh come on okay great thank you so we've already talked to um uh assistant principal walker uh who is leading that the student council so he's aware of that so we're aligning with him okay great thank you is he the he's he's the new adviser yeah that's right so and and forgive him Miss Coen I don't have the January dates on me but he already said yeah let's look at January and they meet uh bi-weekly so it's just a matter of I will get those to you I will follow up with via email oh excellent will you make sure to copy Miss Masterson on that as well sure thank thank you any other subcommittee matters all right guys so the the agenda for uh the next meeting is obviously Set uh with the budget Workshop let's see here thanks Alita for pulling that up um there's a couple of other things that we'll take votes on um Amy um if that policy second reading is ready then we will keep that on there if not you can just let us know but I imagine the more mundane items can go into the consent agenda okay and then uh we'll wait then I guess till the end of the month we have a several more policies that we need to bring forward yep the delou continues on you thank you for managing that all right guys so anything else for the good of the order here anything you want in the parking lot or on on an agenda somewhere okay uh as always if you think of something afterward just shoot me an email and I can manage that for us but other than that um that is going to do it for this evening I'm going to move to adjourn do I have a second second I think that was Sharon well done was uh so we'll take the roll call vote I'm going to start with Robin yes myself yes Amy vessels yes Sharon yes John yes Shan door yes Amy Cohen yes hi Lindsay hi sorry I was at a work event and I say yes totally fine thanks for coming um and Scott yes and Jackie yeah wonderful thank you everybody I hope you all have a great great holiday we'll see you after the new year