Folks, it is 6:00. We are going to get started. Uh we'll start with the pledge of allegiance. The flag is over our shoulder 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. Okay. Um, we have some special guests, so we're going to acknowledge them because they've done such great work for Nord Public Schools. Um, we have our lovely comfort dogs.
So, we just want to say thank you. Um, about 2 and 1/2 years ago, we all changed some of the policies um through one of the cities projects. Um, Maya O was a senior, just graduating this year, and she um lobbyed and petitioned to
have the the laws changed so we can bring the dogs into the school. We spend about 40 hours on average every year in the new school. We did about 15 in the middle school with the dogs visiting each of the um the grades. Um but we
just wanted to say thank you for for allowing us in the school and allowing us the luxury of spending time with kids. I think it was mutually beneficial for uh for the kids as well as for the dogs. The dogs love it. Um so we just wanted to come and say uh thank you um
it's the end of the year your last meeting and so please great well they are always welcome. So as I said we may have to start bringing in some school committee meetings if we anticipate having to meet them but I just wanted to thank the Mosto family uh
for you know allowing us the privilege of of working with your pups. Um we had a rough year this year and um you know a lot of our students and staff experience tragedy and um they are always so
willing to come when we need them and u bring a smile to everyone's face and we're just truly blessed to have this partnership. So thank you to you and to your family. You're beneficial. So thank you. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Okay. So, we'll get to our rest of our meeting. Um, so the first item is the public comment period. If anybody would like to come up and address the board, please do so. Just present your name and address, please.
[Music] Uh, Karen D, 6 North Washington Street. Um, as another school year wraps up, I just have to say I'm beyond grateful for the incredible Norton public schools teachers and parent professionals who show up every day ready to teach, support, and keep our kids safe.
Their dedication makes all the difference. And honestly, I don't know how they do it. As a parent of a middle schooler and a high school schooler, I'm especially thankful for their for the knowledgeable teachers tackling subjects that I certainly could not teach at
home. um like honors geometry. I took it once upon a time, but let's just say I wouldn't be much help on homework these days. To continue attracting and retaining amazing educators, we need to ensure that they feel valued, supported, and fairly compensated, fair and competitive
contracts, help keep experienced professionals in our schools, and allows them and allows them to focus on what matters most, helping students learn and grow. Strong schools start with strong strong educators. Our teachers and
paraprofessionals pour their time, energy, and passion into our students. Investing in them means investing in our students and community. With just three and a half days left, three and a half days left. Our team, um, I want to thank them and wish them
all a restful and rejuvenating summer. Thank you. Thank you. Okay, I am Donna Dulac. I live at 104 Nukem Street. I am a PAR professional with the district, but I'm speaking tonight
mainly as a parent. I have a rising eighth grader and an older daughter who graduated from the high school in 2021. Both my kids have had many wonderful, amazing teachers over the years. I could literally name like a dozen. If if I
could, I'd like to take a minute to say thank you to my older daughter's teachers, her high school teachers in particular, who really prepared her so well. She just graduated from Magna um from Boston College, Magna Cam Lady, with a double major in chemistry and classics. Um in particular, her AP
chemistry teacher at Norton High School, Mrs. Bakowski, had a really big impact on her um inspiring her to major in chemistry. And because of this, she is now successfully employed in a chemistry lab. And really, I just have so much to be thankful for for that. Mrs. Picowsky
is just one example of the many dedicated teachers in the Northern Public Schools that like routinely go above and beyond for their students, putting in a lot of extra unpaid hours. I bring this up too because my um my daughter is like a great example of a
Norton public school success story and I want this to continue for my eighth grader and for future generations of Northern Public School students. As a parent, I'm really worried that our Norton teachers are not being paid salaries that are um that demonstrate
that we really respect their expertise, education, and hard work. Most of the teachers I know come in an hour before their contracted time or stay late or take home work with them. So that they're putting in a lot of extra unpaid time. So why would we then ask them to
come in and work another contracted day for no extra pay? And why would um why who would who would would you would anyone work another day for free? And why would we be pnikity about like the number of early release days or teachers going home a little early the day before
Thanksgiving or Christmas? I think our hardworking teachers deserve a couple of small like tiny perks. Um as well as a fair salary. I'm concerned that if we don't value our teachers, we're going to start losing the best, the brightest, and the most
dedicated teachers to the many surrounding towns that pay significantly more. Um, thank you for considering my thoughts as a parent. And my eighth grader also wanted me to add that she usually takes tests on early release
release days and doesn't watch movies and she doesn't want to get rid of any early release days. Please keep them all. Thanks. Thank you. Anybody else? Uh, next item is the vote to approve the
minutes of the May 28th open session meeting and May 28th executive session. Has everyone had a chance to review those? Any questions, comments, edits. Okay, seeing none, entertain a motion to approve the minutes as presented to us.
So moved. A second. Second. All those in favor I uh warrants, Mrs. Um I have reviewed and approved the following school expense warrant May 28th 2025 293,1763
and the school payroll warrant May 29th 2025 1,196,71622. Um I wish to enter that into public record. Thank you. Mr. Chair, do we have to vote executive session one time public
record? Yes. So you did do both joint joint. Thank you. All right. Next is the student representative updates. Good afternoon everybody. It's our last school committee meeting. So we have a lot of
updates from each of the schools. Um but from the HEG there have been so many great events that have occurred since the last report. Last Friday, we had our annual field day where students competed and played um so many fun and engaging games and activities. The weather cooperated and all of our current volunteers helped make the day a great success with Miss Brown, Mr. Chu, Mrs.
Gomes, Mr. Williams, Mrs. Irish, and Mrs. Connelly, as well as our HP PTO leading planning and organizing the spectacular fun event that it was. One of the field day stations was a dunk tape that each class visited and got multiple chances to throw and dunk Mr. Gage in return for the incentive and they reached their booster. This year
the students were again successful as Mr. Gagean was dumped well over 50 times throughout the day. For our upcoming third grade students from the LGN JCS, we had many things planned for their transition to the Yell. In the first week of June, Mr. Gage and Mr. Valawa made their yearly visits to each third grade classroom to talk with the
students about the Yell. On Tuesday, June 10th, all of the third grade students came to us for a step update where fourth grade student council guides gave the third grade students. a tour presented them this slideshow reviewing life at the young and answered any questions they might have being might have about being a fourth grader.
Tomorrow there's a family informational night with Mr. Gagan and Mr. Bawa answering parents questions at 7 in the Yale. Our rising fourth graders will will also check out the second and third floors of where they might be next year. Um this week our fifth grade students went on their field trip to the new Bedford Whailing Museum. It is a
tremendous experience with the kids learning, engaging, and enjoying a sensational excursion. A big thank you to our HPTO for supporting this trip with helping to pay for the buses. Um, and then on June 11th, our fifth graders have an anti-bullying assembly from Animal Adventures from the HP PTO with
our students learning not to bully by seeing, touching, and hearing about such animals as a frog, chinchilla, python, armadillo, and more, including a kangaroo. Such a great message while being an incredible experience. And then also on June 11th, our fifth grade students received their yearbook, a gift from the APTO documenting their careers
at the Y from the LGM. We've had an exciting last few weeks. Our third graders took a trip around town on Wednesday, June 4th with an amazing tour thanks to Mr. Paulus and the High School Honors History Honor Society. Mr. Gagan and Mr. Bala visited third grade classrooms on Thursday to
answer questions about moving to fourth grade in the fall. Then the Yale fourth graders hosted our third graders yesterday on June 10th to give them a tour around school. We were happy to hear from Mr. Ging that our third graders did a great job during their visit. In the afternoon, we celebrated our third graders with a dance party and
games with DJ. Thanks to our PCT for supporting our third graders with t-shirts, a party, and an ice cream truck. Lots of fun was had. Our kindergarteners celebrated end of the end of the school year with their annual teddy bear picnic on Friday, June 6th. Families were invited to for a picnic
snack out on the playground field to visit with their children and read books. Our kindergarteners last day is Friday, June 13th. And then from the GCS, we held our fourth annual adventure games field day last Friday during which all preK through third grade students participated in and a variety of outdoor
activities planned and organized by our teachers and staff. We had 50 parent volunteers assisting during the morning session and 50 parent volunteers assisting during the afternoon session, which was incredible. It was a wonderful day and the kids all had a terrific time. We never could have offered all the activities without the assistance of
our volunteers and especially the parents. We're very grateful for their help and for the work all the teachers and staff did to plan and organize the day. This week our prek students are having the graduation celebration on Friday morning and we're really looking forward to welcoming the families of our prek students to join us in celebrating
their successful time in the Little Lancers. Our third grade students are hosting a farewell assembly for their families next Monday afternoon as they say goodbye to JCS and prepare to move up to the Y. While it's going to be a bittersweet event, we're proud of our third grade students and we're looking forward to giving them a heartfelt send
off next week. Rate me on a scale from 1 to 10. Uh from the middle school, field trip season is in full swing at NMS and the eighth graders just completed their annual trip to New York City last Friday. Once again, we had excellent weather and a great time was had by all those who attended. A special thank you
to all the parents who volunteered to act as chaperoons for the trip. And an extra special acknowledgement to those staff who were able to join us on what annually turns out to be a 21-hour workday. Academics are winding down at NMS, but that hasn't stopped us from holding various different academically
themed days, including annual science funday in the sixth grade. Students participate in dayong science-based activities that align with various different science standards. Eighth grade students are gearing up for their final big event of middle school, the eighth grade annual dinner dance
happening next Monday evening. Students will have one last opportunity to spend time together, laugh, sing, dance, and cry as the evening comes to a close. Lastly, NMS is celebrating Jaws Fest this Friday. This week marks the 50th anniversary of the release of this iconic movie filmed almost entirely in
Massachusetts. NMS is celebrating this groundbreaking motion picture with a Jaws themed day for all students and staff to participate in. Prizes will be awarded for best costumes. We're looking forward to a jaws and some good time. And then finally from the high school, we wanted to recognize um Dr. Kefir's um
one of his art classes. Um but his sculpture course completed two ambitious long-term project based learning endeavors. The first was the successful design and construction of three puppets. one of which was featured at Steam for the NHS drama production of Little Shop of Horrors. As soon as this project was complete, students turned
their attention and problem solving skills to the annual high art sculpture competition hosted by the Attboroough Arts Museum, competing against 16 area schools and Norton Sculptures developed an interactive installation that earned the best in show award for the second year in a row. Congratulations to all
the sculpture students on a very productive year filled with problem solving, collaboration, creativity, and real world accountability. That is all from us. Thank you. Great. Thanks, guys. Any questions? Moving on. Um, student spotlight. The
Hey, the Hey, good news call of the day. If you go back to the first one, you just hit the arrow. Thank you Dr. Thank you all. Uh so we we wanted to highlight I know this is
typically a student showcase uh and we had a few students that we asked and uh they just said no thank you Mr. Hagen when uh I said that they would come and be celebrated. Um but uh but this is
something that uh about I want to say 2019 I was at the summer institute of uh mass uh school administrators association and there was a principal that we went around the horn talk about like our
favorite celebrations that we've done and there was a particular principal named uh Higgins. Yeah, Tom Higgins uh that talked about uh six tech guy uh that talked about this thing that he did called Good News Calls of the Day. And I
just fell in love with the idea. I thought it was awesome. I was already like using uh social media as a way to kind of promote positivity. And to hear that uh this was another way I could use social media to to promote it, I I just
thought it was amazing. Um, so I just want you to picture that kid right there that uh this is like emblematic of what a positive phone call will do. Uh, and we'll touch back on him. But, uh, we do need to celebrate the good and, uh, and
as I just said, like using social media to promote positivity. Uh, schools need to promote more positivity. we need to kind of put out the good out there and make sure that uh that we highlight all the good things happening. And uh as we
all know, we have an assistant principal at the school that sometimes has his lucky job to make phone calls home to parents that aren't exactly what we call good news calls. We have some students some students who
call them bad news calls. That's the student words. But uh so Mr. Palau sometimes has to be at that end to call home and talk with a parent about things that uh might not be going well that their child might not be having the greatest day or the greatest
week or or just the greatest school year. So uh so it falls to him and I love the whole idea that uh that this would be something to communicate the good that that actually give these positive calls home that uh that a
student might have had an awesome week, might have had an awesome quarter, might have had an awesome trimester, might have had an awesome 8 minutes of a morning and uh and and what positivity
might come out of that we always talk about PBIS for positive behavior uh system and what we can do with it. Here we have a phone call that a child would get that highlights again that good
things that might have happened for a couple minutes for a morning, for an afternoon, for a week. And that shows that maybe you can get some momentum going from that. And that's what we hope. So what could they be for? It could be for a good day, could be for a
good morning, could be for a good hour, could be for a good few a few good minutes. Um, and then we have our core values of respectful, responsible, and safe that we always highlight. And then doing something great or just doing something okay and for that child that
is something that is sensational. So that is what we like to kind of highlight and do. So we at the time Twitter was a good thing that I used Twitter uh but since then it's been exed out. So now we use Instagram and uh and
we love it and we kind of uh highlight the things that are going on. We put a picture uh of the kids out and we talk about what they did and uh and we try to take good pictures. they end up getting their picture put in our in our lobby on
the TV that scrolls through. So, they're they're highlighted on the Instagram, they're highlighted on our TV and uh of course they get the phone call and uh with the phone call, we give them a coin for the book vending machine and they get a book out of it, too. So, we're
kind of two birds with one stone there. We're also kind of upping our reading value here. We're getting the kids to want to get a book and see the glory of getting that book. Uh, which ends up being something fun. We we we highlight
it on Instagram. We highlight it in our weekly newsletter or something to yell about that. Uh, we put every kid's picture from that week of who got the good news call. And Mr. Balawa has been very very busy um, doing good news
calls. And we try to hold ourselves to uh we try to do two per day. So 180 days, that's 360. Uh it ends up being a lot. And uh I've I've presented about good news calls since Tom told me about
it years ago. And uh principles will text me or even call my office and say, "How do you get so many done?" For Bob and I, they're our favorite part of the day. It's amazing to see the the faces. It's amazing to hear the moms and dads
that pick up the phone that uh will call dad on the other line and have him on the phone too. Um or the kids will make us make two phone calls or three phone calls. Sometimes the grandparents, sometimes the neighbors we have to call um to to back it up and kind of support
it and uh it it just becomes this fun kind of thing for us. Uh, anyone can nominate, anyone. Uh, we have teachers, we have the nurse, we have the pair of professionals, we have bus drivers, calf workers, custodian. Anyone can tell us as they walk in the door that this this
kid did something amazing. We're going to highlight it. We're going to we're going to say the good things. We have parents come pick them up. Always one of our favorites. We do the inerson good news calls of the day. Uh, and that ends up being a fun time. Christine's on one
of those. Um, but uh I I truly love this quote that positive phone calls home are one of the most powerful proactive classroom management strategies that we own that uh if we can kind of give those things. We have kids that enter the
school year that third graders we told about. They're already telling us on the tour yesterday, I can't wait to get a good news call. I mean, they're already looking forward to our school about it. So this was something that we've been able to do and push. Uh 2020 2021 we did
over 220. 2122 we did over 250. Uh 23 24 we've done 325. Last year we did over 350. And this year we're going to finish with our goal of over 360. Uh and again it it takes effort but yet it's not
effort. I it's a joy. It's Mrs. Parlon loves hearing them. Uh Bob and I love doing them. The parents love receiving them. The kids I mean the joy in their face that one student has uh it it speaks for itself. And then um and then
the teacher that nominated them, they get joy too cuz the kids come back to class with their book and and they just feel so good. Um, this is one of the first ones we did, one of the first years, and I just have to always include this in every presentation I do because
this young man uh is one of those tough kids. Uh, too cool for school, kind of uh, whatever. I don't care about my good news call. That's his lock screen. His lock screen was his good news call. So, he might have told us he didn't care
about his good news call. He totally cared about his good news call and it made a difference. And and this young man, this was true emotion. This was not something we faked, not something we kind of forced. This was true emotion. He was leaping for joy when we called
him down the office. And Bob and I are kind of mean when we call them down the office. We joke about that we're here to just measure them. Uh that the nurse asked us to see how tall they were. And then we say, "Okay, you can go back now." And they're like, "What? I thought we had a good news call and then we
bring him back in and we're like, "Oh, no. You're here to watch this kid get a good news call." Again, we're mean about it, but in the end, we end up being good. But this young man, we knew from the very beginning, he was shaking. He was so excited. And uh No. And then I mean, that's in my office. But when he
walked in and we told him a good news was called, I thought somebody scored a touchdown because the hands went up. So pumped, so excited. But we also want the office to be a welcoming place. We are in classrooms every single day. We're in the cafeteria every day. We're we're recessed every single day. But when
someone gets called down to the office, they think they're in trouble. No matter how good they are. What did I do? What do you mean? What did you do? You're the model student. But they always have that fear of coming down to the office and we don't want that fear. So we love doing the calls and even doing them earlier in
the year. It's all about relationships. So we get to build that relationship with the student who gets a good news call. even though we're around everywhere, once they feel that they they're more comfortable once they get to this call. So, it's awesome. It is it is like one of our favorite parts of the day to do. And no matter how bad the day
is going, we we will squeeze them in because it really lights on day and makes it a much better day to see those reactions and hear the reactions. And for the and for the first time, he knows every anyone can recommend. So we've done it since 2019. For the first
time, a student went to one of our teachers and wanted to recommend other students for giving us calls. So it was cool. Yeah. Thank you. So I'm always I was here when you started your career with us and and I
still remember positive sign Thursdays cuz I used a familiar face when you did them every week. Um except for one week when she was sick. Um, but just seeing your engagement with not only the students, but the community at large is just it's a tremendous asset to our
district. So, it doesn't go unnoticed. I just want to let you know that. Um, and I was I was happy to see that you made your goal cuz early in the year when we met you at your school, I was like, I don't know if he's going to make it. I was going to be I was going to give you, you know, a little extra time cuz we're
at the end of the year. But, um, kudos to you guys. Um, unfortunately, you know, as a kid that went to the office a couple of times, sometimes it's not as welcoming, but it's good that you're building those relationships to set these kids up for success. All right. Next, we have recognition of
FY25 retirees. Dr. Neil, thank you. All right. So, tonight I just want to share our list of retirees for this year. Um, as you can see, there are um a few educators that have dedicated many years
to Northern Public Schools. Um, Margot Bridges, NMS steam teacher, uh, 12 years. Laura Burke Young, JCS PAR professional, 8 years. Deb Canary, um, par professional, 24 years. Uh, Martha
Clark, uh, Morton High School Spanish teacher, 25 years. Diane Kali, JCS PAR, 27 years. Diane Lemieux, a special education bus driver, 41 years with Northern Public
Schools. Amazing. Um, Elizabeth O'Hare, uh, grade 2 teacher at LGN, 22 years. Dan Silva, a custodian, 25 years at GCS. Ed Smith, Norton High School math teacher, 25 years. and Kent Taylor
Morton High School English teacher 21 years. It is um absolutely amazing um to see that these educators um are moving on to the next chapter which you know I hope is filled with joy and adventure whatever is next for them. And um
Elizabeth O'Hare and I started together in uh September of 2023 2003. So, I'm not really sure what I'm doing wrong here, but um congratulations to all of them and and you know, thank you for the years of dedication to our students. Great. Thank you. There's there's a lot
of experience uh leaving us, but we wish them the best with whatever their future holds. Uh next is introduction of the newest member of our staff, uh the new Northern High School principal, Dr. All right, I get to do all the fun stuff tonight. All
right. Well, first of all, I would like to invite Mr. TJ Flanigan up to the podium over here. Uh TJ went through a very lengthy process. Um we had about 20 applicants for the high school position and went through a series resume review,
series of interviews, and then we had invited three finalists to come and spend the day with us in Norton. And um it doesn't happen very often, but when I was looking at the feedback, everyone was on the same page. Students, staff, our administrative team, the
families that were able to either attend the um candidate panel or watched it afterwards. Um every single person or all of our all of our constituents said, "Mr. Flanigan is the best fit for Norton High School." Um, and it made my
decision very, very easy because he truly is the best fit for Norton High School. Um, and we're super excited to have him join our team. Um, and therefore, and you know, it's so funny, he's actually coming to spend some time with us tomorrow. And, um, I sent out an email to staff and students at High
School and I had multiple people reach out and be like, "Can't wait to see him. We're so excited. Thank you so much." So, people don't often email me with I'm so excited. So, Um, congratulations and I'll let TJ uh introduce himself and tell you guys a little bit about himself. So, I'm going
to respond. I'm so excited too. Um, first of all, I want to say thank you to the search committee and uh, you know, for Dr. O'Neal for giving me this opportunity to be the next principal at Northern High School. Um, I just a little bit about me. You know, I spent the last 24 years um, which were amazing at at all ranch high school and um, and
so it would it would take a lot for me to leave. Um, and so it was uh when the Norton High School principal ship opened up, of course, I did some homework, right? And so I for the next town over and I started talking to people about Nord High School. I had staff members
that lived in town, you know, people that worked in the in the district. Um, and everyone was just like raving about this place. And so finally I realized, you know, what I love about Oliver, like I really I see it at North, right? And I want to be a part of that. Um, and so I
went to the interview process and it was the interview was great and and I just felt so welcomed right from the very beginning. Uh, which was just so nice and uh, and then I went to the site visit and I started meeting kids and I started meeting staff and it was just like yes, like I want to be here and I
want to be the next principal. Um, and I will tell you it's been overwhelming uh, the welcome. Um, you know, Dr. I share my email with the staff and with the with the kids and um I've got some just amazing emails. I just feel so so very
welcome. And then even sitting here today um you know Mr. Geek and Mr. Blau talking about the good news you know the call of the day and you know listen to a resident talking about you know how thankful they are for the teachers. Um, it just screams like number one how
dedicated, you know, the staff here is at, you know, in Norton public schools and how they put students first, which is super important and that's a place that I want to be and want to be a part of. So, I'm super excited for that. Um, I am I've got some more purple, which is
great. Um, so I'm excited for that, too. But I just want to thank you everyone. You know, you made me feel so welcome. This is a really tough decision for me to leave a place that I love. Uh, but I know that this is the right fit and I'm super excited for that. And so I am super super excited to make Norton High
School uh my new home. So uh I look forward to my my goal for this summer is to meet as many people as I possibly can. You know, staff, students. So I'll be here. I said, um my last day uh at all rings is July 18. So I have about a good week and a half of summer and then
July 1st I start and then it's like, you know, hit the ground running. So I'm excited for that. But uh yeah, I'm just really excited. Thank you all. Uh, and I'm super excited for this opportunity. Thank you. We all may be a little biased, but I think purple's a little better than the black and orange,
but uh, congratulations. Welcome. Um, we we hope you will continue to do good things for our district. Next is, uh, FY25 budget update. Mrs. [Music] Um so what you have in front of you is
um the FY25 operating um expenditure report that I give you monthly um right on this particular report is through June 10th um but it the majority of it is um posted through the end of May. Um
that also would be involving fund balance report that I gave you as well. That's uh May ending date. So as of um today we have a ending balance of $5,580.94. We have not posted our final two payrolls of the school year, but most of
those are already encumbered. The only thing we're waiting on is um to post some substitutes and other um small overtime hours that will occur in the next week and a half. Um we are going to do a couple small transfers that we will show you for
athletics um that we predicted for the additional revenue that we brought in as well as the clubs and activities. Um so we will still end this year um with the trending that we anticipated with a positive balance. We also are going to turn back $63,827
from prior year expenses to the town at the end of this month as well. [Music] questions. Okay, thank you for that update. Uh, next uh I'm sorry.
Um, I also included a 5-year um just historical data um just for to help you fall asleep at night. um just to trend where we're headed in the direction um so you can see where
we're anticipated in just the past five years we've talked about before. Okay. Any questions on that? All right. Anything else? Uh next is the strategic plan presentation and vote with Dr. Okay. I'm
going to move over to the podium for this if you guys don't mind. [Music] Sorry. So, all right. Uh, thank you all um for giving me the opportunity to present our strategic plan to you um
tonight. Uh the committee actually has a draft plan in their um materials as well. But in order to um you know help the meeting move along, I put presented some slides prepared some slides for you this evening. Um, and I'm going to walk
you through a little bit of the process, but also um our draft goals and um strategic priorities for the next four years. Um, I apologize. This cute little map that I made is very very tiny and I'm must be getting old because it it's
I can't even read it. Um, so I wanted to share kind of the process that we went through. We started in January reaching out to staff and families um looking for people to join our committee um and looking for um initial responses and
feedback on things that we're doing well as a school community, opportunities for growth, um things that families and students love about Norton and things that they would like to see us change over time. Um, we really talked about,
you know, um, we asked families about what their what their vision and what their goals are for their children. Um, what are the strengths and areas for growth? Um, and then during the spring, we met at least twice monthly as a strategic planning meeting. And what we did was we alternated those strategic
planning meetings with leadership meetings. So um I would meet with the strategic planning group and then I would meet with our admin team to um say okay what do you what do we think about this and how has the strategic planning committee um you know met our needs or
you know did they miss something what could we add to this? So they those two teams really worked parallel to each other um to create what you're going to see here tonight. Um, we have a draft of the strategic plan for you tonight. Um,
and what we're going to do over the summer is we're going to do a couple different things. Number one, we will do the final edits of the strategic plan. We will do alignment of our professional development. And then at our leadership retreat this summer, our team is going to sit down and really identify what
those priorities are for this upcoming year. So, when you're looking at the strategic plan draft, you'll see that there aren't dates in there yet. You'll see it just says by X. And the reason for that is because it's going to be really important for the leadership team
to say this is what we need to work on this year. This is the first step. Um, and we will identify those those timelines for you. Um, and then I will be working with a really great intern this summer and to beautify our
strategic plan so it will be ready for publication to the Norton community in September. So, um, that's why you see this tonight in our draft form. I also want to acknowledge the strategic strategic planning committee. Um, I've said this before, I think to them every
single time we meet and I know I shared it with you earlier this spring. I have never worked with such a great group of um shareholders. Every single person came to the meetings engaged. They were excited to contribute. Um and I've heard from so many of them since our last
meeting saying, "I really want to help this summer. I really want to help with the mission and vision. I really want to help with the portrait of a graduate. Let me know what you need." And so, typically, people can't wait to get on the committee. And so the fact that these people are all still excited and and still um willing to do the hard work
that is still lays ahead of us um is is just really wonderful. So thank you to this great team. As I shared with you at our last update, um we really took seriously um a lot of the research base that's out there on
school improvement and we talked a lot as a leadership team and as a strategic planning committee around these four domains for rapid school improvement uh turned around leadership, talent development, instructional transformation, and building a culture
or changing a culture. And as you go through um a lot of our goals and our action steps actually come from this research base um because we identified areas of for opportunity for for our team and things that we think will really help to move the dial when it
comes to um engaging our entire community around the importance of student learning. So the first um strategic priority that we have for you this evening is connected and relevant learning experiences. So tonight I'm going to show you the overarching goal and then
I'm going to share with you the priorities for each of those goals. And in the draft you can see that each under each of those priorities there's in some places two or three or four or six action steps. Um and our central office team reviewed this yesterday and we
thought this is a lot. Um, but it this is a 4-year strategic plan. So, we will be providing you with updates at least annually, probably more um bianually over the next four years with um our target finish date of June of 2029. And
to me that made the most sense because recently we just signed a new contract that gets me through June of 2029. And I thought, well, that's wonderful because we can take a look at this over the next four years and know that I'm there, that my team is here. Um, and then you can
always do a new strategic plan after that. Um, so the first uh goal is around um our commitment to preparing every student for success beyond graduation. So connecting classroom learning to real world experiences and expanding
opportunities that open pathways to college career bless you and life. Um and this is not just for high school students. This is for students at every level. Um and you'll see that some of the goals that we have here um talk about that. So we're looking at
enhancing opportunities for skill-based learning experiences in career preparation. developing a continuum of future ready learning experiences for students at all grade levels to connect their learning to the expectations of college and career. You don't all of a sudden become
ready for college and career when you're a senior. Like it just doesn't just click at once. You need to build skills for students over time so that they have a strong foundation that we can build upon as they get older. We have an amazing portrait of a graduate. It hangs in every single
classroom in our district. Um, but I don't know that people really own the core competencies that are in our portrait of a graduate. I don't know that anyone in this room, myself included, could name the six core competencies off the top of my head. Um, so we want to go and rewrite that
portrait of a graduate so that students and staff and families understand what they are and we all share responsibility for what that looks like over time. Um, one of the conversations that we had at our last strategic planning meeting was, well, when you say portrait of a graduate, it makes you think about high
school students. And it's not supposed to be just for high school students. So perhaps was it snapshot of a student that came out? That was something else. We the alliteration was another good idea. Um, so we're looking at rewriting that. Um
we've done a lot of work with project based learning at the high school but we haven't done as much in K to8 so expanding um the project based in inquiry inquiryoriented learning for students across the district and then also looking at alternative alternative
measures for students to show their mastery of learning. Um we've had a lot of conversations over the years about how students are able to um show their learning specifically at the high school um midterms and finals versus portfolios and projects and presentations. How can
we do that for students at all levels? The second priority um is around enhancing student outcomes um and our the way that we will support the success of the whole child through equitable datadriven and relationship
driven practices that look at academic achievement academic achievement and social emotional wellness. Um so for the overall student now this is a goal that kind of sounds very similar to something that we've had in the past and what we tried to do was break it down into um
more actionable steps. So one of the big things that we've started having a conversation about is student attendance. Um since the global pandemic and schools closed, we have seen a huge increase in students that are considered chronically
absent. and it's gotten a little bit better over time, but we are still nowhere close to those um you know precoid levels of of attendance. So, um increasing overall student attendance by developing proactive tiered intervention
systems um that really number one address the barriers of getting kids to school while also strengthening that school family partnership. um students that are not coming to school in high school um it's a little bit of a different story than students that
aren't coming to school in elementary school and how can we help families and support families to get their children here every day. Um another thing that we're talking about is the school family partnership to build that community that's really focused on
student learning and including families in determining educational goals for their child. Um, if you have a student that is on an IEP because they have specialized learning needs, um, there's a lot of conversation about what are your hopes for your child, what are your
goals as a parent. We don't have those conversations with other families. Um, and so bringing that back into the focus and and including parents in the conversation about what um, we want their child's educational goals to be. Um, one of the things that we find, and
this is not just a Norton problem, is that it's very easy to get families to come out for um, a bingo night or a movie night or things like that, but when we were doing a curriculum night where we're talking about, you know, grade level standards,
it's it's not as popular. So, we need to make sure we figure out how we can get more parents into our schools to actually stop talk about student learning. Um the next one, we have so much data. We have so much data as a school district
that we collect, but what are we doing with it once that happens? So, we want to make sure that we're developing consistent data practices that support our educators. So, they're not just looking at a pile of data and saying, "All right, well, I already knew that." um but using them to make informed
decisions about students and um moving them forward and then using that data to create short and long-term goals to enhance starting student learning and outcomes and making sure that along the way we have specific measurable checkpoints to make sure that we're
making progress over time. And so you'll see when you look at that particular goal, there's a lot of places where you see by X and that's what we'll do. we'll sit down and we we'll look at those dates. Uh the third goal is all around high quality instructional materials. Um
you've heard Dr. Acriman talk a lot and you'll hear him again tonight um about the progress that we've made in KE with um highquality instructional materials that are researchbased. Um but we still have work to do. We have work to do in um other content areas besides math and
ELA. Um and we have work to do at other schools. we have it at the high school and and every in and other places. So, making sure that teachers have access to highquality materials that um they're being able to meet the diverse needs of our students. Our student population
looks different year after year. And so, how are we meeting students where they are? And how are we ensuring that teachers aren't designing everything on their own? that they know that they have good quality materials that they can use um to to help them with meeting the
needs of their students. Um so looking at um you know identifying and adopting highquality instructional materials for all core subjects um we've done a really great job if I do say so
myself um over these last few years putting together a comprehensive review process for ELA and for math and K to8 and I know Dr. Arian is going to be doing that next year with middle school science. um really making sure that we're engaging the teachers in the
process, that they have the opportunity to review materials, to use them in their classroom, and to to be the voice of of what makes the most sense for our students. Um we want to make sure that we are um reducing achievement gaps, taking a look at our specialized
populations, um using a continuous improvement of uh improvement cycle, using formative and summitive data, making sure that um the data that we have in front of us makes sense and it's not just reiterating what we already know about our students. Um
but also not testing kids to death. Our teachers are constantly in their classroom utilizing good formative assessments and they can use that information to help make make decisions about students. Um and then also making
sure that we are giving educators feedback. Um, one of the biggest things that we do or one of the most important things that we do is observe and evaluate teachers. And if it's not being done on a consistent basis with valuable
feedback, then we might as well not bother. Teachers deserve to have an administrator in their classroom that sees the work that they're doing and can say, "This is really great and I think you should try this." Um and then finally, interactive school
and community partnerships. So we have some great partnerships. Um but one of the things that we kept coming back to was communication and how um how are we getting in contact with the people that maybe don't have children in our schools
um the wider Norton community and how can we strengthen and build those partnerships um that's really guided by a shared vision of what we want to see our students um do and be and and know as they leave us. Um, so this takes a
look at um updating our mission and our vision and our core values. Again, just like the portrait of a graduate, they're there. They're really good, but no one could tell you what they are and what they mean. Um, and so to me, a mission and a vision for who we are as a school
community is something that people should know, that people should be proud of, that people should say like, "Yes, that is who I represent as an educator, as a parent. This is what I want for our children." um making sure we expand communication platforms to meet the Norton community
where they are. Um collecting and analyzing student including recent graduates, staff and um partner feedback. Um we have some amazing Norton High graduates and they're doing amazing things. Um earlier
Mrs. Doolak talked about um her daughter Maddie that just graduated from DC. Like how cool is that? And we don't share that information with people. And I'm really proud of what our students do after they leave nor high school. And there has to be a way that we can number
one share what the great things they're doing. And number two, use their feedback to help our students that are here with us now be more um ready for college and career or whatever is next. Um, and then also like we're very
fortunate to have some businesses to have a college here in town. How can we, you know, leverage those partnerships or enhance those partnerships to bring people into our school community to benefit our students over time um and to give kids more opportunities and also
give educators more opportunities. What else do we have out there that perhaps we could bring to to the forefront? So, um, those are big overarching goals and you'll see that all of the action steps are in there as well. Um, but as I said, this summer we're going to be finalizing
the edits. We're going to be um really looking at identifying those uh priorities for the 2526 school year. Um, we have a 3-day administrative retreat. Um, we don't go anywhere great. That's like not in Aruba or anything waking up
here in Norton. Um, and we are going to identify our priorities for the school year. Um, we'll take a look at updating our professional development based on those priorities. And I'm also going to be working with a small subcommittee to take a look at the mission, vision, and
core values and start that work now because we want to make sure that that is done this fall. Um, in September, we will, you know, launch the strategic plan to the public. um and be work start working on those school improvement
plans to align each school's improvement plan um with our strategic plan and then in January we'll give you all an update. So um this does require a vote but I am happy to answer questions or to talk more specifically about any of the items
that are here. Uh so first off I would like to take a minute to thank everybody that has been working on this because I know what kind of an undertaking this is. So um and looking at the list of people that are here I know that they wear merit hats
and do many things. So uh thank you so much for taking all of that time. Um so something I just had two things. one. Um, so when you were talking about, you know, enhancing student outcomes and talking about how, you know, when we talk about IEPs and how the parents have
a have a voice and talking about the goals for the children, I know that also with our IEPs now, we've also started including the students and student voice in that. Um, so is there opportunity there to have a discussion about student voice and having students have input on what they would like their outcomes to
be? Absolutely. As early on as you know, little answers all the way up. Absolutely. Now, some of our elementary teachers, um, and actually I feel like they did this in every JCS classroom last year as part of our Character Strong program. And if they did at JCS, I'm sure they did at LG and I just missed it. Um, they do this hopes and
dreams um activity and it's it's part of the Character Strong curriculum. It's part of the launch. And what they do is they say, you know, what are your hopes and dreams? Whether it's for that school year or for um something bigger. And
it's really great because they had them all posted in the hallways at GCS at the beginning of the year. And some kids were like, you know, I I want to learn how to do a cartwheel and I want to read chapter books and um you know, I want
to, you know, say goal at my soccer game, like things like that. And I think that um that's a very simple way of including students and student voice, but um that is a huge aspect of this starting with that. And then as they get older and they understand the you know breath a bit more because they know that
again in the IEPs it's you know you want to learn one this year but then it's okay so when you 5 years from now which again for the little ones that's a very broad concept to understand and honestly for the big ones too sometimes right yeah but just you know taking right what
I want to do when I grow up so um so just that and then um this question may not be appropriate for here or may be more appropriate for the next piece about you know the um NTSS. Um so just being aware of the you know
particularly I I have knowledge on the literacy curriculum that was adopted by Norton. Um I also was aware about how that curriculum even though it it is great for the most part was rather lacking in terms of the type of academic
support it was given for our special needs population. I'm just curious. So, again, this could be a question for later, just where are we in filling that gap? So, I don't want to steal my question. Um, but one of the um action
items under that uh strategy 3 talks specifically about the implementation of tier 2 and tier three resources as well. So, um I know that Dr. started with the tier one piece and then
they've been filling in gaps. Um, so I don't want to take that away from him, but yes, that's an aspect. And I expected that that was going to take time because again with everything new, you have to work through all of the big kinks first and then 100%. And and I think um when you anywhere you roll out a new
curriculum, it's the fidelity component is very important, right? You want to try everything that's there, see what's there and it can be overwhelming in a program like inter reading which has so much and you you know you're only in front of students for you know 6 hours a
day or and then they give you 24 hours a day of material. So it's like drinking from a fire hose and what makes sense and um what makes sense for the students that are in front of you. So the other part that's really important is additional professional development not
just in year 1 but in years two and three of how you number one take the materials that you have and how you adjust based on the needs of the students in your classroom and fidelity is still important but listening to the
needs of the student in your classroom once you're comfortable that trumps right especially because this curriculum presents itself like you know oh it's like a buffet you can take from here and so so there's there's that constant struggle of what's best for your class
but then what is also going to be the best continuity across all say second grade classrooms and it's yeah just so um I had the privilege of doing the um the search for the math curriculum in my
last year as assistant superintendent and then Dr. Acriman took over and did the ELA program when he joined us. And um we followed the Desi model for highquality instructional materials. And it's actually a really great model because it it helps you step by step of
like then you should do this and then you should do that. And what they say all the time is that there's no unicorn. There's like some strong sturdy horses out there, but the unicorn doesn't exist. So regardless of what you end up adopting, there's always going to be
places that we need to either a fill in or adapt to best meet meet the needs of our students here in Norning. Yeah, absolutely. Thank you. Thank you, Laura. Um, I'll jump in the, uh, first off, I would definitely echo the committee. Um,
it is a lot of work obviously. Um, but the committee was outstanding, I thought. Um, very, you know, I've sat on a lot of committees as well. uh very engaged. He kind of came ready uh prepared. So I think that was really uh you know a great great committee to be a part of for sure. Um I think within the
committee I think Jen deserves a whole ton of credit cuz what she did on this whole thing is that's what leadership looks like. Um she went out got a committee full of different people. Um it's never easy to kind of sit there and say hey you know what are we doing well in school? What are what are some of our
needs for improvement and getting it from so many different angles? um you know and then taking it and trying to get it worked on a piece of paper in a way too. Um so Jen did an outstanding job there. Um I think vision I think it was 2026. I think throwing that out was a great step for this district moving
forward. Um you know I I feel like the old vision was a little admin driven um and you know kind of kind of came from that regard. So getting rid of that and getting this one in I think is is is awesome. Um, you know, and I think the biggest thing that the committee was really looking at, um, as you kind of
see throughout the goals and and all everything was like it's data driven, it's measurable. You know, we're not just throwing, you know, random words on a piece of paper and saying, "Hey, we're going to try to do this." We're actually looking to say, "Hey, we want to increase student attendance by, you know, what 3% 4% 5%." Um, and actually
giving ourselves the ability to look at it and measure it. uh because that gives everybody you know within the community and obviously us on the school committee you know idea of hey what are we doing really well and and where you know where we can improve. So uh like I said I would sing Jen's praises all day long because you know taking that and doing
it is definitely uh you know a big task. Thank you. I just have to echo what both Laura and Nick have said. Um the last strategic plan was okay, but I don't think I felt really connected to
it in a way of like where is this actually going? Um this I feel like is so detailed and outlined and it is measurable. Um so kudos to all of the committee members and everybody involved and um I'm excited to see where this
goes. So great work. Thank you. All right. Um, no other comments. Entertain a motion to approve the strategic plan as presented. So moved. Is there a second? All those in favor? I. Thank you. And I will bring back the
finalized beautiful version for you in the fall. Right. Next is discussion and vote on required FY26 adult meal increase. the funny was adult
[Music] staff members um that purchased lunch for breakfast. Um so after our I know we've mentioned it before but the um very comprehensive food service admin review audit that we had um we were um
significantly undercharging the adult meals. So right now the minimum um requirement is $5.38 and um we currently have it at $4. Um so for FY26 we're looking to increase it at
$5.75. Um, and that is just based off of the auditor telling us that they anticipate another increase coming. So to go a little bit higher would probably be better so that we don't have to come back next year for another increase.
So vote to um approve that would be any questions. Entertain a motion to approve the increase as presented. So moved. Second. All in favor? [Music]
All right. Next is our IMTSS update with Dr. [Music] I think if you just hit the you're you should be on next life, right? You can just hit the arrow. Nope.
No, just like don't touch anything. Told me to hit the arrow. Of course, I'm ready. I think, you know, I I I think Jen laid an outstanding foundation and ground that kind of naturally leads into this work.
Um, it has certainly been uh a terrific year, but certainly in some ways, but I think it's always important when we talk about all of these endeavors to really talk about the why. So, our IMTSS plan was central to
the previous district strategic plan and it's going to continue to be continuous to the one that the committee just approved and understand that all that we do in the department of teaching and learning is all framed by district plans and district goals. So, we want to be
really intentional and deliberate around doing that work. Additionally, it's central that we provide all of our students with what we call just in time support. Our previous district plan really talked about students and all means all and
IMTSS continues to need all students every day. We do focus on the whole student. Um we focus on academics, behavioral, emotional, learning, but also the human being, the youngster that
is in front of us each and every day. And then this work is really important because we want to make sure that our teachers have the best tools for the job and our students have the best opportunity to learn.
So um progress as they say is not always linear. Last year we certainly had some financial headwinds that made us um adjust a little bit. So I think nimleness is something that we do well here and I want to thank our our staff
and our teachers for for really being able to to adjust and and and doing that doing that well. So specifically we have onboarded in the last two years four content area
curricula. So, we're in year two of our elementary math program, Stepping Stones. We're in year one of our ELA program, year two of our middle school math program, and year two of our middle school ELA program. And as Dr. O'Neal
referenced, our professional development around all of these endeavors was intentional and done over time. So we would have initial offerings typically at the beginning of the year followed by strengthening sessions in either October
or November, then an additional strength strengthening session over the winter. So that for each of these um onboardings in year 1 and year two, teachers have had the opportunity to work with um the
vendors so that we can make sure we deeply embed the understanding. Additionally, we've had content level teams like our elementary folks this year have written out the curriculum maps for inter reading have done an outstanding job.
We will come back again for those that haven't finished over the summer. We'll look at how we did in year one, make some adjustments for year two, and be ready to adopt and continue to move forward next year. But it really is a tribute to the work first done by Dr.
O'Neal and the curriculum council teams and then additionally to all of our teachers that have really done an outstanding job of onboarding these materials. Additionally, and I know this question came up earlier, we had talked about
intervention materials and we had talked about kiddos that maybe were struggling with tier one. So we laid the foundation for reading with inter reading this year. We knew that we had older fontus
and panel based materials that we needed to sunset. So this year we started working with interventions starting into September to follow a similar pattern. Identify tier 2 materials that had an evidence base. identified tier 2
materials that could help our students move forward with reading skills in particular. And so we had a council that met multiple times over the year. And for our interventionists next year, we are going to be onboarding a program
called Spire. In fact, our interventionist team is receiving an initial pass of PD for Spire this Friday. Then we will layer in beginning next fall an ongoing cycle so that we can make sure teachers can have their
questions answered and we have checkpoints along the way so that we can all come to the same point of understanding. Additionally, we've had a um over time a gradual increase in the number of our students with English language learner needs. So
following a similar process, we work with that cohort of educators. We're in a consortium with Scon Public Schools. So, we were brought together. We heard a number of different presentations. And so, now we're adding supplemental curricular materials that have been
purchased for our L student population and those will be in place full-time starting next fall. Um, our social emotional curriculum has continued. We're again with going with
character strong and I had a really nice conversation with uh Vinnie Cersei because this year was a very challenging year for mental health. We had a couple of unforeseen tragic events, but the con the partnerships that have been built
with Epion, CV, CV, CCBC, the mobile crisis team, um they've been really instrumental in promoting stu student health and well-being. Additionally, we work with Norton Health
and Human Service. And I think it's important to note that all this work dovetales with PBIS. So all of our intervention efforts, all of our SEAL and academic efforts, we all try to make sure that they're purposefully
intertwined because we are working with and connecting with the whole student. Additionally, this year at the high school, um we had piloted um navigate 360 with select cohort groups in 2324.
This year we continued with that and we had a full implementation. This year we uh again um had at the high school my cap which is really about providing more detailed pinpointed um outcomes soft
skills for high school students and we continue to work with Jed High School because the sense of belonging that sense of connectedness that sense of being a part of a community is just so essential to overall student well-being.
This year for PBL projectbased learning was our third year. Uh years one and two were involved in a direct grant cycle. So we continued with the units of study and this year it's what they call
innovation diffusion. So our educators have spent two full years spreading and scaling practice. And now teachers are connecting with other teachers to spread out the good ideas, the values espoused
within PBL to continue to scale outwards and upwards. So in terms of IMTSS at the high school, there were a couple of shifts. So PLC's this year focused more on professional development. IMTSS processes were moved
to after school because one of the complications at a high school is trying to get all the uh staff together who service the same student at the same time. So this allowed for students and parents
to also attend the meetings while LLB Lancer learning block continued to function as an intervention block this year. So I know Jen had opened the conversation about data. Which data do we use? Which
do we collect and I wanted to give everyone a snapshot in terms of the most global measure about actual student progress this year. MCCAST is a sticky wicket at this point
because of the vote in November. So that is a tentacle that we'll have to address going forward. But one universal measure that we use is called STAR. And STAR is a norm reference nationally norm sample that compares students in Norton public
schools across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and then across the country. So it gives us a chance to really see how our kids are doing. And again remembering this is one measure at one time.
So you don't want to put too much emphasis into it, but it is a decent snapshot to give us some data. And so student growth percentile is probably the most accurate way to represent progress because it really takes each
and every student and shows their progress over a one-year interval of instruction. And so when you have SGP measures, students or groups of students that are in the 66th percentile or above are
considered high growth. Typical growth is between the 35th and 65th percentile and anything below the 35th percentile is considered lower growth. So that's just kind of a frame of reference to look at this data and I hope you're able
to see it well. So this first chart references the district SGP in reading and students in kindergarten all the way through grade 10 take the STAR reading
assessment. And so if you can look at the three charts, um, our students for the last two years have generally made really good progress. Really looking at almost 2third of our students obtaining
either high growth or typical growth. and in the aggregate. And to look at the color codes, just looking at the at the charts, those that have the shaded in green are where we want to be. And so
the sample size is about up two points from last year. So that's that's a positive step for us. And then I just wanted to break it down by school to look at each individual school's collective growth percentile.
So each and every school is well above the 50th level percentile. And if you look at each of the five schools, I think there's some really good data here to celebrate because our students in general are making some
pretty substantial growth over a year of instruction. Similarly for math. Um and I it is important to point out that the number of students in the high and typical low category is down a little bit from 23 24
but nonetheless still is over that 50th and into that 60th percentile of students making typical or high growth. Because again growth is measured by one
student or a cohort of student students over one year's interval of instruction. And then going and looking at each of our individual schools again all of our schools well above that 50th percentile
at the upper range of typical and some even very close collectively as being high growth. as an entire school. And so I just wanted to take a minute to see how all of this connects. If you
look at the bottom um that bottom rung, academics, behavior, attendance, and social emotional learning, that's the foundation. So all of our endeavors, all of our work is really firmly rooted in making sure that those four indicators
are met. And tier one is the universal tier. We expect that 80 to 85% of our students with our teachers and our classes should be able to make progress. In tier 2, we
typically have between 10 and 15% that may need a little something extra. And then at the top of that tier, typically between 3 and 5% students that need more intensive regular supports.
And so just to um kind of talk about what are some big picture next steps for us. We're going to continue with inter reading stepping stones amplify ELA mid school math. We're going to continue with character strong. So we've really built some positive momentum. I think
our teachers and our students have done outstanding work. Additionally, we have a couple of review cycles to begin. So, our middle school science curriculum will be sunset at the end of next school year. So, we're going to replicate the
process of using curriculum councils to do that same work for the Norton Middle School science team. Additionally, there'll be an invitation to a fifth grade educator and a ninth grade educator to join the team because it's
really important to have that connective tissue between those two transitional grades. Science, excuse me, math at the high school as well. We have um our algebra 1, algebra 2, and geometry programs
um that are up for renewal in either the next year or two. So, it's really important to bring that group of educators together at the high school to begin that curriculum and instructional materials review process.
Additionally, I think we need to take a deeper dive into chronic absenteeism because while things are better generally, it's still a pretty significant issue for us to confront.
And then further um we have to continue to evolve our database decision making. Um there's going to be um you know a focus group on AI next year. Um there's going to be more on sheltered English
immersion. We're still um evolving and growing with powers school spire implementation those other uh HQIM on boarding that I mentioned in the last slide. And one of the things we started to do this year was to do intentional
vertical alignment between the middle school and the high school. So it would be bringing teams together by department to kind of look at those essential skills, content, dispositions and standards so that we could build that connective tissue really intentionally
between the middle and high school. And then um the denial visit for um Norton High School will begin in earnest in the fall of 26. But there is a fair volume of work to be done in terms of preparing
documents um aligning to the district plan and other endeavors that we're going to have to take steps forward with next year. So, not not to uh go through too much detail, but we have a K to8 fully
aligned math and ELA. We have the K to2CL. Um the middle schoolers this year, for those of you that were able to go to the steam night, uh Mr. Abdal was nice enough to bring over the hot plates and the microscopes and the triple beam
balances and have students present on how they interact. We started the process of that 6 to 12 curriculum alignment piece. Um we are increasing capacity with data use but we are moving slowly. My cap year 2 and the
last piece of this is because this is all connected. We had a team of representative stakeholders from K to2 educators to look at our observation form for the evaluation process. And so after going through a lot of discussion
and dialogue and then field testing um we have consensus moving forward for all of our educators to have a new evaluation form excuse me observation form which we hope will be lead to those
more meaningful conversations. So um a feather in the cap of the folks that that contributed to that work and then the challenges that lie ahead. We still have more work to do around data. As Jen alluded to, the right data,
when to use it, how to use it. We still need to refine that more. Time for us is always a challenge. We're busy. We have a lot to do. We have a lot of passionate people. It's just a question of figuring out how we do this work most effectively. And the only thing I would
add is because the esser money um has kind of gone away. Desi had rich opportunities for the last 3 years, but um it's been a fairly dry well this year. [Music] I didn't know if anybody had any
questions. Thank you. And um one good question. Um what's the typical life cycle of curriculum? Like I noticed on a couple previous slides it was like year two, year three. What's is it a fiveyear life cycle or how does that kind of it
really depends and I I don't want to I don't want to overgeneralize but I think with a program for instance like into reading because it's been recently reviewed all of the standards line up it's aligned with the science of reading I'm going to guess it's going to
be good for a good 8 to 10 years. What sometimes happens is if new research emerges that talks about pedagogy shifting and having an evidence base that favors another style of pedigogy
that could shift, but I I think it's fair and reasonable in most cases to expect a 10-year life cycle from most materials. Um also in um the strategic plan, one of the action steps is to uh develop and
maintain a 5-year curriculum life cycle. So what that would look like is after the 5 years, we would bring that curriculum council back together. And what they would do um under Dr. Acriman's, you know, leadership would be to look at data, see how students are
performing, um look at the curriculum itself. Is it still being implemented um across classrooms? Is it everything that the teachers need? And then at that point, a decision is made. We're in a good place. Let's keep going or we need to look at something else. So, we don't
we wouldn't necessarily wait that time. So, that's probably one of the things that will be I hate to say this an easier lift of some of the other things that are in this um strategic plan. So, we can probably get that done earlier rather than later, too.
I love that. That sounds great. Um All right. All right. So, I have a couple things. Um, so circling back to year one of inter reading. Um, I pretty sure that I don't speak for myself here when I say that um the PD
that is offered through inter reading is um quite lacking um and not great. Um, has there been consideration of finding alternative pathways of having valuable PD outside
of utilizing the inter reading in general? So things around maybe having site visits or you know um considering school districts that have been implementing integrating a little bit longer you know maybe having some sort
of um you know you said like how you have like a consortum with secon for the ELLL maybe some sort of consortum with another school district what work what's working well what's not working well um and trying to find ways of working outside of that because let's face it we know that they're not stellar on their
PV Yes. So, um I think you bring up a very good point and the answer the answer to your question is absolutely yes. Um I won't sign with HMH another contract
for their professional development. Um I I think there are other pathways. We're we're currently looking at a few other other pieces, but specifically to your point, one of the things we plan on doing next year is doing site visits both to and from. So bringing even
people to us to and we did one this year at Yell. We had two scheduled that unfortunately didn't happen where we have an expert come spend the day going through classrooms offering customized personal support. could be a model
lesson. It could be a, you know, a demonstration of the resources because I think as we talked about earlier, it's such a vast program. So, there really needs to be somebody that can intentionally say, here's where you find this, here's where you find this, here's
somebody that has done some work with this, and then meaningfully connect those people to learn from one another. That's great. Thank you. Um, I look forward to learning more about Spire. Um, when you did purchase the program,
um, did you purchase the add-ons of Waggle and Amira? No. Okay. So, those are a little bit of a slippery slope. Yes. Um, I am wary of committing an extended
amount, if any, district funds to intervention devices that are fully computer-based. I I want to make sure that particularly for our struggling readers, while there could be a place for that, there's no substitute for two,
three, four, five human beings shared in the same space. Yeah, I agree. I was curious to see where you were with that. Um, and then looking at the um student growth. Um, so when looking at those
percentiles um so looking at the um the low growth 36% 34% um you know that seems pretty consistent in both areas of reading and math more or less. Um
would you say that a couple of couple of tiers to this? So one um those students that are showing low growth is there correlation between the low growth and the chronic absenteeism. I would say without even looking at the data yes.
Okay. So really when we think about priorities for next year, there's a pretty clear correlation between absenteeism and student success. So somebody once said the best ability is availability.
So, one of the things we have to be very intentional about next year and very systemic about next year is having targeted specific action plans to address chronic absenteeism. I feel like the middle school and the high school are in the right direction with what
they presented for their handbook changes. I like that. Um also looking at these percentages I mean would we say like you said that there's a rising increase in our ELL population
you know are these testing materials being presented to them in such a way that it is accessible so there is a Spanish version of star but we don't have because there are
25 languages spoken spoken in Norton it it is not presented in that way and I think we have to find a solution. Okay. Um also um our special ed population so particularly um you know more of our um
maybe our substantially subset for our sebox students are they taking star with everyone else that is on a case-bycase basis. So the only exception in terms of a modification or an accommodation is no
student can be read the reading test. But short of that on a casebyase basis students can take in a small group in a different environment have extended time and we really leave that to the judgment of the teachers so that they can do
what's right for their student because we also we want everyone to take it. But you also know it's not punishment. So there may be some students that really struggle and we want them to make their best effort, but we're not going to
torture kids for this. Right. Right. like thinking about again our collection of data, using our data, also our discussion of more project based learning and things like that and just looking at you know alternative pathways
particularly for those populations of our ELLL and our special ed so that you know yes we've got this 36% here however they are showing growth and we can show you where they're showing growth and then maybe have a second graph that shows a better adjustment adjustment of
that. Sorry. Thank you. And that's why I really wanted to make sure that growth was um highlighted here because each of our students comes to us the best they can with what they've got each and every year and our charge is to really as best
we can work with each and every student and really celebrate how they grow with us, right? Because, you know, it's always that thing where, you know, as a teacher, we're supposed to meet them where they're at and then we're celebrating their growth and celebrating their progress, but then, you know, things like this come out or they get
their star results or things like that and that doesn't help, right? You know, it doesn't it doesn't make them feel successful, you know. So, I was just curious of how we're working around that as well. Yeah. And and I think to support that, that's one of the reasons
why like we onboarded SPY, the new EL materials. Casey and I are working together now to start to look at alignment for tier three like cohesive instructional resources because we're obligated and we have the responsibility for all of our kids and that's front and
center in our minds. You know, practically it just takes a little bit of time to onboard tier one, but we are on and committed to making sure that that full array of resources is available for tiers 2 and three as soon
as possible. Excellent. Um and then my only final piece was looking at the um just the math um SGP growth by school. Mhm. Um, you know, to me there the discrepancy between yell to the middle
school at 65% at 58%. I mean, that to me is a kind of a bit of a drop. However, I am also going to chalk it up to the fact that, you know, middle school is still kind of working through new programming. And so that shift and that adjustment is probably and there's and there's always
um the potential for a dip in achievement during an implementation phase, right? It's not a universal feature, but it's known to manifest somewhat regularly, right? Um you know, so I I included that data just
to give a broad set. I mean, there's so much so many more layers to drill down to. Yeah. And it was just specifically because it went from Yale to the middle school which is they you know they're directly next to each other whereas you know if it was like Solomon East and that that's that's broad. Um so you know
I think one could question too that you know there may be a possibility that in our 256 when we're looking at this you know in that ELA section you know there could be a potential drop because of the implementation of the new reading as
well. Yeah, we we always hope not. We always aspire, but it it it is possible. And that was all my stuff. So, thank you so much. Thank you. Anyone else? Um
the from a historical perspective, do we have these numbers that go past you, let's say, you know, 18, 19, 20, 21, whatever? I Yes. Okay. The qu So I I think there
would be a way to go back and go further back. Yeah. Cuz I would like to see like I think with the curriculum especially like I think this would be big as we move into the um the strategic planning portion of it and whatnot of like you know looking at the growth of our
students during that roll out of curriculum. if it's 5 years, 7 years, whatever, I feel like we're going to have to look back to say, "Hey, look at the curriculum's working or it's not working, you know, and and make sure we can actually make some informed decisions that way." Um,
and then the I mean, like doing it all by school, what do you I mean, just the middle school being in least growth in both reading and in um math, do you think there's a
correlation? probably from COVID in terms of like the the students now who are in sixth, seventh and eighth grade probably had some serious learning deficits from not being in school for second and third grade. I think I think that could be a feature. Okay. Um that
could be part of it. How however the other thing I just would want to point out is even with that all of our schools still are well above
that 50th percentile median point. So I feel like we are making progress. I honestly feel like if we have three full years of each curriculum, I think that will give us enough of a baseline to really start to make more, you know,
sweeping conclusions about the efficacy. So I I also wonder and I think this is a conversation for the team when we start looking at like what are we going to prioritize? what data are we going to be looking at? Because this is one data point for students, right? Um, and I
have a middle schooler and I know that sometimes middle schoolers are not super into taking standardized assessments. Um, and so I I also wonder if perhaps that might be part of it when you see that they're um the lowest in both. Um,
because I know they're, you know, they're tough. It's a it's a tough age. I get it. And um I wouldn't go back to middle school if you paid me. Um but ultimately I think like we need to think about this is one piece. What else is happening in the classrooms um and with
students to see so we can get a real full picture of the students and where they're at. In middle school students are also the most tested. They have social studies, science, math, ELA. So
is there test fatigue? Probably. I think so. Absolutely. So I mean ultimately I think a good piece of this for parents and community members is kids got to get schooled. I mean, that is the number one
factor when when you know, I know you didn't want to allude to it without the data right in front of you, but you could probably almost guarantee the students that aren't growing or or limited growth generally have a correlation linked to not being in school, not being in class. I I couldn't
agree more. And that's where if once we increase school attendance, these already solid scores will continue to grow 100%. Thank you. All right. Thank you, Dr. Aman.
Uh, next is our second reading and vote on cellular phone and similar personal electronic device policy revision. Wow. All right. So tonight the um committee has a
um marked up version of our current policy JN ND- A. Um and as discussed at our last meeting, we took out a good chunk of um some of the specificity that was in the previous um policy and
instead added a line uh that no student shall have access to their phone during class without express permission of the teacher for educational purposes. specific guidelines on the enforcement of this policy can be found in each school's handbook. And so, um, as we most recently did, um, handbook
approvals for both the high school and the middle school where this is our primary, you know, the primary concern of those two schools. Um, we felt that allowing the principal and the leadership teams in each building to really lay out what that's going to look like made the most sense. um and it's a
little bit more flexible to change the handbook versus changing the policy. So um everything else um stands as is. There is the we did keep the line should there be an urgent need for a parent, guardian, family member or caregiver to contact a student during class, the
school's main office shall be called. Um and then also we kept the language there about video recording um intact as well. questions. Can I put TJ on the spot quick? I guess
so. You just So TJ, we just implemented last meeting for the high school handbook. What mimics what I think Olive Reigns does in terms of phones in the pockets blah blah blah blah. Can you speak to
the implementation and maybe give us a little guidance since you've done it? Um, in terms of like how does that look? Uh, what are some of the challenges? What are some of the success stories and so on and so forth? Just to give us a little bit of a briefer. Sure.
No pressure. No. So, yeah. So, uh, what Mr. Slayer was saying, so we at all range this last year. I I will tell you this was a game changer for us. Um it was you know we all as a a faculty you know realized
that cell phones are structure um and so there really needed to be an all-in buy in by the faculty. Um you know at first there was some resistance from the kids but they eventually came around uh and saw that like you know there was like data to show like the kids that were
distracted they were doing better in school and they were more engaged. Um you know certainly the implementation piece of it uh is something that you have to stay on top of right so there could have been you know some staff members that were maybe uh a little I don't want to say lax but it wasn't like a priority when they you
know started class and so it was really important like you know for example if I was in the hallway with like you know the other administrator and we saw our kid with the phone it's like why do you have your phone you know now partly you know with all due respect to those teachers like the kid may not have put it in the pocket the kid may have said
like I didn't have it that day, right? And so they would be that the follow through is what's really really important. And so you would just like talk with the teacher and just say, "Listen, you know, TJ had his phone out in the hallway. Were you aware? Oh, TJ said to me that he didn't have his phone." So then that's another conversation that we have with TJ about
that. And I think the more you stay on top of that, it's super important um for the implementation piece of it and then and that buyin piece. So I think it's you really, you know, in order for this to be successful, which I believe, you know, from what I'm learning is that Nord Hire really is on board with this,
which I am too. Um, everyone needs to be, you know, bought in this and there's got to be some accountability too as well, right? So if there are some, say, staff members that are not doing it that there needs to be a conversation. And for me, um, I will say this, you'll get to learn this more and more about me. I'm I email is great, texts are great.
I'm a face to face person, right? and let's have a conversation as to kind of you know why is what's going on like why is this not happening and what can I do to help um and then obviously with with kids too as well you know it's really sitting down and having that conversation with them and taking that
time um and eventually you know through all that and through that you know sort of those sort of staying on top of it um we have seen a huge success in um in the implementation of it and uh and certainly you know we certainly still need to stay on top of it you know um you know not saying it's perfect But
it's something that I would say is a game changer for uh for all of Brains High School. Thank you very much. Thank you. Any else? Um I have a question. Do we have a specific section that talks about social media
usage at all in a handbook? Um great question. Um, I would say we don't because I know we've had this discussion historically with, you know, staff members use of social media and and the big picture was
the school doesn't issue their social media. So, we can kind of it it's discretionary. Um, so it's, you know, like the we used to have a lot of teachers um, active on Twitter X, whatever it is, but
now it's not the best platform. Um, so I I don't know. We've had discussions in the past, but it came down to, you know, balancing out the fact that it's not a school issue to handle. Um, so that's where we kind of get into the weeds a little bit with,
you know, freedom of expression and things like that. So, um I don't we have guidelines for staff. It it's not an official policy. We we do have guidelines in terms of these are recommendations. Um
but that's it at the moment. Yeah, we I just pulled up quickly. We do have a social media policy in our North School policy. It is in there. There's six things on it. Improper blah blah blah.
It's whatever. It's file I jd but it is in there. But I don't know about the individual handbook companies. Audrey, are you asking for teachers or students? I'm asking for both actually because I think we've had issues on both sides where
students have posted teachers on their social media and teachers are continually posting students on their social media if it's Facebook, IG or Tik Tok. And I that's the main concern that I hear from um a lot of community
members. you know, they sign things for their students that yes, they they're okay with their kids photo being taken and used in, you know, the platforms that the schools use, but they didn't know if they wanted their kid to be on TikTok. So, I didn't know if that was something we should probably look into
further. Yeah. I mean, there is the the policy that all the parents sign to allow permission. That's why every once in a while, you'll see a school picture with like a smiley face or something like that. um that's been in place for many many years. But the the social media
policy has has been a slippery slope in the past. I know you know again I don't I hate to always say speaking historically but when there is you know improper student usage they have face penalties because it has escalated
situations but um you know but it's it's something we can definitely take a look at but again it's a legal kind of gray area because it's their own personal usage. We've had, you know, complaints in the past of, you
know, maybe some staff members using social media during the day, um, when they should be, you know, on task, teaching and learning, but it was, you know, could be their prep period, it could be their lunch block, you know, and those are different things that have been addressed by by admin as well. We
also have an accessible use policy which talks about how how devices should be used, websites, etc. Um, but I know that I believe Karen and her tech department, tech team, um, at one point created the social media policy. That's something we
can revisit as well if the committee's interested. I think we should. Okay. We'll add it to our agenda for the fall. All right. So, at this point, we will entertain a motion to approve the new
policy as presented. So, moved. Second. Second. All those in favor? Okay. Uh, next is a discussion to vote on conflict of interest with superintendent. Okay.
Thank you. Um, so as uh required by Mass General Law uh C268A, I'm notifying the Norton School Committee that um in the town of Norton that my daughter Kayn um has been recommended by Mrs. Russo to be hired as
a student assistant at at our extended school year um program this summer. Um Kayn will be working with some of our students at the high school and she's really excited about it. Um, and so, uh, the program runs from July 8th through August 7th, uh, Tuesday through
Thursdays. Um, and she'll be paid the rate of $15 an hour. Um, so it's important that, um, the committee in the town knows that I am not her supervisor, that Mrs. Russo will be. Um, and I just needed you all to be aware and to, um,
vote on that as well. Sounds good. Yeah. Just just one thing. I I don't know if it matters. just says the program runs July 8th through August 7, 2022. Oh, yikes. That's probably not the year we're going to do it. [Music]
Um, I will make sure that that gets updated um before I turn it over to the town as well. Awesome. Thank you. Okay. Um, entertain a motion to accept the conflict of interest disclosure. So
moved. Second. All in favor? I Thank you. Okay, next is the revisit and potential vote on the student parking. I I'll take this one cuz this is on me. So, uh one of the challenges I find
sitting up here is um we only get about 24 maybe 24 hours. We get a packet sent dropped off at our house which is lovely. Um, but sometimes life gets in the way and it's really tricky to fully
dive into packets. Some of them are um a little thick, some of them are not as thick and uh and then sometimes I like to do my own research on top of it. Um, so with the parking fee when it came across,
I didn't do the research that I wanted to do. So I had asked um if we could revisit this as I had um done a little research myself. So for the other committee members, we haven't talked about this. I have um I reached out to all of our dart districts as well as all
of our considered like districts. Um I reached out to the high school principles and I had asked them what um what are your athletic fees? What are your club honor society fees? What are your parking fees? Um, and I was shocked at how many people actually got back to
me considering it is the end of the school year and I know how crazy uh it can be. And so when I had received all this information, I put it into um a nice little Excel chart so I could compare everything. I also looked at the
high school populations um their enrollment data. I looked at the tax rate for the town um and I looked at um just like the overall population. So, some of the districts really didn't apply. They were track county districts, so three towns in one. And I just didn't feel like that really made sense. So,
um, in looking at it, I will say, um, most of the towns do not charge a parking fee. Um, there are a couple that do, and it's prrated throughout the year, like per semester basically. Um, because obviously not every student has their license in September, their junior
year perhaps. Um but what I found interesting is we do align very much so I feel like with the athletics athletic fees are increasing everywhere and um and I I think that Norin is relatively the same. Um where when it comes to the
clubs and activities it does vary. Um most of the high schools are charging some type of fee. Um but a couple of them are charging like an annual fee. So, you may pay $100 and you can join as many clubs as you want rather than like $50 per club. Um, most do not charge for
honor societies, but as we heard um I believe um was it this year, last year, this year that a lot of our surrounding districts don't have as many honor societies as we do. We have a lot of honor societies um comparatively. So, and then when it comes to the
parking fee, like I said, they they aren't charging anything. And for me, I was just thinking the juniors and seniors are now getting hit with this potential $75 fee for parking. They're getting hit for every club and activity. They're getting hit for an athletic fee.
And then on top of that, I thought about, well, what are you paying now for PSATS, for SATs, for college applications, and and all of these other fees that we're charging them? And I thought at the end of the day, is the extra $50 that we're asking from them,
is it really necessary um to cover I believe, you know, maintenance or whatever else was in that line. So, um uh it it then also led to like a further conversation where I called the highway department and I asked them and I said,
"Hey, like do you guys help out? Like, you know, how does this whole thing work?" and you know um so so I guess long story short not so much but uh I I feel like I would like a revote on this um to really think and reconsider the
fee itself um and and maybe if we can take away a fee on parents and students um where maybe it's not totally necessary I I feel like it would be um of our best interest. So, that's my
shield. So, we also have a few comps. I don't I don't know if um I don't want to I'll let Mrs. Hatfield talk about our surrounding districts as well. Um that what the fees are for parking. Um the highway department really doesn't help
us with um any of our of our parking needs or um plowing. So, um, the Norton High School parking fees are only able to pay for, um, anything that takes place in that parking lot. Like, we can't use the
money for the Yellow School parking lot or the GCS parking lot or or things like that. Um, and to provide a little bit of historical context, um, the parking fee used to be about $100 a student. Um, and it was $100 for a very long time. Um,
and what we did was we collected that money and I mean it got to the point where the, you know, the balance was a little bit high. And so, um, I'm trying to recall it was definitely two business managers ago. Um, so I want to say probably 8 years ago, we lowered the
rate down to 25 in order for us to um, be able to kind of spend that account down a little bit. So, um things that we use that money for are um salt and sand during the winter months for um the
parking lot if we need um there's like a little sidewalk thing. I know that sounds like it's like a little machine that clears the sidewalks. Um yeah, but it's like they sit in it like it's like a bobcat. It's a bobcat. Thank you. My
dad owns a hardware store. You think I would know that. Um and so um the Bobcat was purchased with that. Um we are going to be putting some a more permanent um structure at the the the final pole on
the end. Right now we have um these beautiful orange cones that shockingly people actually see. They didn't see the bright yellow pole, but um they do see the orange cones, which is wonderful. Um so we need to put something there. and and and that's really what it does. It
does the stripping and the lining and the paving as needed. So, um just for context on on what that fee goes to. So, I think you know from from having a childhood I I remember paying $100 for
one of my kid my kiddos. Um, and I think, you know, and and this is not taking away anyone's hard work, but that parking lot needs to be realigned desperately. Um, you know, you go to back into a space and you don't you're
not quite sure um which one you're going into. Um, so you know, I I guess my my my two cents on this is it's it's very restrictive on what we can use that
money for and it is all to do with the high school. Um, you know, we even had an instance where the state, you know, kind of called us out because we had a piece of equipment that we wanted to move to the middle school and we had to go through the whole process because it was bought with funds from that account.
So it is very restrictive. Um that being said I you know we wanted to revisit this. So I guess um if there's any other discussion um but if not it would be you know what what is your motion? Okay the next
question. So well I just have a question like if we don't have the funds does that mean we don't repaint them? So, anything that would have to be done in that lot would have to come out of the general budget instead of coming out of
that revolving fund. So, um we had an a we had a decent accident in the lot last week. Um one of the things that we would like to do this summer is um repaint some of the lines in terms of
exiting and entering the high school. Um if you are around the high school at the end of the day, it like it's like one lane of traffic that almost becomes three lanes of traffic. Um because someone is trying to people are trying to come into the high school and we've
got two lanes of um students and parents leaving the high school um where some people are trying to take the left out of the entrance way, some people are trying to take the right out of the entrance way. Um it's a miracle every day we don't have an accident. Um, we
did have a a rough accident. We would like to add some signage there as well. Um, in terms of what the speed limit is in the parking lot, the speed limit should be 5 m an hour. People are not driving 5 m an hour in that lot. Um, I know that was something that uh, Mr.
Sheeting and I have had a lot of conversations about before um, his youngest had her license and he was dropping off on a daily basis. Um, so if if once those funds were depleted, we would just need to use the general fund in order to be able to do some of those
things. So could I just entertain a compromise or a thought? Uh, maybe instead of the 75, we do 50. So then it's just doubled instead of, you know, and then maybe the idea of a tiered
approach. So um you know if you are a junior and you know day first half of the school year or whatever certain number of days if you are not licensed yet obviously you know and then after a certain day maybe you only pay the 25 or or is there some way that we could
compromise this that it doesn't you know necessarily hurt the district but then you know is it too much of a whammy at the same time? Is that something people would be amicable to?
I mean, I I think you know the fee is, and you correct me if I'm wrong, the fee is always probated. Pro rated, not probated. Um, based on when that student gets a license, I I had one of my my oldest child got his license like the
end of his sophomore year. Um, so yeah, I mean I think he had to pay like 10 bucks because he was parking there for a month, you know. And the other thing, and not to put this on on principal FL again, but there needs to be um, welcome to the show. Well, just, you know, but
there there's always an enforcement of parking. Um, you know, you and I remember vaguely, you know, you have to put the plate number down. Well, what if that kid takes mom's car that day and that police is not registered? So, and it's just one more thing that the high school administration probably can't
take on. Like, nobody can be walking around the parking lot checking, you know, potentially 100 cars. Um, you know, but I mean, you know, looking backwards, that that area in the back of the high school that's now paved was not paved 7 years ago. Um the paving came
out of this one and now we have 200 spots out there now, you know, just and it makes it a lot easier. But um you know it's it I mean I'm just kind of going down a rabbit hole. The money will have to come
from somewhere. That's kind of my thing. If if it's if we have to spend $10,000 to reline this parking lot and that's out of the general fund, then then that's what it's going to be. If it's a combination of out of this current fund and then the general fund then then
that's you know how it would have to be as well. So well this is I mean my question is this lot considered only the lot that's underneath the solar lights or is the side and the back also considered high school grounds I believe is how it is designated correct? So you
can use it at any any of those not probably till like the end of the junior lot for argument sake. Well, and I was going to say for argument sake, we're also I mean looking at the entrance and exit. That's where we're going to try to
do a little bit of better signage there this summer. Um because it's the it's the entrance and the exit of the high school itself. Um we can use the the money for anything there too. So, um, unfortunately, the
mouth of the driveway onto 123 is not technically wide enough to make it a multi-lane space. So, we need to be creative because paving companies won't necessarily come out and say, "Okay, this is this space is three lanes
because it doesn't fit the actual requirements of of three lanes." So, we're going to have to work with somebody to kind of figure out exactly what that's going to look like. Cuz I mean, it could definitely be widened going towards the school sign, but not to the other side where the property is, but that's that's a a major
project down the road that would never be covered by this thing. Um, but and correct me if I'm wrong, when it comes to traffic leaving the high school, even when we had crossing guards, they were at the back entrance by Freeman to let the buses out, right? They were never by
the yellow entrance. Correct. And then they were further down the yellow the essentially back entrance to the yellow when the buses used to come out of the Yes. So it's always been like a free-for-all to leave the main parking lot. Yes. I mean I think I spoke my piece on this
already. I think any fee is a hidden tax to the taxpayers. Period. That's what it is. That's, you know, that's that's exactly what we're trying to do. Um, I would again vote no. That's what I did last time. I'll do that again. Um, and I guess my last piece is if we need to
stripe in line and do all this stuff for the last two full uh town meetings now, actually last three, I think every single capital item has been approved. That's right. If the we're we're we're asking our our students to try to pay a
fee to paint lines in a parking lot on town property. That is crazy to me. So the only thing that hasn't been approved that we put forward the last couple times is the paving of the middle school. But I think that extra line that's a different beast than this.
Correct. Yeah. I mean again so I think ultimately we've been approving capital requests if the line if the lot needs to be lined and we need to keep the fee again I would vote to put the fee at zero to be honest with you but you know to me it's why are we whacking our juniors and
seniors students who are you know scraping by probably to make make ends meet anyway you know andor they're asking mom and dad to to pay another fee like I said to me that's a hidden tax that's that's what it is and and again I I wouldn't support
in this regard. [Music] So I think we've had the discussion. Is there a motion following the discussion?
Um uh let's see. Motion to keep the parking fee at $25. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor? I I'll be a no. I'm also not.
Motion passes 3 to two. Okay. Um, any other business not anticipated in 48 hours? I just want to make a quick comment about um the middle school. On Friday, I
had the esteemed pleasure of being a chao for the eighth grade trip to New York City. Um I was oh tired isn't even a word. That was, you know, get there for quarter 4 in the morning, get back at quarter of 1 in the
morning. Yes, that was a day. But I have to say I was really leerary about it cuz I'm like, "Oh my god, we are taking like 150 eighth graders, 14year-olds to New York City." Like, and I get it like I did that when I was a kid, but I don't
know something about now. Um, I was so impressed. It was like a welloiled machine. We, you know, didn't lose anybody for too long. No, but it was like just down to a science.
And so, you know, I just wanted to give a huge shout out and props to Mr. Haywood, Mr. Goldstein, all of the teacher chaperoons that, you know, I totally get it that, you know, giving that time is was a, you know, definitely
a thing. Um, yeah, and I just the the kids had a great time and so I just wanted to thank all of them for that. It it historically has been a great trip. Um we we were hesitant to bring this trip back years years back and um
Mr. Goldie, Mr. Haywood actually did a dry run of what the day would look like and I remember them describing like it was challenging. You know, many many years ago they drove into the city and we did have a bus, you know, take the wrong turn and um just half the day. Um
but now when they they go with the train, it's it's a lot better. That that was the scariest part was the train cuz the train won't wait for you. Like you you need to get on that train. So that that was probably the the scariest part, but it happened and everybody was there and I was like, "All right, this is this
was great." So yeah, good job to them. Okay. Anything else? Uh just one thing. I always like to do this. Uh my last one is graduating from Little Lancers, which is crazy. Um but I just want to kudos to that staff over there. All three of my kids went through Little Answers and she's graduating on Friday which is
great. Um, graduating um but that uh that program those teachers you know it's definitely a uh you know pretty I think is playing pretty well with machine over there as well and you know they do a great job just shout out to them. So just to all the students and the
staff we're just about there. Um just you know couple more days. Um I'm not sure what you guys have left. My two districts are done tomorrow and Friday just um so with nothing else entertain a motion
to adjourn. So move all those in favor second. All those in favor I have a nice Thank you.