##VIDEO ID:Xhc_mWvQf2k## all right we're going to get started uh for the Wednesday November 20th 2024 school committee meeting uh first thing first pledge allegiance I pledge allegiance to the FL I mean the United States and America and Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all um first order of business here is uh everyone get a chance to review the minutes from our November 6 meeting oh sorry and then if Norton media and Norton public schools are recording if anyone else is recording please just let us know sorry now we'll go to the uh approval of the November 6 minutes everyone get a chance to I will entertain a motion so second all those in favor uh before we go to the lawren just wanted to um reach out into the crowd here uh representative Michael Chason uh from boxboro Norton uh in Mansfield he's obviously Norton split District so stepen Howard also won his election but Michael Jason's our new rep um so want to come up say a few words more than whereever guess um yeah real brief I just wanted to introduce myself Mike Jason uh you new State Rep here Jay barl has had the SE for 18 years he's retiring um we ran our campaign we won uh and I just wanted to extend a hand say that I'm here and I know Nick has my personal contact info if you want to share it that's fine uh but if there's anything I can do in the future please feel free to reach out and I'm looking forward to working with everybody here in Orton and excited to get going awesome congratulations thank you uh sh Warr um I've reviewed and approved the following warrants School expense warrants November 6 2024 48569 and4 School payroll warrants October 31st 2024 1,1 14078 21 cents I public record do good evening everyone uh from the GCS the students ATS looking forward to a drummer day assembly it's Friday with our Music Teacher La for learn more about percussion instruments a parent will be will be joining us as a performer during the assembly and there is room to be Mr bar will also be joining with electric guitar our little lers are organizing and inviting parents and families to join us for our family feast next Tuesday there are two sessions planned to include both AM and PM little answer classrooms we are looking forward to focusing on gratitude this month as part of the purposeful people program through character strong one way to think about gratitude is choosing to appreciate people and things in our lives practicing gratitude can increase our well-being and even our happiness from the hey next Wednesday our PTO will be hosting anything but a backpack day was so creative and fun last year prizes will be awarded which will include hashtags and coins from book vending machine judging will be done again by our amazing SRO s jenet students have done a great job with pis earning hasore where we have already handed out 170 170 books their excellent behaviors this month's PBIS has been hallway behaviors where our students earn feathers for an incentive all students in classes have done incredibly well with improving hallway behaviors and are all in line to receive this month's incentive great job we have done close to 130 good news calls of the day so far the books are just flying out of the vending machine we thank the unlikely story and plan bill for sending us a box of books for free um to continue our work with reading and how we utilize our Sensational book vending machine I can't thank them enough for the donation and appreciate all donations one facet of imss tier 2 interventions for students behaviorally has been very successful again this year with our check-in and checkout system of points um students have been earning throughout their day students on the CI Co system have been doing so incredibly well what to be better this year and at this point we have been we've had many positive conversations with students and families about the importance of good attendance um and from Mr Higgins from the LG um we had our Fun Run recently and reached our goal of $20,000 the funds will be used by PTC to support enrichment at lgn the kids and families all had a blast all questions uh opening of school remarks with Mr and princip so um just make sure I got how that works okay welcome thanks for having us come up um honestly I have to say as everyone knows I'll just make a brief very challenging start to the school year to say the least um I was very pleased with how well the staff came together and everyone came together but I couldn't really talk about the start of the school without mentioning that but this is going to focus on the positives which we've had many so we have 540 students come we welcome them how we usually do back in September uh this is our staff picture at the end of and staff always turns over year to year and during Co we instituted just to try to bring back some of our Traditions that we lost taking a full staff picture so that's how we ended most of us came back in those same roles but we really got going even in in the summertime uh the Norton police department the SRO ran a um youth police academy and you people might have seen them around town it actually made it onto the news and we had a state police helicopter land just out back here for the students and most recently A lot of these students participated in the Veterans Day Parade so kind of got going in the summertime which was really fun in nor middle schools even active all summer with um our you know summer programs and so on so we're up and running pretty quick uh clubs and activities big piece of the school here many years you heard about the Common Core this is The Uncommon Core The Uncommon parts of our curriculum that really make our school interesting and fun to be at tat and come to so we have 16 different clubs that are offered currently there are 14 running because drama starts late would working in the second half of the year uh we have like double sessions on that here's stuff from one of our clubs these bird houses things like that some club members uh PBIS uh just like the hay School very successful that rolled up here well Marty does a great job uh sending the kids ready and prepared to meet expectations and face them um we have our system kind of looks a little bit different with the loss of the DEA students we kind of pushed it out to the teams themselves and they've been doing a great job again reinforcing our core values of being kind respectful responsible and being better which stands for kind of doing your best uh Mr Goldstein also in charge of school expectations and helping people meet those and he's heavily involved one of the uh cool things we added to the school this year was Creative Design um kind of addressing the loss of our art program which was due to the budget we had to create a class kind of for a filler for our small sixth grade group uh kind of balance the schedule and make sure Mr Kramer uh is teaching the first half of the year and very early on because you know the loss of the opart program does hurt and you know everyone in this room I'm sure and even watching knows that's something that we didn't want to do but how do we Infuse creativity the Arts and um engage engagement through all of our classes uh Mr KR we came up with this Creative Design course and this young man came up to me they were so proud this was early on at the start of school he designed a pencil holder to hold his pencil in his hat and then uh we challenged him and then a day or two later he came back and he had the cop dispenser version so that's been really great and then this is some people outside doing some Hands-On science activities again great six loves uh coming up and having the lab sciences and so on this is our therapy dogs they've been coming to the school uh this has been a fantastic uh um experience they're coming back uh now twice a month so we started that kind of in response to supporting our community around the tragedy that occurred and then we've continued that practice and um Miss Musto here has just been fantastic and uh this is her son who's a senior at the high school and he's come down as a Handler also actually sorry that was Maya was here tonight that was Maya's Civics project as okay Maya yeah she came out that day too so yeah yeah she came up that day too which is great it's fun and you saw how the kids respond it's just um again being so late in the cycle of the start of school reports we've been able to have a lot lot of cool events we had our um big Halloween tradition that continues gets a lot of Staff involved is seven and purple like the Karate Kid um and then here are one is my favorite was this one right here the um Liu emu so that was good and then we actually had an election obviously back in 2020 we couldn't do this because we didn't have school uh we worked with the town clerk which was great and uh Civics new Civics Chief is Mr Ben car and Colleen Jenkins who came down from the high school as part of kind of our movement of staff that we had and they actually ran mock elections they went over all the ballot questions um for the town and then the whole school voted for the the elections themselves and Trump won with 63% of the school vote but it was really cool the town clerk allowed us to use those uh things where the people actually vote so they had the kind of the whole experience and uh besides the presidential election the biggest thing was they wanted to end mcast question so no surprise and that was clearly 68 students wanted to keep it making no change and 65 wanted to end it Des requirement um again more clubs and activities our Rubik's Cube Club around Veterans Day again going late in the cycle we had a nice Advantage as we've had all these things come up they did that out of Rubik's Cube and then that was around Halloween that's Mrs Bridges group and then these are more of our clubs that are just running um Norton Middle School kind of like a miniature High School in some ways but uh we have all our Athletics uh this these are our fall teams they finished their Seasons um these are the win loss records again all very very good records um volleyball was just fantastic they had the biggest turnaround this year I think they won maybe a single game last year and then they went to eight and four this year we had a dig pink day and the atmosphere in the new gym Flo uh you know we Des did a lot to make sure that that got done it looks fantastic if you haven't been down there and we're looking forward to our basketball season starting the Monday after Thanksgiving so Middle School sports start early and then we had our Unified sports team which I get to be part of I drive the bus which is awesome but um we actually included uh fifth grade this year so we pulled up fifth grade we've had a great little partnership going um with them and they brought some athletes and buddies and a a coach up so that continues and their basketball season starts in February Shar nicely done I was forget you were like this you ready to jum ready to go ready to go we got our Middle School hockey team Middle School hockey team here that competes and get updates from Mrs Emerson we'll give us uh email updates and we get to read those on the announcements and so on and so a good group of kids there and then we're on to Thanksgiving so that's kind of the report any questions any questions comments curiosity is there going I know boys volleyball in the high schools in the spring is that going to happen at the middle school too uh not right now out of the 14 teams in the mass League we only have seven competing even in the girls volleyball we do have some co-ed as aspects of that a couple of teams did have like co-ed setups uh but I don't see us moving to that um anytime too soon are there any other sports that you can introducing how does that I know early on the mass so only had like two or three off yeah when I 11 years ago they only had basketball so and then you were a big part of the soccer program obviously and that got going um on the horizon I don't believe we have any other sports coming up other than unified stuff we might expand some unified opportunities but that's about it unified right now is run through um the mass awesome awesome thank uh next up stre Spotlight excellence awards by Dr I like this is becoming like a play seter it's a really good feel all right well I we've tried to do a student Spotlight the last couple meetings and um honestly it's my goal to do something we don't we stand hereen not here we you shut off Bill b okay that was easy um I would like to be able to do a student Spotlight at every school committee meeting just because I think um it's very easy for us as a school committee and sometimes the administrative team to get stuck in the weeds of all the challenges that we have and the big responsibilities of a school budget and you know um everything else that goes along with it but it's really important for us to remember why we do these things and um the importance of our students and our schools and to celebrate all the amazing things that they do um you know on a daily basis so I have five Awards to give out tonight and um these students actually don't know why they're here one of my friends Jacob Barry said why am I coming back and so I said oh that's a secret you'll have to wait until you get here so I have five Awards tonight to hand out um and I'm actually going to start with um the mass Association of school superintendence it's the award for academic Excellence um and this award is going to Jacob Perry so Jacob up now what I'm going to make each of you do is I'm going to have you come up and I'm going to have you stand here while I read about you so everyone can see and hear what an awesome awesome kid you are so turn and face the audience Jacob and everyone else get ready um there are some lengthy bios so just give me a minute and my eyes are starting to get old so um might take me a second so Jacob is a very highly motivated ambitious and responsible young man with an unquestionable work work ethic he is in the process of completing a highly rigorous program and has taken a multitude of honors and AP courses Jacob has been able to maintain a 4.8 GPA and is currently ranked first in his graduating class Jacob's academic success has allowed him to be on the highest honor role consistently he is a member of the national Spanish Honor Society at which he is also the president Jacob was the 2024 recipient of the academic award for excellence in science and history in 2022 Jacob earn the acade the academic achievement award in business and he has been the class president for all four years however his leadership skills go beyond the classroom as he utilizes these skills within his role in the Boy Scouts Jacob not only values education but he has been a valuable student voice in the community and student government he is a student that others strive to emulate and has been a positive role model for peers I'm very proud to present the certificate of academic Excellence from the Massachusetts Association of school superintendent to Jacob Barry congratulations family want to come up and take a picture with Jacob as well do it all Jacob is also on my superintendent advisory Council we meet three or four times throughout the course of the year and I ask them questions about the things that matter to them um they give me some advice on issues that are going on in the district and then we also eat pizza which is fun for everybody thank you Benson congratulations Jacob all right so now I am going to present two Awards these are the National School Development Council Awards and there are two um so first I am going to call up Zoe Santos come on up all right so Zoe is an exceptional student whose passion humor and caring nature have left a memorable mark on our school Community as a dedicated student with a love for mathematics Zoe has set her sights on pres pursuing a major in accounting Zoe's academic journey is a testament to her determination she has consistently pushed the boundaries of her education by enrolling in rigorous AP and honors courses during her time at Norton High School this year Zoe is taking AP Computer Science AP Cal AP economics Zoe also earned the prestigious Presidential Award of AC academic excellence in both business and math as well as the AP scholar with distinction award earlier this year these distinctive honors are reflection of Zoe's academic excellence in addition Zoe has been part of eight honor societies and was even named vice president of the honors Spanish Society beyond the classroom Zoe is a natural leader and an inspirational figure among her peers as a captain of the Norton High School soccer team indoor track and outdoor track teams she embodies the spirit of teamwork perseverance so Zoe congratulations I'm excited to present this to you there you go congratulations to come up and take a picture as well right of course all right okay the second recipient of the national school development Council award is Nora watus I actually have two awards for Nora tonight um because she was also an AP scholar with distinction however she was not able to make it that night because she had a commitment with I believe volleyball is volleyball so I'm going to read Nora's bio and then I'm actually going to present her with W so we we figured we knew you were coming back so we would hold on to it all right Nora is a motivated and diligent student constantly pushing herself to achieve her best her ambition and conscientious nature are evidence in everything she undertakes both in and out of school her dedication is not only recognized by her family but also admired by peers and teachers alike Norah's natural leadership skills shine through in her roles such as serving as the varsity captain of the NHS track and field team her long term goal is to become a biomedical engineer and she is determined to Advance Medical Science Nora has embraced challenges throughout her High School career by enrolling in various advanced placement courses including AP Cal AP Computer Science AP psych and AP Spanish she has a particular aptitude for mathematics which is demonstrated by her receipt of the prestigious renier medal in 2024 for excellence and extracurricular Endeavors oh sorry for foring achievement in math and science Beyond her academic achievements Norah has excelled in her extra PR Endeavors holding leadership POS leadership positions such as vice president of the math Honor Society and historian for the National Art and it doesn't say this in here but Norah also completed in a computer science challenge in which she and some of her peers designed an app that was really really awesome and recognized at for computer science as well so I'm going to give both both the national school Development Council award to Nora and the AP scholar with distinction award to Nora you get them both in one Fell Swoop congratulations want to come up congratulations okay the superintendence Award of Excellence is going to OK come on up right Maya is an inquisitive respons and driven student who is interesting in majoring in finance or business with the goal of becoming a successful businesswoman she has many leadership roles during her time at Norton High School including president of the National Honor Society vice president of the English National Honor Society elected treasur of student council and named captain of the varsity girls swim team she is no stranger to being a leader and takes pride in leading and helping others Maya has also made a strong impact on the Norton school Community by bringing therapy dogs into our schools her program has changed the school culture in such a positive way and I know that she's going to go on to do great things in college career so congratulations Maya the superintendent's Award of Excellence thank you you're very well all right so those awards are awards that we do every year but this year we had something special happen um and I would like to recognize James McKay James come on up James was actually recognized this year as a National Merit scholar semifinalist um which is really wonderful and um incredible asset to do James and it's not something we see all the time here in Norton so it's definitely important for us to recognize that so James is a compassionate academically curious young man who has a strong passion for math he enjoys an academic Challenge and has taken the most rigorous classes available to him each year he started taking AP and college courses during his sophomore year and has increased the number of AP courses he takes each year culminating in taking four this senior year James has won many academic Awards throughout his high school career most notably being a National Merit Scholarship semi-finalist in addition James has won the President's award for math every year demonstrating his strong natural ability for math as well as the president award for computer science in 2022 Spanish in 2022 and Science in 2023 James has gone above and beyond our school schools required 40 hours of community service by completing around 200 hours since the start of high school did you know it was that many um this past summer he was a co-lead counselor for ages six to eight at Camp Sunshine a camp for students uh with life-threatening illnesses in their families where he helped coordinate activities played games and supervis the children when they were not around their families as an officer in three honor societies James gained invaluable leadership experience he is the Web Master for the science Honor Society and started the science fact of the day for their Instagram account in part to help his own Curiosities he has researched and posted a science fact of the day every day of the school year and hopes these facts Inspire others to research their own Curiosities so congratulations to you James I think it's really important that we recognize this incredible honor so congratul did your compy want to come up as well thank you congratulations excellent uh phenomenal job it's always great I think Jen kind of bringing into the student Spotlight kind of series I guess if you will has been awesome for us um I know we kind of sometimes get bogged down with the policies and procedures and budget and all that nonf fun stuff watching our students you know actually succeed and the other thing that's even more impressive is what they can do in the classrooms outstanding what what else they could do in the community and like Community Serv hours and kind of how they can affect so many people um you know just outside their academic thing it's really definitely specialist anything else awesome job thank you very much if you guys want to leave congratulations we're all so proud of you [Music] all right next up is uh discussion vote to increase subtitute R um so like so many um districts around us we are having challenging time getting substitutes especially um so in effort to stay competitive um and being a stronger tool to increase substitute um just slightly so what we have in front of you um in the Box in the light pale purple is what we are proposing um so that would be for our daily substitute we're hoping to increase it15 a day1 um on our long-term sub it is um same thing um $100 to 115 for six weeks um and then we usually increase it by 20 so we would like to then increase it um 20 again to 25 a day $125 day our permanent building substitute which those are the ones that we just brought back um that would be from instead of 110 a day would be 115 a day and then we would keep the 135 day after and we're going to have no recommended um for the retired Norton public school teacher rury and below that in the yellow is um just some comparables that we have in surrounding districts [Music] that so as I know the committee under knows this is not a new conversation we are just having very very difficult time finding Subs um so if we don't have Subs in the school um we have administrators covering we have teachers covering during their prep period which is a financial obligation for the district um as well we're hoping that perhaps by you know increasing just this just a little bit we'll be able to get people out the other thing that I think is important that I share with the committee and maybe anyone who's watching at home is that we would love people if people couldn't submit a whole day to substitute uh teaching we would take half day people we would take a few hours here and there and obviously the rate would be prated to you know the hours that are that are worked um I know that we've had conversations with some some parents that are you know I couldn't do the whole day at JCS because my child gets out of school and then I needs bring them into activities but like if you could do N9 to One 9 to two we would love that so um we are always always always looking for substitutes um and as you know this this is It's hard to um it's hard to estimate when we're going to have these um we have a number of leaves right now at one of our elementary schools um all for things that are wonderful and exciting for the very most part but um it's we've had a really difficult time by it seems like we have conversation at least every couple of years yeah I'm beginning to wonder if at some point we need to stop throwing money at the at the problem maybe it's just people because I mean looking at some of these other districts I mean we're we're slowly creeping up the ladder and I remember I think the first time we had this conversation I think we were the lowest now we're going to be just about the highest so I'm curious to see if we made this change what's this going to look like six months from now and is it really a money issue or is it really just people don't want to do it so I think we just need to be cautious of that you've heard me joke that we need to do substitute teaching as your civic duty and not just jury duty um because I think number one you at least you get people in the door and number two it would give it would give people who are not in the education World a really um you know important perspective on the reality of schools today um but I don't disagree D we we have a very difficult time I think part of it too I mean I know when my kids were in elementary school I was at home with my kids and so there were a group of us that were home with kids and so we some there was a you know cry out for help that we needed subst and so I trust like well just hang around all day anyway so waiting for the kids to get a school we might as well try yeah and you know I don't have an education background I I was in healthcare um and it was awesome it really was it was I mean I think if you have the the time um you know my kids obviously love seeing me around the school at that time when they were so little um but it you know I just wonder if there's more people working like if there's not as many people home anymore because of the state of where we're at you know just financially you know that may be part of the it may not be that people don't want to but maybe people that just don't they can't not to right they have their own jobs and responsib you know what I mean so it's it's tough just a point of clarification your proposed it says FY 25 is that supposed to be FY 26 no we would ideally like to start doing this rolling out as soon as we could so that LE me be my next question how are we affording this our line is one that's never always fully funded at the beginning of the year that's something that um was taken a lot out of school choice however um during the course of the year we have for example we have um a longtime staff member that's retiring that person we have that person's salary budget the entire year we were not aware that they were going to retire mid year um when we set the budget so that goes into a savings for things like this fact um same with you know teachers at I'm attorney leave they may decide that they're not going to come back um you know I'm having my baby an NE and I'm just going to save it those types of things that's where we typically fund the remainder of the sub and increases two are not substantial like if you look at the permanent building sub if I just pretend it was a whole 180 days which it's not now it it's only like under $500 um if that was like the entire school year so that's why they're very small imp the highest would be a daily sub there the whole 180 days which wouldn't be so um that's over a little over 2000 I guess another question maybe this college what do we ask for requirements I know Sher said she did no educate but as long as they pass that's what yeah so it was when I when I was doing it you had to have a bachelor's degree that's what I was told oh not anymore okay right because ultimately even with the lower requirements we really still get anybody so um it used to be and you know it's so funny because a lot of our um noron high school graduates will come back and sub and it used to be that you needed to have completed two years of college in order to be eligible but we're not even there anymore that um requirement went out the window I'm going to say probably four or five years ago I would guess if it could have been prior to co um it yeah I'm thinking it was as well just thinking about you know all of a sudden years about um so those have but obviously you need a clean you need a clean cor you need the clean fingerprints those are things that all of our substitutes go through those um background I think it's important too that people know like when I was first asked to do the I was not on school just to be clear yeah ran after I know it was before I was on school committee but you know when I was first asked you know if if I would be open to it it's super intimidating right when you're not a teacher and you're like you want me to be in charge of 20-some kids like I love being with my kids but all of those like I I'm not a teacher I didn't know what to do but it's important to know that the teachers have that sub plan so it was super easy to just follow their plan for the day um and if you're in elementary I mean it was you know it was definitely easy follow and you have other teachers that would always pop in to make sure you were you know good and check in on you to make sure you know everything was going okay so just in case anybody's watching and they're nervous they're like well I was never a teacher that the sub plans are so you know step by step what you need to do where you need to go you know and and honestly it was a lot of fun it really was if anyone's thinking about it it really was fun to be in the classroom with sometimes my own kids and their their friends and they they get the biggest kick out of it so course they did yeah I did a lot of subing that one um not College stud even like we Bridgewater State like college students perfect for especially if you're in the educational field it's a great lead in to what real life is and not what colleg is yes T teaching you because it's very different um but yeah I mean like that's a I mean I think that's kind of what we're looking to do I mean personally you know moving it up $15 a day doesn't sound like much but we're struggling to get subs how many Subs do we have have a day in ours on average how many Subs do we need or how many Subs do we have those are very different answers to different questions right I would say that you know on an average day we need 20 to 25 subs for the district district so I mean if you just [Music] do that's an average day and of course you have days where you might need six you have days where you might need 36 um um but it really um and then there's no predicting any of it that's not including the permanent building soaps no the permanent building Subs I believe are all but one I think are high higher in in y and then did you I'm sorry when when you were um going through all this did you say that if we don't get a sub and there's a teacher out right how does that impact the other teachers I guess like do they get you sorry you don't get lunch today and then they get compensated or like how does that so A teacher would always get their lunch like what whatever that I'm just I'm just curious like how that works so it really honestly it really depends on the right because um covering an Elementary classroom for a day versus covering a high school class for a few periods the Dynamics are a little bit different um one thing that Mr Barrett has been doing at the JCS is taking a group of kids out for extra recess so you might take a third grade class and a first grade class and a second grade class because the music teachers don't day so he has been giving teachers their prep that way and and you know coming up with creative ideas um at the middle school at the Middle School Mr Hayward and Mr Goldstein do a huge amount of coverage and so depending on the number of of staff that are out that might mean bringing you know multiple section kids to the auditorium which is cafeteria becomes like extended study because they need some cover they need adult supervision and they're only two people um also at the middle school and the high school if teachers have um a free period if they have a c um we try to be as Equitable about it as possible and figure out who have we tapped so far um in order and then they get compensated for missing for missing that PR so it's in our contract what the r is and how that how that's Quantified um other things we might do is we might need to pull a pair of professional from POS we might need to pull our reading Specialists so they don't see kids that day um but it's it's really difficult to especially you know as the students are younger it's really difficult to manage a school when you don't have about a great number of people that takes someone's G to that I'm just wondering like if we're increasing this by $15 like what the offset would be versus if you had a teacher compensated you know like what like is it kind of a wash basically then like if we have a teacher compensated for their losing their prep or something versus just adding $15 $4 it depends on um and then the pair is it's different if they're do teacher coverage so it's definitely still getting paid more yeah how how do the principles for each building let's just say need an eighth grade science class cover you have whatever seventh grade science teacher who the kids are that person could come up is it required that that person comes up or is it as simple as like you ask and whoever's like hey I'll take the extra shift I'll take I'll put away my professional time or whatever take it like how does how does each school do it you mean if they don't find a sub correct for for Teacher coverage we try to you know take volunteers first and then if you don't have a volunteer then you say hey I really need you to X and then they the next time they won't vot to them person they'll vot so it's kind of rotating it tries to be it's rotating and the Union's really you know understanding about it and you know there that's why there's language in the contract about it so it's definitely more expensive to have a teacher cover right those classes than it is to have a sub um but you know that's one of the things that we talk about every month I like sub coverage is really issue yeah you know I mean this week I reached out to Stonehill we in Bridgewater um just to say Hey you know we're always looking for substitutes if even if you know you have a someone who's interested is interested in education or is interested in math or whatever they're doing like and again we can do a half day we can do powerly but please let them know we've shared all that information with them guys um I spoke with each of the education department has most um yeah I'm kind of with Dan on this too because I don't know if it's a money because I I feel like every single district is you can see it all over the place that it's you know they're asking for Subs so is everybody too low maybe but like I don't think we're losing people necessarily because Mansfield paying $100 a day and so are we Franklin like people aren't going to Franklin for $105 when stay in nor for 100 so like I don't know if that's like I don't know if like what you say might go to Rand though for 150 yeah I don't know would you dri that far I mean like at the end of the day your gas 20 bucks and you know I mean I don't know I think historically and I think Sherry could go back on this with me we were lowest I think we were like 85 before we ever had this conversation 69 yeah so so I mean you could sub five days a week and you get decent paycheck but you know like for example like if you work in second shift that's that's good money if you wanted to come in for a few hours or you something like that or you know I mean I think it's it's it's worth it talking to some of the college kids that are coming back from winter break and they come and that's so that's great we we do have a lot of college kids that come back in December and May the other I mean I I guess it's just something else we have to try and see if it's going to make a difference in in my opinion I think it's more of a Workforce issue than a pay issue um you know I I think you know like Sher mentioned it's a little bit different of a working dynamic and years ago um with you know more two income families yeah um I mean I guess we just probably have to try and keep an eye on it and that yeah I mean just doing my quick math again we're looking at 20 Subs a day for 180 days you know it's 3,600 subs for a year basically increasing it from $100 a day to 150 is give or take $54,000 a year extra that's just with the daily sub when I look at that number I'm looking at it saying that is another teacher that is another program and I get it I know it's a struggle I understand but like just to me I don't know if it's the solution either we've done I I think I've I think we've raised Subs twice since I've been here this would be now free I think so like clearly throwing more money just seems to be not fixing what the problem is but I don't know what the problem like how do you fix the problem is it just someone goes up to $250 a day you PR to God you get enough Subs like I I don't know you know but I'm I'm kind of yeah maybe so I mean I think we have to try and then if we don't if it if it doesn't make a difference if we don't get the subs we're not putting the money out anyway yes but here my thing is but to you're still now you're still paying additional money and if it doesn't work yet again we've now raised it three times in three years and we've just you know again $54,000 this time last time was $442,000 last time was 60 and now all of a sudden we just increased $150,000 in Subs over three years and we're still in the same problem well that's the thing to C of your point if it's $54,000 it's another teacher spot but we're still that teacher's gonna be out SI at some point too we're not that's not going to get us where we need to be and you know I mean I I think you know if we make the change we're far more competitive than we have been in the past I mean part of me thinks maybe just getting the word out somehow and and you know have have each building administrator put it in their newsletter and say you know really just push it out there because there some people that one probably don't know it's it's it's a decent day of work it's probably not all that hard I've never done it you it's not easy it's a lot so but my point being is if people don't know about the opportunity maybe they find that they like it maybe they do like it and maybe they come back every day you know I mean I just think get we have to try and get the if we're gonna spend the money now we need to get the word out there somehow that we're competitive for something yeah but I think to me I think we already are we're with Mansfield we're with Franklin we're with East you know ta's paying a little bit more that's that's even bigger a challenge when you're there you know I mean we're right we're right in line with most of these most of these districts with the exception of what Randolph you know I mean I would I would more or less look at something like retired NPS you make that like any retired teacher in Massachusetts ever I mean you know and you bump that up to me it just increasing again is it's not we we've we've increased it twice we hav we haven't solved our issue so we okay so last year we increased the sub rate for the nurses um I think Joe was here here when we did the we went from 85 to 100 yeah that sound right yes five or six years ago no I was on so perhaps May was your first year I don't know I think it was the nurses we just did the nurses with we did nurses last year and the year before we did teachers that spring late that spring begin we went from 85 we were at 70 we were at 70 forever yeah we went to 85 I couldn't tell you when I think that was early in Joe's career Joe was still here yeah Joe and Joe was still here when we went we did the um 100 and then we did the 175 of the bti did we get a Lo re has to we do like do you think if we offer that to any retired would like that help you know so it's not just Norton so hey if I'm a teacher in Mansfield looking over here and be like oh crap I can get $175 a day you know where where their certifi is only 125 now maybe you make 50 bucks I I don't know like I would I would look more towards that than just increasing a fee to increase it to hopefully or this Fe but whatever you want call it but just to increase to to Hope like that that is bad that's kind of we're looking for we can't we can't increase money right now to hope we need to increase money if we're gon to increase money we got to make sure we know what we're doing so can we do maybe Benson can put it out on our on our social channels get them get them a graphic or or do a graphic or something with the information and put it out on social so that other people are seeing it but you know like I forget if it was Nick or Dan said you know put something in the newsletters at each school so that parents see it because you may have parents who are interested I was like I definitely read this in yours and I'm pretty sure Mr Barrett put it in P too Brian put in last year I was gonna say Brian Courtney mlen who's our HR person they actually run probably I'd say probably done two or three since you came here they do substitute workshops where you can come and learn about being a substitute walk through the day what's what does this look like and then they you know basically give you the application to fill out right then and there okay come on we can we can Fast Track another one because we have the presentation the information set up so we can get something on the calendar for you the near future but um Nick what were those num you said it was 54 yes this is chicken scratch on my Pap but yes if I went off the math I did was 20 Subs a day 180 school days in a year Sharp's not that high but um you first day of school last day of school sure correct but 100 you know 180 days of school gives you 3,600 Subs a year if you did that by $100 a day you're spending $360,000 if you did it by $115 a day $414,000 which is a difference of $54,000 by increasing now again that is not by any means the correct way to do this you have to actually look how many long-term Subs you know have just increasing well with like $15 a day like I mean if we're going to try and be I don't know at least that would be not all the way up to 115 we would be more than a couple I don't think 115 is to rle looking at the comps yeah I don't think it's terrible I think it's I think it's I don't think it's terrible I would trust me I would like to make this $175 day get people here you know it's not so 115 7 hour work day ends up being like 16 16 right so minimum wage is 1550 right you look at it that way it's not that that's I mean I think if we make if we make this increase one we we don't look at an increase in the next couple three four years and I also think we need to promote it more as well and get them out there but I think we need to take a careful look at what everything looks like now at our current rates and what it looks like after this if it passes proposed rate and then we have to drill down and see if it's a staffing issue like I like I personally think it is or is it a money issue um but I think I don't know how we cure if it's a sta can can we look at the last time we had an increase and then see if like the subs probably got worse did we get more I don't know you know what it me probably got worse we the last time we had an increase and like I don't know is that even like I think it's hard too with that because I feel like we have more seems you know this F particular they have so many leads right now right um and we're talking about it today um because principal said that they're on the phone with a couple applicants and then he's like I'll call you right back and then um run check make sure all the paperwork and then oh no no never mind like they literally cancel on spot so it's just hard to gauge that specific component to think about in terms of like inflation and cost of living adjustments if the last time we raised was five years ago from 85 to 100 um going from 100 to 115 seems like a reasonable just approach simply because our you know purchasing power isn't what so this would be me this is this is how I would try to solve this problem one I would take this daily rate and I would times it by 2.5 every every single year so then every single year this is meeting the inflation cost of the cost so every year we go up a little bit you know or or if we do it based on the teachers range whatever whatever that is you know if we have a really bad year and administrators and teach and whatever we're taking a 1% increase that 1% you know that way this is always changing and it's not just coming back and we're trying to Fig out when's the last time we raised them and you know oh that was five years ago now it's different the economy gets better never decreasing this you know so that to me that's one two like again we just don't know if this is the actual problem so is it something we can look outside the box and cut me off if I'm going to step out a little bit here but is this something we can look at in like negotiations in terms of like hey teachers if you don't take a day off of work we will give you $1,000 St again think the only thing we came close to is years ago we had explored a buyback so so just we if you were hired before a certain date in NPS you have access to S buy so at the end of your retirement if you have X amount of days you can buy them at a certain um that I believe ended got a look at contract I want to tell you some between o um so anyone hired after the date no longer has an so you know you're starting to lose those people that have that have access to that but um I would say that um any creative thoughts that we have to um you know work on the sub isue that we have but it's also people get sick no people get sick people have babies people kids need medical care and and there so it's it's similar to the conversation that we've had about the new building we can't predict C and so this is one of those things like overtime accounts that the town side has we just can't predict when when people are going to go essentially our overtime this is our overtime and when people come up against serious medical issues and we want to make sure that we're taking care of our staff and in the best way that we can um and so ultimately I I don't think there's a clear reason right it's probably a little bit of money it's probably a little bit that number one people or more families are have two working parents not everyone is available to sub um you know it's a little bit of work people are not able to work whatever the reaction now may be um we don't know I mean the other thing we could we could do think we could do is Christin and I could sit down principles and see if we can come up with other creative things and leave daily subate um as it is maybe look at the retire maybe look it's a long-term sub you're a long-term sub Your Role is different than coming in today I'm going to sub in second grade and tomorrow I'm going to sub in sixth grade and like you're you're basically there for the day and then you move on if you're a long-term sub you're there day in and day out you're planning you are um you know potentially doing report cards or doing parent conferences that's a different role and so perhaps if you guys aren't sold on this tonight maybe Christine and I can go back and come up with some creative ideas um and meet with the principles and see if we can put something else together for you guys I also don't want us to do it just because we feel like we have to I mean I'm I'm not personally against it I just think I think it's one of the rare times throw money at it it's 10 not going to gain us what we are looking to get um but I mean I I don't mind voting for tonight or maybe we get a little information I think we're at fishion critical stage for you know this isn't going to prevent buildings out of curiosity just because you mentioned it when does a daily sub turn into like a longterm sub like is there a specific like like if a teacher has some mystery illness that they're going to be up for 10 days like is that just G to find a daily sub for 10 days or yeah I mean ideally we' love to keep the same person in the classroom for those 10 days but typically it doesn't occur until you know someone's going on in extended so someone is having surgery and it's six weeks um you know typically we try to it's almost like a planned absence yeah so usually it's like know about it the way that it works right now is like if you're you know something for six weeks like you get the daily rate if there's anything after that we move you up to that next level um so you know way we do it with our people who were here the entire year we pay them either as a bachelor's step one as or as a master's step one based on what level of Education they have because they are here for an entire year they are filling the duties of a classroom teacher they're planning they're welcoming kids they're doing everything so that's um something that we've been doing for a long time um but I think it's we can put other ideas and thoughts together if you guys are more comfortable with that or we can vote tonight so really have to you I think Bon came up with a fun Tik Tok is to be a Norton sub okay and and then make it go viral Benson no pressure sounds like Sher wants to start it I think you can do it I fith in you a former yeah as a former yeah know there's a group of us that did it I don't know maybe it's hit socials why not try it you know I don't know yeah I don't think right exactly right I appreciate that J lately news I've been reading you know it's good to know that one go one out of [Music] five what do we want to do we wanna I want I feel like I want some more yeah I like let's just kind of Flo it back and see what else we can come up with B yeah can do turn of the Year cool all right move on um FY 26 budget process timeline overview um so this is our budget memo that um you're probably familiar with that we um send out every year um just the dates and timeline for the budg um I have already submitted the um templets for the department heads and principal administrators on um November 6 um we're asking for them to be returned to us on Friday December 6 um and then the following week and I will to report IDE um for next year after that going into the new year um narrow down the recommendations we'll compile a budet and then um January 22nd to our first pass budget to you guys and then the next two dates are um tened but they are the February 8th um School committee budget Workshop which Saturday morning and then um February 26 would be our budget hearing and scho just one quick thing this is great can we do something similar to this that we can send up to public in terms of like so we actually have an infographic that we shared last year with um the public which we can we'll put out again in our up my newsletter um it's very similar it's literally the exact same thing it's just a little bit more fun yeah and then like if we could and I know we need to work on this but like adding like if we can add like joint meetings on OB squareway two if we can like add in any public hearings obviously we budget hearing on here and then like add up all the way like right to town because I feel like just again a onepage sheet that can be you know sent out on social media hey this is what the budgeting process looks like here are your date period of time then there's no real not not that I say not an excuse but like hey everything is laid out for the public as well also it's matching up obviously to our administrators teachers so so ultimately we typically don't get information from finance committee in the townside until you know a week or two before we're expected to be there we need to fix that um so we will um put things together and sure time dat I don't uh voting on it tonight okay so um but yeah but we have the info graphic I it's tomorrow night that they'll be voting on it thank you um and then just go I think the other thing about that timeline is is we can you prepare that work with the other boards but I think last year it was the example that we could be scrambling to put together a meeting because of you know major issues financially that were faced so I mean I think that needs to be you know I would rather overc commit to meetings and cancel them versus not having them oh you didn't have it on your timeline you know so I mean I I think and I've said this publicly in the past this is not a shot at our other electeds by any means but we kind of got this budget thing down packed like we're very proactive we're very we take our time we're very meticulous and you know but we're always overly criticized for you know lack of this lack of this and I think that it's and I think we're extremely transparent exactly uh so I mean I think it's you know we are given a number by the town's officials and we stick to that number that's all we can do we can advocate for different positions as five of us can do but ultimately it comes down to we work within the budget given and we don't set that number we just live within our means so I mean I think that's just something to to state that you know we can be all ready to go and at the last minute they could say shave off another percentage um produc two budgets exactly I I don't want to repeat of last year because it was entirely too much work it was entirely too chaotic um and some of the requests were frankly outrageous that we got from some other time well and I think the important thing for us to is that ultimately is the role of the school to set is not the responsibility of any other board I justable to say that and I think I mentioned this to you guys I think that the Su at some point is there a way like I know like we have administrator principal budget meetings with superintendent business administrator is there a way I don't want to be involved more earlier in the process can we see what the principles are requesting and then what you guys I don't want to say cut but what you are recommending they you know principal gives a an easy number a million a million dollar budget you guys come back and say it's you know we only got $700,000 for you it now gets to us and it's not a shot against you guys by any means but we're hearing you we don't hear from them so like I think like we've seen in terms of like putting some of these positions back and whatnot it's like some of them were a little eye opening in terms of being like oh we didn't realize that position was that important for what we're doing maybe we could have done X Y and Z you know differently before we made those cuts um so like I guess from Mar him in think the second piece of this would be awesome is like once you kind of start getting a history of kind of what each school is doing it breaks it down even further so you have schools the five schools you have Central Administration I know there's going to be some crossover it's never going to be perfect but hey JCS has gone three years in a row at 2.5 3% you know 1.8% LG is going you know 5% to 3% to 2% whatever it may be you can kind of key in on okay why did the high school go from 2% to 7% what happened it gives us a little bit hopefully when we're long gone out of the seat in 200 whatever 30 someone can look at this and say hey the last 10 years of what's going on you know this makes sense why is this school jumping what's going you know to me it's just like to get number 30 yeah his 35 million not saying we don't break it down but his 35 million so much money so involved so deeply thing that we don't see it broken terms of like and so that's what we do with them every year and I think it's really important for you guys to know and for the community to know that there's very little wiggle room in the actual budget itself 90% of our budget is step and so we're having conversations already about like if you want a new position or you want to Advocate that a position comes back then you need to come with a creative way to make that happen that means we're looking at getting rid of something else um because I don't foresee us having the budget to add back FTE each year um this is the conversation we had with the with you know some of the supplemental funds that we got at meeting I don't know if we'll be able to sa all of those positions because we have to look at things really carefully so we're saying okay how can like let's look at this particular thing how how could we do this Sur is this still needed in 202 we've been doing it this way for a long time is this is this still the right way to do certain things so we're having all those conversations um when it comes to curriculum purchases all of those things go through the office of teaching and learning because we want to make sure that the first grade classroom at JCS and the first grade F at lgn have the same resources to work with and then you know in previous iterations it didn't always happen that way um that was something that I worked with the principles to make sure we were all advocating for the same things you can't have two totally different educational experiences based on where your street address is um and so those are a lot of the things that we do ahead of time but I also do think it's important for you guys to see like are there positions that the principles are requesting and saying this is something that we really get Ed because it gives you the information you need to be able to go out with theity and to advocate for us um because we all know that I can Advocate as much as I can here you know whether it's you know at a school committee meeting that seven people watch or in my newsletters that Justine reads or whatever else it might be it's it's the message isn't always getting out there um and so um we can certainly look at how we share that information with you I I think it's important I really like that I think it it would give um a better perspective I think at least for myself I I like that idea uh I and I ask the elephant in the room here but we are in negotiations so like how does this process work I I don't if we're not potentially done by February like how does that transpire ultimately it means that you create a budget and or depending on what we negotiate that that there are changes that are going to need to be made later in the process um and so I think it's it's obviously we go into negotiations in in a good faith um attempt to make sure that we're listening to the you know the needs the request of the teachers and that they're doing the same thing on their ends um we can look at Trends and patterns but until you have a signed deal um but Christine and I have been doing a lot of that work especially looking at trans patterns um across the state across you know similar like districts um but again until that contract is signed right there's there's a lot of 90% of your budget up the right well I mean I think through neg you can have an idea with negotiations but I mean and ultimately you know each side is it has to act in good faith and we're seeing that some of these other districts that are making news that it sounds like one or both sides is not going in good faith um as we see some more more these districts challenging their their there to remain open so I mean it's always I think both sides always kind of have an idea and I mean you could always do maybe do a one year keep one talking you know if that comes down to it's always a possibility this endless I don't want to say this endless possibility ways to you know understand that we still need to keep the schools open and funded you with our staff I I don't think you know seeing some of these other really challenging districts I don't think you should here so the answer to your question is you know that's fine I just I didn't know if there was like a this is how he usually rules and you know okay so we January 22nd is that something that like I think probably stick to in terms of like and then just presenting the budget can we just present it by scho what do you mean sir so like this is the JCS budget the lgn budget correct here's JCS here's lgn here central office I would say this probably six five School office that's going to be your if you're well usually we I mean I guess the other thing I think I'm trying to understand why break I mean we see everything in the line I just I just think breaking it down to that level gives us the ability to I mean see what is happening I think we can do that or so earlier in the like for example when the administrators submit their budget requests next month we can just to point I would say like let's us clean things up a little bit I I'm just saying you know when we get the original request it's a lot it's extremely Comforts some we need a little bit of time to dive in the one thing that we could think about doing and I think the other thing that's important for us to have a conversation about um is like the principles could say these are our requests over and above level services like that might be a good way like basically because what we said was like a service budget is what we're going to shoot right because ultimately we want to keep what we currently have right now that's always the goal and in a financial situation like we are in our community we can't say oh yeah we we want to go for the gold we want to get all those IDs but but saying to saying to the principles could you share with the school committee what your rationale is for these things over and above like for example last year we had a lot of conversations about the new Ela program for elementary and how important that was and how and how much yes we were shooting for level services but we really wanted to do this as well so perhaps that might be a good way for the principles to kind of share what they're thinking over and above that point the other thing that we've done for the last several years um with Joe and then um you know denz asked for it last year too was the separation of budgets in terms of general education and special education um I want to ask you guys what your thoughts are on that I mean personally to me like we have to we're mandated to educate every child um and so yes we have le less flexibility when it comes to the special education budget it's all included in all of our line items but if you still want us to present it to you in that way we can do that I mean I understand the reasoning for separating special ed and General Ed I don't necessarily agree with it um because I think historically you know people like oh everything goes to special ed generally gets that's always you hear that argument people that are naive to the process and I think you know we have less flexibility so I mean it's to me when we look at special education it's almost that guaranteed cost it's almost we it's it's the have to pay it's the have to you know we talk about the the General Ed budget that's the sometimes the wish toos and the want toos so I mean it's just gets into I mean I don't necessarily want to separate them because there's no funding formula that says Special Ed versus General it's still one budget but we need to know if we have a $50 million budget and 45 million of that is special ed then we need to know that we need to share that but we don't need to drill down into you know why we have to but you know we are bound by the war rules and regul to the special in general that's just a fact how it's going in my resp I think that's why it was started Sor me to I think that's why Den has asked for that because I think it's important for the community to know and understand that we are at the mercy of the state for all these mandates and the lack of funding from the state no offense so so two things tonight Mike um a civil service requirement for sub teachers and educational fun but really that's why it was done though I mean honest honest to God I mean it was I don't think people realized you know the um mandates that were that were on us without the state backing it so that's why we denz really is the one that came up with it but you know I I didn't like almost like that pitting one against the other but that wasn't the intention of it that's not why it was started to do that it was to highlight at the state level you know what's actually happening I mean and unfortunately when you do get mandated with something from the state that special ed number continues to rise without the funding to back it General don't have money our general it comes down so then you get and again I totally understand what you're saying because like at one point it doesn't matter like whether it doesn't matter who they are we got to educate you know but I think it does matter for the public to understand that I I think we need to do and that and this is just kind of my own thought is we look at special at is essentially what our fixed costs are we don't label it special education we label it as our fixed education cost that is not pitting I just I and I mean that just because I don't want it to be because we've we've seen that at these meetings people like oh yes and I don't want it to be like that either Dan so one of the other things that we talked about last year was how there are other mandated costs for us like for example um our El like for students that are non- native engl like that is another cost and like that's one of the things that you may see from us this year is that we need additional Staffing in that area um so I mean I'm willing to present it to the committee and we don't have to make a decision tonight you guys can talk to Nick email me um but I think it's important for us to make sure that whatever our dialogue is is that you know there are very little wants and wishes left in that budget overall yeah so the nice to have and the wish we have are have slowly gone away and there is very little wiggle room left in our budget as a whole that's why last year we had to make those drastic cuts and we found a $3.4 million ta so that's ultimately what our options are yeah and I think again I think one of my things is by doing it by school I'm assuming maybe I'm not most of the principles have some type of committee whether be the futs admin whoever in building par whatever it may be to kind of present this budget or is it kind just also go through school s yeah so like so this is what I'm saying like to me that gives us a little bit of a ground swell from the people who are actually in these classrooms inia we see it we hear it we now know hey this is what the principal's presenting for their building we can see you guys obviously it's not like we don't want I don't not saying give me the principal budget we don't need you to do it that's not what I'm saying at all but what I want to see is by that ground swell coming up through our Paris our teachers our you know people who are you know daily in these schools you guys get your hands on it then we can understand okay we understand why why admin did that we understand why principal is looking at that I don't need I don't think we need to be into the nitty-gritty of what the principles did to you guys I just think it needs to be somewhere a little bit more and I think by breaking down my school might be a good way all I know is we've how long we've done these budgets for years and years and years we kept doing in the same same way and Le keep requesting 12% we keep getting nothing so it's something's got to change we have to do something differently if we keep doing the same thing over and over again and so last year in our numbers if we had included all the principles requests and asks and wish list items and all those things right because the teachers say I would really like this this is a priority for us that number would have been 16 to 18 right and so 12% wor the loans and so that's I mean we don't anticipate that number being as big we based on our initial um cross box so far this year um but there's still a lot of things that are out there but not going to be work so this is something we kind of table tonight because tonight was just supposed to be theine overview and it might be a longer conversation and have it its own agenda item maybe in our next meeting great that we have more of this conversation just keep going it's a big topic for us always it's important though but sure um great uh next up update on school start time committee so I have a very quick update for you guys tonight on the school start time committee um last Friday we sent out another survey to families and staff um looking at three different options for potential um startups that survey is due this coming Friday um to the group and then our group is meeting next week to put together our recommendations to the SCH so we will have recommendations for you on the agenda for I believe it's the December 11th meeting um and um it will be under the committee's you know conversation and thing that night for us to figure out how we wanted us forward um there are financial implications to some of these options um which I think is really important for people to know and to understand um and it also um doesn't necessarily take into account any of the building that's on so we're not looking at redistricting we are simply looking at um times for now so um we will bring you a recommendation and but um I really this has been a huge amount of work I really want to thank the committee that has um you know met with us you know since last spring over the summer this fall um in the central office team who have put a lot of time and work into developing surveys doing research looking at um looking at financials all of those things so um we're excited to bring you we'll see what it is and that's it what um about the service I um they went out to um go in the newslet um and um it was sent out the newsletter sent out every other week your parents were right in my very first um paragraph my little superintendent's message we got quite a few responses too um we are up to about 470 as of today so that's staff and families and then as we know we also have staff members that are also fam so they could you know kind of select the option like more than one I mean just to highlight obviously representing school committee on there um but we had first survey quite a few on that m she kind of got back together whatever and then an additional survey which whatever but now we have even more for that so we clearly definitely have a lot of public participation in this which was exactly what I think every was kind of gear yes cool anything else with that um n second reading of vote school choice policy update okay so this is really the same draft that you guys saw when we met the last time um you can see that all of the um highlights and changes have been um taken out and put in there um officially the one question we had was regarding number six where it talks about um school choice students are able to stay until graduation except that there is a lack of funding of the program and I actually spoke to the Department of Education um since we last met and I said can you please explain what that means to me and they were like that's a great question and basically um it would be if there was a lack of funding at the state level if um so school choice is part of ever form law from 1992 this is something that was put in you know my guess is to make sure that it doesn't become an unfunded mandate um so if at some point there was no reimbursement to town or school choice that is when Our obligation can we tell them 5,000 is not enough that we tell them all the time that yes we absolutely but is that is that not is that a lack of funding no it would be if they totally so hypothetically no offense our lawmakers could go in and say hey we're only going to do $1 th000 for school checks if we don't have chck correct I mean so no it's not it's um no it's part of Mass state law so it's um the regulations are all down there mgl 71.6 716a Etc um so yes you would not have to continue to new students in you would just need to retain the students that are already if funding was asked if funding was totally eliminated have we know at the state level that funding from I know like District it comes off top of the Cher Street the Cher street so um I know like in the past there like something the tax increase goes to the MBTA or something like is it a funding just part of the in that line should we add um but except if there is lack of funding of the program by the state totally agree it's it's that's not what the law says so we can't so the law says lack of funding of of the program but that's the interpretation that sa can we put in there Mass General blah blah blah it is um while we're on the subject I think it is important to point out um that representative howt put in a bill last year to increase that number to $7,500 which got absolutely demolished at the state so I don't see that money moving anywhere soon you know I actually think it's an important conversation for districts like who um are in that C haras Level we only get the state minimum Aid um so last year it was started at $30 if we were fortunate enough that it went up to 100 for um my organization having assess a huge amount of advocacy at the state level around um there are 21 districts that only get that minimum Aid um So Christine and I have been you know keeping a breast of all of those developments but you know school choice is another opportunity for us to bring a little bit um of money into to supporters I think when it comes to the school choice argument and we had the this was last year downstairs is we have it's not competitive virtual high schools so so to me right off the bat if I'm a lawmaker it becomes an equity issue for those districts because Norton is losing out on potentially the same money that someone could go to for virtical high school and it was like $2,500 High School I think it's actually more so so the legislature has to walk a fine line because that could become an equity issue and if some of these districts get together and say if this money is going to these virtual schools and you're not giving that to these other districts the cost Virtual School versus the cost run it opens up for some potential legal impation that's J it's a great night to come um and then just to clarify too this gets us all back into law we will be as long as we follow this process we will be good to go yes and you guys agreed with this timeline yeah this is much better for our office um ham does a majority of the applications the communication that goes out all of those things so we will have our discussion and vote for the 25 26 school year probably sometime and do we do we separate we did this in the past but returning student versus student was handled any differently a returning student there is no application process they are one of our they just have to let us know yes or they would unenroll if they're not coming yeah otherwise we assume they're coming and I think it's also important that it's obviously better for administration it's also I think for the majority of families it's also probably yes move the timeline up move the timeline you know we have kids going to school you it should it shouldn't be like a September decision no no family wants that exactly so to approve so move second By Justine sorry right all those in favor thank you all right next up second reading um on the vote for public participation at schol Comm meetings Okay so the um changes here um are in um the second paragraph point2 um at the bottom of the first page the chair and his rehearsal discretion May grant extension of the time and extenda circumstances um that is to the 15 minutes of public comment itself uh that line also takes place um on number six where it's possible speakers are allowed in three minutes um this is something that we discussed that uh it's important to have that in both places so it gives whoever the chair has at the time the ability to either extend the 15 minutes or to extend the individual time um as they so see fit um we also clarify the fact that this public comments is on items that are within the perview of the um more in school committee so um that is number five on page two on the back page um shall concern only items um include the budget the performance of the superintendent and the educational goals and policies of Northern Public Schools therefore comments and complaints regarding School Personnel other than the superintendent or students are generally prohibited will not be heard or not um I think that is a good way for us to say that I don't mind being raised crost po publicly um getting tougher skin as time goes on but no staff member of course student should have that I think that was my biggest concern with when we talked about this last meeting you know if I don't want us as a committee you as a superintendent even our building leaders to be blindsided by a parent that and I say this I mean a parent could just have a bad interaction one time with that teacher and they're going to go up they can't be given a forum to blast this person and it's just not the right because there isild Le go you're not supply with the billion leader go superintendent unfortunately a lot of times it doesn't come to us because it's ourie it's a personal matter and the other fact this Personnel matters other than what's outlined aren't discussed in general being those are one of the exceptions to Executive session so I I'm I feel better about this policy once I read it than I did last we thank concerns motion to approve second all those in favor I thank you um last thing other I just have one item um I just wanted to the committee and remind everyone home um that the C2 foundation in partnership with some of our other organizations we found in gety by this coming Saturday November 23rd um it'll be in the front Loop of the yel school from 9: to 1 um and I think it's really important for um people in the community to know that all of the donations go to actually helping Norton families in needs and we do have a number of families in town um that are you know needing some support during this holiday season so if you can make the effer and make a donation we would greatly appreciate it um I just got one thing just from the town side uh dece Monday December 4th uh the planning board is doing a big presentation on um the overlay district and the MBTA stuff so again definitely something that affects everybody in town but certainly the schools as well um so if you are interested in doing wember 4th 6 to 8 so it's Wednesday wedn sorry Wednesday thank you we don't have I'm sorry Wednesday four for the plan thank you um before we adjourn can we have Karen check in with Town Hall make sure we're okay to ham and I are meeting with them next Tuesday the last thing I'd want is to have no access or yes we um meeting with um the new town park and the town manager and people with us to make sure we access to the building make sure we figure out all the streaming and everything else um because we're there we are there we will be there on December 11 but I will not Karen will not be there on December 11 she's going on an incredible vacation we'll then one of us will FaceTime now she's gonna be where are you gonna be on the 11th Switzerland our husband's retired so that's awesome I actually have one more thing C's having their holiday shop on um they're doing two days this year so it'll be Friday night December 6 and then Saturday at thank you Audrey I know it's a couple months out but I will not be at the January 22nd you know when the Jo joint meeting is I know good call um the we it's around our meeting so I believe right now we're looking at that first meeting January conversation check it's not confirmed yet I do know that okay all right thank you um all right so we're good as long as it's on our date obviously um they're not going to make the December 11th one work so it's definitely not that one they're talking about possibly more than likely the 8th of January but let us see okay all right I have I'm going to have a conversation with Sandy as well just to see we're doing our budget for now like we need to know what they're looking for so we don't get blindsided so I will work with Christine and Jen if there's anything that Finn Sandy can kind of give us a little heads up on I think be very appreciative so we don't have shammed up at the last week explanation of why why because last last year's request was unorthodox yes and again like Jen's Point our job is to set the budget for period we want to work with you we want to make sure that we're being good partners but at the end of the day that's how can't because of some the Crusaders anything else thank you very much those in favor