All right, it's six o'clock. I'm going to call the New York school committee Wednesday, April 30th, 2025 meeting to order. Uh we will do the pledge of allegiance flag of the United States of America. Uh if anyone else is recording,
please just let us know. Uh first thing obviously with the town election over uh we are going to reorganize the school committee. So I do believe I have to read this whole thing. Yeah. All right. I'm trying to read it. Runation
of non school committee is required by school committee bylaws following the annual town election and the process is as follows. I the chairperson will open the meeting and turn the election process over to superintendent schools who will act as a chairperson prom for the purposes of receiving nominations
and conducting the election for the chair person of the north school committee. All nominations must be seconded at the end of the nomination process. A motion must be made and a second to close the nominations and then a vote is taken for the election of the chairperson. There are only one nominee.
The chairperson prom will cast one vote and announce a nominee as chairperson of the known school committee. Upon the completion of this process, the newly elected chairperson will assume his or her duties and conduct the election for vice chairperson. The same process goes through each nomination with seconds and
motions to close nominations as required. Uh, in accordance with the school committee bylaws, article one, section two, both the chairperson and vice chairperson hold their respective offices for one year or until their successes are duly elected. After the
election of the vice chairperson, the chairperson appoints one school committee member as a legislative rep, one for one or two members as employee negotiations rep, one or two members at capital improvements committee representative, one as a uh the CPAC rep, and one as the permanent building
committee rep. At this time, warrant signers are also appointed, numbers one, two, and three. Uh, we're not going to go through all the positions. We're just going to turn this over to Superintendent Od. Thank you. Um, so I request a motion to open nominations for
the chairperson of the Norton School Committee. So, second. All in favor? I uh I request nominations for the chairperson of school committee. uh nominate Diani to be the chairperson.
Second. Are there any other nominations from the floor? Not the floor from you guys. All right. Um seeing no other motions, I request a motion to close nominations for chairperson of the Nor school committee. Second. All those in favor? I Okay, so
there is only one nominee. I will pass one vote for Dan Sheeting as the chairperson of the Norton School Committee. Mr. Chairman, I will turn the rest of the nominations over to you. Okay. Thank you. So, at this time, I request a
motion to open nominations for vice chairman or chair person of the Nordic School Committee. Is there a second? All those in favor? At this time, I'll entertain a motion for vice chairman of the Norton School Committee.
I would nominate Justan. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor? I zero. this point I will request a motion to close nominations for vice
chairperson school committee. So moved. Second. All those in favor? I Okay. Um moving down into let's see a legislative representative currently. That is a
position that I hold. Is there a motion to appoint? I'm not I'm not going to nominate myself. Is there a second for Nick as legislative represent? All those in favor? Hi.
Uh, the next is negotiations representative currently held by Mr. Schliker or Mrs. Calahan. I would say our best interest is to keep those two because we are in open negotiations. So, I would entertain a motion
to appoint or reappoint Justine and Nick to the negotiations representative position. Second. So, all those in favor? Yeah, we'll get it eventually. Everyone just keeps saying everything.
We'll get it. Sorry to go. Keep track. Capital improvements committee entertain a motion to approve or motion to appoint to this position currently held by Audrey and Justine.
So moved. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor? Uh, all right. The next one is CPAC representative motion to appoint Audrey as a CPAP repres.
All those in favor? I uh permanent building committee entertain a motion to appoint I'll make a nomination to appoint Laura, our new member to that one. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor? I
welcome warrant signers. Currently, the order is Mrs. Cohen, who is no longer here, Justine and myself. I would nominate Justine to be number one. I nominate
uh Audrey to be number two and I would nominate Dan to be number three. Second. Yeah. All right. At this time, we'll continue on with our meeting. Uh the second item on the agenda is the public comment period. Anybody wishing public
comment, please come up to the podium. Identify yourselves and your address. Seeing none, move on to the next item, which is vote to approve the minutes of the April 16th open session meeting. Has everybody had a chance to
review these? Yes. Any changes, comments, questions, concerns? I had a question. It said that Antonio was acid. I thought he was here. Yeah, he was here. So that was my only thing in the notes. Yeah. Okay. So we make that change. And
then just just for a point of clarification, um for school choice for 9th and 10th grade, it says ninth and 10th grade. Five. That doesn't mean we're giving nine. No, it's just being clarify that a little but other
than that. All right. So, entertain a motion to approve the minutes with the changes as for by the committee. So, move second. Uh, all those in favor.
Everyone's warm after all those. Uh, next is the warrants. Right. I have reviewed and um I forget what do I say? Reviewed and approved. Thank you. The following
school expenses, school payroll warrants. Um, school expense warrant April 16th, 2025. 1,18,2894 cents. School payroll warrants April 3rd 2025 1,140,125.992 April 17 2025
1,196,9522 I wish to enter that in public record just for sorry just for meeting purposes Sher Cohen could sign off on these based on the timing of one needed to be signed. Next is the student representative updates with Antonio.
All right, good evening everybody. Um, from the Yell, uh, the week prior to vacation was our finals for our 2025 ST Math Math March Mathness tournament where all 15 homers are matched up against one another in a bracket style
tournament competition. We look for for each student to do their 60 required puzzles per week with the class with the better percentage moving on to the next round. The final two home rooms were Miss Lean's fourth grade versus Miss Hannon/Mr's fifth grade home room. Miss Lean's fourth grade students took home
the title at a very close match. They were proud our 2025 ST March Madness Champion as a prize. They'll be heading over to Honeydew for a little field trip for a donut and a hot chocolate provided by our HP PTO. Miss Hannah and Sasha Spencer's home room as runner ups will
have a donut brought to them from Honeydew and our consultation. Third place winner, Miss Bros's. Fourth place students will have Honeydew donuts brought to them as well. We are getting ready for our math MCCAST asking all students to put in their best effort,
take their time, and make sure they answer all the questions and all the parts of open responses. During the ENCcast days, our students start with morning recess, then a snack in the cafeteria with all their friends and we move their their specials to the afternoon so that the day is pretty enjoyable one for our students as they
deserve it for their effort that they're putting in. We know that they will show how much they know. Uh math pass is next week for both grades and science and pass for fifth grade is the week after on Tuesday, May 13th. All we ask again is for our
students to put their best foot forward best our students put forth their best efforts. Next week is teacher appreciation week and we cannot thank our teachers and staff for everything they do for our students and we know we can expect an awesome lunch in our heyto that's going to offer them. And then
from the GCS just before the GCS community held our fun run where all students were invited to participate in an exciting outdoor event during the school day with family members cheering them on. Even our prek students participated and had a great time. We had terrific weather and the event was very
successful. Um May is a busy month for students and next week we have book fair sponsored by our Solomon parent organization as well as the celebration of the JCSC turtle days. On Thursday the annual celebration is held to teach students about the history of the Solomony school and celebrate our school's history through a variety of
activities including an all school assembly historic presentation set up in our library and that all students are able to visit and a faculty student volleyball game. And then from the LG LG students had a visit from the ooch the yo-yo man today thanks to our PTC. Uch's
show is called positive spin and what's all that talking about negative situation and turning it around into a positive situation. There are yo-yo tricks, music, dancing, fun and positive messaging. Everyone had a blast. We are also excited for our third grade expert fair which will take place tomorrow at 1
in the cafeteria. The third graders had have had quite busy working on their projects and are excited to showcase their their products. We are so proud of all their hard work. And then from the high school before break, Norton High School's integrated what we hope would be a new tradition. We put on Battle of
the Grades. All week, students dress up for spirit days. And on Friday, all students participate in the Battle of the Grades in which students earn points for their class by completing activities and games and competitions with other group of students. Students participate in activities such as trivia and athletic adventures like capture the flag, whiffle whiffle ball, pickle ball.
The senior class of course ultimately won the competition. They happen to keep score. Is that is that why they won? We were the only. Yeah. But yeah. Um and then all right of spring AP testing starts next week. It isn't it isn't exciting, but it's a
great opportunity for our students to show off all of their acquired knowledge. And I just wanted to add that uh for the first time ever, the Lancer Theater Company participated in the Ocean State Star Wars, which was sponsored by uh Providence Center where we have theater professionals in the Providence area come see our show and
they gave us a rating um and they gave us seven we got seven nominations um which is really big for us. So we have um our outstanding leads which were Savannah Hagerty and myself. Uh we have Cricut Goldie for outstanding acting, Taylor Marks for outstanding supporting
actor, and our advisors, Miss Caroline Martell for outstanding directing, and our tech director, Mr. Mat, um for outstanding tech, outstanding stage management, sorry. And then last but not least, we have Savannah Lan for an honorable mention in puppet operations. We had a big giant Audrey 2 puppet and
she was using a rope and just opening it and closing it um for two hours. So we applaud her and that's all I have for you. Great. Excellent work, Antonio. Congratulations to you on that nomination. Um, it's so amazing and such
a great um recognition of your work. I got to see the show myself and you were fantastic as Seymour. Um, so congratulations. And I happened to be um with Miss Martell when she got the nominations while we were in Greece and she was just over the moon. So congratulations to all of you. I saw the
video. Thank you. Uh, next is our student spotlight series with the Henry Yell Unified Cornable Program. All right. Thank you. I'm going to invite up Mr. Gagan um and Miss Lily Williams who is the coach of the unified
corn program at the Yell School. Well, first of all, we would just like to thank you for having us here tonight. Uh it's a great honor to be here and uh and I just can't say enough about uh Mr. Hayward because uh he was instrumental
in getting the unifi program started at the middle school which then included us uh with the Massoy League. So we've taken over cornhole as our kind of thing. Uh but we help and we support uh the middle school team with basketball
and botching and Botchi and and now corn. Uh but uh it's a great great program. It's all about breaking down barriers. It's about fostering uh inclusion and and making it
something where the friendships happen across all grades and with all students. And so we have some of our students here tonight. Um Miss Williams has taken over for Mrs. Mallister who has been our head coach, but she's on attorney leave. So,
Miss Williams has filled in doing an incredible job. We just had our first game today. Match meet. We don't know what the name of it is for normal, but um but we just I believe we won. Um kind of like with the seniors that Antonio was talking about uh they're not really
keeping score, but we are keeping score and we won. We we definitely can't drove back home. Very sad. But uh but yeah, so we have some pictures there of our team practices and then some pictures from today. form Mr. Gagen. Yes, Mr. Gage did in
form hole too did a great job. And participating in unified sports offers numerous benefits for our students. It promotes social inclusion, builds friendships, and enhances self-esteem. It's an excellent way for our students to showcase their sportsmanship and
school spirit. So, is this an instance where, you know, I know the the back of unified sports is participation. So, so how does it work when we start this program? Do you is there rules that you show everybody or because I mean I've been playing Cornwall and I still don't know the rules. So, how does that work like to
show these kids what their expectations are that to then compete? So, so there's there's u a coach in West Bridgewater who oversees the cornhole. So, she sent up she sent out all like the rules and regulations so we're all on the same page because there's a lot
of different variations of cornhole and then she was the one who kind of paired us up into teams based on when everyone could do everything so we could have our matches. How many matches do you anticipate happening? Like is there a schedule or how does it Yep, we have a schedule. We're going to be playing for four
weeks. So, we just had our first game. We have two more games coming up. Um next week we just have some practices. So, we're looking forward to it. Um, we have a really big team coming in two weeks, so it should be really fun. Yes. Sure.
I'm Dylan. I'm Sam. I'm Dick. I'm Joey. Did you have any other questions for them? They they have prepared some answers in case you might have questions for us. If they want to share their
knowledge, they can step right up. I like corn. I like cornhole because you get to throw the bean bag and stay away but not too close. I like playing cornhole because you get to meet and make new friends.
I like playing in phone because I like helping people who need help with sports. Dylan, are you a a like you are in baseball? Who can tell me the distance between the boards? I'll put you guys on the spot since no
one wanted to volunteer. Like 24 feet. I I honestly don't really He wants to make I'm gonna have to measure mine at home next time. I was really looking for clarity.
I think 30 feet. I don't know if I can make 30 feet. So, we'll check. I got a question. Who made the Norton Bort? Any idea? I believe that they were made in our high school wood shop. And there's a
bunch of people nying their head in the audience. Um, several years ago. Um, and they have been used at the high school. that we used in the middle school and now we're using them down at the Yell as well. That logo and I forget your name, bud, but I think that logo on on your
sweatshirt right there. Yeah, we should slap one of those things on those boards. Yeah. Can we um take a picture of all the kids, Mr. and Miss Williams? Can I Can I just see some I am so excited that this is the student
showcase for the first my first meeting. Um I'm so big on unifying um sports and activities. I'm actually one of the um school leaders um for my school down in Swanson. So, anything unified is like awesome. Um my daughter has been on
unified basketball um in Norton here all three years at the at the middle school. Um it was really such a great thing to see some of the yellow kids come up to play unified basketball. Um so, all of you should be very proud of yourselves. Um how many of you are fifth
graders? That's awesome. So, how many of you want to participate in unified sports next year at the middle school? Yeah, that's great. I am so proud of all of you and you should also be very proud of yourselves. Congratulations.
As you just said, that was something that Mr. Hayward realized that some of the schools had fifth through 8th and he was like, "Well, Marty, why don't you have some of your kids be involved, too?" And so, I can't thank Mr. Hayward enough for including us because it's just made it so much better for us. And
now Joey's going to be one of the first ones who's participated in fifth grade and he's going to be going all the way up. They're going to probably like think that he's not qualified anymore's over. Where would you like
it? Take the picture for us. Thank you. [Music] I stayed, but we got practice. Next item we have we got bring them up. All right. The next item um item number seven is to vote and approve the Norton custodial department employees union
contract. Uh we are going to table this item because we do not have the final draft in front of us. So that we move to our next meeting. Moving on to the next is vote to approve the Norton Administrative Assistance Employees Associates contract. Wow,
that's so Dr. um good evening. Okay, so in front of you, you have um the updated um agreement between the Norton School Committee and the Norton administrative employees. Um there are a few um minor
changes here to this um contract. It is a three-year contract which will begin July 1, 2025 and go through June 30th of 2028. Um there is a new salary grid for employees that are hired after June 30th of
2025. Um there are some few housekeeping items that were removed, some outdated references. Um and then we also are um allowing our administrative assistants to take half personal days. Um, these staff members work almost year round, so
giving them the flexibility during vacations and summers is definitely something that, um, we thought was an an easy thing to agree on. Um, are there any questions about the contract itself? How many members are in this particular
union? Do we not have a number? Yes, currently nine. Small but mighty. So, um, regarding the sickly bank with such a small number, um, I might have messed up because I had
to go through it a little quicker than I would have liked. Um, I know that they donated a day to fill the bank. Um, is there a maximum number of days in the bank? Um, no, there is not. So, what
happens is when it gets down to um a certain number, what we'll do is we um will take another sick day from them in order to replenish the bank. Okay. Um and they can get up to 20 days at a time. Up to 20 days at a time.
Thank you. Any other questions? Um and then I just had one more um question. um article um 22 um which is on page 20. It's titled maternity leave. Um and to me it's just a little bit of a
language thing. So um you know if you have um male administrative assistance um if they would like to be able to access this, they are not having the baby themselves. But um so I wasn't sure if we wanted to look into changing that instead of maternity leave to parental
leave. That's an easy fix. It would just be language. Um we do have a male administrative assistance and he did take advantage of parental leave last year. Um so we can certainly that's just a language change which I'm sure they would be fine with as well.
That hold up approving the contract or would we have to we can still vote on it. It would just be taking out maternity leave and in putting in parental leave which is a very easy fix. Any other questions or comments?
Uh, just a comment from um Lisa and Lisa Vney and um Judy Lizio um to work through this contract. I think Max took us two sessions and probably about an hour and a half total max max um they
came to us with a you know very fair proposal um and we got it done you know fairly quickly which was which was outstanding. So, I think it's a fair contract to administrative assistance um and obviously to the town of Norman and the taxpayers. All right. Entertain a motion to approve
the Norton Administrative Assistance Employees Association contract with the language proposal change. So move second. All those in favor? I next is the district alignment updates with Dr. O'Neal. Okay. Um, so we met
probably about a month ago and talked about the school start time conversation and discussed the fact that really other things kind of need to come into place um for all of this to happen. So over the last few weeks I have spent a lot of time looking at um districts that have
gone through the process of redistricting or realigning their schools. Um and we have met with a number of consulting firms as well. Um, I've narrowed our search down to about three consulting firms at this point. Um, and I'm working with them to put
together proposals for the committee. Um, ultimately there are some great people out there that do a lot when it comes to geo specifics and the outlying outlining about the community in terms of student
enrollment, things that we are certainly not um, experts at in my office. Um, but it's going to come down to finances at the end of the day. So, um, I'm still in the process of putting those proposals together for you, but I will have them for you on the 14th, and then we can
make a decision as a committee on how we would like to move forward. One of the biggest factors for us is that we already have a committee in place. We've done a lot of the work. We've, you know, surveyed surveyed staff. We've looked at our our space. We've done that
alignment. Um, so we don't need a a a consulting firm to come in and do all of that. Um, we also don't need a consulting firm to come in and be the voice of of the work because ultimately I think that you know myself
and my team and then you all as a school committee, we have the relationships within the school community and bringing someone in from the outside. Um I think the message is better served coming from us and so um not all firms will kind of
allow you to pick and choose what they provide. So those are some of the things we're looking into right now. So um that's the update and I will bring you the proposals on the 14th. Any other questions? So this was just to kind
of go back on this. This is looking at school start times, redistricting, all those things we kind of talked transportation. Yes. So, are we are we looking for a consultant that maybe not necessarily rubber stamps our work, but they said, you know, this is good, this
is good. You may want to look at this. Kind of what we're looking for, taking it to the next level. So, um doing the work with with enrollment data and trends, looking at where students currently reside, looking at um birth
data and saying, "Okay, if we're going to move the line for JCS and LGN, where should that line be drawn?" Um there's a lot of people out there that that's what their expertise is in. Um so, that's really that next step that we really need to have some help with.
Any other questions? move on to the next item. Review and vote on recommended budget transfers. Mrs. Um, thank you. So, what you have in front of you is the first um transfer
request um of the year for um school committee approval. Um we're looking for um approval to move funds from um over expenditures in the spir expense lines from the salaries. Um so you're
expecting $72,510.34 coming from sp um coming from spet salary lines to offset um the overexpendures of the sp expenses line questions. Why did we overspend our budget by 72,000? is I obviously we have the line
items here on the back. I guess we don't need every little one, but like what is a sped tuda contract DW? Um those were unanticipated services that we needed collectively districtwide
um on the tutor contract service that we had to outsource and that could be for multiple children. And then I'm assuming how did we from a transfer? How did we get $72,000 in salaries that we did to transfer over?
Um those were position moves um between the top ones that you see J6 and LGM. We have moves um between the two different schools. We had teachers that left um and then we brought in lower rates where that's where those savings were coming from. Um and then as you can see
different offsets there with the um pair professionals of high school teachers at high school. So it's not that we lost the staff members through your Thank you. Any other questions? Okay. Entertain a motion to approve
budget transfer as receptive. So moved. Second. Second. All those in favor. All right. Next is review and vote on changes to the school calendar for 2526 school year. Okay. We have um brought
back a calendar for you with um some changes from the last time. Um and I also included for you um our rough PD sketch for 2526 because I think this is helpful um for everyone to have a better understanding of the different
priorities and needs that we have um in order to provide staff with professional development um throughout the course of the year. So as um we know staff return at the end of August. They will be reporting on Tuesday the 26th for our welcome back day and then Wednesday the
27th which is our district-wide professional development day. Um in this proposal we have kept the um end of the month um early release days for professional
development on September 24th and October 29th. You can see those highlighted in yellow. Um, November 20 of 2025, there is no professional development scheduled. December, there is no professional development
scheduled. January 28th, that is remains the same. Um, in February, we did not um keep the professional development day that was there. The students have a week off. It's a short month as it is. We're keeping students there. However, in
March, what we did was we added two um half professional development days. Um as anyone who works in a school setting knows, March is the longest month of the year. It just goes on and on and on. Um so we are proposing a early release day
for professional development on Wednesday the 4th and then also Wednesday the 18th. Um elementary students also have Wednesday the 26th as an early release for parent conferences. In April, we moved the date um to April
8th instead of having it right after the break. And then May 20th would be the final early release professional development day of the year. So this version of calendar still gets us the same amount of time that was originally proposed. Um but we just move the dates
around a little bit. Um and as you can see um on the following page the professional development that is needed um there is a huge amount of uh training around curriculum and instruction our IMTSS work um database decision-m we as
you know we have inter reading at K to 5 it will only be the second year for them um the high school has their NES accreditation denial visit coming up um we have a lot of work to do in terms terms of special education, foster district collaboration,
um, and and so on and so forth. So, my team kind of com combine their efforts here and all the different training that needs to happen. So, hopefully that gives the committee a better idea of what happens on those days as well. And once the final schedule is determined um, for
those days specifically, we can share that with you as well. So, this This doesn't include like changes at the high school for finals and those are all already. Yep. And we shouldn't have MCAT shouldn't impact the calendar in terms
of early days. Is there any um thought about the like little Lancers? We're actually meeting on Tuesday um Tuesday. And so what we're looking at is flexing professional development for
the little Lancer staff. So in one month they would have professional development in the morning and the morning students wouldn't come but the afternoon students would be on their regular schedule and then the following month they would have PMP PD. The morning students would come
as normal. The um afternoon students would not come. We're trying to make it more equitable for those families um and looking at the timing of that as well. How would that work with the full day prek? So it would they would either if they were a full day, they would just
come in the just in the afternoon on those days that that PD was in the morning or vice versa. Any other questions? Um, so there's still 10 half days, correct? There are seven half days for
professional development. Um, there are three early release days for students districtwide. Um, November, December, and then June. Um, the June day is a full day for staff. Um, they are here all day cleaning up and doing
all their paperwork. the November and the December dates. It's not a full half day for staff. They're usually released about an hour or an hour and a half ahead of time. So, I I guess one question, not anticipating any snow days, if we have one, would the
12th then go to a full day and and kind of shift that half day to the last day school? Okay. The last day is always a half day and that's when staff, that's when they do cumulative records. they, you know, get the folders to the teach the next year's teacher. All those
things happen on that last day. I had um two questions. Uh my first question is um just because I'm learning um typically in Norton um does the union um have input on the calendar? Do they
get to see the drafts of the calendar and and look things over and have say? Not unless there's significant changes. And this is our typical model that we use. So, if we were going to start school before, like if kids were coming back before Labor Day or we were getting
rid of a vacation, then we would, you know, share that with staff before it kind of comes and gets approved. But, and then um kindergarten ending earlier than um everyone else. Is that typical too? Yes, we do kindergarten screening on the last day um because otherwise we
would have to pay staff to be here for an additional day. Um well this is two days though this is says um we're not count so like so the last day is the 10th so so screening happens on the 11th and 12th okay all right thank you
y not a question more of a comment I again feel like the community what I've been hearing it's just 10 and a half days is a huge pain um especially when you know seven of them are around professional development. You know, it just to me
it's we're we're dissing our community to, you know, make parents and adults try to, you know, get out of work early to get these kids off the bus or pick them up from school, whatever. So, you know, I know we need a calendar. I I I know we're in
negotiations, you know, but I I'm I don't know. I'm I'm torn here because obviously we need a calendar to start planning a little bit here as do teachers and whatnot. Um, but again, I just I will fight half days because I just think the day gets lost and then
there's 10 of them. It's to me days that are lost out of out of in classroom learning, you know. So that's my thought. Can I can I ask a question to piggy back off of that? Um, so just from personal experience when we do have
because we do half days as well. Um, typically how our half days are run, um, we try, I don't know if this is a practice here, we try at least the elementary level to squeeze in as much of the academics as we can. And so then really ultimately the half day is
justified in the sense that the kids aren't having lunch. They may not be getting their special per se, recess, things like that, at least at the elementary level. So there is still a significant amount of academic time being conducted during that half day. um and then still counts as the full day.
Um and then the other thing I would offer up too is if you look at surrounding districts, I mean the this number of half days is not something that's really outrageous. Yes, a lot of other districts do do full day professional days. Um but again,
it's I don't know it to me it's a little bit of just splitting. So, so we are required to serve lunch. If we do not serve lunch, it does not count as day. That's Massachusetts state law. But, however, we can send lunch home and that does
count or is that one of the exceptions? I believe we're supposed to serve a hot lunch and I can double check with my um because we were not doing that in the past and we got in trouble for it. Oh, that's part of our state audit.
Um and and and so I better go check. Don't don't tell Mr. Hulcom that I said that. Yeah. Um so we are required to serve lunch. Um we were doing things differently previously and we and we got
our hands flapped. Um I I think if you're going to trade half days for full days, that's that's a different conversation. But I I don't think we could we couldn't possibly do with less professional development time than we already have. I mean, you're doing a
disservice to students if teachers don't have the training that they need to be able to, you know, teach in the classroom either. No, I I totally agree with that. But like I said, it's I don't know. It's a to me to me there's a better middle ground to make this work for kind of for
everybody, but everyone give and take a little and I feel like we could get there. But I also understand that we do have some extenduating factors here as well. So I mean my thing is is you know just as last April vacation you know depending on what teacher was in the middle school and whatnot is were you
down in the you know auditorium sitting there the whole time playing around with games and being outside or are you in the classroom? It all depend you know. So you know I get it. I know, you know, let's we can we can all remember up back to our days in school when again I I know everything's different now, but
when you have a half day, the whole aura about the day is completely changed. Um, you know, and I don't to me I don't I don't think there's a huge stress on academics. I think it's more of hey, it's a half day, let's have a fun, let's have a you know, I know I think one teacher called a social
emotional learning day. Where did that come from? I have no idea, you know, but that's like that's the things that we're hearing. So again, that's why I'm looking at it more of the terms of, you know, how do we make this work for parents and and also keep these kids in class. So I would sorry I want to just I
would be more than happy to walk you around on a half day and I would say that you know nine times out of 10 there is definitely quality learning happening. I mean, you know, taking this a different. So, I in in my, you know, work daytoday, one of the districts I
service has had five half days this month in various different schools. So, I mean that and some of them are middle school, some of them are elementary school, but three of them as a whole were districtwide. So, I mean, I think we're being, you know, there's a happy
medium. There's there's there's a little bit of fairness on both sides. I mean half days are nothing new. I mean we've all been there. It's just we we can only do so much but you know as we learned with the PD some of these things need to be done periodically and you know as as we pushed last year to get some new
curriculum. Well now we have to show these teachers how to you know perform with that curriculum. So you know years ago I believe we we kind of pulled one of the full PD days and that's why we come back earlier with the teachers. So that was one thing I believe we took off the calendar going back probably at
least 10 years or so. Yeah. So we would do one day prior to the beginning of the year and then we would not have the professional development like a full day until November. But and again we have three half days leading up to vacation days where
everyone has a half day and there's no P. Correct. Two last day of school. Last day of school is a full day for staff. Okay. 23rd of December and it's they're not like full off days. Teachers get out an hour to an hour and
a half to close students after. Yeah. Sorry. After No, we don't need the money. That could be interesting. Let's go for that. So again, I I don't know. I mean, I just look at this as district early release. You have November, you have December, you
[Music] have that's it. Those two. Well, and I think that's practice across most districts is to have those before breaks or some I actually again my districts, you know, they're off before breaks. They they don't work. So, it's just
you're going to find, you know, this 351 districts, you're going to find 351 variations. So, um I know there was like a lot of discussion the last time we did this and so I just wanted to make a couple comments. So, one is I'm sorry you felt like you had to put this together to show us. No, I don't we
didn't feel like we had to. We wanted to provide you with some context around what was going to happen on those days because I totally trust in the admin team and what you guys are doing on the professional development days. Um and I know how important they are. I think
from the perspective of what I hear from the community is yes, it is an inconvenience for families to make this work, you know, once a month or whatever it is. Um, but I also think from a professional standpoint, I just love the idea, I know, in that maybe I'm speaking
just from myself, but when I go to a conference or a workshop, when I can sit there all day long and collaborate with colleagues in an extended amount of time, I just feel like I'm gaining more. So, I I love the idea of a full day professional development, but I also can
understand that there's other factors to providing the full day professional development and this is what we've done and this is what works and and all of the things. So, I just wanted to make those two and I again fully trust on the way you guys put professional
developments. Thank you. We just want to make it be good background for you guys and I also understand that they are needed and that time is certainly um so just to clarify if there is any confusion from the last time. Any other questions,
comments? Okay. Entertain a motion to approve the calendar as presented. So moved. Is there a second? Second. All those in favor? I I all those
I motion passes 41. Uh next is the update on strategic planning. Okay. See you sign. All right. Thank you. Okay. So um we have been working on the strategic planning process uh since early in this
calendar year. Um we have a fantastic committee. um Christine if you could cross um that is working together and literally every single time I leave these meetings I think what a great group of people this is because there's a lot of really engaged parents a lot of
really engaged staff so the role of the committee is to really work together to help create the district plan um and represent their shareholder groups um the way that this system has been working is um I will do work with the leadership team
um and we will build off of what the strategic planning committee does and then the strategic planning committee takes the work from the leadership team. So it really is a nice um back and forth between um the members of the community that are are engaged in the planning committee and then the leadership team
itself. Um so so far um what we've done is we've given surveys to staff, students and families. We held a community forum. Um we've done a SWAT analysis um which includes identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and
threats of our current system. Um we looked at the root causes of some of our current issues and then we have also just began last night imagining the future of Norm Public Schools. Um so I wanted to share some of the feedback with you because I think
this is actually really interesting. Um these are answers from the community forum, answers from our parent surveys and answers from the um committee themselves. So school programs that are important, they talked a lot about
reading fundamentals, um technology and programs that foster student creativity. Um how can we ensure a sense of belonging for all students? a lot of conversations about invi inviting parents into the school more providing
more multicultural events. Um, how can we make better connections with the community, whether it's the senior center or the fire department or a town hall. Um, making sure that every student has an adult that they make a connection with at school. Um, and then also do a
better job of sharing what we're doing. Um there are a lot of great things that are happening, but we need to make those connections more public and explicit. Um we asked families what they thought their role was in supporting their students in their learning. And so
um communication partnership connecting the learning from school to home um being involved and then we asked what's the responsibility of the student and I think this is so interesting because there's a lot of things that we talk about all the time self advocate
advocacy student voice learning through mistakes we all make mistakes every single day and our kids think they need to be perfect that's not how we learn and grow. Um, what strategies can we engage to improve student achievement? Um, more
explicit data use, useful data. That was one of the things that we talked a lot about last night. Um, better explanation of curriculum to families, teaching about grit and perseverance. Um, showing the connection between the academics and the seal.
Um, how can we improve upon developing well-rounded and productive citizens? Personal finance, that's something we've talked about here a lot. Mastery learning. How do we know that kids are taking and owning that learning day-to-day? Um, bridging the gap between high school and college, but not just
high school and college, high school and the workforce and the trades and careers. Um, and then, you know, better use of transitions between one school and the next. Um, family engagement in elementary is so different than family engagement in
middle school and high school. And for, you know, those of us who teach or those of us who, you know, have seen our own children through these grade levels, it's so different. But more showcasing for students like the steam night where students came and they were showcasing
um things from their class or from their activities. A lot of you parents want to come and see their kids engaged and involved. um you know make curriculum more curriculum based events that engage students and family and the community together. Um and then how can we foster
a better connection between students, peers and teachers, increasing electives, growing the list of clubs, thematic events, older students reading to younger students. Um all these are all really great um things here. So it was I wanted
to share some of that with you. Um, one of the key factors that we're using in looking at our strategic plan is we wanted to make sure that we were bringing research practices into the fold and not just creating a plan that felt good um, but instead had specific
factors that showcase school improvement because while we do well in certain things, we have a lot of opportunity for growth. So in the work that we're doing both with the leadership team and with the strategic planning committee, we are looking at these four domains around
rapid improvement. So there's turnaround leadership, talent development, instructional transformation and then culture shifts and under each of those categories are smaller um areas are domains that we're looking more closely at.
So, so far based on the survey data that we have based on um you know feedback from staff and from families and from our committees and leadership we've identified five of those domains that I
just shared with you. Um and prioritizing improvement and communicating its urgency, setting clear performance expectations. So, we're giving staff a lot of things that they need to do, but we're not being super clear about, you know, what does the
data review process look like? Once we have the data, what should we do with it? Um, so that's what we're talking about, setting clear performance expectations. Um, diagnose and responding to student learning needs, building a strong community intensely
focused on student learning, and then providing rigorous evidence-based instruction. So, so far that's kind of where we're looking at our our key areas that we need to explore further. So, what we did at our leadership meeting on Monday is we all
sat around and each group had one of those five topics and we took a look at how we could improve those areas and we did a protocol called the five W's. Okay. So, for example, um I did Christine, can you go backward one
second? Thank you. You can go back again. So if we are talking about diagnosing and responding to student learning needs, why is that a challenge for us? What you can go forward. Sorry. My fault. Why is that a challenge for us? So we asked the question why? And
every single time we had a why, we would say okay well why is that? Until we could kind of dig down into the root cause of this particular problem. And so one of the things we had to remind ourselves is that you know there are
certain things that we can control as a system and there are other things that we can't control. So we had to focus really on those two inter internal circles. So the core realm instruct instruction curriculum
and assessments and then the next one out leadership supervision professional development materials scheduling. It's much more challenging for us to um you know if budget is the is the root cause we're not going to get very far in
solving this problem. We need to figure out a way that we can control what um what the what the cause and solution are. um in you know personnel governance and all of those
things. Um and then so we talked about last night that the um strategic planning committee thinking about five years from now based on all the feedback we've had from families based on the data that
we've seen and the priorities that we've identified and you know what does Norton look like? What does it sound like? What does it feel like? and how did we get there? So, that is um those were the two things that we asked last night and we
had some really great conversations, but those conversations are just beginning. Um I'm going to be inviting staff to some different community forums to talk about the future of Norton and asking those same questions. What does it look like five years from now and how do we
get there? Um, and we're going to do the same thing with our leadership team. Um, and and see what else we come up with. And I'm also going to do it with my superintendent advisory group because they are the most honest people that I work with, my high school and middle
school kids. They tell me exactly. So, um, you know, we're not done yet. Uh, we still have to finalize our strategic objectives. We have to look at the mission, vision, and core values. I'm fairly certain there is no one in this room, including myself, that could give
you our mission or vision off the top of our head because it's not something that's lived. It's not something that we own. It's very long. Um, we will draft the plan and solicit feedback within the community um and within our staff and
then I will be presenting the finalized plan to you all at our meeting on June 11th. Um so we are definitely um making great progress. Uh as I said the strategic planning committee is an exceptional group of community members.
They are so engaged and they're willing to have difficult conversations. Um and I kind of leave every meeting thinking, okay, this is this is going okay. This is going fairly well. Um just because uh they're so willing to roll up their sleeves and have difficult
conversations. Um and then this summer we will be working on implementation. We'll be looking at that professional learning document. Um adding things in as needed and then the principles will be starting their school improvement plans to share with you um probably at
our first October meeting. So that's it. Happy to answer any questions the committee may have. Um I think I just want to you know say thank you to those who are participating in this strategic planning operation.
Um, you know, I think for far too long, you know, the vision didn't exist for public schools and you still see that in some other districts that you can't you can't not have a plan for what the future holds and and there can be wild
cards, but at least we have to know what we want to be and what we want to be as a district. So, thank you to all of those who are participating in this. questions, comments. Um, any other business coming before the committee?
I don't have anything, Mr. Um, I don't know. Do you want to touch upon this? I guess I know it's an invite to us, but maybe just make an announcement here. Yeah, you made the announcement. Okay, cool. Um, Newton Veterans Council is hosting their Memorial Day parade uh Monday, May 26th at 10 a.m. Um, they'll
be leaving the high school parking lot proceeds down in East Spain through their they do the loop around the Common. Um, and then the um, Mass Sergeant Trent Memorial as well. Just kind of throwing that date out there as we got from Derek Cameron uh, with the Norton BFW. And I got one more if no one else
has anything. Um, I just want to say thank you. I know we had a uh eventful fincom meeting if you will uh on Monday night. Um however um you know I know that that that committee is uh you know put on the spot right now in terms of you know the town budget and how everything kind of shakes out and you
know in order to you they only got so much money to play with just like we do. Um you know so in order to make everything balance the budget is definitely a challenge. Um, I especially want to shoot, you know, shout out Zach, uh, Tillis who kind of came up with an idea, um, you know, to almost get us to level services, uh, without having to
make drastic cuts. Um, you know, again, so I I think, you know, there's obviously still work to be done. Um, you know, but the FINCOM's going to recommend moving forward to town meeting, I think, is going to put us in a pretty good spot. Um, and be able to hold all of those positions that we brought back during last fall town
meeting as well. Um, so I think we're in a pretty good spot there. And again, we still have some work to do, you know, with via school committee and obviously uh Jen's team, but um you know, I I think what what we saw transpire, I think definitely deserves a thanks. It's not as simple as uh you know, moving a
moving a dollar here to take a dollar there. So, thank you very much for the fin. Um I just want to thank you know uh the community as a whole for coming out to the election last week. Um you know, I also want to officially welcome Mrs. Customsson to her first meeting. uh and
many more to come. Um and I also want to thank Mr. Schneaker for you know his leadership as school committee chair for the last year. Um it it does not go unnoticed. It is you know obviously it's a thankless job sometimes but um he did that with with good understanding. Um so
I I want to thank him for his time in that role. Um are there any other comments, questions, concerns from the committee? I'm excited. Okay. Um just one last quick one. Um the town manager search um Andre and I know
you probably have some a little bit more inside information, but um it does seem like there's going to be quite a bit of meetings leading up to that. Um so we are going to ask the select board and that committee to see if it's a process that maybe a few of us can fill in for Audrey. She's on that. Obviously in
these roles, like anybody, it's a volunteer position. Um you know, there's going to be quite a few meetings. However, I did hear some good news that we have over aundred applicants. um already on the onto the docket. So hopefully hopefully we'll be able to get someone who can uh you know kind of take the town to the next level.
Okay. All right. Um entertain a motion to return. So moved second. All those in favor? I thank you. Have a good night.