Um, >> can we do a roll call? >> Oh, yes. We need to do a roll call. That's a good call while we >> here. Uh, Laura >> here. >> Sarah >> here. >> Tom >> here. >> Here. >> Jeffrey
>> here. >> And Sean is here. Um, I still don't have my agenda. I'm sorry. Got a lot of tabs open here. Um, there we go. All right. So, our agenda for this evening, uh, we will start with
public comment for anything that is, uh, not on the agenda this evening. Um we'll move into our focus on excellence, our consent agenda. Uh we'll go through reports and then in the new business section um we've got our CPAC end of the year update, our student services end of
year update, and then we'll um discuss the superintendent formative review process. In old business, we'll have a discussion about uh the membership for the facility naming advisory committee and a potential vote there and then a uh followup on school choice um and next
steps there. At the uh end of that of all that business, we'll move into executive session. Um this is to discuss strategy with respect to collective bargaining with all of our bargaining units. Um and uh we will move into executive session not to return this evening. So we'll take that motion when
we get there. Um so with that, let's start with public comment. I can't see in the room there, but if there's anybody uh from the public who would like to speak to anything not on the agenda, please approach the podium name and address. And uh you've got three minutes.
We do have people here but nobody is raising their hand. >> All right, fair enough. Uh then with that we'll move to our focus on excellence and Dr. Mileski, I'll take it to you. >> Great. Uh good evening ready community. We're really excited tonight to be able to congratulate what is uh an extremely
high bar for academic excellence and that's representing the best of the best, our validictorian and our saludiatoran. Congratulations. Absolutely tremendous recognition. So, uh, tonight we have, uh, we'll start by recognizing Amelia Barowski, uh, who is our validictorian. Emmeilia, I don't
know if you mind coming up front just so don't worry, no speech or anything. Um, we have a few just quick remarks that were shared by her counseling team. Obviously, everyone knows represents the highest grade point average of the senior class. Uh, Amelia is involved in a million things and impacts our school
community in so many different ways. and wanted our larger writing community to be able to hear about some of the things that she's involved in some of her impact. So, this is from the counseling team. Ameilia is an exceptionally strong writer and critical thinker. Whether mentoring young dancers at her studio or helping new mock trial members build their confidence, she leads with empathy
and patience. When the faculty adviser for our uh literary magazine had to take a leave of absence, Amelia and a classmate took it upon themselves to keep the publication alive. She's also served as lead defense attorney on the school's mock trial team, proving invaluable for her preparation and
poise. Her accomplishments as a writer are extraordinary for high school student. Amelia placed first in Massachusetts and eighth nationally in the voice of democracy essay contest. Her fiction has been recognized with a letter review prize for short fiction and an honorable mention from the Scholastic Arts and Writing Awards.
She's also been accepted to the selective summer programs including the Kenyan Review online writing intensive and the Sunhouse mentorship program, both of which further refined her craft and affirmed her potential as a professional writer. She also interned with the Harvard Crimson where she contributed research, photo essays, and
interviews for published articles. She also works part-time for the Daily Times Chronicle, writing senior profiles. In addition, she's passionate about languages, having studied French for six years, earning a school award for her achievement, and recently adding Russian to her studies. Amelia will attend
Georgetown University in the fall with hopes of studying journalism, law, and international relations. Huge congratulations. And the second student, unfortunately, is not able to make it tonight. That's our uh saludiatoran. That's Indigo Buco. Indigo is not feeling well tonight and we know is we'll be ready for tomorrow
night for graduation. So also some remarks from the counseling team about Indigo. Indigo was awarded the school's core value award and the area of scholarship as well as the Yale book award. A testament their to their academic dedication and depth of engagement in their studies. They've been an avid contributor to both the
robotics the business subteam president and mock trial teams throughout high school enjoying the opportunities for creative expression through two very different avenues. Indigo spends much of their free time writing fiction as it expanded their language studies at the highest levels in both English and Spanish, taking on extra opportunities
to learn in conversation, composition, and cultural exploration. They're also independently studying Italian and have completed summer writing seminars and self-studied math courses over summers. In the fall, Indigo will attend Amherst College where they plan to pursue a degree that combines US history,
cultural studies, creative writing, and mathematics. They light up when talking about a potential career in museums or preservation and feel strongly about using their education to further the democratization of knowledge and ideas. Huge congratulations to
I think when you you hear the grade point average and see number one and two in the class, it's obviously incredible uh incredibly impressive and I think represents the absolute best of academic achievement. yet also when you hear all of the ways that they've been involved both in our RPS community and also our larger reading community just absolutely
incredible. So on behalf of our entire district, we just like to congratulate you for setting the highest bar of academic excellence. Would also like to congratulate you for all the ways that you've made a lasting uh impact here in our community. So can't wait to see you tomorrow night on stage and sharing your marks and uh and words of wisdom with your class.
>> Thank you. >> Congratulations. >> Congratulations indeed. She doesn't get away that easily, right? >> Maybe others who want to say a few words too. So, >> no, it's not that we want to say a few words other than, you know, our one of our traditions is our focus on excellence can, you know, people come
and take a picture with us. So, you got to take a picture with the the four of us plus the administration and on top we'll have >> we as we go from there. So, we'll meet you out down front. >> Oh, that's okay. just wants to watch
the heart. I saw the little heart thing going on. >> One day I don't wear a suit, too. So, >> ready? One, two, three. Take a couple. >> Congratulations. >> Congratulations. >> Congratulations.
>> Did you fall in? >> Me, too. >> All right. Uh, let's move into reports. Um, can't see which stitch are still there. Sachi and the lady are still there. >> Um, >> to see on the Zoom cameras, not Sean
being everybody's popping back. >> Obviously, we just had the student advisory council meeting. Any any um separate report this evening? >> Yes. Yes. Actually, we have a pretty lengthy one. Um, >> go Wait, do you want to go last because you're
>> Oh, you want me to go last? Fine. Go ahead. >> You close us. All right. Sachi's gonna Sachi's going to close us out this evening. Um The I just had a few a few things to say. Um first to address Dr. Milichesky because this may be our last meeting with you as students. Um we all
wanted to extend to to you the the biggest possible thank you for everything you've done for the entire RPS school community over the past 5 years. Um and we say that again on behalf of all writing students. I know you came in while I was uh just starting out middle school. Um, and it's been
such a noticeable impact that you've had, an incredible positive change over the the last half a decade that you've been here. So, on behalf of all of the writing rockets, we wanted to thank you. Uh, we're very sad to see you go. That's that's common amongst all of us, but um,
thank you for a great 5 years. Uh, and we wish you the best of luck going forward. >> Um, and then second to seniors leaving us, I know Jason's gone. Um but to Sachi and Jason, it's been an absolute honor and a pleasure. And I know I speak on behalf um of not just the this
committee, but on the students to have to work with you and have you represent us. Um I've been doing this with them for the past two years as well. Uh so it's been uh an honor and a pleasure to have sat on this committee with you guys. Um and we know that you're going to go do great things after reading. So
>> thanks. >> That is all from me. Thea, you have a few things to say and then we'll close out with Sachi. Uh, no. Just have a little bit of >> an on the spot. She's like, "What?" >> It's okay. I'm in the improv. >> There you go.
>> Um, well, I um I um appreciate being on this committee because I care about my school and I care about how I've been a student at RPS, you know, since kindergarten and
all that good stuff. So, I care about this town. I care about the kids that I've grown up with. I know tomorrow um it'll be emotional seeing a lot of them go. Uh these are people that I've grown up with, like I just said, but um uh
um yeah, thank you all very much. >> I'll see you next year with Alex. >> Yeah. >> Okay, now I'll do the reports. Um, I do want to say thank you to the school committee. I received the school committee award at senior awards night. Um, which included some Welssley merch,
which is where I'm going to school, which is great because I owned no Welsley merch prior to that, and some really great books, um, that I'm very excited to read. So, I do want to say thank you. Um, I want to add to Alex, Dr. Milesky, you've been amazing. I still remember in my seventh grade or
eighth grade Spanish class, my Spanish teacher talking so good about you and how you speak amazing Spanish and you walking in there and me having no idea who you are, but then hearing you speak Spanish to the class and really bond with the students was amazing. I know every time I see you, I'm inspired to be
a better person and be more of a leader like you are. So, I will be sad to see you go, but I'm also really happy and excited for you and the amazing opportunities that are to come. >> Thank you, S. You're welcome. Um, okay. For upcoming events, um, we have future
freshman night number two is taking place on Monday, June uh, 1st at 6 p.m. in the RMHS fieldhouse. This is the showcase of all clubs, activities, and athletics for incoming freshmen and their parents to preview. Everybody is welcome. So, even if you aren't a
freshman and you want to go discover new clubs, it's great. Um, underassman awards ceremony is taking place next Wednesday at 700 p.m. in the pack. All awardees and their families were recently extended an invitation. All are also welcome to this event. Um, incoming
freshman fly up day is June 8th. During the school day, the rising freshmen will come to the high school to spend some time with our staff, class adviserss, Dr. Flynn, and the rocket ambassadors as their first foray into learning about the next school year. Um, final exams for 9th 9th grade through 11th begin on
uh June 15th and science MCCAST is taking place for freshmen next week on June 2nd to 3rd. Um, in terms of news this week we're celebrating our amazing seniors who will graduate tomorrow night at 6 p.m. Seniors also enjoyed class day
today. I can confirm it was really fun. Uh, the senior barbecue, yearbook signing, and their final clap out. Um earlier this week they also had the senior party and sunrise and prom last Thursday which I know Alex actually came. Um >> good prom. >> Yeah, it was great prom. Um RMHS will
dearly miss the class of 2026 and wishes them all the best in their future endeavors. Additionally, um the writing cooperative bank was thrilled to award the empowered ed a check from Massachusetts bankers association totally funding a financial literacy course offered to 25 of our senior
students. This was a 14week semester pilot offered at RMHS in partnership with Endeott College. Our gratitude to Mass Bankers for enabling us to offer our students this college level course, instilling skills such as budgeting, saving, credit, investing, and building wealth. This course will continue to run
as a dual enrollment course next year as well. All spring athletic teams or specific athletes in track qualified for the postseason tournament which began this week. The upcoming tournament schedule is as follows. So, Thursday, May 28 28th at 3 p.m. um there's Shrek
at Marramac College and then 6 p.m. boys lacrosse stadium field. On Saturday, May 30th, it's 11:00 a.m. softball home versus Mansfield at Driscoll Field. And then 11:30, girls lacrosse versus Minichog. And then 2:30 um track at
Marramck College. Um and then Monday, June 1st at 4:30 p.m. is boys tennis at Hangingham. And then girls tennis isn't on here, but we did u make it to the second round of states. We had our match yesterday. We won 4-1. Um we will most likely be playing Milton some point next
week. They are the 11th seed and we are the 12th. So it should be a close match which okay, hopefully it goes well. Um but yeah, so all I want to say is thank you so much for allowing me to be a part of the school committee these last I think three years I've been here now.
Um, it's been one of the most enjoyable experiences also going and attending RMHS. I've learned so much and so much that I will carry with me definitely throughout the rest of my life. Um, yeah, I just want to say thank you for,
you know, Yeah. everything. >> Cool. It's all >> John. Anything? No, just uh you know, thank you to all of you for your work this year and sashi especially you for you know your work uh leading up to graduation here. So we really
appreciated hearing your voice um uh having you be a you know a voice for the students um and uh you do it passionately and with humor and and we really appreciated it. So um thank you for everything you've done and we're looking forward to seeing you tomorrow. >> Thank you. >> And Jason as well even though I know
he's not >> Jason's here in spirit. >> Yes. >> Yeah. Yeah. Awesome. >> Um, all right. Uh, so we'll move we'll keep moving on reports here. Dr. Milesky, I know it's just you or anybody from the team as well.
>> Great. Uh, just like to first echo the excitement, enthusiasm about tomorrow night, class of 2026. Can't wait to recognize, celebrate you. I share that on behalf of all the educators across our community. There are so many people who I know are a part of your journey, prek through 12, who are just so excited to see you cross the stage uh tomorrow night. So, congratulations, Sachi. I
know the community know is going to uh going to Welsley College and then also uh Jason who's not up here going to UCLA next year too. So incredibly proud of all of our students and wishing Sashi and Jason the absolute best. Uh so hope uh hope it's going to be a wonderful sunny hopefully uh evening tomorrow uh to celebrate.
>> So um uh so just two personnel updates. First, we'd like to share a really uh piece of exciting news that we today announced to both staff and Rise community members that we have officially hired uh Michelle Offis uh as our next RISE
principal director. This may sound like a familiar name. I see some smiles. Maybe this is really exciting for the community. I'll share a little bit about Michelle for those who don't know Michelle. Michelle currently serves as the assistant principal of student service at the Dolbear Elementary in Wakefield. Uh where she plays a central
role in the ILT in the multi-ter system of support leadership team. Uh she fs facilitate special education and 504 meetings uh coordinates specialized programmings for uh many students with a variety of needs uh and leads data team meetings to target interventions. She also supervised, evaluate staff,
supports PD, partners closely with families, uh, sort of everything that falls under the bucket and the umbrella of school-based leadership. Um, she's also, as the community may know, spent 13 years prior to her time in Wakefield and Reading as both a classroom teacher and as an assistant principal, prior to
the full-time assistant principal roles, uh, giving her a deep understanding of our students, our families, and our communities. uh and those who have worked with Michelle, any who are on this call and in the audience share that her she's collaborative, student focused and deeply committed to inclusive practices and early learners. Um really
excited to add her to our team. I'd like to thank members of the uh the rise screening committee who have been with us over the last several months in a process that you know at times was frustrating and feels like we weren't moving forward and uh didn't always land in the way that we thought it would and to end up with a candidate we are all
really excited about is also just a testament to those who are on the committee. So I just like to thank Lindsay Fulton, Janelle Bootton, Tayiana Pereira, Linda Boyages, Marine Diligeneas, Denise Santoro, Kit Leonard, Megan Teed, Leah Maza, Dilly Wilson, Melissa Forbes, Jackie Pooy, and Alison
Wright. A great team of staff, family, community members who I think gave a really great perspective on just sort of what was needed in the role. So, uh, Michelle will officially start on July 1st. Uh, we are also coordinating time for her to be able to meet with the RISE staff, to be able to meet with, uh, also many of our RISE families. So, more on
that to come over the next few weeks, but just tonight again wanted to share our excitement and enthusiasm about Michelle joining our district. Uh, very excited about her leadership and also very excited about the future of Rise under her leadership. Uh, second would like to just briefly share that it was announced earlier that Dr. Steve Burnham
will be uh transitioning to become the principal of Ston High School, which as you may know prior to his time at as an elementary principal uh was a secondary uh educator and leader throughout his career. I'll share more about sort of thanking Steve and and recognizing his impact in our district in our June 4th
meeting. Uh where I'll also speak about just sort of the process for uh what it looks like to make sure that we have the right next leader at Birch. So uh more on that to come, but just want to make sure the committee and the community knew that that will be discussed at the June 4th meeting. Uh we thank Steve, we'll thank him more uh next week and
also are uh really excited to make sure in the next uh in the collaborative process that we have the the right leader in place to move the school forward. That's it. >> I have >> and my team >> and I just have um two quick updates that
I'd like to give you. I did um just wanted to acknowledge the new regulations on seclusion as they have been in the news a lot lately. I did want to inform the uh committee and the community that thanks to Kelly Deco, we
are absolutely set now with the regulations and we are already set to move forward. I think Kelly DO who's our program coordinator could cite the regulations better than the people that wrote them at this point. Um, we have
done training with attorneys to make sure we are um, set to go on August 17th when they go into effect. We've also done training with the building leaders that are directly affected by the new seclusion regulations, the team chairs,
and the school psychologists. And um I just also wanted to shout out Kelly Deo and our facilities department because they have been through every room, looked at everything and actually facilities has already updated all of the spaces. So we are good to go and it
was amazing team effort and if people have any other questions or concerns we will be doing more trainings and notifying families. I just wanted to let everybody know we are definitely on that. The other update I have is um from the children's cabinet in collaboration
with the coalition. We have two amazing students Amelia Souza and Jackson Foreman who are part of the children's cabinet. They were actually awarded a mini grant through the coalition and uh to support the work we're doing on
transition planning, they actually recruited 15 other students to mentor middle school students that are going to be rising to the high school. Um, and thanks to Tanya who our public safety
clinician, she developed and facilitated a two-part mentoring training for all 17 students, which included um building rapport, active listening, setting appropriate boundaries, and knowing when and how to involve a trusted adult. So,
Amelia and Jackson will be meeting with the middle school staff to launch this pilot mentoring program for next year. So, we are super grateful to them and the coalition for partnering with us and children's cabinet for continuing to sponsor that work.
>> Now, we're done. Ch. >> Excellent. Um, hopefully flag that I skipped the consent agenda. So, before we do leazison reports, um, I'll make a motion to approve the consent agenda. >> Before you do that, >> I have to Yeah, I have to recuse myself from the consent agenda this evening.
>> Friendly friendly amendment. Sean, can we can we motion to approve all but consent agenda item number three? So Laura can vote on all the other seven and then we can vote on number three separately. >> We can do that. So I'll I'll make the motion to approve items 1, two, and four
through eight in the consent agenda. How about that? >> Perfect. Second >> by Tom. Any question on those? >> Yeah, I do have one comment. Uh Sean, as I was reading through the minutes, I noticed that Laura was listed as uh Mrs. Durgovich and I recall from her campaign
that she does have a PhD and so I would just ask unless there's a reason she doesn't want to that that those minutes be agended to list her as Dr. Durkovich. >> That would be lovely. >> That is an excellent catch. Thank you Jeffrey. Um
did we call you did we call you Mr. >> No, you got Dr. Cororum for me. That was you know longstanding you know back from the previous superintendent that it kind of got in there a long time ago. Yeah. Okay, that's a great catch. Uh we will certainly address that. Um okay, so
um then you know given the minutes as amended um any further discussion on items 1, two, and four through eight. Okay, move to the vote. Aaron, >> yes. >> Sarah, >> yes. >> Jeffrey, >> yes. >> Laura,
>> yes. >> Tom, >> yes. >> And Sean, yes. Um, okay. So, now I'll make a motion to uh approve item three on the consent agenda, the Parker 8th grade field trip donation. Um, is there a second? >> Second. >> Second.
>> Seconded by Jeffrey. Um, Laura, I know you want to recuse on this one. Um, any discussion on number three? >> Thank you, Laura. >> I'll move to the vote. Aaron, >> yes. >> Sarah, >> yes. >> Jeffrey,
>> yes. Tom. >> Yes. >> And Sean. Yes. Okay. Thanks everyone. All right. Let's go to le reports. And I know you're going to drop momentarily. I'll go to you first if you've got anything to share this evening. >> Yeah. Um just quick, I attended the wellness committee meeting this morning.
Um awesome stuff going on with health and wellness. Um but I wanted to flag that the official district wellness policy has to be reviewed every three years. they have it ready for us. Um,
it's my personal opinion it does not need to go through the subcommittee. I think it's one that we could probably get through in one meeting, but just wanted to flag it. They have until August 31st, but
um, and then I apologize. I'm ducking out to attend the seventh grade band concert at Parker. So, I will rejoin you if you are still meeting when that is done. Thanks Sarah. >> Um let's go to Sarah.
>> No report. >> No report. >> Jeffrey, >> no report. >> Laura, >> uh I will just mention on behalf of the recreation committee that the Birch 2 um Birch Meadow phase 2 project is officially complete and they have opened
the um the playground and the the courts over there. So um everybody go and enjoy them. much to the very vocal satisfaction of some neighbors over there for sure. Um Tom, >> no report. I'll defer finance committee
to you since I was out of town. >> Yeah, just uh two two reports on my end. Um one, the audit committee met last Monday in concert with the um with the RMLD board and did the annual review of the RMLD audit. Um was a sort of a clean
audit. It's a sort of non-event of a of an event as it is most years. Um so that that audit was accepted or the audit report I should should say was accepted. Um and then the uh the fincom report is is I attended the financial forum last
week um hosted by FINCOM attended by this uh I think four of the five members of the select board as well. Um and um you know the the order of the day was discussing um sort of the very imminent looming need for for an override. Um and
it looks like we're on a track to to trying to get that on the ballot for this November. Um Sharon Angstrom went through, you know, what she what she coined kind of a structural deficit which essentially was looking at the accommodated costs. So these are sort of you know our non-controllable costs if
you will um and um looking at um how much they have outpaced the growth that a 2 and a.5% you know a 2 and a.5% um you know property tax levy increase allows for and the gist of it is that from FY20 to FY25 just comparing the
actuals over that 5year period the growth in just the accommodated cost has uh outstripped what 2 and a.5% gets you by about $6 million. Um, so it essentially creates a $6 million hole in the budget before you even start looking at, you know, most of
the most of the things that are sort of more directly controllable. Um, and puts, you know, puts uh substantially more pressure on the use of free cash to support a level services budget, which most years require something like a three or three and a quarter% increase
in the actual operating budget. Um so what it looks like uh the the energy in that room was sort of you know circling around was the idea of putting a tiered override which is you know comes in the form of three separate ballot questions
um on the on the ballot later this year. Um probably somewhere in the range of 7 to 8 million on the low end and maybe as high as 14 million on the high end. Um and the the difference essentially between those end points would be how long you would project it to last for.
Um you know the seven and the seven to 8 million range would you know would uh you know get us by for a few years and the $14 million range might you know get you closer more like to the end of the decade. Um now the town you know of course will continue to do the same kinds of things we did after the 2018
override to try and extend the lifespan of any of any override. But with Sharon's very sort of conservative budgeting approach, that's kind of where it would leave us is, you know, looking at somewhere like a somewhere between a three and maybe five to sixyear um three and you know three and a five to six
year window that an override would um would allow us to maintain a level services budget. um the you know she she also went through and you know you all can review the the content um but she went through some of the details around the impact on the average uh you know
the average homes tax bill and things like that um it was on the order I think I've got it here I won't I won't uh speak out of my rear end here um you know it was on the order of of uh $850
on the average tax bill at 7.5 million to almost $1,600 at 14 million. Um that's against an average tax bill in FY26 of about 10,148. So that's before the Kllum and uh recal debt overrides
hit. So, you know, you you roll that all in and we're looking at several thousand dollars of increase in in the average tax bills if a large if a large override were to also pass later this year. So, um you know, it's going to be it's going to be a busy and and probably difficult
few months for um the town and the fincom and members of this committee to uh help get organized around this and and um understand the impacts of a, you know, overrides passing at various levels or not. Um just to give you, you know, kind of a sense of what it means
if the override were to fail, if we were to use $6.475 475 million of free cash in FY28, which is sort of her baseline projection, the operating budget would go up by about 0.9%. And again, we in most years need somewhere between about three and three and a quarter percent to
have a level services budget. So even at that use of free cash in FY28, we're looking at having to find, you know, two plus% in the budget um to balance. um if we used a smaller amount of free cash, which um would probably be on the table because we're we're starting to get to
the point where the use of free cash is bringing us below uh the FINCOM's, you know, guidelines and the sort of the levels we like to stay at for for bond rating purposes. Um you know, if we use more like $3 million in free cash, we could be looking at a negative 3%
operating budget um impact. So, um it's a um it's a substantial set of challenges facing us and and uh you know, again, just it just all signs are pointing to the select board looking to move forward with an override later this year and and um you know, there'll be a
lot of work to do to educate the community on on uh the implications of it not passing and and let folks decide what they want to do. So, um so that is my very Debbie Downer update. uh from Fincom.
Um but that's what I've got this evening. >> I mean, Go ahead. >> Oh, yeah. I was I sat in on that meeting on Zoom as well, and I thought there was a lot of um useful discussion about strategies that they learned between the failed override and the one that passed
more recently. Um and discussion about what Sean was saying about educating the community. And I think it would probably be in our best interest as well to start strategically planning what kind of information will need to be shared with the community to encourage them to support the override uh sooner rather
than later. So I don't know if we want to get that on a upcoming agenda um but I think it's worth talking about sooner rather than later. >> Yeah, agreed. >> All right. Um so with that, let's move
to new business. Um we're going to start our new business with uh CPAC end of year update. I I assume we've got some folks from the Cback board there in the audience. >> We do. Um you all you're all welcome to stay as you know or you're welcome to leave if I saw it. >> We might have one request. Could we take
a picture with >> Oh, absolutely. Let's let's do the quick picture. >> All right. So Sean, we're going to interject. We have a request for a picture from our students. >> You want your phone or mine for it? >> Here. Well, I'll use my house. >> We'll have you up in the back. >> I'll put a spotlight on you. So you're
you're the only one up in there. >> I don't have a phone. I assume if you want it on your phone. >> Thank you so much. >> Yeah, of course. >> There's Sean's big head. >> Sean's big head. >> Check them.
It's >> okay. Alex doesn't have Instagram, so you won't be posting. >> I'll send them to you. You can post them. >> It's trusting. >> They look great. They look great. >> How's Sean look in the back? Amazing. >> The best head on a screen I've ever seen.
>> His hair looks phenomenal. >> Deep cut. Sorry, I have to >> her last meeting show the last thing you're gonna say here. >> All right. Thank you so much. >> Thank you guys. >> Thank you. >> Have a great I don't know. >> We'll see you tomorrow.
>> Billion years. Oh, yeah. You'll see me tomorrow. >> So, our CPAC board members want to come join us. >> Come on up here. Yeah, we don't bite. >> Last I checked at least. >> Not tonight. Although I haven't had dinner, so we'll see.
>> Yes. >> Hello. Hello. All right. So, we've had the presentation sent. >> Did you Did it Did it We get the presentation. >> Sorry, I emailed it. Yeah. Yep. Okay. >> No, that's their presentation. >> Oh, no.
>> Did Olivia Sean, did Olivia send you >> the presentation? Uh, let me see. >> I'm gonna have to make this up as I go along right now. >> Um, >> no. >> We don't need We don't need to see ourselves.
>> If you have it, you can also share with if me or with Jen >> or with me. I I can share if you send it to me real quick. Then I can >> even on my phone details. >> Anyways, I'll just >> Yeah, I exchanged emails with Bill yesterday. Um, I don't see that the
presentation came through after that. >> It was kind of a last minute situation today. >> That's okay. No problem whatsoever. We can work. >> We don't know what that's like at all. >> Like five board members and we're all just trying to be like, I can do five minutes here and you can do five minutes here. Let's just make it. Yeah.
>> I'm in ahead. You can start talking. We can work through it. >> In case people don't know, I'm Trisha Kylie. I've been on CPAC for about two years. Um I have two kids, one's in sixth, one's in fifth. Um one's at Birch Coolage. Um and so it's it's been a
great experience. I also taught in Stonem for eight years. Um so this has been a nice way for me to still kind of stay connected without becoming a teacher again. But we do have about five members now. Um we were the two lucky ones that could
make it tonight. >> It works. >> Yes. But um we've been doing a lot of good stuff. It's been a it's interesting. I've been you know in reading for 14 years and I
see the CPAC board change kind of es and flows and I feel like we have a good flow going right now with our board members. So um if we can get you the uh presentation we can show you but
>> that's okay. Um, off the top of my head, oh, there you go. >> Okay, I get off the top of my head. What can I remember? >> We have a bowling event tomorrow. >> Bowling. >> We have >> I think I saw that posted. Yes. >> Yes, we have prek and elementary families coming to Hings Bowling to kind
of try to connect some families together. We did a middle school, high school one, which was fun. um just to get kids and families together from you know different schools but like the same ages. Um and it was a good time.
Everyone likes a good bowling time. So um >> true >> didn't get as many kids as we wanted to but we tried to get them on that like few half days at the middle school and high school lineup. Um but it was uh it was fun and hoping to do more stuff like that where we can get some age group kids.
>> The social side of it is just as important, right? >> Yeah. and get families together and kind of get them talking more because um special education parents are a little isolated sometimes. We get locked in our world and our chaos. So, it's nice to get out.
>> Yeah, it was fun. I'm I'm I'm looking forward to tomorrow. >> You sent it. Who did you send it to? >> So, I sent it to Dr. Studs and Dr. >> Perfect. >> Okay, >> I'll forward it to you.
>> That works. It's just a link. So, >> is it a link to a Google doc? >> I think so. Yeah, Google. Does that not work? >> It may work. Or we may have to send a request to for you to approve. >> So, you might see another email come back.
>> I didn't turn it off. >> Unless Jen, you can you want to join the Zoom in which case you could share from there, too. >> If not, we could just talk through it. Yeah, I just got it. >> Okay, let's see. >> All right, I got it.
>> Got it. I think you should be able to open it, too. >> Yep, I opened it. >> Got it. All right, >> teamwork. I was like, um, what else can I remember from the slides I've looked at today? All right. Here we go.
>> Thank you. >> All right. So, yep. What we have on here is this our mission statement, year review, annual survey results, outreach efforts, workshops, and next academic year. And then if you
guys have any questions for us. So, this is the same mission statement. We kind of I'll let you guys read it. I'm not going to read all the words in it, but it's our general mission statement. Um, so Year, we're have five members this year, which is a big number for us. It's helpful for us to have that many
members because, as you can see, there's sometimes we can all come, sometimes it's one of us that's available. Um, we all have kids and we're all just getting by. So, it's been really exciting to work with some new people. Um, we have some great, you know, we had the meet and greets with the team chairs,
which is awesome. And then we're working really closely with Jen Nelson. I don't know how much we love our monthly meetings and the occasional just meeting for fun. Um but yeah, it's been a great partnership working with student services. I think there's not a single thing that we haven't asked that they
haven't just like presented and it's been amazing. Um what they've pulled together for us this year. Um parent workshops always a popular one and we're trying to build some more social opportunities which is tends to be the hardest one. Everyone wants social opportunity, but no one can get a
babysitter or no one can get like themselves together to go. But our goal is to kind of pull more parents together. I think when we're all working by ourselves, it's it can get overwhelming, but when you know that there's like a and there's a big community here. Um, so it's really nice to try to pull people out of their
little bubbles and get connect them more because you're if your kid has a problem, granted five to 10 of them also have problems. So um that's a big goal of ours. Um and we're you know trying to find reach under finding underreach groups and ident find some blind spots.
So where is there where are there holes in either parent communication, parents education um and also even the schools kind of holes like where they have holes in what they're doing that we can address with them. So
um this is our survey results. Um we get we got eight people to take the survey. So it's not the biggest pool. Um so that's always again a struggle is how can we get more parents to log on? How can we get these surveys out
so that we can really hear from everybody? Eight people is not a lot. And if only Yeah. >> How many people was it sent to? everyone on our mailing list, which is like I can't even explain the amount of people on our mailing list. And we like post on Facebook. We post on Instagram. We It
goes out in the school newsletters. It's kind of hard to reach. I will say most of our CPAC stuff is at the This is one complaint. People have our CPAC stuff is always at the bottom of newsletter. So like by the time a parent reads stuff, they're not going to the bottom to read
anything. So we're finding that to be maybe an issue, maybe not. No one reads all their emails anyways, but when we're sending out monthly emails or monthly updates, um it's really hard. The only the best way to get people apparently is just on Instagram. Just put everything on Instagram and people will click on it versus going through their email. So,
it's always we're struggling just to find that that balance. How do we get parents to engage with us? So, so that was our results. Kind of middle of the road. Um these are all the programs we ran.
Um, per usual, Lynn Lions and um, Sarah Ward are our top winners. Um, parents love love those two speakers. Um, so they're always on their docket for us. Um, and student services is wonderful to
us, so they make sure that we get them. And, um, the budget meeting, which is like blows my mind. I mean, I know people like to know what the budget is, but every year Phil comes on and people like log on and they're engaged and they like also want to ask questions after,
which I don't have the answers to, but he comes in with like all these graphs and it's like way over my head. And I was like, everyone's in in it. That's like one of the Sarah Ward, Lyn Lions, and Phil are like >> Phil's gonna Phil's head's going to start getting bigger, right?
>> I mean, we just hit those three. We're getting a lot of people. So, it's like it's really interesting to me, but that's where parents concerns are is like where's the budget? They like to hear uh you know, how many parents are we losing or how are we staying? Can we get more? Um it's really helpful that that piece of education for parents to
understand that like just because you want more people doesn't mean you can have them or like it doesn't mean you need them. And Phil does a really good job. So, this is just a breakdown of like kind of where people find the most help. But I it's it's it's funny like
the annual socials like those aren't even the biggest ones. And then so these are out how we can do we do some out outreach. Obviously we talk with Jen and Allison all the time. I think I have a meet I love a good
meeting so I'll have a meeting with any with either of them all the time. They're great on email and they're very responsive. Um, and so that monthly meeting is great. Plus, anytime they want to check in with us, anytime we have a question or problem, they're like very, very
responsive. Um, and what else? Oh, this they sponsor our speakers all the time and have come up with great presentations themselves using writing public school staff. I think that last one you guys did was wonderful and got a lot of good feedback from that. Like, what does special
education look like in reading? what's the overall structure and how does it work? It was phenomenal. It was like the right amount of information for parents to know like who to go to to do this and what is everyone's job. I think that's always a big question for parents like who who whose job is this? Um so that
was wonderful and again we really can't thank them enough for all their support and responsiveness. >> Good. >> Yeah. Good. Thank you. Oh my god, am I going to get all this up? Um, yeah, again, some of our out outreach efforts is webinars, the recordings go, they go
up on our website. Um, we got a lot of people who couldn't make it to a lot of our webinars and Sarah Ward lets us record. >> Lyn Lions is not. Phil's great. He records because some people did want to go back and rewatch it. Um, so, um,
that's always phenomenal for us to be able to put that on our website, um, when people go to it. Um, and we have our newsletters and social media and Instagram and then that annual survey that eight people filled out. But, you know, we're doing the best we can. Still trying to find that sweet spot where we
can get parents to want to or take the the few minutes it can to like let us know what we can do. Um, because we like to be this kind of parents tell us, then we can tell Alison, Jen, and sometimes it's a little easier because it's less angry sometimes. Um, so it's nice for us
to have that like middle ground. And oh, Jasine did the take it takes a village. >> Oh yeah, >> she did be wonderful videos in some of our leaderships um around town and those are on our website, right? >> She made videos and she interviewed Jen and Allison and Albert
>> and um so parents could get this like video synopsis of what their jobs are and who they are in the town. That was all her. Um, and we did CPAC awareness month which was fantastic. Um, again just any way we can get parents to recognize that we are a resource also
that we don't work for Jen and Allison because that's a misconception is that we work for Reading Public Schools which we don't. Um, and so it's like it's it brought awareness to hopefully some more parents. Um, we go I participate in the children's cabinet this year which is wonderful. I love being part of that
whole community. Um, and then, uh, we did the open house for running families. Um, so that was one of our other ways that we can, uh, get Oh, and working with some of the PTO's. I've now done break spaces for movie night at Birch.
I've done the Boo Fest. What was it called? At Barrows, >> the Halloween party at Barrows. >> Yeah, Monster Mash at Barrows. We had a break space. We're letting also try to get more connected with PTO's so that they can include us in some of their events. also brings in part of their
conversations um a lot of general ed parents don't understand that there are programs in schools that what special education is doing for their gened kid. So any way we can help um inform the community um and build a not just our sped community but build it into like
the entire reading community is kind of an ultimate goal too. So PTO is going to be a big space for us to get in there. >> Also fun runs and field days. >> Oh yeah, field days. I was at Burge yesterday and almost died.
Almost died in the sun. Um, but luckily, like I said, we I I have my tent, pop it up, and provide break spaces and shade and water and fans for some of our kids who really can't tolerate that kind of environment. But it allows them to be part of field day. Most of those kids would have had to go
back into the building like almost instantly and then they're just done for the day. But because we can have a break space for them, it allows our kids to stay out in the event and maybe not do kickball, but maybe they want to do parachute. And it gives them that back and forth that they can have. And that's
kind of the ultimate goal is not to keep them in the tent all day. Um, but is to like give them that opportunity in and out. So, um, that's I'm like the break space lady. My tent's going to be retired soon because it's not going to it's got its use. But yes, so um >> yeah, but we hope that all the schools
have a water tent for their field days because I remember when I first started and there was no water tent and several students didn't have a water bottle and so it's very brutal being in the field and I could see them like on the verge
of fainting. Um so heat exhaustion is yeah >> not a good thing. Yeah, I think that's other point we want to make is that we'd like all of the schools to have a designated break tent um so that no matter like I can't be everywhere and
but also so that that schools these kids every school has a unified equal space like I know Birch will buy they're like we'll buy a tent tomorrow and I'm like yeah but you guys can buy the tent but I don't know what other PTO budgets are um and I wouldn't want one school to have this extravagant thing and then the
other schools who don't can't don't have the same PTO um budget. So, it's kind of my secret mission is like try to find a way to get everyone a break space and if you're going to be in the field, let's make sure everyone has the same and it's for everyone. Everyone needs a break. And when I tell you like bring a box of
fidgets, there's not a single kid. It doesn't matter who you are. You're sitting, you're taking a fidget and everyone benefits from that idea of just like stepping away. Especially field days, that heat is brutal in 90% of those fields. >> Um so, >> so students and staff >> Oh, yeah. staff need the water,
>> water and shade. Shade was at a like, oh my gosh, I had more parents and and staff sitting in there because they have to be able to be out there. But um just the idea of having a break space at the some of these more generalized events, we want all of our kiddos to participate
as much as they can, but if they get a break in school, they should get a break on field day without having to leave the entire environment. So I keep talking about tense but that is like kind of like what we're our thinking is that like if every school from you know rise all the way up even to the high school
um had some designated break idea like even uh middle school I asked Sharon to do a break space for the welcome to cool night because some of our kids can't again participate fully in the welcome to coolage events. It's overwhelming. There's like a thousand parents and kids
there but she like opened the library and my son's one of them. He came into the library and the actual event was a lot but we got to go to the library. We got to take our tour. We got to be part of the welcome to coolage without having to get overwhelmed and completely not
go. And there were like I know there are at least like three kids who didn't go to welcome to coolage because their parents didn't think there would it was going to be too overwhelming for them. and breaking down that idea that there shouldn't be there shouldn't be a single event that the school runs that a student could not go to because the
parents don't know if it's going to be, you know, okay for them to step out for a few minutes. It should just be a generalized like, nope, if again, if they get a break at school, everyone needs to step out from the cafeteria. It's too loud. Making a space and if no one uses it, fantastic. If one kid uses
it, you've made one more kid part of the community in that school. So, it's it's going along with that idea. It's not that kids are going to be pulled out all the time, but they have that idea that no matter where I go in school, no matter what event I go to, I'm going to have the opportunity to do my best, take
a step back, and then go back into it. Um, so secret mission and hopefully we can keep working that in if we keep drilling into people enough. But like I'm going to go to I think I'm going to do Koolage's field day. >> That's a new one. >> Not so secret mission now. Yeah,
>> I wrote it down. We're on. >> It's no longer >> I emailed Sarah today, so I was like, I'm coming, so just tell me where to be and I will pop up a tint. >> Great. >> Anyway, so that was that whole getting into PTO's too because PTOs are going to
be crucial for that. >> Okay. >> And this is some of the stuff that that's our bowling our bowling event with my five middle school, high school kids. And um this year we had the autumn moon festival table. We did the festival
trees. We had a um and we had a craft night. That was fun. We had parents come and decorate ornaments. And the joy people have from coloring wooden ornaments. It was amazing just sitting and mindlessly like no kids were there. We just all were just coloring ornaments
and it was relax. It was fun. Um we also did a gingerbread housem with families. Um that was a another popular one. Trying to do the bowling. Um, Unified Sports will also be at we'll have I think two tents this year because the one tent at Unified Sports is just not
big enough. Um, so we'll do and we'll do a water station. Um, we have some families that are donating water to Unified Sports this year. Um, so that will be really helpful. Um, hopefully it won't be too too hot. Um and the your social with some parents
hopefully um will come do patio socials in the summer to try to get parents together over the summer um before school starts um and the popsicles and playground for kids to get together before school starts. So So these are some of the workshops that
we did do. Um the team chair meet and greet. Um, I would love to find a way to get more parents to come to that. One argument was they parents hate that it's during the school year day but um or work day and I'm like but you can't ask people to come back like all the time at night for two people who might show up.
So I'm hoping that like this coming fall we can get more par families to come to the team chair meet and greet somehow. I don't know bribe them with something. Um and then we'll do the booth at the mid um Midonna and Moon Festival. Um this year we did a movie night in a different
key. Um phenomenal movie if you guys haven't seen it. Um it is like just an amazing movie to see. Um I had no idea. There's it's beast in a book, right? >> Yeah. So um they I mean you can see it on YouTube as well.
>> Yeah. So anyways, it's just a great movie. Highly recommend it. Um Sarah Ward uh exe executive functioning. She's phenomenal. Lin Lions again blew it out of the park. Um people love that. Um festival trees and the budget review
with Phil and um then we last our last one was the overview of this sped framework which was like I said all the information a parent could ever need on special education in this town was in this wonderful presentation and like half of you were on it. All of you were on it and um it was just really well
done. It was like just the right amount of information given the right way. So that was great. Looking forward, we have some big plans. Um we're uh still trying to make some connections with the community. Um expand CPAC workshops, um add digital
presentations on inclusion, um educational workshops like Lin Lines and Sarah Ward. We're hoping to continue. Um we're thinking about exploring fundraising. None of us really want to be part of a bank account, but some of the things we want to do, we end up paying like out of pocket for most of
the time um because we don't have dues or anything like that. So, um we don't really do any fundraising. So, a lot of the events we run, we might ask, you know, parents for like if you want to pay, pay, but we don't have like a budget essentially whatever Jen and Sarah can Jen and Allison, sorry, Jen
and Allison can get together for us. We we use that money to do our presentations. But all these um parent events and things like that kind of usually comes out of one of our pockets. Um which is fine, but we're thinking about fundraising. Um expanding our
website because that's always a work in progress. Um we're going to hopefully start working with the town of the disabilities group um and partnership continue our partnership with students services and the schools. Um we're seeking you know
continued support. We want to make sure our unified sports programming is continued and we'd love if some I know Tara Hurley probably doesn't want to expand it but like expanding it finding some ways that we can offer more programming either within just middle high school but also like I know there's
a ton of kids in elementary school that would benefit from some form of unified sports whether it's just like skills and drills or something along the lines to prepare them for the middle school um would be great. Um, and one of the issues that we ran into this past summer
was the um, all the construction. That was a big problem for ESY kids and it really hit hard for families um, who had to um, drop off kids who didn't really have a the safest way to get to the
school. Um the one at the high school, we were lost the playground which was going to happen. But then we also construction company blocked off all of the handicap parking and that was not appropriate for kids who have legal placards on their car for grandparents or for them themselves. We have kids in
wheelchairs and mobility issues. That was really disappointing to see that that was not taken a priority. When you have special education in that building, we completely got overlooked for construction projects. Um, and at Birch with a paving that took I it was like
the longest paving job I've ever seen done, but it was like five weeks of summer school. And we had parents parking way too far from school where we have children who elope. We have kids who require more staff support to get to school and we did not parents didn't have that support that they're supposed
to have during the school year. They get the same level of support going to ESY. Um, particularly for pickup and drop off where we have that Arthur B. Lord is like it's fast. Um so that type of planning we would like to have like make sure there's a consideration that if the
town's going to be doing something around the schools particularly during ESY um we brought up with the select board and they said well it's the least amount of kids are being affected so we're going to do it during and I get that but our kids are still being affected and they're the ones who are at should not
have that much effect on them. Um, and even stuff like, you know, the crossing guard situation that was happening at Birch, like my daughter almost got hit by cars on a regular basis because the police station couldn't staff the triangle of death, the YMCA, Birch
Meadow, and we had construction there with Gro Street. There was a ton of traffic and the police department didn't regularly um post crossing guards at that particular crosswalk. um and they frequently did not get there for middle
school dismissal. They'd get there for birch metal dismissal, but they weren't there for middle school dismissal. And we have kids in a program there. So those kids should be able to independently cross the street safely. Um so that was like again these kind of considerations get overlooked and we want to make sure that those are not
overlooked and were either considered part of the process or it's it's just a thought because if we felt very much it was an afterthought during all this last summer. Um, and you know, it was just very disappointing to see that. But then like again this year, the crossing
yards, I think they finally figured it out, but it's taking an entire school year of kids just blindly trying to cross the street. When you have high schoolers driving, you have Grove Street traffic. It was just it was a mess. And um I didn't feel parents had to jump out of their cars half the time to stop
traffic. So um that was like we just want to have that continued consideration going forward. on that one. Just real quick before we move on, do we have any known construction coming up this summer? >> So So that's a a done issue for this summer, but ne who knows what happened
next summer, the summer after. So >> we'll have to maintain some sort of awareness as we go forward with some of that as we as that happens. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I would just like really we just really want to make sure like I know like it's not nec there's other people who to do the construction projects but it just felt like ESY was like an
afterthought like they didn't really care that our kids were not being able to access the building safely. Um and we just want to like voice that we did it was not appreciated by parents at all and um it was I think Tom and Jen you
guys like made handicap parking spots. you took your own cars out and made your own we had to make our own handicap parking because we just have kids in wheelchairs and mobility issues that they shouldn't have to walk from like and at that time the modules were going in it was kind of a disaster but like it was it was just an afterthought and we
can't do that going forward especially for like I said that ESY time. >> Hey Tom, I don't know if Dr. Milesky be more specific. I don't know if um is it officer Scoutton is still the safety officer the the traffic safety officer? >> Yes. My thing with the conversation is
we think about crossing guards. Um, you know, that's a it's kind of a weird job and it's difficult to staff because the hours are not that desirable for most people. Um, you know, early and then mid-afternoon and, you know, you're kind of committed in two blocks spread out throughout the day. Um, but I wonder if
we could talk to them about sort of prioritizing when there isn't when there is a shortage. You know, I I think about the crossing um at Franklin and Sunset Rock. like, you know, I've been there holding signs like campaigning and stuff before and seen not a single student
use, you know, use that crosswalk. Um, and so, you know, when we when you think about particularly those crossings, you know, in the Birch Meadow complex and and um some of the busier ones near Kllum and some others that have had challenges in the past, you know, I wonder if we could talk to the if we
could talk to the police department about prioritizing sort of the higher volume crosswalks when there are shortages. Sean, I just wanted to say um CPAC is always so good bringing these things to our attention and when um Trisha came
in, Olivia reached out immediately about the crosswalk, but I do think this is a great thing for our safety committee, which is school-based staff and townbased staff to look at and we have a meeting coming up. So I will make sure that it's on the agenda of something we
really look at to make sure for next year we have all the >> class has like the kids in programs there and like sometimes by 3:00 your meds are gone like you're just trying to get out of the building and like I said it's it's we want them to build independence they we want them to be able to safely walk from school to home
um and we don't want anything to happen and there just there I feel that yesterday there was a car accident because someone was just beep burp and it was like two cars ahead. I'm like, it's just always a nightmare. It's always very dicey. I think they've hired some new people because I've seen some
people being trained, but like I said, it's a question about whether they get there for middle school. Everyone's there for 2:45. No one's there at 2:30. Um, so also just I think even the the police officers who set in, they're never there at 2:30. So, like I said, it's just like it's a something that I
just think that either they need to like be aware of. Um, and maybe they are and they just can't get there. But, it's a it was it was kind of with Grove Street Tra with Grove Street being shut down and all the detours going down that street. It was it was a constant.
>> I'll make sure the safety committee addresses that. There's a couple of things we want to go through and I'll loop back. >> They add some new signage, which is nice. um if if everyone reads it, but like it's it's still like those kids just sometimes like >> Yeah. And they all come in like very
even disperses. >> Thank you. >> I think is that it? >> That's it. So any questions? >> Will all five of your board members be returning next year? >> Yes. >> Yes. And I still think like I'm like I
think what is like I forgot the max is like six and then we have to like vote on it or eight. six is your >> E6 max. Yeah. So, it's still like a job that requires even with the five of us, it is still um trying to keep up with like emails, website, and everything else. And we're really trying to push it forward, >> but you'll have continuity of
>> Yeah, the five of us will still be there. >> No idea. >> That's it for us. >> Okay. >> Thank you. Can I can I just ask the question, you know, I'd like to ask every year, you know, is there you you raised some really specific concerns there, but is
there anything, you know, anything generally that the school committee or the district can be doing to to support CPAC better? Um, you know, I think we've done we've implemented a lot over the years, you know, suggestions from CPAC, but if there's more that we can do, now would be the chance to raise it.
>> Yeah, I mean, I think we're really happy with our partnership with student services. really get a lot with them and um we're working hard to keep that, you know, open communication and if parents ask for it, like if I get two emails about it, I'm calling Jen Nelson because
again, I always say if like one or two people have a problem, there's more of them somewhere and they're all sitting there angry because they don't know where to go. Um our bigger problem is just making sure that our um like I said, our stuff's at the bottom of a newsletter. That's just formatting, but
like just you know making sure that we can continue doing the things that we do all those workshops um are really important and any way that like we can boost our awareness and boost our our our uh programs and our meetups and stuff
like that. Um we really want parents to come our way before like they go off the rails. And not that we have the answers. Like to remind pe a lot of parents that we're not advocates. We're not lawyers. Um that seems to be one weird consensus. We're all just parents of special ed kids and we're all just trying to have
conversations and build the education for parents. Um so um I think the continued support from the school committee and supporting student services and you know whatever we can do to push um the education of parents
further is is the goal here. >> Yeah. Yeah, I would I would say a few things on that, right? I mean, I think it's awesome and it's a continuation of the last few years or last probably six years at this point, Jen, right? That the relationship with student services is so strong, but remember, you are an advisory committee to the school
committee, >> right? So, you have the the path to us, too. >> Yeah. >> Um and particularly through me right now, but in anytime any of you can come and talk to the rest of us as well. Um, so it's awesome that Jen and Allison do a great job and that's their job from a
day-to-day from an admin perspective. Um, but you still have us as well. >> I appreciate that. Like I said, I think it's it's super easy. >> Great. That's one thing. The second thing is you actually have a reserve fund with the district. You have money, $300
>> in an account that you should be able to access in some way, shape, or form andor if you're going to do fundraising that could go into that account. So, nobody has to be a bank manager. >> Okay? >> Right. If that's your concern. Um, and so we can potentially connect you with
one of your favorites, Phil, >> and figure out how to access and add adding money is just a donation, but how to access that money so you can get reimbursement for CPAC related activities. >> So, you know, that's what it's for is is to support you in that regard. I think
there's actually two accounts technically. One is the CPAC fund and one's the special education >> something not quite CPAC fund that's there, too. So, Um, >> well, that'd be great because I I didn't know that. >> Yeah, somebody at one point gave $300 a while ago. And there's another one that's much older than that. Jeff
probably might know because he's always looking at all the funds that are there for for a long time. But there are two accounts that are specifically dedicated for your particular needs. That'd be great because like I said, there's a lot of like I think um parent meetups and kind of building that
community that like if we could anything that we can get the kids involved into, but even just parents being able to get together, I think it's I really want to get parents out of their little hole and bubble and really start to expand that community a little bit better.
>> Good. I guess also um as I come across different grants like when I apply for either a movie night or whatnot, is there a contact that I should be reaching out to um because I I know that in certain grants um as an entity you can only have one applicant. So if
Reading Public Schools is applying for a grant then we can't apply for it separately, you know, from a CPAC standpoint. Who would I contact to see if Reading Public Schools is applying for a particular grant to make sure we're not um competing? Because whenever
I if that happens, then we step out and I just apply as a separate entity. But >> I would say at this point, contact me. And we don't have a grants manager, so we kind of have to keep internally track
of what we're applying to. So, if we know there's something you're interested in, we'll make sure no one else is applying or if they are, we can let you know. But just let me know and I'll work with you. >> Thank you. >> She's our great manager.
>> She's a good one. >> Yes. Best. >> Awesome. >> All right. >> Thank you. >> Thank you both very much. >> Thank you. >> And the rest of the team as well that wasn't able to make it. So, thank you all. >> Yes. Thank you so much. >> No problem. All right, Dr. Sykes, we will go to you
uh for the student services and your update. >> Perfect. And I have some people here. You have my PowerPoint. >> I do have your PowerPoint as well. Yes. As long as you haven't changed it. >> I have not changed it. And I will not do jazz hands. I feel
hungry. I apologize. I'm going to be really discreet. on Zoom camera all day long. >> Shel them in my mouth. >> All right, you're good. >> Great. Thank you all for um staying CPAC
to hear our update. We really appreciate it. If you go to the first slide, um, as we did the last time I was here, we talked about our programmatic review of executive functioning. And at that
point, I had mentioned that Elise Wolf from Mass General Hospital was coming to do some executive functioning training and she got to spend the day with us. So at this point she's done training with general education, special education, our administration and some of our PAR
educators. And during one of her trainings she actually said EF is the coordination of multiple processes. At which point I start writing furiously and I love a good metaphor and I was like that's student services. We are the
coordination of multiple processes. So thanks to Jackie who knows how to use AI better than I and AI, we kind of came up with this idea of the brain in the reading tree to say this is what we do
that we are part of we are many parts of the school system and we coordinate multiple subd departments so that we have a cohesive seamless aligned educational experience for all learners. We are much more than just compliance
and programs. We are really working for everyone. So tonight we're going to talk a little bit about that. Um, one of the things that we are very proud of is that um, we really collaborate with lots of people
including our families, our community partners, our CPAC, and we really feel like it's our job to organize and prioritize and coordinate in order to problem solve and respond flexibly to meet the needs of all of our learners
and our staff and our families. And so this slide just highlights some of the partnerships at the school buildings, the other departments in RPS, and all of the community partners that we work with.
The next slide is a lot and I know that there's a tremendous amount of information on here. Um, but I wanted to show everyone that often student services is correlated directly to special education, but it is much bigger
and broader than that. And we coordinate an enormous range of systems and services and responsibilities that impact student, staff, and families every day. Um, we are really an intersection of direct student support,
district-wide systems, operational compliance and building staff capacity, also safety and wellness and making sure we are using um inclusive instructional practices. We definitely do not do this
work alone. some of the spaces on this slide that are asterisk is work we're doing with learning and teaching who we partner with all the time and I know they're coming next week to give an update but we really work in concert
very well. Another thing I wanted to highlight that most people probably don't know is student services overseas the nursing department. The nursing department got a grant. The grant hired Tayana Pereira who is our MLL family
coordinator. We work on attendance very closely with the buildings and in concert with Tayana. And I just wanted to highlight the impact of the work that Tayiana and the building leaders are doing on attendance.
back um in the 2122 school year, our ML students, we had a 38.9% chronic absentee rate in that population. And as of April 3rd this year, it is down to 12.5. It is amazing work that is
happening. And I just wanted to cite that as an example of some of the things that we are doing because the real strength of our department is how the systems work together in coordinated in aligned way to make things happen.
Next slide please. Um, so what we wanted to do for all of you tonight was to spotlight some of our key initiatives that we are working on that have a meaningful impact. And I have an amazing team here who will
introduce themselves at before they speak. Um, but I also wanted to acknowledge um Allison Wright who couldn't be here tonight because her own daughter is graduating from high school. It's a very emotional moment for her. um but she is an integral part of this
work as well. So I'm going to turn it over to the team to highlight some of the work that's happening. So I'm Kelly Do. I'm the program coordinator for our embark reach and lift programs here in Reading and we're going to start talking about kind of inclusion and neurodiversity and the
work that we've been doing in these areas. So on the next slide we talk a little bit about um our our work at our student level and we're going to move up to our staff level and then our community level. So when we think about how we are educating our students at the elementary level um this school year, we had the great pleasure of being able to
take over some of the work that disabilities started for us many many years ago when they were um unable to continue to sustain their funding this school year. And so we were able to take on that work and continue that mission of educating our reading students about
disability awareness and different um categories and learning profiles. And so we were able to meet as part of our um SEAL comm um committee and kind of rethink how how we wanted to take this this new challenge on. And so we
reorganized the curriculum into a way that focused on domains of functioning rather than focusing on a disability category. So previously we would teach one disability category at each grade level and now we're teaching each a different domain of functioning in a different part of the year. So we f our
domains are focus, movement, learning, communication, how we feel, and how we sense. And so within all of those categories, we build in all the different disability categories, labels, differences that individuals may experience. And so we've really been able to um
allow all students and all different categories be able to be seen in all of our lessons versus having to wait until one grade level to be able to have that that disability category. So, it's been a really nice shift in kind of how we how we do this work and it has been, you know, a huge passion of ours to be able to roll this out and it's been really
rewarding work and it's just year one. We have so much more to grow and so much more to learn from the best way to approach this and so we're excited to figure out what year two looks like um for our students. Next slide. Um I I'm Ashley Dennis. I am one of the district inclusion
specialists. It's awesome to be here. Thank you for having us. Um, at the staff level, we've provided training focused on building a more current and affirming understanding of neurode divergence and inclusion. Um,
we've emphasized that teaching neurode divergent students isn't a one-sizefits-all approach. Um, students with a given disability will have very different strengths, communication abilities, um, ways of learning, and support needs. And through these
trainings um our staff have engaged in critical thinking around meaningful participation and promoting authentic participation in our classrooms. Um a part of this work included um down
syndrome specific focus um work with our staff at the elementary and middle school level. Um we held a book club using meaningful inclusion with um for students with Down Syndrome um from the Massachusetts Down Syndrome Congress. Um
and then we also partnered with 321 um which was another foundation that provided professional development um for our staff. um thinking about how we um we take our professional development and bring it
into the classrooms into real life. Um that's where we come in as inclusion specialists. Um and I just want to speak from all three of us in saying that we feel extremely fortunate that Reading supports this work. um and our job
embedded coaching model. And the job embedded coaching model really allows us to work alongside staff throughout this process in translating this work into the classroom. And we're able to um walk through these experiences with our
paraprofessionals, with our teachers, and most importantly, our students um through modeling and coaching teams in real life and problem solving in the moment. that's where we've seen um the most student growth um and it's it's
been a privilege um to work through this this year um and and taking together the the PD opportunities that our staff have had plus job embedded coaching it is promoting inclusive practices to really
um promote all means all um in writing the next slide. So as we kind of took this work from our kid student level to our staff level, we then wanted to make sure that we were engaging our families and our communities. And so this neurodeiversity movement training was
really spearheaded by one of our um industry SLPs, Erin Das, who works at Barrows. And she was really an integral part in us rolling all of this work out and has been an awesome partner. And then Jackie and I did the family one without her. Um and I think we did okay even though she wasn't with us >> because she's on maternity leave, not
>> not because we left her. get a big picture of her on there. >> Um, and so it was a really great opportunity to be able to bring this work um to to the community and be able to talk about the neurodiversity movement and how we are um employing neurodiverse affirming strategies in our
schools and how that can be applied in our in our home setting as well. Um, this is just the beginning of the work. We have way more work to do in terms of what this looks like in in an application as with all of our um job coaching, our embedded coaching, as well as kind of just problem solving, how we
support students who in the same classroom who may have conflicting needs and what what look what does that look like for us as a as a classroom. And so we're going to continue this work in the next couple of years. This is not um something that we can kind of do in one year and complete. Um we also had the opportunity to um host some families for
some understanding each other feedback sessions to hear their input on how those those new lessons were going. And we've gotten some really great feedback that families have felt that their students are seen in those lessons and that they are um really starting to to bring that um that level of inclusion
that is just matter of fact. This is just kind of how we function in reading. this is just a um a a value that we all have and it it's really helping to level set and we've gotten some feedback about ways we can grow in opportunities for extension work and reflection work in the home setting. Um so that's coming
soon next year team will will look at how do we support families in doing that work in a more timely fashion. If we had that lesson today in class, what are you talking about tonight or this weekend? Um how do we support that that piece? Um so more to come. Again, we're still in just in year one of this work and so
there's there's so much more to grow. Um, and then I'm going to share or highlight a little bit about where you're able to see kind of the impact of all of this work that Ashley and Kelly highlighted for us. Um, and so some of you heard when I was here talking about
executive functioning that we piloted studios from Desessie's Playful Learning Institute uh at Joshua Eaton this spring, which was a collaboration with the learning and teaching team. Um, and so I I think I said it then, but I'll say it again for anyone that didn't hear me that night. That is a chance for
students to kind of demonstrate their knowledge in a different way. So through art, through building, through dramatic play, and so they're able to show us what they know while we are able to honor their own kind of personal learning style, which is really nice. Um, those have been really fun. And we're working with the learning and
teaching team on how we want to scale those up next year. um if we want to do those in every ARC unit for certain ARC units and at which grade level. And then Trisha just really queued me up really nice. Um we had heard feedback from the
CPAC and we collaborate with the CPAC often and so we were able to provide some like really specific guidance to schools this year around field day. Um and so not only break tense although that is one one thing that we did talk with them about um but also social stories to preview the event. So, not
only is the day different, the schedule is different, but what events are we going to do there? And so, um, using social stories at all of our schools so that kids know what's coming on that day is also a way that we can help regulate students prior to needing a break tent. And so, that is one one piece that we've
been working on as well as um, balancing kind of like the energy level of all of the different events so that we we kind of take into consideration what everyone needs. And then last year and also this year we've done a tremendous amount of work on our rise to or preschool to
kindergarten transition process. And so, um, one of the things universally that we put in place were welcome to kindergarten social stories for all of our five elementary schools that have pictures of classrooms, specials rooms, um, important faces of of staff in the
building so that students and their families can look at those, especially firsttime families coming in, um, and kind of know the lay of the land before they walk in. Um, so those are really small and they might seem small, but they really make a big difference for students and families that need them.
Um, >> hi everyone. I'm Emma Costigan. I am a district inclusion specialist and I will be bringing us into our second area which relates to social emotional learning and student behavior. Um, here I really want to make sure that we highlight our work at the tier one level. As we know, student needs are
evolving and so we are really working to provide instruction that's relevant and targeted to meet those needs. What this looks like in practice is we've reestablished anCCL block at all five of the elementary schools during which students are engaging in lessons that are created by a multiddisciplinary team
that has representation from all five elementary schools and a variety of roles within those schools. This work is really grounded in the quesil social emotional learning standards and is also responsive to what teachers are saying that they need in their classrooms right now. Um, it's really the intersection of
the SEAL work, the executive functioning work that you've heard about, and the understanding each other work that you just heard about. Um, and an additional component is that we added a play block where students are able to take what they learned during the lessons and apply it in sort of naturalistic real life situations. Um, at the middle
school level, SEAL time usually happens during advisory. Um and in response to student needs, we have piloted some of these lessons in Koolage's sixth and seventh grade advisory blocks. Um and the these lessons are mainly geared towards the attention and executive functioning work.
So at the staff level, um as we kind of work to support our staff as they support students with social emotional needs, um we've really been trying to focus on building more consistency. So we know that students do best if we have common language, consistent expectations um and systems in place for them to know
what to expect. And so uh along with the student level work, uh teachers get a monthly overview that explains not just the the topic and the standards and the lesson, but also has teaching scripts for teachers, right? Um a lot of teachers come out of college, this is
like my spiel, sorry, that they come out with like reading, writing, math, like this is kind of a newer domain. And so those scripts I think have been really helpful for teachers. We also provide um like coaching scripts they can use for the students. So in the moment we're not solving problems for students but like
coaching students how to get back to the skill area which I know staff have found really helpful. Um and then outside of kind of giving them that tool in their hand we've done a lot of targeted professional development in this area as we we see the the needs of students
evolve. And so we have done PD that we have created and run ourselves. And I think there's something really nice about being able to field a question and make something with a pretty quick turnaround that answers that question. Exactly. So this is a different example, but CPAC asked whose job is this? We
made the presentation. We like it was very specific. So there are trainings we've run that are specific to what teachers are seeing right now in their classroom. And then we've also partnered with external PD providers too. So, um, Trisha mentioned Lin Lions that came to talk for families. Lyn Lions has also
come four times this school year to meet with our district support team, which is all of our mental health clinicians, our nurses, our inclusion team, Kelly, um, to really do more like personalized reading work. So, instead of just like her giving her regular talk, we're able to submit questions and she's able to
tailor it to what we need. Um, and then I also just received a grant from REF to have Lin Lions come back next year and have a wider audience. So Ely Wolf when she was here recently asked the question like in school who does mental health belong to and that that's starting to get blurry because it it needs to now
belong to all of us. We know that like one time a week in a counselor's office might not be enough. And so um we're going to have Lin Lions back to to do a wider audience that everyone can have the understanding of her methodology so that our counselors um will have an
easier time generalizing those skills. Um, and then one of our really important focuses has really been building our tier 2 and three interventions so that as students need those interventions, we have them readily available. Um, and that teachers are clear on like the pathway to access those.
And then at the community level, um, we've really worked to kind of think about how we can take this beyond just our schools. Again, similar themes that you've heard already, but we know that students do best when we're all working together. So, we've really focused on on
hosting events that bring together families, caregivers, community partners. Um, sometimes students themselves come to really engage in that like two-way dialogue. So, it's not just us giving information, but we're also getting information back from families about what's helpful or not helpful. So,
we had our first family night at the elementary level this year. We had over a hundred families come. We I ran um Anxious Generation book clubs for families after I ran the staff ones. I ran three of them in March, which was really insightful. Um and then Kelly and
I just kicked off a brand new series called Rooted in the Village. And so um we might hit you up for your videos um about the village. And so really that was in response to families needing support um if they're navigating challenging behavior at home and in the community. How can we better support
them with that? Um, so we just had our first session. Kelly at the end of it said she loved it so much she could do it every night. And I said, "I don't know if I could do every night, but I can do I can do once a month." Um, and so we're also trying to give families a monthly update on the SEAL skills we're
teaching in school. So just like the teachers get the the monthly overview, families get a monthly overview so they know what skills we're teaching. And there's also a bringing it home section. So it's like conversation starters, games they can play, things they can do to try to practice those skills. Um, and
then lastly, our LCRO challenge, which you heard about a little bit, kicks off very soon. Um, Saturday is the police station open house and they're going to have our LCRO table. So, that will be the first time it's really put out there publicly. Um, I just was talking with all of them yesterday, so we're ready to
roll on that. I also don't think I introduced myself. I'm Jackie Pooine. Sorry. All right. So, one of the places that we really see the impact of this work is in teacher reported data. Um, at the midpoint of this year, we surveyed staff
around how they felt about the work as we're rolling it out. And 90% of staff reported not only feeling confident teaching the lessons as they were provided, but also using the language and the strategies from those lessons to continue to coach their classrooms um throughout other times of the day. We
also asked how staff felt their students were benefiting and 85% of respondents said that they felt their students were benefiting from this work. Um when we think about the MTSS triangle and thinking about how we hope 80% of our students are benefiting from that tier one instruction that 85% feels really
optimistic and and excites us about moving forward with this work. So um as you can see from this amazing articulate team, we really believe strongly that um strong systems require strong leaders and we have been
prioritizing our leadership development to really align and have continuous learning to ensure our practices evolve right along the needs of our students and our families and our staff. And so by investing in the growth of our
leaders, we are really trying to build the internal capacity needed to sustain those inclusive, proactive, and responsive systems. Um, and what you see here is just a subset of our flowchart.
This is just special education. And um we put it in here to highlight that our district-wide roles really partner with the schools, the team chairs, the learning and teaching staff, right down to every single teacher and pareducator
who need support to make sure our students and families have what they need. And I'd just like to thank the school committee again for helping us to um promote and fund these positions because it is making an impact every
single day. And we really want to never forget that our work is beyond compliance and that we are getting the work we're doing to our students and families. So on this next slide you will see um
something that actually came from a book study we did with the school committee uh several years ago from good to great by Jim Collins. The idea of a hedgehog concept where you are focused on certain things. Our department has really embraced it. There are a lot of
hedgehogs everywhere. Uh, but I love a good visual that reminds everybody why we're doing this work, that we have passion for all of our students and believe they all are going to learn. The um driver, economic driver for us obviously is compliance, but what we
really believe is we want to get to be the best in the world at our relationships with families. And so that requires the alignment and the reflection and taking data and being as consistent as we possibly can so that we
are relationship focused and committed to that continuous growth. So we've been working on operationalizing our culture which is the next slide. Um because we need to do things that are rooted just like we use
with our students. We want to use best practices with our staff to build their capacity. And so we've really honed in on a lot of these systems um especially some work by Bnee Brown and um really
thinking about how are we developing ourselves to have good relationships with families even when it gets hard because all we all care about is doing what is best for our students. And we need to know that. We need to look at
the facts and know sometimes they're difficult, but we're going to get there. And how do we continue to build our relationship skills to do this human- centered work? Um, I did want to highlight, I'm going to call myself out. I love the analogy of pocket presence
and knowing that Tom Brady is one of the best people at moving the ball down the field while everything's coming at him and having to know what's coming, where are his defenders, all of that. We use that analogy. I then showed a video of Tom Brady, not in a Patriots uniform,
which was very bad. I thought it was a special outfit from the Patriots. Clearly, I don't actually know any sports. My team thinks it's hysterical, but Tom Brady and Hedgehogs are find their way into lots of poweroints now.
in her helmet. >> I think the giveaway is that you just called it an outfit. Trust me, it took me forever to understand when Tom said we were huddling. I was like, we're what?
I'm not good at sports analogies. Um, and so really truly, we are so thankful to the CPAC, to all the parents that come to our office hours, to the parents that have come to our listening sessions because you're telling us how to
improve. we want to hear it so we can work with you to make things better for your own children and for all the children. Um, and one of the things that we've heard is that we are not um always consistent in our practices across
schools. So, we're actually down to the point now that we are roleplaying. How do you introduce a team meeting? How do you talk about this piece of the IEP? And holding each other accountable to common language. Um, and I thought it was very interesting that our staff
actually said to us, people who have been in other districts who've come to us said, "We've never done this before." And and so knowing that that was a real need to spend some time on that. Um, that just lets us be reflective and data
driven and keeping the students at the center. Um, just looking ahead on the last slide, we know that our work is never finished. Students, family, schools, they're going to continue to grow and change, and we want to be there and grow and change. I did just wanted
to highlight a couple of things. We are in the middle of our multi-year programmatic review with learning and teaching about our reading practices. So, you'll see more about that. As we talked about the executive functioning um we are working with the building
leaders to really have consistent practices in all classrooms um so that we know all students are getting access to those good teaching practices that they need. Um and then finally uh Jackie talked a little bit
about that let's grow project which is super exciting. Um, and I just wanted to acknowledge the last time I was here, Tom Weise said, "Why don't we have yard signs?" And we are working really hard to get yard signs. The Reading Rotary
has been a fantastic partner in that. So, coming soon, we may be hitting people up to put out yard signs for Let's Grow. Um, so that is a summary of of some of the exciting work we are doing and we are happy to answer any
questions that you may have. >> Sean, you want to start or >> uh, nothing on my end. >> I just had a really weird question. It jumped out at me. that somewhere in the middle there was a slide about the wolfpack mentality in Abiwambach and
tell me a little more about that. >> Here's my team with Allison and Renee. They're missing. These are the Wolfpack. There's also stickers for that. I I I learned how to use sticker mule. They have stickers for everything. Um Abby Wombach is a famous soccer player, which
I know. Yay me. Um >> and she wrote a book called The Wolfpack. And in it, she talks about you can't be the lone wolf. You need to be I was actually looking to see if any of you had your computers cuz I know your
stickers are on there. Um that you are part of the wolf pack that drives the work forward. It actually came from a graduation speech she gave. It's a great very quick read. Um but she talks about the need for team building and having
each other's backs and building the capacity and also especially for people who are coaching and in classrooms and knowing how to point and run meaning I might have scored the goal but I better turn around and point to every
single person that helped me and run towards them. And so they're really working on developing their skills to say to the teachers, you you're doing this. I may be here, but I don't have all the answers. I'm going to help you get there. Um the other thing that Abby
did was um she had a commercial at the end of her career. Um and it was forget my name. And essentially she was a shout out to all the upand cominging soccer players and kids that were playing
soccer. Don't look at me as the best as the Olympic athlete. You all learn to do it yourselves. And so I challenge them all the time. Your job is not that people yell out, "These guys are amazing." They are amazing. But I want
them to say we know how to support all students and families. That's the goal. And that's some of the work we've been doing. Did I capture it, Wolfpack? And and I know also did I learn about uniforms versus outfits. Um I can now
create uh um chat in I now I can't even say it on our telephones when we want to send a text message. It's called Wolfpack. So with a picture I've learned from my team how to do such things.
>> You're dating yourself. It's so bad. I know. I'm old. I get it. >> Anybody else? >> I'm going back here because there's the lawn sign right there. >> That is the lawn sign. >> Yeah, >> that is it. And there's a QR code
hopefully that um will take them right to >> the website to get more information. >> Nice. >> Awesome. I was thinking as well as I was going through as you guys were going through this um in particular kind of the the social
emotional side of the work you're doing um how I don't know what the right word is uh or right word so let me let me kind of get this out a little bit but how important this is now or has it been
since co I know it was always important before co But you all know more than any of us how much of a challenge the coming back to the classroom has been for many of our students. Um and bringing this at the right level for them from a student
perspective as well. And looking at the graphics it's like okay I can see this is for a young child and I appreciate that. Right. Um that it is hitting at the level that is necessary for there and then tying it to play as you were talking about too. So, okay, you you've
gone through the class. The the the talking part, but I'm a kid. I want to get up and play. So, how do I then, you know, make it real for them, I think, is is is was something I called out as really important. And then the the family side of it as well, the bringing
it home portion is something we we probably need to continue to do more even outside of the the space. >> Yep. >> Right. Um and and you know how can you and this ironically is one of the reasons Tom was hired um way back in the day is is is the
bringing the stuff home and what are the activities you can do at the table with playing with dice or something little things like that to bring the math thing home. Um so you know tying it all the way back from six years ago as we were looking at Tom during his interview process and some of the stuff that you
were doing and you're it's just you. I'm just saying that now, but you know, it's it's not just one person. All of you are working through that. But I think that that schooltoome connection just makes it that much stronger. Um and and and
provides a bridge for the parents. So it's, you know, historically historically, especially in special education, and I'm looking at my parents out there, it's it's been you parents aren't doing enough. like it's the parents fault at
times, which is crazy considering we're special education parents have to have to deal with a lot. Um, and this is not special education necessary in this particular case, but tying it back to provide the resources so that the parents now have more they can work
with. Um, I think is is phenomenal. Um, and all the other reachouts that are going on. I think you are setting a bar that is really high and you have to keep jumping over the bar to make it even higher. Um, so I just want to recognize
that and appreciate that. Um, I don't even think I did it justice in just that little statement. So, thank you for the work that you're doing and and the association and bringing it home. >> Thank you, >> Tom. >> Yep. Uh, just want to thank this team for your incredible work and impact in
our community. And a couple of things that maybe just aren't apparent like are obvious to the committee members too is that all four educators up here uh were reading public school educators prior to stepping into these their current leadership roles which I think maybe two points that are really important for one one is who are deeply respected in in
the staff who who really trust them right which I think has allowed them to come in and obviously make an impact right away deeply trust them because of they've done this work really well whether a school psychologist special educator like they've been in these roles and and moved the needle and I think they have the respect and the
trust of staff which really uniquely positions them uh to make the kind of impact that we're talking about. So just like people to know these are you know folks who are just some of the most wellrespected leaders in our in our community. Two uh you saw a lot about the proactive work tonight that the team
is doing which is incredible. You also didn't get to hear a lot about just the day-to-day like situations. they are in some of the highest like most intense, most complicated, most challenging situations that are really layered and nuanced with not easy answers and they help navigate and lead to that
complexity incredibly well. Um, and then the last thing is I just it it really struck me seeing this tonight just your lead like how maybe it connects to Tom's point of like your leadership impact on students, staff and families is just a really unique way to help schools and
help our community navigate all that we're seeing sort of needs in our community. And I think this resonates with me as a parent and trying to figure out like how am I best supporting my my children. It resonates with me as an educator. Um, so I just think there's there's just appreciate just like how
your role impacts so many different constituencies, which I think is truly needed to be able to get the type of impact that we, you know, the way that we want to impact our students. So just I think we see your impact tonight and I'd just like to just double down and emphasize that. I think the community tonight is seeing a fraction of just in
the day-to-day of what you're doing. Um, in the point of I think a lot of districts are struggling with a lot of the things that we have like talked about tonight too and just think just really encouraged by the work that we are that you're doing, our teams are doing to try to be as effective as we can to meet student needs. So just a
huge thank you to you and just to acknowledge and say you're making a huge impact. So thank you. >> Thank you. >> Here's one more thing. >> Is there a spelling mistake? >> No. Oh, >> no. Front and center, the title of the
thing is excellence for all. >> We believe that >> I I mean I I think that is also a a core fundamental shift from where this district was six years ago, right? Um and I I want to call that as well that
out as well, right? Uh you we've made a ton of progress. We still have a lot to go as you've mentioned. Yep. Um, but the fact that we're even calling it out as excellence for all, um, is something I just want to continue to spotlight and highlight.
>> Thank you. We really appreciate everybody's support and I echo what Tom said, this amazing team that's making a difference and we continue to just value all of our partnerships. So, thank everybody. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you everyone. >> Thank you very much. All right, let's move to the next item on our agenda. Let me move relatively quickly through these last three. Um the next one is um discussing the superintendent formative review process. You know, I obviously with uh Dr.
Milesky being a bit of a short timer at this point. um they feel uh perunctery, but beyond it being sort of a um statuto and contractual obligation, I think it's probably helpful just for us to reflect on uh you know where we are, what what
priorities lay ahead, that kind of thing, just as you know, part of setting the stage for for Dr. Turner's entry as well. Um this is a formative review year, so it's not the big, you know, the big one with all the focus indicators and and the sort of full sort of form to
fill out. Um so what I would propose to the committee is um to ask each member to provide you know and and Dr. Corum it's it's up to you you know your level of comfort with doing this but you know to provide just sort of a brief narrative uh review of you know for Dr.
for the last, you know, for the this past year. Um, you know, a couple paragraphs, it could be a little bit longer if you want to. Um, we my suggestion was we do this on a fairly quick turnaround. And the reason for that is that unless something else comes up, I think our meeting a week from
today may be our last uh our last meeting of the school year. Um, we may need to have a short virtual one later in June if anything pops up that you know requires a late approval or anything like that. Um, but given that we may be again after next Thursday.
What I'd like to ask is if everyone could just provide that um sort of brief narrative, you know, by maybe Tuesday evening, which will give me a day to turn it around, create a you know, a um a aggregate, you know, kind of an aggregate narrative um for us to review
and approve as part of our meeting next week. So, >> we pause there and get the committee feedback and reactions to that um and see how we want to move forward. >> You'd like us to send those directly to you? Yeah. Yep. >> And you said by this coming Tuesday.
>> Yeah, that would be just give me a day to turn it around for everyone else. >> Sean, why do you think we need to do it? I mean, contractually if Tom waves it. Why do we need to do it? >> Um, I I'd have to double check this, but I I
think the statutory language requires us to to annually review the superintendent. Um, and it can be, you know, part of a cycle and and all that which is why we can do a formative and non summitative but um my recollection is there's a you know sort of statuto
obligation as well. Yeah, I was trying to find it earlier today and I couldn't find it, but I didn't have a full day to search or full full time to search. So, I apologize. Um, it's not a hard deal to write a short formative necessarily. I just some it does seem preuncter to your point,
right? So, that was okay. >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I can I can um I can look for the language that I'm, you know, sort of remembering, Tom, and and uh let me make Aaron a co-host. she can
come off mute and participate. Um uh you know I can look for that language. I mean you know one one decision we could make tonight you know is um if there isn't an obligation and you know and Dr. Milesky's you know willing to wave it from a contractual
perspective I see him raising his hand we could forgo this entirely. So, you know, if that's kind of the the will of the committee, what I'd say is, you know, I'll put out that sort of pencled in timeline for Tuesday and I can, you know, I can follow up with everyone
tomorrow with a confirmation, you know, as to whether or not it's necessary. >> I think that would be my vote to pencil it, confirm whether or not we need to actually do it. Um, >> sure. >> And kind of go from there, just given lots of other competing priorities on calendars right now.
>> Understood. Is everyone comfortable with that? >> Yes. >> Okay. >> Yes. >> All right. Tom, I won't I don't think we need to sign anou or anything like that. >> No, I'll make it public. I wave. >> Uh Sean, the only thing I think would be
challenging if we if the language requires something as I do to typically the process would be me to provide evidence and then the committee review evidence. You know, I would have to turn that evidence around pretty quickly. So, >> not very useful. >> Yeah. So I just think there's that piece to it. So I
>> to the degree that there's a statuto statuto obligation, it it does it provides discretion for how we you know how we do it. Um you know that that those rules and sort of guidelines are all all based on the you know the framework from from DESIE which are guidelines and frameworks not not
requirements. So um I think we'd be okay as far as that goes. But uh let me I'll you know let me let me just get back to everyone tomorrow with a with a confirmation one way or the other. Tom, you may be right. I my recollection was there was something there, but um you know I I'll I'll double check and and
maybe think Kobe and see if we if we have an out. >> Um okay, so that sounds like a plan going forward. And then uh so the next item of business is reviewing approving membership for the facility naming advisory committee. Uh so you know let
me sort of update everyone on the status on this and we can you know we've got the option to take a vote tonight. We also could table that till next week and I'll tell you why that might be the case here in a minute. Um so there are six roles sort of designated in our policy on that committee. Um so one is a school
committee member. We're going to designate uh Jeffrey to be our our our um designate for that position. Um the the principal of the building in question which is obviously principal Kellen. Um a select board member. Um the select board appointed Chris Haley uh to
that role earlier this week. um a student of the facility in question. Um we've um they've identified Sophie Carlskin. So we've got a student identified there and then a member of the historical commission and a business leader. Um the historical commission does not meet very frequently, it turns
out. Uh and their next meeting is on June 3rd. So they they will appoint somebody next week. So we don't currently have a name. Um and then the business leader uh you know I've been trying to run folks down for a couple weeks here and just frankly have been striking out. Um, we've got a couple options there. I can, you know,
certainly keep cold, you know, I kind of run out of people that I know at this point, but I can cold email some folks and, you know, we can keep looking. Um, we also could have Chris sort of, you know, sort of dual capacity, maybe both as a local business owner. Go ahead, Tom. What I've done in the past, John,
is actually because it's an official ad hoc committee, Laura posts it >> and then when you when Laura posts it as an opening for that committee, you then can we can post it on our website, I mean on our Facebook page as and andor you know that's when as well usually the
nominating group will have somebody who's business related um in town that they can say hey why don't you apply for this and then you as the chair can talk to the two or three people and and choose the one that you think is is most appropriate as opposed to trying to find
your own business people. It officially gets posted by Laura Gem as an opening on a committee that you are the ch you are the person with our de facto approval of um that that puts the person on the committee. >> Okay. Okay. So that's that's an option
as well. Um that's that's helpful. I don't recall I haven't experienced that in the past but that's that's helpful. So, so, um, you know, in practice, we're not going to have the storebook commission member identified until the night before our next meeting. Um, my
suggestion at this point would be we we table a vote on finalizing this committee membership because we won't be able to start, you know, Jeffrey won't be able to start working with folks, Jeffrey Olivia will go start working folks on scheduling anyway. So, um, you know, unless folks feel otherwise, the the alternative would be we move forward
with a vote that has a couple of sort of contingencies built into it in terms of the in terms of the um, uh, appointments. So, I'm open to either either approach, but would suggest tableling for for now. >> I would I would agree with tableabling and also that we technically have to
provide a charge for that committee, too. So, we should approve the charge, too. >> We do. Yep. Yep. Okay. All right. Uh, so I'll make a motion to table this agenda item until our June 4th meeting. >> Second.
>> Seconded by Tom. Any discussion on that? >> I will just note that. >> Sorry. >> I just wanted to note that I will actually not be here in person next week. I'll be traveling to Virginia. I may be able to join by Zoom, but you know, you can vote me in to be
>> We can we can appoint you in your favorite things to do. They're not here to protest. So, uh, no. Thanks for that. Um, all right. Uh, so we'll go to the vote. Aaron, >> yes. >> Sarah, >> yes. >> Sorry, Sarah, I didn't catch that.
>> Yes. >> I assumed it was a yes, but I couldn't catch it. Uh, Jeffrey, >> yes. >> Laura, >> yes. >> Tom, >> yes. >> And Sean, yes. Thank you. Everyone will handle that one. Okay. And then, um, finally, school choice update for open session. Anyway, school choice update
and next steps. Dr. Milanches, I'll kick it. Yes, that's fine. >> So, as the committee knows that uh for districts that do not opt out of school choice, you're required uh to have two lotteryies. We went through the process of hosting the first lottery uh just a couple of weeks ago. Uh we are required to have that second lottery prior to the
end of October. We have found that doing that second lottery uh before the end of the school year actually gives us sort of more known going into the school year and also does allows us to not have to have students transition in mid year. So, we think obviously having that second lottery makes more sense. Now, uh, a little bit of an update. We are
now up to 110 total students for school choice for next year. Uh, this includes, uh, 33 students who accepted seats as a result through the first lottery. There were five students who declined seats that were offered seats. So, 33 uh, in their packet, you'll see that we are
recommending uh, to move forward with 17 additional seats or potential seats uh, based on the lottery uh, to potentially bring us up to 127 students. Uh we don't think that we'll fill all 17. I mean some of those are spaces that we didn't get any applications for in the first
round of lottery. We think we'll fill a few of them uh which will bring us close uh around the target of what we had in the budget of 121. So we think that that will bring us right to where we would uh you know hope to be. So u open any questions, concerns or feedback with just what we recommended seats but we
feel very comfortable that these are seats that were not only open in the first lottery but these are seats that we will uh you know can guarantee that we'll have space come the fall. So I think it's smart for us to get ahead of that. Now >> point of clarification, Tom. >> Yes. >> You said 17 available seats, but I see
we had 33 we filled and we have 47 available. So isn't that 14 available seats? >> So that we had to pull a couple of back that we had initially in the first lottery that we didn't fill if that makes sense. >> Right. But you still said it to four
that there were or five or something like that that there were right. You had 38 available. >> 38. We No, we had 38 accepted. >> 38 accepted. Right. >> So, but 33 of those actually totally accepted. >> Correct. >> But you now are saying through the first
lottery you've identified 47 available seats. So, we have 47 available seats. We've had 33 of those filled. Isn't that 14? Someone else to point out J that that 47 shouldn't be there then. >> So it's 50 available. >> Correct. Correct. >> Okay.
>> Correct. Good catch. I apologize for that error. >> So a total of 50 is what we're willing to open up for next. >> Correct. >> Correct. So I'm gonna ask the hard question. Um I know we we want and and the revenue helps us. Have we
are we confident that we can actually absorb an additional I know space is one thing. I'm just talking about everything besides space right space is just one portion of it. uh whether we want to call it teaching capacity, support capacity, other
related things that go with this that you know is is this the right number that we're 100% confident that the district overall top to bottom inclusive administrative staff can support out additional
students coming in like this. Yes, I think the uh Sean or is that I thought someone said um uh when we go through I think it's first it's a spa it is a space thing right when you go through and look at class size and spots that we're plug be able
to plug students in we feel confident that those are spots that we can absorb that and keep class sizes within what are our uh expected class size limits um I mean we're talking here potentially 17 more students but again expect that that number is closer to 10 given where we've seen interest in the district. So given
that we're already at 110, we we don't think the additional 10 are is going to significantly move the needle and admin ratios and you know other support things and and uh as well of course I I think you're asking a fair question and I and I I totally appreciate that. I think
given the additional revenue that it brings in for the district the you know given the available space given that the 100% reimbursement for any special education service we feel that you know again moving forward is the is the best move for for the district. >> Any other questions? There's no um no
explicit action required this evening on this one. >> Nope. >> Okay. >> All right. Uh so that brings us to the end of our open session agenda. So I will um I will move that we enter into executive session and discuss strategy
with respect to collective bargaining um with all of our unions. um where an open meeting will have a detrimental effect on the bargaining position of the writing school committee and I will um state as such as the chair. Um so we will not return to open session. We'll
adjourn after executive session. Um is there a second? >> Second. >> Seconded by Tom. Um Aaron, >> yes. >> Sarah, >> yes. >> Jeffrey, >> yes. >> Laura, >> yes. >> Tom, >> yes.
>> Yes. Amen.