--------- Oh, Jackie, I have to ask. >> We're on, Jackie. >> Oh, is this a new one? >> Yeah. >> Great. Well, everyone, I think we're live, so we're all ready to start. The mayor will be joining us shortly. So, I
am calling to order. They committed the whole meeting for October 21st, 2025. It is 504. Those who dance, please rise and salute the flag. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America to the republic
for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, and >> thank you. Can we please have a roll call? >> Mrs. Bronston Rizzo >> here. >> Mr. Kajiano, >> absent. >> Mr. Kingston, >> here. >> Miss Milberry Ellis,
>> present. Mrs. Montteroso >> present. >> Mr. Ella >> present. >> Mayor >> absent. >> So we have a forum. Uh we will start with the third order of business which is any questions on the minutes from last month. Okay. Moving on towards. Any questions
on those or comments? Okay. Uh, financial reports. You want to give us an overview first? >> Sure. So, there's two financial reports. First is the quarterly financial report. Uh, this is the least interesting of the
reports that we do. We're just started into the fiscal year. Basically here we're affirming where we have budgeted the funds. I have a little asterisk because we'll be voting in appropriation of the carry forward tonight, but I
embedded that into this report. And uh the numbers are basically saying of course um we're in the black across the board and no series concerns. and the few accounts that are showing red
and have uh nuances to them. I added some notes at the bottom of the report. So uh that's the quarterly report. The big thing is to see clearly we have an original appropriation, a carry forward appropriation and in June we voted to mobilize a
portion of the district reserve. So that's also funds available to be spent this year and we'll track them as the year goes. Um Matt, may I >> um the available balance of 100,000 plus a little bit here that I'm looking at on
the first page. >> 100 million. >> Oh, 100 million. Excuse me. Does this mean that I mean I know that we've all been talking about the uh financial situation and um you know looking into the future and the need to be conservative. I'm just wondering that when we're talking about availability
and and more spending whether we're we're keeping that in mind and Eron on the side of like maybe we shouldn't spend additional funds. >> Right? So this report is not a projection forward. It's a snapshot of what has actually happened in the first three
quarters. Okay? >> So that's why I say it's the least interesting of the reports. Okay? It's more setting the table for everyone to review this and say, "I see that this is where we wanted the money to be available. I see that we've begun to spend it. We'll get through the vote
tonight on the appropriation. We'll get through maybe the first six months of the year and then be able to start having reports saying, "Okay, where are we at as far as trending going forward?" Okay, >> this is more just a snapshot to make sure everything is where you proved for
it to be and it's happening in that way. >> Okay. And so then when we get to that point where we're having to look at what we're spending, will you please remind us and tell us whether you know you agree with with whatever it is that's being proposed or or not and why just so
we have that um you know reminder. >> And I'll I'll just add to what Matt already said. If you look at just um the total of what we budgeted um was the 131 plus the uh little over 5 million and
then the 1.6 million that we mobilized out of the reserve. So we budgeted um really you know 139 and change >> and so having that 100 million left means we've spent about 39. It's a little bit more than a quarter of the
overall budget. We are a quarter through the year. We've spent a little more than a quarter because there are a lot of things um that we go out to bid for or that we um line up for the whole year ahead of time. Um and so that stuff's already been spent because the funding
has been encumbered. So we're on track. Okay. Even though we're a little over a quarter of our budget is spent, we're on track for where we wanted to. >> We understand. Thank you. >> I apologize, Mr. Cruz. I had my um my minutes to my ways and means committee
and I left them at home. My error. Could you tell me the exact amounts on the 155 carryover because we were in what account you wanted us to fund? I apologize. You gave it to me at Ways and Means. I didn't bring my sheet. I apologize. >> So, bringing attention to the second
financial >> actually before we go there. Is there anything else on this? >> No. >> Sorry. by holding. >> All right. So now, so moving to the second financial item, the Ways and Means Committee met to recommend to the
school committee as a whole how to appropriate the net school spending required carry forward flowing from last fiscal year into this one. So the uh >> recommendation of the ways and means
committee is that we do it as is shown in the second financial report in the budget. We committed the 5.25 to classroom teachers. So that's set and I'll do that work. >> Where's the second? I'm sorry. I just want to make sure I'm following you. I
have the general ledger deteran. >> I don't have that. It just skips over that. >> This one. >> Yeah, >> it's actually right there. I can see it. >> This is attached to the other stuff. >> We moved on to the second document after
the warrant. So, completely skipping that attachment >> and the portal for the third. Third. >> Okay. >> Yes. In the agenda, this was called appropriation. So, we're doing them and
reversal. So uh we had projected in the ballpark of the 5.25 million that's was our projection in the budget season as things flow through in the close of
the fiscal year there was actually 5.4 available to us. So tonight, the committee is going to vote where to appropriate those net school spending required unspent funds from the previous year to use this year. We've already
committed the 5.25 in the budget process. We also committed 65 the last time we did this for the Lincoln Tot, but that bid process flowed into the subsequent years. So we protected that money for this use and with the
remaining 145 and change the ways and means committee wants to assign 40 to an early childhood playground at the beach school and to house the remaining in the tuition to residential schools which is one of our accounts that's showing a
deficit at this point. Um but again we're not in a panic about that because we look at things in a series as a whole. So we have four or five more residential placements. We'll talk further as the year goes on, but um >> this is sound spending.
>> No. No. >> What was that question? >> I'm asking if this is sound spending. >> What do you mean? >> Like is is this a um is this a a smart >> Oh, like fiscally responsible >> fiscally responsible um spending. We
talked at the um subcommittee meeting um and really the debate point was the 40,000 for the Beachmont um early childhood playground and um my recommendation was was that we
not commit to that right now because this is really tight. I $155,000 is a lot of money to us, but in a $140 million budget, it's a very small amount. And um as Matt alluded to, we
are seeing that we're a little bit upside down already in the residential placement special ed account. And those are that's something that we don't control. So if another student moves into the city who needs a residential placement, we have to spend the money to educate that student. it's going to put
us more in the red. I I am more comfortable with holding on as much as we can to what's left, not not committing it to anything. Um, so like Matt said, put it into the tuitions for residential schools if at the end of the year it's still there or if it if in
February it's still there and the committee decided then that they wanted to move forward with um some kind of a spending plan for that money or let it flow into next year as we move into the the planning for the next fiscal year. That money would still be there if we don't spend it. But if we do need to
spend it, it's also there for us. It's not committed to to um something else. But I but the commi the subcommittee did did vote to recommend to the school committee that you spend that $40,000 >> and um this will be a broader
conversation at the 6 p.m. I do want to acknowledge the mayor is here so I'll pass chair ship to him but first I'll pass it over to Miss Bronson Rosette. So, I was one that did not vote for it because we are in a tight situation and the playgrounds that we have done in the
past, we've gone through grants. Um, what are some of the companies that we went? >> Kaboom did most. >> Kaboom was a big one that helped us out. I'd rather see a team from Beachmore get together and kind of research that. Um
because the first the first that we heard of it was from John at the last meeting because someone at Beachmont talked to him about it and I think there's other pathways to go that the students can get something but um it
won't be as expensive the case. >> Um there's nothing there now. The other two playgrounds have something. I spoke to Miss Baker and she said because it's um because of the nature of the park, you're not going to get a grant or anything. And Kaboom won't do that because it's a early childhood slash uh
kindergarten type of facility. It's not an open playground that the city of Reier uses. So, and the kids have nothing. Uh the other two schools have something, those kids have nothing. And I just I really don't want to wait. No, I don't think it's fair. It's just a question of equity for me. the other
there's lit I have pictures on my phone if anyone like blue loop pan there's literally nothing there it's not like we're looking for an upgrade it's not like the stuff there isn't you know isn't the greatest there's literally nothing there except grass so I don't think it's fair to those kids um I realize you know money's tight but
money's probably going to be tight in February and you know if you you spend 40 on a playground it probably will last a good 10 years so that's four so 4,000 a year for the next 10 years buys you uh some kids being able to go outside and um get some fresh air and and have
something to work with as the other two schools do. I again it just to me it all goes back to equity and what what's what's right. The other two schools have a playground. They don't. I I don't know. I don't know what I say to a parent when they say that to me. Oh, if my kid went to Garfield or or Lincoln, they'd have a playground. Mine doesn't.
And I I I don't know what to say to that other than gee, I'm sorry. I mean, sorry doesn't really cut it. questions. >> I was thinking if maybe there's a compromise that we can see here where one I would like to vote on all of these items separately when we get to the 6
p.m. >> The playground one maybe for me like I would feel more fiscally responsible if we said we're allotting the 30 or the 40s contingent on finding additional funding by a set date. If we could all agree, whether that's by February or
March, then we give ourselves time to find spending that doesn't impact our net school appropriations, but we're also keeping in mind the need of the playground. And I think it's a more fiscally responsible compromise that meets needs and also keeps in mind the tight budget season that we're in. So,
we can talk more, but that's kind of the thought that I was thinking of. Miss Rizzo, >> I just um I would also like the people involved, whether it's Beachmont early childhood director um to be the ones
that let us know what they may need >> and an actual plan because >> an actual plan. >> It could be less, it could be more, but I still feel 40 is a little arbitrary at the moment. >> But at least it's for me at the same
time, it's a little starting point. we're at least setting that apart. If we need more or less, then great. >> So, it's a way to move forward while being responsible. So, those are just my two cents for now. And then we'll see the decision. Yeah. >> And don't forget that in these
conversations, we're talking intention, not you must actually execute the purchase. So, it's the will to committee to set this aside for that purpose in pending. That's different than we've actually signed a contract or executed requisition.
So when we vote for it, it's the intention is to use it for that, >> but we're not 100% committed to to to using it if we can find funding or something else. >> The intention is meaningful. >> Okay. >> But it's not the same as we're executing a contract tonight for for that. It's an
an intention and in that case things can change as we go through a process. >> Where did that amount come up come from? Like how do we even know >> the 40 that Alica gave me that? >> Okay. >> Yeah. She said that's like the minimum you could that's the minimum. I said, "But what's the minimum I could do?" And she said, "40 grand is the minimum." She
said, "Once you get, you know, once you've decided on some funding," she said, "I'll work on the work on a plan." She said, "But 40 grand is about the cheapest that you can go." She said, "I I don't think it would be worthwhile to spend less than that." So I said, "Okay." So I said, "That's that'll get me something, you know, so something that's acceptable." And she said, "Yeah." So that's what the number didn't
get picked out of the sky. That was based on what she gave me. And again, grants and stuff aren't going to come for that because it's not a traditional city of Reader Park that every kid in the city can use. It's kind of segregated much like the Garfields is and much like the Lincoln is. They're separate. They're separate from the
regular playground that the kids have. >> But there's there are still grands and even eararks possible >> like a request >> again. But there's not my problem. I agree to a point, but like again there's literally nothing there. So the kids I mean so what so even if we even if we if we put this 40,000 aside February or
March we send it out >> with the way the process goes and I'm not faulting anyone. It's just the procurement process. it'll be another spring that the kids don't have any because by the time all that No. >> Yeah. No, I would just say I don't disagree with you. I I think that and I hate to hate to be the, you know, Debbie
Downer here, but you know, the truth is is it probably it probably won't happen. If if if the plan was in process today and and and it got thought of, you know, April 1 is the building season, you know, and go and God knows what what
what would actually need to be done. you're probably not going to see it in the school year regardless if you were to start that process today. Um, so I think it is good thought definitely need. It's definitely something that's needed. Um, and I and I would agree. I think having a placeholder maybe be great, but I the only thing I would say
is knowing how I've been in those conversations before. Yeah, probably like $10,000 and then it turns into 50 or 30 or whatever it may be because they find a you name it. Right? You got to put you got to put a pipe six six inches into the ground. Know you got to go a
foot. Oh, wait. There's there's a connection there. There's so many different things once you start moving anything that $40,000 doesn't get you a whole lot. But I agree with Mr. Kingston. It it's something that is needed. >> There's no reason we should have an early childhood learning area that
doesn't have a designated space for them to get outside of the classroom. We know how important it is. So, I I I empathize with that and I and I agree with it. But we're not signing a contract tonight. I don't think we're voting on a contract. But I think that we can all agree that we can kind of put a little bit of a
placeholder for that money. >> And if things are great, fantastic. If things aren't, then in February or January, we're going to know and there's not going to be $40,000 to hold anyway. So, we'll know. >> So, we don't need that language of like contingent funding funding because it's
already it's just >> inherent. >> It's Yes. with Morel, >> right? And in a case like this, uh we won't suddenly go execute a purchase order contract for a vendor and and let
you know about it 3 weeks later. >> But we would have to take it would take a month just to procure just to start documents to send out a procurement. So if L wants to start, you know, we can she works for us, right? She works with the city planning department uh and she's fantastic. But if she starts
planning and thinking out a pro project internally like an in-house project that then gets sent out, she can still do that and then come with the scope of work and say here's what I want to submit for procurement. >> And in that time we might be able to be closer to when we can commit to a
decision. It may be something that we say hey we have to commit to a decision that's more than 40 might be less than 40. Who knows? and she's done some small school projects that have been great and then there's been some that have been much much greater much much more expensive. So >> we can still start looking at in in-house design work.
>> Yeah, that's a little better because I thought it was like a time yes offer. Thank you. Offer >> and >> also when we you know it's never been the school committee that decided what's going to go into these playgrounds. So
if they could if L could work with the people that are working with the students of what their needs are, that would be great and then they can bring it all back to us. >> I think I think that's as simple as a messenger and email to the people that that are working in the school to say
what what's your wish list? Kind of like we do like what do you need? You know, give us a priority and then L can then gives L something to work with. And I think to Stacy's point that she's trying to make is that there's an appropriate protocol for how we engage with people
and talk to them about what they need and make those decisions and that that should be followed and it shouldn't be sidebar conversations from uh individuals. It's a school committee decision uh that this is how we're going to pursue this money and that's how it
should follow. So we can my office can take the lead with uh L from here and work with her to put something forward. >> Mr. Mayor, >> um if I may, the only reason why, and it's not going to be the the last time that I asked that question of you, Matt,
as to the soundness of our spending is because we all are aware of the financial conditions that we're in and what we're facing. So, I in no means do I mean to be, you know, the Grinch here and question a $40,000 playground. I mean, I get the need. I want it. We need
I get it. That That's all. That goes without saying. I think that we just need to be extremely mindful of our spending. And whether it's 40,000 or 100,000, I'm going to question it >> and remind us all to be >> or 2 million
>> or 2 million to be thoughtful about this. >> It is good to drill down. I I I think that we all know and this is we we're seeing a little bit of a storm of growing and and that's been, you know, the national economy, but also we look at enrollment, we look at all those factors, we look at cost, we look at,
you know, new contracts, all of it folds up into one. And you know, we we we faced it this last budget session where we had to make some tough decisions with a number of things. We've been doing really good, but you know, I mean, May, a April, May, J is going to start
coming. We're going to have to start planning on 2027 26 27 school year. And the hopes is we don't have to make a lot of tough decisions, but >> we will. >> We probably will, right? >> Yeah. I mean, we're still last year, >> right? Even looking at special
education, who knows where that's going right now. That might fall on Massachusetts itself and us. And right now that >> I mean, do I want kids? There's not one person in this room that doesn't want something for the kids outside to
utilize their time. But when it >> pick and choose, >> you make a good point. It's good sound decision making. >> Okay, so we can move on. to you to that. I I kind of went over what you had said about the added costs,
the tuition out. Are there more coming in or are we in in doing core evaluations? We're placing more out um or is it a combination of all of the above? >> Yeah, it's a combination a constant
moving target. So the only thing that we're putting before you with this quarterly report is there's a few more residential students than we had anticipated and they come up they come with a staggering >> okay >> yes we >> right but if I was to go through the
others uh the tuitions to private schools as at least at the moment is a well within budget so within that series you know we can we can have savings in one area cover a deficit in another area
Um, so that's why we if you never saw a red, you would know you're not getting good numbers when we give you the red. We also want to explain to you why we're not panicking about the red. >> Okay. >> In general, >> thank you. >> Can I just ask one more question about
um when we were working on the budget before, we had mentioned that well uh Dr. K, you had said that you guys already do this where you offer the parents the option to drive their students. Um, have we we said we were going to ramp up those efforts? >> We did. Yeah. To everybody again. Yeah.
>> All right. And how's the response been? Same or? >> Pretty much the same. Yep. >> All right. Thank you. >> Not much better at all. >> All right. Thank you. >> The questions that we're asking here will be helpfully clearly answered toward the end of January. we can talk
about them now, but without some more time of the fiscal year progressing and seeing what's happening on the funding side, it it it's it's hard to give answers to some of those questions. >> So, we'll get there. >> Thank you. the last financial thing and
this will be a second vote that you take at the full meeting. So we just have to do an update to our 403b plan document which just guides our um that whole program that's in place for staff to be um saving and investing for
their personal futures. So every four or five years we update that to come in line with new IRS language and you'll also be voting to add the ability for them to invest directly in Roth IAS through our uh select vendors.
>> So if we can pull that from the consent agenda and vote on it separately. >> Yeah. And then I think we have it listed as just one motion to amend, but the motion is to revise
>> and then adopt the new agreement. >> Mhm. >> So it's two separate motions. >> Uh no, just one motion. >> Okay. >> You're you're voting to adopt this amended 403b plan document. Your adoption allows myself and the business
finance staff to then with HR communicate to people what's available to set up the deduction codes to work with the vendors. But we don't have standalone authority to do that. It's the school committee or school board that needs to adopt the plan formally and then we can go execute it. So you're
just adopting the plan. The major change is Roth IAS now being available in the portfolio of what's offered. But who who picks the actual vendor? Who is is there a list that they draw from?
>> Yeah, we have a list of approved vendors and then those vendors will receive this communication and know what they can change for offer ability to staff. >> Good. >> Thank you, Matt. >> Thank you. >> Thank you. Having fun >> food service
>> nothing communication nothing enrollment personal items new hires we don't have any new hires of information >> the first page is just uh the teacher report to give you a little summary of the four teachers that we hired and then the second packet has the whole list of
all new cars leaves resignations retirements and transfers Anyone have any questions on the donations and gifts? You have the mass culture council $5,000. >> Yep. So, we have we have three different
um donations to talk about tonight. The first is a $5,000 grant from the Mass Cultural Council for the Susan B. Anthony. And you might recall that last month you approved three other $5,000 grants from the Mass Cultural Council. Um but the SBA wasn't included in it.
They got their notification more recently and they intend to use that money to expand their theater program they're putting on um Spongebob December 12th and 13th. Yep. >> Um and the students are also going to attend the one act festival um where
they put on basically like one act plays uh and that's how those funds would be spent. The second one we got notified from the state that we did receive an innovation career pathway implementation award for city lab actually two of them. Um but
basically they but we haven't got the exact information yet so I can't tell you the amount. We're hoping it's going to be as it was in the past about $75,000 for each. >> Um, but that that notification should be coming out soon. And as I'm saying this, I'm wondering, did they tell us not to
talk about it until I don't know that that amount? >> Actually, I think they Sorry, I know this. They made the announcements th this afternoon down at the Mass Maritime Academy because I hadn't invited staff. I couldn't go because we had this. Um,
so that that would have been announced by now anyway. Um, and we should find out in the next week exactly how much money that's going to be. And then the third one, which we didn't get on to the agenda, uh, but that I wanted to mention was that, um, you might recall that we
had open that we had a partnership with, um, science from scientists who came and sent scientists into the elementary schools and presented lessons to our students. It was one of the things that we had to cut with the budget cuts this year. Um, and so, um, Science from
Scientists was kind enough to go out and look for some grant funding for us and were able to secure a grant from National Grid, uh, for $60,000, which is enabling us to continue um, science from scientists at the second grade level.
So, it's the only elementary grade that will have the program, but um, it's better than nothing. So, we're very thankful to National Grid. Uh, and I wanted to include that hoping that the committee will when you accept do the acceptance of the gifts, we'll send them a thank you letter as we do to everybody else.
>> How much was that? >> 60,000. >> And so, before it was pay to five. >> Uh, it was it was >> two like four and five, I believe. And we had p we they have been wonderful
partners and they have worked with us in piloting different grade levels and uh different units. >> Um and they work with our teachers to provide professional development. >> And which grade level were they doing this year? >> Second grade. >> Yeah. I remember my daughter was in fourth fourth and fifth grade and she
loved them. In fact, they like hauled to to go to like a marsh one one day like on a a school trip on the weekend. I dropped her off at the marsh. is like, you know, digging and doing science stuff with them. >> It's cool. And they get to meet real scientists. >> Real scientists, >> you know, and it inspires a lot of them
to pursue science in the long run. Hopefully get some get that back full time. >> Um that's it for >> we have field trips as you mentioned. Um we did the exact Yes. field trips.
Get this chair >> field trip. There's just one on the docket for your approval. It's the cheerleaders who intend to go to Grand Nationals in Florida next March. This is a field trip they've done in the past, but not in the near recent past. Um I
believe there's one um incorrect piece on it's number five where it says number of passengers, chaperones, and teachers. Oh no, maybe that is right. Including chaperones and teachers. It's 25 kids plus five or six chaperones. Okay. So, it's really like 30 32ish people. Um,
and so they're seeking your approval now for a trip that wouldn't happen until March. Um, >> that five includes the two coaches. >> Uh, it say I they wrote it on here somewhere. I think it's two coaches plus five chaperones. >> Okay.
>> Yeah. On the last page, 25 athletes, two coaches, at least five chaperones. That might include the two. I honestly a ratio of 5 to 25 is fine. >> Yeah. So that's great. That's >> and they're and they're they're reason I think they're asking now is they have to find way significant
>> correct. Yep. >> Which of course I think we're all >> Yeah, that's like 30,000 50,000 almost. >> Yeah. >> 13 to500 each. >> We contribute anything to 200. >> They um I don't think the school is
outside but we are I know that they're doing the fun. >> Well, I mean they usually >> I bought some popcorn. That's all I know. It's delicious. >> Athlete. Maybe there's a little something that could be >> double good popcorn. It's delicious. >> So good. It's gladness. All right. Good.
The middle school exploration day. >> Um, so this is a new requirement by the Department of Education and it actually comes from a mandate from the legislature that we make sure that all middle school students are aware of the opportunities that are available to them.
>> Um, so we've worked with a number of different groups at the state level. Uh Jesse gave us a template to begin our work with. Um and then we worked with the Northeast Vogue, the team from the Northeast Vogue um to make sure that we
had everything encompassed here. Um and there's a whole program involved. It it includes not only telling the kids about what's available to them, but also implementing the MYAP program, which is a free program um from the Department of Education that we've already been using
um at a limited level at the high school. We we've been transitioning from Naviance, which we had been paying for, to my cap, which is a similar program, but free. Obviously, the price is right. Um, and now this includes a plan to start engaging kids in that my cap
exploration. Um, starting in the sixth grade. >> What is is it an app? >> Yeah, it's like a go in and explore who you are and what your interests are. And when you when you tell it, you know, what things you're interested in, what you like, it gives you ideas on careers
that would be aligned with what you like. And so the idea is the kids would start this in sixth grade. We would have we include um career days and all of that stuff that we already do, career days, college fairs, all of that. Uh keep doing all of that. And they would
refine what they're thinking about and what their future might be from sixth grade to 7th grade to eighth grade to 9th grade all, you know, all the way up. So there'd be that progression. Um, but also that when they're in eighth grade, they understand that everybody understands that there is a Northeast
Vocational Trade School that we are a member of and that that's something they can apply to. Uh, and that, you know, more about what um, City Lab is, which some kids don't necessarily get that information in advance of deciding what to do while families might not be aware
of it. And along those same lines, the ideas of the pathways that we're developing at the high school, that'll be fully implemented by the time we get to the new building, which is 3 years from now. But the kids who are currently in sixth grade should be thinking about that and learning about that um as they
start to think about where they're going to be for nth grade. Um, and so this document that I gave you kind of lays that out and it sets out a timeline for how we're going to help the kids explore, including tours of our school, CN tours of Northeast. Um, and then, um,
jumping into the the my cap scope and sequence, um, which Lily and Parker put together with the guidance team. Um, and this is work that the kids would do during their advisory period. Good. Good stuff.
>> So, is it saying that this isn't being done now? >> Uh, a lot of it is being done now, but it's codifying for everybody um exactly what we're going to do. Like, this will be on the website. So, a parent will be able to look this up and know what we're
planning to do for sixth grade, 7th grade, eighth grade, and um we have to submit this to the Department of Education showing that we have an actual plan that exists and maps out the curriculum for the kids and uh all of
those pieces. There there are some places, Fred, where this isn't happening from what I >> understand. We're doing it. >> Yes. And we have a great >> Put your hand in the fire. >> Yeah. No, we have a great relationship with with our v vocational school that we're a part of. My understanding is
there are some places in the state where there isn't that kind of relationship um and some districts where they're not telling the vote what giving them the kids addresses so that they can send mailers out to the kids or letting the team from the vote come into the school
and present to the kids what um what they offer. Do you know what I mean? Like they're kind of trying to separate it and it honestly where that's happening. I can imagine that there are funding issues and that people are thinking about well if all those kids go to the vocational school then their
funding goes with them and so the regular K through2 district isn't going to have that money. There's that that kind there's kind of tension around that and I think that's what the state >> vocational education in general. >> Correct. Okay. >> All right. Thank you Dr.
I um I just have a question. Is there somewhere on the website or a central location where high schoolers can go to see all of the different clubs and extracurricular activities that are available to them and and middle school as well? >> At the high school, they do the freshman
fair. It's actually one of the things that the uh student rep is going to report on tonight was that they did the uh extracurricular fair and that the freshman, you know, go through and they have um kids and adults from each of the clubs and teams. uh they had to talk about what they do. Uh they do it in the
cafeteria, but that's ironically part of her report that I think she's going to share. Um so that does happen. Um and then the middle schools, I don't I'll I'll have to ask them exactly what they do, but I think that they typically go around to the advisory periods and talk
to the kids there about what the clubs and activities are. The opportunities for clubs and activities at the middle school are far more limited than they are up here at the high school. Of course. Is it possible? I mean, not to throw more work on somebody else, but at some point, can we think about getting that information available on websites? Yeah. I mean, just as a parent, I'm like
I ask my my daughter all the time like, well, what's available? What are you interested in? I think if a parent can see what's there, they can use encouragement and kind of guide us guide. >> Yeah, that makes sense. >> Good point. >> Thank you. >> Okay.
Um the other thing that you have in your packet is uh the Google classroom policy. >> So this is a new um requirement from Google. Um they require basically that parents sign off on and give permission
for their kids to use um the Google education platform. So that's the Google classroom, uh Gmail, all of that stuff that we use um in our schools. And I can tell you this is another thing that we worked on with other districts. They very
generously shared their policies. Um and really they fell into I'm going to say three different categories with how they dealt with this. There were some schools, some districts that said um forget it, we're not going to use Google anymore.
And so they didn't ask the parents for permission. Um there are other districts that said um we're going to um put it in the handbook. Uh and when the parents signed off on the handbook, they'll automatically be signing off on this. Um
and then there were other districts that did what I'm going to say that we copied because we did get this from other districts. Um, and we felt like because it is something new and different and unusual that we didn't want to just stick it in the handbook where it might be lost and people might not actually
see it. Um, so we decided to go with the strategy of um putting it out in a letter to families. It'll go out in um parent square so that they can get it in their home language. Um, and there'll be a link through Powers School where they
can and you know, you can you can read the wording here, but you can click on this form and say, "I don't want my child >> to be using Google Classroom." Or if you're okay with them using Google Classroom, do nothing at all. And you're all set. We just didn't want to bury it
>> knowing that some parents might not actually read through the whole handbook. >> It's the data collection. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. >> Yeah. I would just the only thing I would I think it's important to add is that all teachers are not required to use Google Classroom because some teachers may
choose to and some may not and I know sometimes parents have an expectation. So it's been pointed out to me by some parents that we we don't specify that. So I think it would be good so everyone knows we don't control how teachers teach and it's not everyone has the same
class. >> Okay. >> Got it. >> Okay. What if someone did opt out? How do that how does that affect their learning? I mean, how does the teacher pivot to get them? >> They'd have to provide them with paper documents of the lesson. >> Yes. Yeah. No, that not going to be a problem. That's all I'm trying to say.
No, I I like this approach because most people aren't going to opt out. They probably won't even >> Yeah. >> And and the challenge will be actually like I when I think about it from my classroom days, the challenge will be that those students won't be able to submit their documents electronically. they'll have to come and hand them to me
and then me giving them feedback might be a little bit uh more complicated than doing it. >> But, you know, we'll have to work around it. >> Okay. >> Yeah. But maybe that explanation should be put forth. >> Well, that's what I was if you do not
then X Y and Z because going to plead, oh, I didn't realize that. >> Yeah, I think we put that in here. Um >> I didn't see it, but I might I read it quickly. I'm sorry. you know, not being able to submit a document electronically or, you know, there could be some >> Yeah, maybe some
>> issues if you don't accept this, you know, in the sense possibly >> it says note that opting out may impact your child's ability to complete assignments, but it's our job to provide alternatives if people opt out. >> Yeah. >> So, I think we need to revise that. Yeah, >> that's right. Yes.
Where are you? It should the last so if where it says if if you do not want your child to use Google the next sentence please note that opting out may impact your child's ability to it should be like electronically complete certain assignments. >> Perfect. >> Yeah. Thank you. That was my phone. Sorry.
>> So I'm okay with voting on this tonight and we with the understanding that we're adding that and we're also adding in >> no requirement. Yes. Yeah. It's perfect. >> Okay. That's it for me. >> Um,
any other business, late business? >> No, >> if I can bring up a couple observations, I think it's okay. Um, I've been at school the last couple weeks, couple times just uh either to have a meeting or a couple um um interactions with some
education educators and the high school. I can just say that the use of the stored device for these phones is amazing >> and it is it is it's a game changer and I think it it should be noted that you know and I I know that we you know we
have a distracted learning environment that's changing and we're trying to we're doing our part. So early my early observations is it's really really really been encouraging to see the level of engagement that students have had with their teachers and vice versa and
just kind of calming things down and I've heard it from a number of parents too >> and kids >> so and kids and kids. I was in the gym and one of the kids I said how's the school year going and he was like oh it's great it's kind of kind of quiet and I was like that's a good thing.
So I think that I think that the you know there's a lot of constonation with this policy and the use of the the locker. It's been really really good to see. >> Yeah. I'll be the first to admit that I might have been wrong about that a few years ago. >> Yep. And we we made a lot of
>> We already told you you were wrong. I know. I mean >> number five. >> Hey number five. Okay. >> Professional development. Mr. Mr. Kingston is that you? >> Yes. >> I'm sorry Mr. Kingston. Could you bring that up so that parents um can hear the
wonderful things that you just said? >> Bring it up. >> Yeah, we can do with uh what old business. >> Oh, during >> it might be if I can suggest I believe that um the high school team is coming to give their presentation. >> Oh, even better. >> And and it's going to be a big piece of
their presentation and then um I think it'll be a good time to >> Well, I'm going to bring this up twice now if I can. Point of personal privilege. I do want to I don't know if I missed at the beginning. to me. I want to congratulate Papa Kingston. >> On his grandchild, Jordan. >> I got that right. Right.
>> Yes, you did. Thank you very much. >> We'll bring it back up on the recognition. >> You can do it on the regular. Okay. Number five. Congratulations. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah.
Um um I have some questions about professional development on being in person rather than Zoom. Um on on primary day, we had no kids in, no teachers in, nobody in. Um but the general election, we're bringing the
teachers and paras here in person. Um we don't have enough parking spaces for them. I know you've walled off spaces for the voting, but there aren't enough spaces in the law to accommodate all the teachers and to all to accommodate all the staff in my opinion. I hate to see the neighborhood impacted. I know in
your email that you want people to go to West Revier and park there. That's another voting place for it's the only voting place for Wood 6. Um and parking is tight there as well. So, we didn't have any school. We didn't have any teachers in for the primary day yet for the general election. Um but we do. So,
it's I I don't And I know you're having a speaker. Is the speaker Zoom or are they coming in person? >> The speaker is on Zoom with the five district partnership and we it's it's another educational program we had to dissolve this year because of budget cuts, right? So, we weren't able to
continue the five district partnership as we've done um the last many years, but we had already booked the speaker. So, the speaker is still still coming. Um I can tell you >> the speaker zooming in though. They're not hit. I mean, the speakers aren't coming in person, >> right? That's one hour that's one hour
and a one and a half hours of the day. Yeah. >> The rest is in person. Yeah. >> Well, no. >> But I can but I can tell you that historically, and I know that this has recently been a trend with some of the elected officials in the city. Uh but historically, we have had school and students and adults every day, every
time there was an election >> and could still be that way. I have done the very best that I can to work with the elections department uh to accommodate requests that they have made about for example moving um the W three
voting, reorganizing how W three is structured, uh moving the location from the front of this building to the back of this building. Uh and everything else, every request that the the elections department has made of the school department, we have accommodated
every time. Um, >> I guess >> if I'm quite honest, I feel a little bit harassed. >> Could we just But in the future for the next election, could we maybe flip the two days? So, if we had no school on the primary day and no teachers, >> my suggestion is that we have school
every election, we have school. >> We should have school. >> Okay. We we're we're putting thousands of kids and thousands of employees out of their space to accommodate voting, which I think is absolutely one of the most important things that any
human can do once they turn the age of 18. Maybe the city wants to think about using fire stations and police stations and city hall and the you know the the senior center the and all of these other buildings in the city
>> uh churches to house their elections. Maybe that would accommodate everybody >> and we have >> if I if I can I'll just jump in here for a second. Um, one is, um, I guess part of the question and and again I I think that I have no problem
having a school. I have I I think that you've always done a very good job and have been extremely generous with the space. There's never I've never seen a parking concern and especially since uh the carved out space. I did see I mean I'll just say central fire, right? Central fire was a was a host location
for I was a board counselor. Central Fire had had had a a voting location. you you couldn't park anywhere. You were at Walgreens, you across the street, you had to go down a narrow hallway past the fire truck, you know, alarms going off. It was wild, right? American Legion, not a lot of great parking. So, having some
of the central locations mixed uh sorry, like one, you know, Hill School doing all has been I think has been exceptional. SBA exceptional. People going to North people going to North River at again a fire station really, really tough to park. Um so, I think it's been great. You've been very
accommodating. I think that it's just and and I'm not I agree with John. It just it seemed odd. Was there a reason that there was pe like that there was no school on the primary day? Was that because of the election? I'm just asking. >> Yes.
>> So, okay. Gotcha. >> Because this committee voted that there should be no school that day. >> And for the general we're in that's the >> right. And even even for the general election, this committee voted there would be school that day. That's always been a professional development day for
30 years. The the main election day in November has been a professional development day in the Rivia public schools. >> I was just asking >> and any other voting days were not because they were regular school days. Kids were in and adults were in. And as people have pushed in a different
direction, I have done everything in my power to accommodate that push. >> And you know what? Not even this is very trivial to the aspect of education but our PTO's and PTAs always had their base
seals on that day and that's where they made >> a bulk of their money to support the kids with field days and stuff and they haven't had that. >> No, they haven't. >> John, what's your concern that they won't be parking? No, I got I I got some
I don't know what politician walk around because but the thing that was said to me was >> you had primary day and you had no school no one in now the general election you are in it just couldn't you have flipped the two and that's that's why I want to have the conversation because there's no mayor's race this
time and if people decide to have school I don't have a problem with that it's just it was kind of funny for the primary day we didn't have anybody in and for the election we do if you just think about it in that context it it it doesn't it's not making sense it's not make it didn't make sense to the people that spoke to me when I was walking
around campaigning and it didn't make and I I don't I and I I had no you know if someone if I'm presented with something I can present a reasonable argument with gee we did it for this reason or that reason I get it but I didn't have a good reason to say gee I other than I don't know >> voted for it when you approved the
school calendar you should have thought about it then and then that would have been your answer to your >> I thought be frank I thought I'd be honest I thought the professional development was going to be in Zoom and I didn't express that point at that time. Yeah. No, that's that's on me. Yeah. >> And I'll also say in your defense, in
everybody's defense, hindsight is 2020. Nobody knew when we were voting the calendar last January that the primary election would be one more. >> Yeah. No, sorry, that wasn't even the case. It's just we were all out. Just think about it this way. We're all out for the primary, but we're in for the general. >> We should all be in period. That's all.
And I think we should revisit that to be honest. >> Well, that's something we we can certainly revisit. I mean next year we have uh governor's elections >> may the year after and and I I'm I'm I'm in the same agreement. I'm >> you go all one in one way or another and
you know so um it but we did we did vote on the calendar and this is what it's at and if and I'm just going to say it's not our decision whether it's it's in person or not. >> Yes. >> No, I got some of because one was in and one was out and they said they should make Saturday. They should make one day
and it should be a holiday. I agree with that. It should be a holiday. >> Last thing I was gonna say, mayor, is if we all talk about this before the next election. It is not city counsel. Like the elections commissioner sets the polling locations, not any elected officials. So maybe as a committee, we
could send in a letter to the elections commissioner asking if they can consider other place. Like I think the VFW should be the polling location and not the beach school. So there you have to pay for >> again. And I don't want to I don't want to muddy the waters here. And it's not it's the the everyone
you're gonna we have it here one year and then we switch it again. The worst thing and this is what I spoke personally to the election commission. I said listen I have no stake in this in the game here. You know this was a request. We submitted it and and and it was almost very agitated and it the this
is a commissioner's decision and moving a location over and over again is the worst thing you can do if you want to have turnover. It's the worst thing you can do if you don't want to confuse people, people that know that, you know. So, we had it, we a lot of the changes we made due to the pandemic. We had them
in nursing homes, we had them in fire, we had public safety, we had them in uh highly susceptible areas. We changed that and tried to condense some of the locations. On top of it, think about it, right? You got one election commissioner and a lawyer and a couple other people running around every time. know how many
every time a person calls and says there's a you know there's an there's a suspected issue in ward five precinct what one they all run over there to verify or whatnot there's a there's a ballot stuck in a machine >> and at the same time they're getting called to the west side of the city east side they're running around like chickens with their heads cut out
>> true >> the more locations the harder it is to manage that's why some cities have it all in one location all town >> with it being in the schools I just feel like the kids should be the >> we really should stay out of that and let the elections commission should do what they do best and we should and
>> okay but we can vote on whether or not we want the >> so maybe a conversation with you you her about how can we make it easier for all parties
listen we had a long we we've had great conversations already with Danielle and uh and she has told us what we needed what she needed and we worked with her to make sure that there was what she perceived to be airport parking reserved at the back of this high school. Uh for
that we worked with our transportation department to make sure all the buses are going to be moved. Um we are suggesting that people park between here and the West Reier because we're going to run a shuttle back and forth up and down in a loop. We're going to let people park at the Lincoln school and at the Hill School
is going to be located at the Beachmont school, not here in order to reduce the number of people. We worked with food services to make sure that they have the lunch and breakfast that we're going to have up here. We've done all of that work. We've done all of that work with that. Motion to adjourn. Part: 2
Good evening. Calling to order the school committee meeting of October 21st, 2025. We'll all rise and salute the flag to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it stands. One nation under God,
indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Mrs. Bronston Rizzo >> here. >> Mr. Kajiano. >> Mr. Kingston >> here. >> Mrs. Ellis >> present. >> Mrs. Montteroso >> present. >> Mr. Sella >> present.
>> Mayor Keefe >> here. >> First up, we have recognition. >> Dr. Joey. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um, the first order of business tonight is to recognize three of our fabulous high
school students. Um, I am honored every year to present the MASS, that's the Massachusetts Association of School Superintendent um, a academic awards, awards for academic excellence. Sorry about that. Um, we use these awards to
recognize students who have excelled academically and shown strong personal achievements and contributions to their high school communities. And tonight we're proud to honor uh one student from City Lab High School and two students from Revier High School. Um, and I'll
just ask them if they come up while I read a little bit about them. Um, the first student is Adam Ashure. [Applause]
Um, Adam is an exceptional student known for his remarkable achievements both in and out of school. By the time he graduates high school this year, he will have completed seven advanced placement courses. And hold on, that's not all.
That's not all. And nine dual enrollment classes, which is quite impressive. Right. What sets Adam apart even further is his hands-on experience working with the Massachusetts State Government. He currently holds a position at the
Massachusetts Office of the Attorney General in the Division of Open Government. In this role, he collaborates with various attorneys and helps manage the process of handling cases and complaints. He also attends important meetings and prepares lessons on everything uh that he learns.
Moreover, Adam has worked with State Representative Jeffrey Turo and his team at the Massachusetts State House. Here, he helps to research different bills and ideas that the representative is considering, and he organizes his information into easy to understand spreadsheets. Adam's unique contribution
of academic success and practical experience makes him truly stand out. >> Thank you. Yeah, I just want to say thank you very much um for this. Thank you to my family for all their help in my upbringing and helping me to become like this. Um my
other mother, my father, my brother and thank you to Miss Curry as well for all her help in helping me in my high school path. And I'm very happy both to serve Revier and to stay in all that I do and look forward to continuing this as I go on. [Applause]
Okay. Our um second recipient is uh John Begoli John here >> maybe couldn't make it. I know that Danielle, one of the students had to work tonight. Is that right? So I'm still going to read the statement about John and we'll get his certificate to
him. John is a remarkable student who has done exceptionally well in high school while juggling his education, work, and family commitments. By the time he finishes high school, John will have taken seven advanced placement courses as well, including a full schedule of AP classes during his junior
year. His academic performance has been outstanding across all subjects, and he is looking to pursue mechanical and electrical engineering in the future. Um, in addition to his studies, John is bilingual. He speaks both Albanian and English fluently. He has a strong work
ethic and often helps his dad with construction work on weekends and also works as a lifeguard at Rivier Beach, saving our younger students. Um, and he works as a line cook and cashier at Kelly's. Uh, this shows his strong work
work ethic and eagerness to learn new things. John continually impresses those around him with his ability to balance work, school, and his personal interests. So, congratulations to John. Our third student uh is Matthew Isaiahiza. I'm saying your name wrong.
>> Isaiah >> Isaza. Thank you. Matthew Isaza. Matthew is a member of City Lab's first four-year graduating class. He began in the architecture pathway during the fall of his sophomore year, but quickly realized that his passion was instead
engineering. Since the spring of 10th grade, he has pursued the engineering pathway with determination and curiosity, ultimately earning more than he required credits to graduate. Matthew currently ranks number five in his class with a 3.61 GPA, an
accomplishment that reflects both his academic dedication and his ability to balance rigorous coursework with hands-on learning opportunities. His time at City Lab has highlighted his resilience and adaptability uh within an innovative model that asked students to take ownership of their
learning. He has embraced challenges, adjusted his goals when needed, and consistently demonstrated perseverance and both academics and real world experiences. Beyond the classroom, Matthew has gained professional experience through summer internships with Accenture. He is known for his
willingness to try new things, his openness to feedback, and his ability to make the cost the make the most of every opportunity presented to him. As he prepares to pursue his degree in engineering, Matthew carries with him not only strong academic preparation, but also the character, resilience, and
leadership skills that will allow him to thrive in the next chapter of his journey. [Applause] Um, I'd like to thank my mom, my dad, my brother, and especially my grandmother who's always here with me. I'd like to
thank my principal, Stacy Mulligan, and my teacher, Miss BF, who's always been here for me and helped me be the student who I am today. Thank you. [Applause] Congratulations.
>> Congratulations. Great work. So, we have the consent calendar. >> Miss Rizzo, welcome back. So, coming off such a a nice speech, um
I'm going to be the Debbie Downer, and I want to um acknowledge the passing of one of our former colleagues, um Joseph Nickello. Um for more than four decades, um Joe
affectionately known as Mr. Nick by students and staff. um dedicated his career to teaching English at Rivier High School, fostering a deep appreciation for literature among
his students. His enthusiasm for education was matched by his remarkable success as a coach where he led the softball team to numerous championships, inspiring countless young athletes along the way.
Beyond his teaching and coaching roles, he was recognized for his commitment to language, often correcting grammar in everyday conversations and engaging students in vibrant discussions about
both literature and life. And I will say Mr. Nick corrected my English grammar many, many times and I still have not learned. But um if we could just take a moment of silence to honor this um wonderful man who loved the students.
>> Thank you very much. Miss Montrosa. >> Yes, >> we shared this at the 5:00 PM, but for anyone who's just tuning in, we also want to congratulate Mr. Kingston on becoming a grandfather and his daughter for becoming a mother. So, congratulations to your whole family.
[Applause] >> Thank you. That's Papa Kingston. >> Okay. Congratulations. >> Consent calendar. >> Motion to approve. We have a second. >> Second. >> Second. >> Any discussion?
>> Roll call. >> Mrs. Bronston Rizzo. >> Yes. >> Mr. Kingston? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Milbury Ellis? >> Yes. >> Mrs. Monttoroso? >> Yes. >> Mr. >> Mr. Sella? >> Yes. >> Mayor Keefe? >> Yes. >> Have student representative report. Oh,
here you are. >> Any lacrosse? Any field hockey today? >> Field hockey? No. Soccer. >> Soccer. That's right. How we doing? We're doing good. We just won our senior night yesterday. [Applause] [Music] >> One second to findation.
>> Robin, is the student presentation in the packet? >> Yes. Um so we should be starting our election soon for the student advisory board. Um this is the group that's in charge of coming to the school committee and actually going to the schools and meeting. So, we're in according with the
general law part one, title X11, chapter 71, section 30 a.m. Um, for at the high school this year so far, we have the student activities fair, which was a big success, which was organized by Miss K. And Mr. Nolo helped coordinate student
mentors to go help and help the different students, which was really good. And we actually got a few more modu members, which is my very own club, which I'm very proud of. And then as it's the beginning of the year, we've had a lot of college fairs for students who are applying and juniors who are
rising up. And these trips have given students like endless possibilities. These field trips are so great and they're provided by the school and many juniors and seniors have taken advantage of these opportunities. Um for our club report, we have RHS drama theater. The RHS theater queue has been working
tirelessly to launch the fall production of Anne Enemy of the People. Their dedication, creativity, and hard work has been really showing. And from the scenes to the set design, everything's been working. And this performance will take place November 6th, 7th, and 8th at
7:00 p.m. And then the class of 2026 is it's that kind of year again, and we're bringing back Haunted Hallways. So, we're selling tickets now, and you guys should definitely be there. It's October 29th at 6 p.m. >> That's what I have for the student rep. Thank you so much.
>> Thank you. >> Thank you. Any [Music] questions? Any questions? So, everyone saw Enemy of the People, 6th, 7th, 8th of November. >> Great. >> Fantastic. >> Do you want to talk about special guest?
>> Uh, well, you'll hear there's going to be a special guest there in the beginning of it. Did you hear about that? >> Oh, well, you're going have to come see it. Okay, >> Robin, do we have anyone signed up for public comment?
>> No. >> Anyone on Zoom? >> Anyone in attendance? >> Okay. >> Okay. Motion to close public speak. >> Have a second. >> Second. >> All in favor? >> I. >> I. >> Okay. Dr. Kelly. Superintendent report.
>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um so the superintendent's report has really just two main components. Um the first is uh just a presentation of the school and district improvement plans. Um so the the school improvement plans, one for each of the schools in the district and
then the departmentalbased district improvement plans. Um and just just some brief notes. I know you've all had some of them for two weeks, some of them for one week, uh and had the chance to look them over and review them. Um, and so what I thought I would do is just
present just a couple of notes and then if there's any questions, we can move to those. Um, all of the school and department based plans have at least one goal in each of the three focus areas that were identified in the strategic improvement plan which the school committee approved last July. Uh, and
just as a reminder for those folks at home, those three focus areas, the first one was teaching, learning, and leading. Second one was safety, belonging, and well-being. And the third one was community engagement and communications. Um, this of course was by design because
what we want to make sure we're doing, even though there are unique aspects to every school and every discipline, we want to make sure that we're all rowing in one direction and supporting each other as we move forward in our progress to ensure all students are achieving at
high levels. Um, the schools did engage their school councils in drafting their plans. The curriculum directors engaged curriculum coaches where they exist in the district. Some disciplines don't have curriculum coaches and in those cases they worked with teachers during PTS to make sure their input was
represented in the plan. Um the schools and the directors used MCCAST data, access data, vocal data, and MCIA data um in order to identify their priority areas. The plans are very similar
especially at the elementary level. That's because they collaborated with each other. We're trying to build capacity across the district uh by sharing good ideas and working together to build capacity so that teachers have a greater number of uh of cohorts that
they can uh lean on when they need advice and help and and work to improve student achievement. Um there is more variability among the department-based plans where we're in different areas in the curriculum review process. Um so for example that you'll
you'll notice that uh in fizzed for example the focus is on actually building out the curriculum maps whereas in um math and English where we've done our curriculum implementation over the last couple of years there's more of a focus on what that looks like in the
classroom. So what's happening in under focus area one a little bit more heavily there. Um and and that's kind of a a brief overview. I don't know if anybody had any questions about specific plans or in general. Um, everybody is here as
you can see, principles, assistant principles, and directors. We appreciate your attendance. Um, but if there was a specific question, every the right people are in the room. >> Thank you. Um, so I did take take the time to um really review these plans and I just want to thank you for the thought
that went into them. Um I have some feedback um where I I was hoping for clarification in in some areas where uh the the standard of measurement I wasn't sure whether there was a real connection between that and the the um the goal. So
um I'm going to send that these comments to Dr. Kelly and she can share them with you. And maybe there's, you know, it's just I think rather than sit here and go through them all, but like for instance, one of the things that I had a question about was it was mentioned um
um that there would be the PG cycles and you would use data teams and PGT cycles to analyze work um and to revive instruction. Um but I was left wondering like in what areas, how often would they meet? Um what data would be used? um
what what action is taken after reviewing all of that data. So um rather than belabor my nerdy thoughts, I will I will um forward them on to Dr. Kelly and if you guys could just provide some feedback so I fully understand what the
improvement plan is, I'd appreciate it. Thank you. Miss, >> I was just going to give general kudos. I think we're going to go into our MCCAST data soon and we're going to see the increase and all the work that you've all put in since we've all come
back from CO. But I think another really important thing that came out through a lot of these plans was the attention to joy and well-being of students and seeing how we incorporate that K to2. And I think we've just seen such a transformation of all of principles. And I know this job isn't easy and the
schools that you lead and the joy you bring in and the things you've done. I still remember the Lincoln school having the women's history month and it being on the news across many different channels. And so I think we are all do you're all doing so much. I just wanted to give you that kudos because we don't always get you all in one room to say that we see the work you're doing with
our students and our teachers and we're seeing it in data but also in the joy that students bring home every day. >> Thank you. I'll echo I'll echo a lot of what um Miss Montroso mentions, but I just just for reference these these are really
thorough and there are some you know I know I know uh Miss Moberellis has some questions that you know she'll share and it's good because we can have this dialogue and it's important rather than just grandstand and try and put you on the spot. Um so I I like that approach but you know Mr. Selli you were a principal correctly.
>> Well close enough. Did did you have to do this >> 100 years ago? Were these required? No. >> Right. I mean it just I'm just I'm just showing for reference the amount of administrative work that is required now in the last probably 10 15 20 years with
education. It becomes burdensome and sometimes it's you know your principles or assistant principles or separate staff members that are trying to one be in the hallway to talk to the students and see parents and greet them in the morning and stay and and see them out. But, you know, then you're bogged down with four or five hours a day of
administrative work that takes you away from in, you know, right in front of where you want to be. So, I know that this is probably work that you do at night and you do at home and you probably takes away from some of your personal time. So, we appreciate it. I know that, you know, we all talk about how it was a long time ago and things have changed and that goes for every
profession. So, >> thank you for the reference, Mr. Sella. >> Good job. Thank you. Can I suggest a quick recess, >> please? >> Thank you all of you. >> Much appreciated. Thank you.
I told you back. We have the report subcommittees. No, MCCAST results in attendance. >> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Yeah, we have one more report to do uh under the superintendent report and Dr. Moaba is
actually going to share this one. um you have this in your in your packets, but we're sharing on the screen the um summary results from MCCAST and um some of our accountability or attendance data. Dr. Moaba,
>> thank you Dr. Kelly. So, first um I just wanted to share uh the as far as accountability goes and just to sort of orient everybody the accountability um measure uh that Jesse has set forth for us includes um a measurement and a
target in achievement, a target in growth, a target in progress towards attaining English language proficiency, high school completion for uh schools that contain uh grades 9 through 12, chronic absenteeism and advanced
courseworks completion. So you are uh those are the measures that put um make up the accountability um score. And what you will see uh is that the district made moderate progress toward our improvement targets. Five of
our schools, the Lincoln, Beachmont, Susan B. Anthony, River High School, and City Lab made moderate progress towards their targets. In six of our schools, Whan, Garfield Elementary, Garfield Middle, Paul Rivere, Hill, and Rumny
made substantial progress towards their targets. One of the things that we continue to monitor is that uh Romney Marsh Academy, as you'll remember, last year they were identified um as requiring assistance or
intervention. um they received that same designation this year and I'm going to take a little bit of a deeper dive into why because it is a two-year um measurement. The calculation includes progress over two years. Um some of the things that we trends we
noticed across the district. We did see uh several schools making uh gains in reducing chronic absenteeism. um several uh schools and subgroups of students were meeting or exceeding these
DESIE targets and uh overall uh we were meeting or exceeding our targets on access. So our students, our English language learners um did a great job meeting or exceeding their targets on uh access testing. So the next page is our first look at a
deeper dive into the Rumney and as I had stated the accountability rating includes two years and what you can see in very tiny writing um is that 40% of this uh measurement was uh includes last
year's data. Um and if you look you can see uh the all students um percentage of possible points. Last year the Remny gained 9%. Um and for the lowest performing students they had 47%
for a total annual criterion reference target percentage at 28%. You'll notice this year there was a great improvement. 68% is the percentage of possible points that the Rumy earned
for the all students group. Um and then their lowest performing students which are students identified by DESIE um achieve 62% of the possible points. So for their annual criterion reference target we they were at 65%.
So we do anticipate that next year this good score and another year of good scores will take them out of ideally take them out of that designation. >> Mr. Macab >> Dr. >> Dr. >> Dr. Makaba, quick question. Um I'm sure
there there are um numerous factors that went into this improvement, but can you give the committee an idea of what sorts of things they're doing over there that have proven successful? >> Yep. Uh and if you want to go to the next slide, I can I talk about some of them and specifically we can talk about um some of the things that they're
doing. So um the they improved in ELA overall. they both reduced the number of failures and increased the number of students the percentage of students who met or exceeded expectations. Um so that's sort of a win-win on both ends of the of the spectrum. Um civics was given
for the first time. This is sort of a side note. It was given to uh middle school students. Um their civics results were promising. um they 32% of the Romney Marshia students met or exceeded expectations um where 39% of the state
met or exceeded expectations. So we were pretty closely aligned with achievement at the state level in civics. Um all students and subgroups uh exceeded their targets for chronic absenteeism. And we know Miss Bob, Principal Bob was here last year talking about the efforts um
that they had made to uh work on chronic absenteeism at sixth, seventh, and eighth grade. And it definitely did um make an impact. They received four out of four points um for that. Uh they exceeded their targets um and they met their targets for progress towards
attaining language proficiency. That was some of the highlights. Um their areas for continued improvement. um math with a particular emphasis on grade eight. Um they have room to grow there and they are uh working with their math coach Dr.
Costa and the uh grade schools partnership to um continue uh to take a deeper dive into their math um scores. Uh the achievement and growth of students with disabilities has shown slight improvement but continues to
require attention. in grade eight science um is an area that we need we would like to see improvement in. >> And so if I can just add before you go on uh Dr. Moaba um to answer your question Mrs. uh Milburyis this was um
the work that was actually done that yielded these results were the classroom observation work um and the looking at uh lesson plans with a focus on rigor in the classroom. Um all of that work that was conducted by the administrative team
with our consultants from the department of education. Um we had partnered with grade schools through the grant that Desi gave us. Um and then also the curriculum coaches were instrumental in uh doing the classroom walkthroughs, collecting the data in real time on what
was happening in the classrooms and then using those PGT periods to uh look at the data that was collected from the walkthroughs and determine next steps and making sure that there was actual rigor in the assignments that the kids were receiving. um and and and making
sure that assessments were authentic and not just uh surface level multiple choice or that or that kind of thing. So all of that work that the entire Romney Marsh Academy engaged in the whole staff participated in that work uh is what contributed to these much improved
results which we were really excited to see. So huge kudos kudos to the entire Romney Mash Academy team for that. And that's the kind of thing when you look at the um school improvement plan and it says use PGT to look at data. That's what they're doing. Um and hopefully we
see more of these results. >> And one thing I do want to add from the curriculum perspective, we all know that they um implemented um illustrative math last year for the first time. So that is a learning curve. Um understanding that now they are looking at a new curriculum and teachers are diving deeper into
that. Um but with regard to the ELA improvement um the Gleam grant which you all are familiar with has ended at the middle school level but this was sort of they are well into that implementation and sort of mastering phase of that um
curriculum support which those curriculum resources were rigorous um grade level um and so all students were exposed to that and I I imagine that we can make a connection to the hard work that our teachers did um adopting that uh those resources and implementing them
in the classroom. >> Quick quick question. >> Yep. >> Um Dr. Kelly, you had mentioned um that this work was was this the work the result of that grant? I guess my question is going forward when when they these groups meet um is more funding
required for the review of the data or >> No, I the the the funding was used to design a system that now the school can implement on their own. Okay. So grade schools came in and gave us some rubrics to use when we're going through classrooms and gave us some tools to use
when evaluating the curriculum and that stuff. But so we have that stuff now and the idea is to build the capacity so we can continue that work on our own. >> Thank you. >> We do receive a a grant this year. It is uh $40,000 instead of the 50,000. >> But we could still continue this work
based on what we already have. >> Yep. >> We we are knowing that the money is temporary. we're making sure that we are uh engaging professional development that's going to persist beyond the term of the uh of the grant. >> Thank you.
>> All right. So, heading to uh highlights AC uh across the district. Um one of the things uh we saw a 4% increase in grade five science across the board. Um, we saw an 11% increase in grade 7 ELA with
all middle schools showing uh significant improvement. Um, Garfield Elementary, we're going to give them a little shout out, showed significant improvement overall. Uh, specific highlights include grade four math, which outperformed the state in the
percent meeting or exceeding expectations, and their students had an SGP, which is a student growth percentile of 79%. uh grade five ELA and science at Paul Rivere. Um they ex exceeded the state
percentage of meeting or exceeding with 41% compared to 38% at the state. Um and science 46 they were equal to the state with 46% of their students meeting or exceeding expectations on the science exam. And then grades three and four at
Beachmont had a strong showing in both ELA and math. uh 54% of the our third graders met or exceeded expectations in ELA, which is phenomenal, compared to 42% of the state. Uh in math, 62% of our
uh third graders compared to 44% of students at the state uh met or exceeded expectations. So those are some of our uh highlights. On the next slide, you can see some of our areas for growth. Um, we are going to continue to focus on math at the
middle school level. As I said, we are in year two of implementing the illustrative math uh curriculum. Grade 8 science um is a challenge across the board. It's also a challenge at the state level. We are going to continue to
um dive into our open sed curriculum and um direct some of our attention there um keeping close eye on curriculum alignment and the scores. Um, we are continuing our emphasis on decreasing chronic chronic absenteeism and learning
from the successful models in the district like you saw like I mentioned at Rumney um and some of the other schools uh like Paul Rivervier are implementing um some unique programs. Our students who are identified in the lowest performing subgroup um are not
meeting their targets. Uh we have continued attention required at all grade levels for that subgroup. And then grade 10 testing. One of the things that um is important to mention as you all know uh the grade 10 test is
no longer required uh to determine competency for graduation. So this was the first year that students took it without it uh being a requirement. So we are going to look at motivation and expectations as is every high school in the state.
>> And if I could can I just make a a PSA to families. You sure can. I know. >> Uh yes, that I just want to remind families um that the students need to earn uh grades of meeting or exceeding expectations on
both the math and the ELA in order to earn the uh John and Abigail Adams scholarship, which provides free tuition um to all state schools, which is a a gamecher for a lot of families. So, I just don't want I want to make sure that our families know what's at stake uh
with the MCCAST before students make a decision that they might not put their greatest foot forward on that on those days. >> Thank you, >> Dr. Kelly. Just to clarify, I think it doesn't provide free tra uh um >> tuition. >> Free. I know that there's a scholarship,
but I didn't know it was free. >> Yeah. >> Have to pay tuition or fees. Gotcha. >> Yeah, there's tuition and fees. Yes. And I I should say that the students would still and the families would still be responsible for the fees. It's the tuition, right, that the scholarship eliminates. >> Okay. Thank you.
>> Next, we're going to just take a look at uh trends at the high school level um in River and statewide. Um overall, uh state results were flat. At the high school level, we did see um across the state and you'll see in the next graph
uh there was a 6% drop um in ELA and uh 3% uh looks like drop in math. So uh at the high school level there was a decrease or a drop um in uh those percentage of students meeting or
exceeding expectations. River High School and City Lab. Uh their achievement overall decreased. Um we're going to dive into that a little bit in the next slide. Um one thing that uh was emphasized at a uh state meeting and is something that we all know is that
chronic absenteeism negatively impacts performance. Um this year we were able to gather um some data. Uh we received some data at our urban superintendent network meeting. Uh so on average uh students scored 19 points less uh on an
average scaled score for ELA and math if they were chronically absent. Um in grade 10 ELA 27% of the chronically absent students met or exceeded expectations compared to 56%
of their peers. grade 10 math, 18% of those students who were chronically absent met or exceeded expectations compared to 51% of their peers. And this is startling. So, we just want to remind everybody and
highlight the importance of attendance. When students are not in their seats in front of their teachers, um they are missing out on important connections, important content, important um learning. Um and it is something that uh we know affects them overall, but it is
something that we see in this testing and we're able to correlate um those students that are chronically absent versus not. >> To clarify, the chronic absenteeism stats are for our district or the statewide. >> Statewide. >> Oh, okay.
The next um the next few slides are uh graphs um and they uh compare trends of grade 10 in ELA math and science. So just to orient you to this particular graph um and they will all look similar. These
are uh MCCAST results uh and the percent of students meeting or exceeding expectations. Um so you will see consistently throughout all three graphs the state is that blue color. Um they are on the top. Um and you will see that
uh river is green. Um and we are have also included our like districts. So we included some of our uh urban like districts. We included Everett, Loa, Lynn, um Peodyy and Chelsea. um and you can see their colors
represented on the right. So when you look at grade 10 trends in ELA, there was a 6% as I had identified dip across the state. Um you can see our uh performance uh again achievement of students meeting our exceeding
expectations decreased a little bit um more than we would have liked. Um so we went from 49% of our students in 2024 to 33% of our students uh in 2025. Uh one thing to note and I I you know just to
compare we are uh above or at our our like districts um throughout these three graphs. So, uh, looking at our achievement, we know we have room to grow, but, uh, compared to our like districts with similar, um, student demographics,
uh, we are doing decently. Yes. >> I guess I guess what I don't understand is >> Sorry. Um, can you just show that graph again? Um, when you see that it's like shocking, right, to see the decline. And I'm just
trying to understand like in 2020 we had co and so that explained maybe 2021 2022 but then from 2024 to be at 49% to drop at to 33. It's so discouraging >> you know it is and I can tell you this
is a phenomena that was experienced across the state. One of the things that um we talked about at our uh urban superintendent meeting, they saw things like on the essay where that is worth those uh short answer or essays are worth eight points. They have evidence
that the students were writing off topic responses in greater percentage across the state than they have ever seen. So, you know, uh uh it was a a challenge for a lot of students to take a test when, you know, potentially they were not as
in didn't feel as invested um given the change. And it's something that uh all of our uh assistant superintendent and superintendent colleagues are working on messaging um because there is value in taking it. They are required to take it.
um it is just not uh counting as a competency determination. But they they did at the state level dive in and see some of that uh the data that was expected that kids perhaps did not take it as seriously as we would have hoped.
Um so on our level can we dive in and see if we notice a pattern or I mean we have so many a particular number of students right and maybe within that number of students in 10th grade especially in 10th grade ELA it's it's
really focused maybe we can see a pattern there with something whether it's on the instructional level or whatever whatever the case may be but maybe there's something that's revealing to us as to why our students You know, I get it's a statewide issue,
but let's figure out what's happening with our students. >> Yeah, we can look at our data by demographic and break it out and see if there are particular patterns of where we're seeing things. And also, the curriculum directors are in the process now of diving into the math and the ELA,
uh, in particular, the science, uh, less, but also, um, to really see where are the gaps. Is it in the short answer? Is it in the open response? And that's the data that they'll be sharing. They're going to meet individually with each teacher as they do every year and look at, you know, Diane Kelly's MCAST
results and what does Diane Kelly's data show compared to um Danielle Moabas or or somebody else's? We're in the process of doing all that data analysis with teachers now. >> All right. Thank you. this much. >> I think also what I feel might be
helpful to us as the committee is seeing different data because we know graduation requirements with that with the MCCAST being removed as a requirement students might not be taking it seriously and the school district at school levels looks at
different data. So whether it's quarterly reports or at the end of every grading period, seeing a comparison I think will for me with other data will be more useful than this MCCAST that we now know students think I don't have to actually graduate if I pass this or not.
So I think that would be more helpful. >> And one last thing, >> one last question. When you say off-topic, was it was it like um there were things written in justest >> that Okay. So, it wasn't like a comprehension issue. It was intentional.
>> And that's one of the categories that they identified. Not intentional. Not you just missed the mark. Not you were a little tang. It was >> It went over my head the first time you said it. It took a second to kind of >> marinate. Thank you. >> Some statements made her correct gave it away.
>> Correct. >> Um and so bring us back to the grade 10 math. Um again, so you can see the state went from 48 to 45%, so uh little bit of a
dip there. Um you will you can notice that uh our river at the green again just to orient you to that we are uh in the middle of the pack here. Um as far as achievement for students meeting or exceeding expectations, um it is something that uh we continue
to work on. Um it is something that uh we have followed uh and some of the work that our uh curriculum directors are doing is following um our students uh to see where their gaps are in fifth, 8th
and then going into 10th. Um so we will continue to work on this. Just a reminder last year was the adoption of our uh new curriculum resources um at the 9th and 10th grade. So we continue to um fine-tune our implementation of that as well.
The last page is science. Um here you can see uh we went from 49 40% to 29%. Um again though uh our our achievement is uh above our uh urban
colleagues. Um but there is a gap from the state and something that we are uh going to continue to look at. And just a reminder, some of our uh most of our students take the biology test, some do take chemistry um or the physics exam.
And then finally, our next steps as a district. So as you saw in their school improvement plans, principles are digging into their school data. Uh this includes both the in at the individual student level um as well as performance data as it relates to grade level curriculum standards. So we can uh dive
in at that small grain level of where did our students um as a group miss um and what reteing and what reorienting um or adjusting do we have to do this year to make sure that we hit all of our standards. Um the school and district
improvement plans have been craft crafted to reflect this work and we will continue to monitor RMA and their progress through their ongoing work with great schools partnership in DESIE and I know Dr. Kelly just completed a walkth through last week and is planning to attend uh and walk through math classes
next week. >> Dr. Makaba. >> Mhm. >> Um, just looking at the data and I I don't I'm not ignorant to the fact that if I was a 10th grade student and I was told that this this um wasn't a requirement of graduation, I probably would take it a little less seriously.
Um, however, we we're still using it for different criteria. >> Um, certainly it should be an understanding of what the teachers are teaching. Uh, so that we we can kind of feel the students getting what we want them to learn. So, I know that it's it's
October. Is this an opportunity? Are we able to review some of this data um at the in the next quarter to see if there's some updates that we can kind of, you know, sink our teeth into a little bit more? You know, obviously there's going to be some corrective action on this. >> And so, one of the things I do want to
highlight is that that this news came in November. So, uh, our our students and our teachers and we had a short amount of time to sort of message that we need to, um, this is something that we need to take seriously and we were in the throws of working on um, competency
determinations and how we were going to look at that and what we were going to use to determine that. Um, so yes, we can certainly look and see. We do have interim assessment data. Um, may or may not be an accurate sort of comparison. Might be comparing apples and oranges
right now at this point. Um, we can certainly look at that. Um, it does look at the standards and student achievement so far. Um, and again, I think teachers have great relationships with their students. Our 10th grade teachers are, you know, they have this whole year uh
to sort of work on uh and motivate students to to take this test seriously and the opportunities that they get from doing so. Um, so I think I I do feel a little bit um better knowing that they're working to build those relationships and they have the time to
be able to do that versus a quick pull the rug out from under you and let's try to adjust to what how we should take approach this test. >> And I I would just add that there was also a lot of misinformation last year where people thought um that question two meant there would be no more MCCAST,
not that they were still going to have to take it. So there there's a lot that goes into it, but you know, part of what I think about, and we've talked a lot about this over the years, is whether or not MCCAST is actually measuring what it purports to measure. Um, and one of the
places that we've leaned into is really having curriculum embedded performance tasks, which we do our our deeper learning presentation every year so that folks can get an idea of what our kids are doing to really demonstrate their knowledge and understanding in different
areas. It's a lot more complicated um to review and understand how kids are doing on a performance task compared to looking at results like this that you can crunch numerically because they all come down to just a number. Um but I think this experience what we've seen in
the last year, the way kids can or may not um perform in a situation like this isn't really representative of what they know and can do. Um, we I think that when we look at how are our kids doing on AP exams, how many kids are earning dual enrollment
credit, how many kids like the the three great well two one of them wasn't able to be here, but three great kids who are, you know, graduating from Rivier High School with 50 college credits >> between their AP classes and their dual enrollment. Those are the kinds of metrics that I think say a lot more
about our schools and how our students are achieving um than than maybe just this does. And I think diving into that kind of data uh as we have done in the past and looking at where are our gaps there. Are all of our kids across the board having equal access to those
programs? That's someplace that we saw as problematic before and was a big part of the impetus for dtracking. But now we've gone back to tracking. So where are we now with our with our participation advanced coursework? Um one of the things we talked about then
was how tracking sends signals to kids. you're worthy, you're not worthy. You're honors, you're not honors, you can do it, you can't do it. And when we set kids on those tracks early in their career, they believe it by the time they get to high school. So, I do think those are the kinds of data points that we
should look at and see where our kids are achieving and where we need to be pushing um more readily. >> Mr. Kingston, >> um you brought up a point that I was going to ask Dr. Kelly. Could we look at um AP scores and get some idea from like
last year to this year because those students may be a little more motivated to take the test as opposed to the MCCAST? Um >> definitely. And I uh I >> I'd be interested in seeing it because I I think that might be a better measure because I you know when I wasn't in favor of getting rid of MCCAST because I
knew that students weren't going to take the test seriously and obviously across the state that's been a fact. So, I mean, I know some other stuff might I was reading the Globe the other day that uh this business alliance is talking about some other measurements they'd like to see and I don't know how that's going to go, but um so there might be something else coming down the pipeline,
but in the meantime, I think if we looked at the AP scores and said, well, they they either stayed the same or went up a little bit or whatever they did, that might be a better measure at this point than what MCCAST was. It's just a thought. Thank you. >> Yes, definitely. We'll bring that to you as soon as we have the finalized report. >> Miss Milbury. Um, yeah, I just wanted to
say that I I understand and I agree with um, you know, what Dr. Kelly had to say. I think my thought is that as long as there is this type of criteria and we see where the state falls, we should be at least there, right? At least at least
close to or exceeding the state. Like that would be ideal. And just seeing the drastic fall from last year, it's just alarm. It's alarming >> because right now, I mean, with all of the adults and all the resources and all of the money that we're investing into
these multi-tiered um support systems, it it's just we need to be able to justify all of this, you know, but I do I hear what you're saying about standardized testing and and and measuring um what students know. I just want to would like to see that reflected
not so negatively on the MCCAST scores. >> Mr. Kingston, >> I I wonder if we could maybe use parent square or any other form that we wanted to use to like highlight the differences when kids aren't in school because I think unfortunately I think co maybe um
made going to school not such a priority. But I think if we ham it home um what you just said about the numbers of kids about the scores when kids aren't in the school, I think if that's hit home to both the student and to their parent, they might say to the kid, "No, you you know, you're going to
school today because it's raining out, you know, sorry, you're going to go because I it's going to affect your achievement." I don't know if that's um I I think it's kind of common sense, but I think actually to see the numbers um at least for me, it it was it's alarming. Yes. And I think maybe if the par if we got that if we did our if we
did if we doubled our efforts in getting that information out there to both the students and the and the parents look coming to school is important and it's not you know it's not just words it's I can show you numbers that you'll do better if you come to school and I think if the parent gets that because I think a lot of times it's oh we're not doing
anything today can I stay home >> and you know the parent doesn't want to push back or whatever and they say sure but obviously you know that's not the right right way to go. Thank you. And that that's one of the reasons we wanted to include that data tonight to get it out there as a first measure. Um but it's also work that the um code is are
going to be working on extensively at the middle school and the high school level and their reach out to families when they're talking about absenteeism and getting to school. This will be part of the data that they'll be sharing directly with those families who are chronically absent. >> Thank you.
>> Interesting. >> Thank you. >> And that concludes the superintendent's report. Thank you, Dr. Kelly. >> Okay. Uh, report of the Ways and Means Subcommittee. Well, >> thank you, Mr. Mayor. On October 8, the Ways and Means Subcommittee met. I am the chair of that committee. I was
present. Stacy Bronson Rizzo was present. Anthony Kajiano were present. Present. Those are the three members of the committee. Also present with Mr. Fred Sinella and Miss Monttoroso. Um, doc, not Dr. Cruz, I apologize. Dr. Kelly and Dr. Macabo there as well. Um, Mr. Cruz, the business administrator,
presented us with some information. Um, basically 15 $155,999 was um deemed um after the books had been closed. That was the leftover so to speak. Um and he asked us
to um take it 15 well he asked us to use the proceeds of that money to put into the tuitions to residential schools which was was experiencing uh greater outflow than expected. Um the subcommittee did vote to um in
favor of spending $40,000 at the Beachmont Early Childhood Playground. Um, and that's the end of the committee's report. Thank you. >> Excuse me. Uh, Mr. Kingston, we never got minutes from that meeting.
>> I'll submit them. I I an error. I did not bring them tonight. >> The the last word then you used might have been a little wrong as far as the 40,000. >> No, I don't think it was. I don't believe it was. I thought we were going to discuss it
with the whole committee. >> I was just saying what was presented. I didn't I didn't and that was what was spent and the vote the vote at the subcommittee was to um spend the 40,000 on the playground. That's all I said. I didn't say we couldn't discuss anything. I just said what what happened at the meeting and that's what happened. >> I I I think I understand the confusion.
I believe the um the language was that the subcommittee would recommend to the committee, right, >> to spend $40,000 on the Beachmont playground. >> I apologize. I didn't bring my minutes with me. I left them at home. My I was rushing out the door. Sorry.
>> Could you also send them to Anthony and myself, please? >> Mr. Kingston, uh is there >> is there >> that concludes my report, Mr. Thank you for your report. >> Okay, the any motions. We have a allocation from fiscal year 25 to 26
carry forward. >> Mr. Mayor, >> Miss Miss Montroso, >> I think we all agreed we wanted to vote on these per line item and during the CO. So, it would be if folks let me know if it's if I'm
reading it right. We vote separately for the Lincoln Tot, then the Beachmont playground, and then the tuition for residential schools. Correct. >> The the >> the Lincoln Tot you already approved. >> Okay. So, it's just the last just the last two. >> Yeah.
>> Okay. So, a motion to set apart 40,000 for the Beach Malamment Early Childhood Playground. >> Second. >> We have a roll call. Any discussion? >> Roll call. >> So, yeah. set a pot
to do more homework on. >> Correct. Yes. So, yes. Thank you, Miss Bronzer. For those who uh we actually had a bit of this conversation at the 5:00 p.m. meeting. So anyone who's tuning in now, we're setting apart, which doesn't mean we're tying it down, but we're setting at least 40K apart to
start the exploration of what this playground will look like, have the appropriate people do the research, and get the ball rolling for us as we also look for other funding sources so that we aren't tying hopefully the 40k that's tied to net school spending, which the
playground isn't eligible for. Thank you. >> Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Bronston Rizzo. >> Yes. >> Mr. King. >> Mr. Kingston? >> Yes. >> Miss Milberry Ellis?
>> Yes. >> Mrs. Montteroso? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sella? >> Yes. >> Mayor Keefe? >> Yes. Then the next motion is to set apart $115,999 of the carry forward funds for tuition
to residential schools. >> Second, >> Mrs. Bronston Rizzo, >> yes. >> Mr. Kingston, >> yes. >> Miss Milberry Ellis, >> yes. >> Miss Montto, >> yes. >> Mr. Sella, >> yes. >> Mayor Keefe, >> yes.
>> So that was the motions for the funding. The next motion is to adopt the amended 403 plan as presented by Mr. Cruz. >> Second. >> Second. >> Any discussion? >> Roll call. >> Mrs. Bronston Rizzo? >> Yes.
>> Mr. Kingston? >> Yes. >> Miss Milberry Ellis? >> Yes. >> Miss Montteroso? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sella? >> Yes. >> Mayor Keefe? >> Yes. And I had one more motion to uh just for a formality for us to approve these
school improvement plans unless anyone prefers to vote on them line by line. >> Okay. Is there a second? >> Do we have a second? >> Second. >> Second by Mr. Kingston. Any discussion? >> Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Bronston Rizzo.
>> Yes. >> Mr. Kingston? >> Yes. >> Miss Milberry Ellis? Yes. >> Miss Montteroso? >> Yes. >> Mr. Sella? >> Yes. Mayor Keefe. >> Yes. >> Yeah. No, I'm sorry. We did the 115. >> Okay.
>> Um >> I guess He didn't say that. He gave me >> There you go. Sure. Mr. Kingston, it's an additional motion with the This is the carry forward appropriation to appropriate the $5,470,999
of net school spending required carry forward funds from fiscal year 25 into fiscal year 26 in accord with the recommendation of the Ways and Means Committee in the documentation submitted by our chief financial officer. Sec. >> Any discussion?
>> No. Roll call, please. >> Mrs. Bronston Rizzo. >> Yes. Mr. >> Yes, >> Mr. Kingston. >> Yes, >> Miss Milberry Ellis. >> Yes, >> Miss Montterroso. >> Yes, >> Mr. Sella. >> Yes, >> Mayor Keefe.
>> Yes. >> Uh, any further business? >> We did that. Miss Montrosa, >> just under new business, I just wanted to let you all know we have we are going to schedule a personnel subcommittee meeting just to start to go over the superintendent evaluation process. So
you all will get an email about the steps. You'll get all the documents and then of course um once we get to the public elements uh the public will be looped in. So just uh keep an eye on your inbox after we all meet next week and you'll get the agenda as well as an FYI once we set the date.
>> Thank you, Mr. Kingston. Dr. Kelly, um, one of the PTO's reached out literally today and asked if um, there was some questions about going on future field trips. Is there something that says I know we approved one for the We know we approved one for the for the
cheerleaders and that's fine. And I I just they they were told that they couldn't uh, go on any field trips and I didn't understand why. I don't know if it's just a an error. >> Did you refer them to the principal? >> I did. >> Okay. I'm not sure. They said the the
they they said the principal said that came from central office. >> What school? >> I'd rather not say >> I can look into it. If you want to let me know offline which school it was I can look into it. I will tell you that generally speaking what I encouraged all principles to do because of the budget
crisis that we're in was to explore more in the building field trips bringing people in which is a much less expensive way to engage kids in external learning experiences than to hire five or six buses to take one grade level um
someplace. So uh I imagine that it was that message that's being misconstrued in some way. Thank you. >> Um, in regards to that, I'll also bring up that there was a wonderful um, outing today for some students to go
visit the laborers hall down in Hopington. There was over 20 students from um, Riviera High School between grades 10 and 12. So, we appreciate uh the labors uh uh union for hosting our students, but also showing them some potential pathways post high school uh
if they're not intending on going to a traditional college. And because we know transportation was is very expensive to get them to hop, our National Guard representatives uh provided the transportation in kind. So, we got uh
they got driven uh the students and faculty got driven by some of our friends in the National Guard that do some recruitment out here and uh we appreciate them. So, >> thank you. And they were fed a very nice lunch. I went down there. It was good. Okay. It's a beautiful if the Hopington Hall is it's gorgeous.
>> Thank you, Mr. Thank you. >> motion to adjurnn. Second. >> All in favor? I sorted.