committee at 6:10 p.m. due due notice having been posted pursuant to the open meeting law any person may make an audio or video recording of this public meeting or may transmit the meeting through any medium attendees are therefore advised that such recordings or Transmissions may be made whether
perceived or unperceived by those present and are deemed acknowledged and permissible I'll do a roll call of members present Miss ferera present Mr Mado present Miss o'ri Miss Ashley and participating remotely and
the chair is present uh Mr Vieira present um and also with us this evening our superintendent of schools Mr jeffre schoonover our Chief Financial Officer Miss Raquel Pellerin our director of curriculum and Technology wizard Miss
Elizabeth has our director of special education Miss Megan Ashton our principal Dr brell and our recording secretary Robin varo U could you please stand for the pledge I pledge aliance to the flag of
the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all thank you everyone please note that the next regularly scheduled meeting of this committee will be held on Tuesday
February 2 2025 at 6 p.m. here in the somerset Berkeley Regional High School library and please note that this will include the preliminary um budget hearing for fiscal year 26 um the first item on tonight's agenda
under student teaching and learning is an update from our student representative Mr Vieira all right good evening everyone so just to touch on a couple different things so starting with Athletics uh so the boys basketball team has a game this Friday and for tomorrow
uh the boys ice hockey game that's their senior night uh so that'll be a popular game so I'm looking forward to that uh that's at 6:00 home versus old Rochester uh and then tomorrow also the wrestling team has a match at dery also here uh
regarding Performing Arts the show choir uh group had a competition last Saturday where they were able to take home a couple medals so that was good for them uh and then the drama department has been working hard in preparation uh for the The Adams Family musical which will
be uh happening in April so they've been working hard for that uh and then to touch a little bit upon clubs and events around the school uh so Deca districts which happened last month um a couple students placed for um progression onto the states so that state competition is
going uh to happen this week um regarding the international trip to Costa R students leave this Friday uh bright and early I think their flight is at 2 o'clock uh in the morning on Friday so um we wish them safe and enjoyable trip uh and then regarding the Science
Olympiad team uh they will be traveling to Wentworth uh Institute of Technology and that's uh the beginning of next month and that group is uh essentially competes in a wide range of different environmental um chemistry and a wide range of topics um so we wish them luck
and then lastly uh a group called hoso which is the future health professionals uh this week and next week are working to to prepare for their exams along with uh putting together projects whether it's posters or uh skill videos that um they are going to submit to hopefully
move on to the state uh competition I think that is all I have for tonight thank you does anyone have any questions all right good things thank you so much the next item on the agenda is the
recognition for our January VIs Aries the committee would like to recognize Ela viril pton resilient Logan Blake digital citizen Louise queso empathetic Lila Kelsey empathetic Michael makeit
academic Angelina paa Pena sorry um independent love St Jean respectful and Olivia soua respectful congratulations to those students for their good work the next item on the agenda this evening is the approval of the DECA trip
uh to Boston that think Mr vi just mentioned um which is scheduled for February 27th through March 1st um does anyone there's information in your packet does anyone have any questions you only question how many
students I know he we mentioned two students are PR I think no it's a couple more uh I think about 15 is that right 15 and two how are they getting up there is
it are we taking them up on our vans or are they going on a school bus or I believe Mr arario was taking them okay all right so they're drop someone will drop them off and two days later pick them up yes okay very good any other questions hearing none I
would entertain a motion to approve the DECA trip to Boston for February 27th through March 1st 2025 for uh state conference so moved second motion by Mr Mado executive by m Ferrero anything further on discussion we're going to do
roll call votes because of Miss Ashley um so uh let's see Miss ferera I uh Mr michelo I Miss O'Brien I the chair votes I Miss Ashley I all right so
move the next item on the agenda this evening under business and financial is the um January Financial statement is p not much going on in the world of Finance these days um but with regards to um our
financial statement we're continuing to look and I've been working closely with um the high school principal uh to make sure that all our expenses um now to the end of the year are covered they're priority based looking at accelerating
our replacement PL and hopefully in the next month or so we'll come back with budget amendments we've just shifted our focus a little bit to um preparing the budget for next year does anyone have any
questions Miss Ashley do you have any questions okay um thank you the next item on the agenda is um the budget subcommittee um the budget subcommittee uh met this afternoon at 4 o'clock um
where we reviewed a range of um items um folks are working very hard to try to develop a budget that um meets the needs of our students and also reflects our uh Financial
reality um one of the items that sort of was mentioned and just want to make sure everyone here is aware is that um estimates for um Insurance um may be higher than we
anticipated I don't know Mr scov do you want to just mention sort of what you heard sure uh Mr Yi and I had a conversation earlier today where he was uh the Insurance trust they don't have another meeting their next meeting
is scheduled I think on February 24th um but the information that he has is really based on what other communities around us in Bristol County are experiencing for increases uh and he was saying that uh the average increase appears to be in the 10 to 15%
range um so which is higher than we originally anticipated uh more than double than we we had anticipated um but hopefully we'll have some more information at the end of this month when when that group meets on the
24th um the subcommittee this afternoon reviewed in in detail and with much help from Miss Ashley the technology budget um really going through and trying to look at um every line item to determine
we would if Cuts need to be made we always prefer to cut things rather than people um so that is um being scrutinized carefully and um Miss hasell is helping us out by um um
looking at the usage of various apps and software and all that stuff so um we are also um awaiting some more information on um class SI informed by student
course selections which is really in process right now so we're hoping that um we'll have more uh reliable information on that soon we did go ahead um looking at the Timeline we went and scheduled another meeting we originally
did not have a meeting for next week but um we know that there's still work to do so we've scheduled um another budget subcommittee meeting for next Tuesday morning we will do that via Zoom the school vacation week and so we but we will post a zoom link um
and then there's one more subcommittee meeting prior to the preliminary budget meeting so folks are working very hard and I want to we're not there yet but I want to thank everyone um for all the work that we're doing it's not easy
um did I miss anything no you touch Miss Ashley is there anything you wanted to add in terms of a budget subcommittee update I I don't have anything specific to add at this time I think that uh Miss
Andrews did a great job summarizing where we are in the budget process and uh where we're working toward so hopefully at our next meeting we'll have and be able to uh fill in all the missing pieces of information for you so
that we can make an informed decision as a committee so if I could just uh ask a couple of questions I know that on the 25th we going to be taking a vote on the preliminary budget but I do have an
invite for the health but that isn't on my calendar I have the 27th of February so I'm just curious how how are we going to set a preliminary budget when we
don't know exactly what's happening with our health at least I won't know until the 27th unless uh what we're going to be voting on and I'm very new to this Comm commit and I don't know how the interacting goes with this committee I know I'm part of one of five members but
uh we're about to vote on something where we don't know what the effect is so I'm just wondering should we move that meeting or can we move that meeting um because of a 10% increases on the insurance cost might be
a budget breaker that could be a you know a percentage or whatever it may be I'm wondering if um we could I mean I think we talked about sort of putting in a placeholder for a
not a worst case scenario certainly a bad case scenario um and correct me if I'm wrong but on the process we can we could do that as part of the preliminary budget presentation the placeholder knowing that a week a few days later we may have
an actual number but then we could adjust that in between the preliminary the public hearing and the final that's so my question is if if Mr Uchi is saying what was the average between 10 and what 15 I would say let's do the
worst case because uh we cannot increase linary budget I don't believe but at least we know we can decrease it so I just want to I want to make sure that we're prepared for something that uh won't bite us at the end and the other thing I appreciate uh I did download all
obviously all the documents Robin thank you for placing them or uh Raquel placing them on the share drive I'm starting to opening them up real closely the only thing is what's concerning me is that I'm seeing like let's just say
the first one that I'm just look because it happens to be highlighted on my computer new staff request I know there are four to be determined two of them are to be determined and two have a price I don't know what discussions you've had in um
your budget hearings I'm just wondering are there notes that you can share with us like in detail when you're looking through cuz we're getting a very high level and I'm not 100% sure I don't want to come into a meeting next the 26 and
ask questions that's really going to throw a wrench in the in all the gears that are seems to be running really smooth uh because we do have a very high number that we have to lower uh and I'm sure you're all working on it very closely but I just don't want to be that
I don't want to come in at that meeting hearing the prary budget the first time and I have to take an action on it so I'm just wondering perhaps maybe it might be wise that your next budget hearing be also a school committee meeting so we can all log in if we want
so we're hearing it as long the way you are so no one's going to be surprised or seeing something for the first time next on the 25th so that's my recommendation I wonder too Mr M if what might be helpful I think in the past we've
sometimes had a document that Mr Tara would prepare which would be because if you're starting if you're going back to the earliest thing in the folder right so he would often have where we started like a column whether with particular as it relates to Staffing requests and then
where we each iteration and where we move to and that I think might be helpful as well right so if there's you know because if some of those things have been dropped right um especially if you start from oldest to newest that is going to be difficult
to discern y so maybe we can create a running sheet type of thing basically a running sheet um with does that that I think we've done that in the past and I don't that's helpful to track basically track the changes the
requests M and I don't know I I don't want to um come up the works here but with what Mr masado was just saying about that insurance meeting on the Thursday the 27th I'm assuming this used to be in the morning right I was think I thought
he said the 24th but he must have said the 27th I have the 27th at 2:30 okay would it and getting back to the budget subcommittee uh meeting that we just had a little while ago we were trying to determine we we had a our next budget
meeting is was scheduled for um that afternoon and then just as soon as that meeting ends we be we' be presenting the preliminary budget uh would it make sense to maintain the budget meeting on the
25th but shift the U the preliminary budget presentation to the 27th I know that that's that's really that's a difficult week because you have your board of selectman meeting uh I think earlier that week some school
committee meetings on is on the Wednesday already um I just don't know if that would if that would make more sense that would just make it worse and I know we used we had a hold on the 27th for the interviews already so maybe everybody
still has that block of time open because that's where we the 27th was the original hold for the interiew I'm just looking at my calendar I'm not doing anything um so I just want to make sure I understand the
suggestion move the preliminary budget gives 48 hours between the budget meeting on Tuesday the 25th and the presentation to the 27th which would also allow Mr masado to get to get us information about health insurance it
would be a quick turnaround between that meeting time and the presentation that night but at least we may have real information if we don't then we would have the placeholder of 15% or so that assuming that's the only variable it should it's a quick turnaround but but
right it's one one number it um I'm not as familiar with the health insurance would is the expectation we will know the number on the 27th this is my first meeting I don't my guess is we we still won't know the number then we might have
more information at that point and I was just going back to I know uh last year even when Mr maker was the school Department's representative the information wasn't coming in I'd say until later in March if not April like
it it was late it was late in the time frame last year when we actually got the insurance numbers I tend to push bonds a little quicker though um I mean I don't I'm available on WE I'm if there is a benefit to the
extra two days um I'm I'm available on the 27th I can do that I don't know about everyone else but I think we Al we know that we we might not actually have a number so are we going to move it and still not know or but there may be some other
value in just having a little space between this budget subcommittee meeting on the 25th and the 27th but I also want to be um aware of evening meeting commitments for all of you so I guess I don't know what the wishes of the
committee are I could go either way I'm I can live with the placeholder because we know we're probably not going to know the answer or we can hope in two days Clarity you know is upon us I'm not really just knowing that you're having a
budget hearing on the 25th prior to the 25th hearing or our vote I'm just concerned I'm more concerned about that because if you take any drastic changes in that meeting that only gives
like a 15minute window to have a a real official copy for us to actually view right yeah and we talked about that today which is why we added a meeting next week but so I I would say let's see how that meeting goes first I would I would see how your meeting goes next
week if it goes well and you don't feel like you're going to need a real serious budget hearing the following week on the 25th U because that still gives Robin 48 hours to change the date of the meeting so I I
I'm fine either way I'm available on the 27th as well because it was a that that block was moved on my calendar so yeah I'm fine whichever one works best fall of you I do you have that I can do either
because it was still I that whole week was bouncing so I left it would it make sense um not to be Wishy watching would it make sense if the committee holds that hold that date the 27th and maybe after we meet on the 18th
next week whenever that is sorry after we we might have a better sense of whether we want to push it the two days or not for other reasons not just the health insurance Fe does that work for everyone yeah okay great idea thank you Mr all right so we're gonna
hold um 2:27 6: P.M as a possible and then change okay and I want to apologize in advance to Mr uh skoon over because if he's like
me we always say we're going to try to limit him to two meetings a week but that meeting unfortunately you're going to have four meetings so I apologize no in advance it's all your fault it's understandable time of the year I just I see a lot of red on my okay great anything else on budget
subcommittee update okay bad and truly folks are working really really hard and we appreciate it um uh the next item on the agenda under unfinished business is an update on interviews with the board of Selectmen
to fill the vacant seat on the school committee um uh M mararo and I have been in touch with Mr Souza and today we were able to um confirm and I want to um thank everyone for their flexibility the beard is defit have a ton of meetings
this time of year as well so we're trying to work together um so we have agreed on the help me 24th at 5: and we're going to meet here um in this library in a joint
meeting with them to um interview the candidates and then um we will have discussion and a vote at that time um I did share um folks collaborated to
develop questions um and you know we are fortunate that we actually we were worried we wouldn't get even one applicant and we're really uh fortunate that we have um several which is wonderful um we appreciate everyone's interest and so I think we developed and
I shared with everyone I think it's five questions we may not get up to all of them they might be in order of importance but um if everyone is okay with them I think Ramen shared them or is going to share them out with the board of Selectmen abely so that's where
we are with that process obviously it's going to be a short appointment um there's not a lot of time between that date and the um election the somerset Town election but um that is the process outlined in the regional agreement so that's what we will do
um did I forget anything important Ramen great um the next item on the agenda is the update on the baseball field Improvement project timeline right uh just a brief update last week we uh activist was here and
that's the um the vendor who is working with us uh to uh to manage this work uh but we had the the site visit for potential biders and there were three uh came for that uh onsite
visit and uh the bids are due will be open next week I think it's on the 20th uh so at that point we will know at the next time uh the committee meets we should know who the U the winning bill
is okay and everything is on track for work beginning as soon as the spring season is over and uh being for next year anyone have any questions great we'll be happy when that
gets shovels whatever happens great um the next item on the agenda under new business is to discuss an act on support for the Reed's collaborative um purchase of a building for the de and heart of hearing program okay so you have uh in your
folder a letter uh from the executive director of re collaborative team with deers explaining uh really uh what is what has transpired and and really what the goal is so uh Reed offers a number
of programs that they really specialize in De and heart of heing uh and they have a program that is housed in different schools but uh primarily Norton has been the host of school district uh for these and Norton has uh
is a growing uh School community and they are at the point where they need the space where the the reads program is uh currently housed uh after really trying to find
spaces in the member districts re just no no district has the space available for the number of classrooms that re requires for their dhh uh so they are looking to purchase a building actually uh in Norton uh in
very close proximity to the elementary school and the middle school where a lot of these programs are housed uh so this would this would allow reads to offer uh programs on this uh in the small campus Building uh and get
quick transportation to uh the elementary school the middle school and the high school so that they can continue students with s access to the general curriculum access to uh the those school and their programs um so
with this the U in order to purchase the building reads would be increasing their dhh tuition so only for those students who are part of the defin art of hearing program uh there would be a there's
roughly a $7,000 per student increase in the tuition for next year uh Somerset Berkeley does not have any students is currently participating in the dhh uh program Somerset does have two students but not Somerset berus uh so
really the cost is the annual cost uh for that is coming from increasing tuitions uh and they're really just looking for uh to have an understanding of are the member school districts School committees in favor you would you
support uh going down this path and purchasing this building thank you for that explanation other questions well I read the the memo that U was sent by the executive
director uh one I didn't see the 7,000 because that was my first question today how much was it going to be but the other question I would like to know is how much is this piece of property you know because I you know at this day and age there are so many office buildings that are
vacant um does it make sense to purchase or lease something or enter into a rent agreement I know it doesn't affect uh Somerset Berkeley or Somerset at this moment but uh I'm just wondering if are they making the correct decision have
they looked at Leasing Property um or office bace versus purchasing so I can't answer the purchasing versus The leas Thing the one thing I can say is location will be important for for them based on the inclusion opportunities I
mean I know the students that we have there it's very important for them to access the the grade level classes so wherever whether they purchase or lease um I think it will be important to be near a school that's going to allow them the access to the yeah the inclusion
opportunities and so so we do have students in the K we do we have ch so we do so it'll be a a $114,000 increase which you know it is what it is that type of thing it's one of those things those Ser those students need those services and obviously reading their
letter they really do need uh the room and obviously we saw how South Coast collaborative had to find another location when we built a new Middle School uh but I'm just curious to see if they had looked at versus lease and I understand they're looking at n because
they're probably familiar with Norton's school department but have they checked other local school districts and building that would be my only concern I'm not going to I don't know enough to vote Yes or no so I'm going to abstain but I'm just just
wondering what other if you knew any other information so I'm seeing if I have any information regarding the price of the because if they're fortunate to find a building like Wilbur school that we sold for $155,000 or whatever it was
then it's a no-brainer but um to Victor's point if I could chime in you know I was kind of also thinking along the lines of what's going to happen when the building needs maintenance because you know I'm sure that um the Berkeley prek through a can
can share our challenge with having to fix old build buildings right and the maintenance you know like I I also have concerns about buying a property there's a huge difference between buying and leasing so I just would want to be re
sure that they've explored a leasing or a rental option um because circumstances in school districts could change in future years this could be temporary that's the other thing purchasing a building is very permanent and then you own all the problems so yeah the uh the information that I
have here it would be a 5e mortgage uh for $1.2 million uh so it is a uh between uh the annual mortgage cost of roughly 282,000 utilities um phone
internet uh the Mini Bus lease um to transport students back and forth um and some other um some other uh fees for services here
um it's four roughly 45,00 an annual cost for the five years until it would be owned um and then as I said that would U the cost for that is is going from the
tuition see if I may and hearing that they're trying to pay it off in a fiveyear lease like why aren't they looking at it dragging it out like most people when they purchase property you know they'll this tax you know reasons or I that's another thing why are you
trying to pay a 1.6 million when even when we try to make a loan we're trying to spread it out for multiple years it just seems and I would rather see a smaller increase for those that are being affected
then and I didn't even think of the maintenance piece yet because uh they may have to retrofit the building as well for all we know so I I just I think I just need more information um but again those were my concerns when I read this letter I didn't have any pricing on
it and I I'm learning more now than I did couple of hours ago when I read the letter um in terms of timeliness for this item do do they need our vote at this meeting or no we can
wait could we maybe just get a little I know that Financial impact us is minimal and I but I think it sounds like members of the committee have some questions that could probably be answered without too much trouble so perhaps um I don't what the wishes of
the committee are but we could we could move this to a future agenda I'd be fine with that Miss Ashley would that work for you I'm sorry I couldn't hear the question sorry I was just suggesting that it sounds like there's some questions that committee members have
that might be you know answered and perhaps we move this to you know the next regular meeting as long as we they don't need an answer from us right now yeah and and if questions that I'm looking for why
fiveyear pay mortgage um what are their plans for maintenance is the building already retrofit for the classrooms are there going to be more Reven I mean uh you know remodeling um you know those are the
ones and did they even look at the option for uh a lease or renting space because what happens if their numbers decrease and what is it currently for one of our students to go there in the KA just out of
curiosity if it's on that letter I believe it's on the letter I believe it's going to be 74 the increase for next year i' have to open up the letter see that's that's a 10% increase that's that's that's big you know so
yeah so it it depends on the the level of services uh the students who are attending this program have an average tuition of about $90,000 yeah so I I would I would be more favorable if they would spread it out for 10year lease uh I mean mortgage
payments just to drop it a bit and I understand it's going to incur more interest but thinking how all the communities are struggling right now I have to you know just think of the long picture but I this I'm forgive me if this is a
dumb question but I'm also wondering the increase to tuition would be so for the upcoming year a $7,000 increase in tuition per student and then annually thereafter the increases are just as a percentage like they would normally
calculate yes okay so it's not 7,000 and 7,000 no because that's already the 7,000 was already built on to the uh 4% increase in their budget for this year okay all the tuitions are I think was 4% is that right yeah so like the
proposed tuition rate without the increase would be like their tuition would be 75,000 then there's the the typical increase and then so with the tuition cost and the building purchase it would be a 14,000 increase so like Jeff said about 90,000 okay all right that makes
sense thank you I need a motion to not no we're just gonna we're going to table that until the next meeting okay may I just ask if so I I wrote down your questions Mr Mado but if anyone else has questions that you would
want me to prepare to send to them if I could see us even I can see the other member districts having similar questions so we might just generate an fq list that we can ultimately share with all the school committees so if any
of you have questions what Mr M said send them my way if you don't mind and I'll share them with re maybe we can develop a a Shar document great thank you thank you very much okay the next item on the agenda is the superintendent's update let's just go
over all right uh so something that I wasn't sure if I shared it with you um a month or two ago when when we learned of it but uh so at Berkeley Regional High School was uh for the second year in a row named an AP uh received the AP honor
roll did I share this with you earli okay I couldn't remember if I did or not I couldn't find it in my notes um so I just wanted to uh clarify that uh Second uh hopefully the weather holds out uh for us this week and looks like we we
were in for some mixed weather Wednesday night to Thursday morning um it's looking like maybe more of a rain event I hope than anything so we on Thursday night we do have Dr Joe W from Bost University uh who will be coming to suep Middle School to give a presentation for
parents and really anyone who's interested teachers uh administrators members of the community um and she will be talking about really the impact both positive and negative of social media and devices on on kids on on adolescence
and and even pre-adolescence um just she's a researcher so it's really the presentation of uh all the resarch there um that shows what the impact is on kids uh I've seen her um give similar
presentations twice now um every time I I leave there learning something new and and uh worried about um what effect this has on our students particularly in school uh so uh she'll be the the what
I've SE her has been more focused on administrators but this is more direct uh focused on parents and how to have conversation with their kids when should they introduce uh devices and what kind of controls they can have and so on so it
should be a helpful presentation that's at say boy it 6 or 6:30 forget which time it is I think it's 6:30 on um Thursday at the middle
school thank you you very much and um the only other thing I I know just in terms of uh happenings here our students are current freshman sophomores seniors Juniors about seniors
are uh choosing their classes for next year though that always happens right before February vacation we should have those numbers by the end of this week uh and then really the only task after that is to figure out from eighth graders what their course uh selections are for
next year so that's always an ongoing work this time of the year which uh happens at the same time we're building the budget and trying to figure out what the needs are for certain courses as we're um going down these parallel tracks with the budget so um that that's
also happening am I missing anything Dr bord that any other happenings around I think Ryan got everything else right Ryan Ryan thank you that's all for now thank you
can I just um a follow up on Thursday at 6 PM unfortunately there are 6:30 no 6 6 is it 6 well whatever time because I can't be here are we allowed to are we allowed to record it I don't know if she
allows it because I'm just looking at it this is a great thing for satv to I can ask her because if we could publicize it on you know so parents can see it at their own Leisure and maybe even something that we can
push out to parents on a one call um the video that we can store I just think it's so you know as Ryan mentioned only even a few months ago about how phones are affecting kids at the high school level um I'm just wondering this might
be something that elementary students parents with elementary kids should start already planning out and that's the thing so we are i' I've shared this with our with all five principles who have shared it with their PTO so we're really trying to get
um all of our parents informed about this and with honestly a particular focus on elementary students because that's where where this stops well again if we if we were able to capture it it would be great and it might not be something that we can do
but uh I'm hoping that uh you know how everyone's lives are busy when they can be in there car driving somewhere not driving but um as a passenger can be listening to it yeah I know when we've had uh presentes come in the past a lot
do not allow allow us to do that because then why can some some of the district pay you know the money to have them come in if they can just watch their whole presentation online so but I will ask anything else okay moving on the next item on the
agenda as a staffing update all right you have just uh there are a few appointments there uh we have a few uh Food Service workers and a uh special education uh van
driver uh who were recently appointed and I I can't recall if it was the suet Berkeley meeting or sumerset meeting when when I uh mentioned that about uh the need for van drivers and we had such a great response Mr Rosario interviewed
he he received dozens of inquiries uh interviewed a number of people and we've been able to hire at least one for now and I know that there are others um I believe who he um is considering or who he is also met
with so uh that that was just wonderful that Mr Austin was able to put that message out for us uh it really benefited us quite well so thank you George no resignations to report this month thank you Mr SC over the next item
on the agenda um are updates from uh the K to eights wants to tell us about Somerset you want why you want me you could go ahead all right since uh my voice isn't hurting so I don't cough to death I
appreciate that um at the last meeting we had our financial statements and uh we also um had an opportunity to meet with the Selectmen to discuss um the state of the Town regarding the budget and
also um we are looking for potential getting a legal opinion on U you know our school budget and warrant numbers so we had a little quick discussion on that we did have a an update by the superintendent for our budget uh we did
um discuss things about there could be possible necessary cuts the possibility of redistricting adding AI uh new positions new programs and things like that we also had at the last this past Saturday uh we had a town meeting that
approved both uh of our pH visibility studies one for uh the msba project that we've been accepted into or uh invited into I should say um for the windows at South and North and then the town also
approved uh us to look in at the possibility of adding walls updating our HVAC system at North Elementary as well we had an updated um um from our superintendent with uh the appointments and
resignations and um the other thing is we also got a determination by the state that we did not violate open meeting law um our Chase Street Windows had a an update uh we're
hoping quote I'll believe it when I see it uh at Chase it may be completed in the February um uh vacation and we also uh received the Gant for our North Elementary balcony repairs we were very
fortunate to receive some donations uh from uh Feinstein foundation for South and Chase Elementary we received a wheelchair and also a um food pantry donation by Stop and Shop
and that was it and on behalf of the committee we thank the citizens of uh Somerset supporting our visibility studies and we'll hopefully get that up and running that's it unless I miss something no I think you I think you got
it all all right great thank you Mr madow uh Miss Solomon is not here this evening the only thing on she gave me to share was um that sort of related to budget
um the Berkeley Town Administrator has asked their departments to limit their budget increase to 1.2% which we know is not possible but just sharing that that um with the that
is the the ask for the directive from Town Administrator um so their K to8 will be working on that um and otherwise I don't know what's happening in
Berkeley um okay um the next item on the agenda topics not anticipated I have nothing have anything okay um action items for future meetings um I sorry I would like to see if on
March 4th I could just invite um Jess wette from our CPAC just to give the school committee an update on um the CPAC has been running and they've been um you know holding meetings and trying to get some parent involvement um we also will be under a um a Desi review
year and I know that they like to see that the school committee and the CPAC interact so I'm being proactive and um I know Jess is available on the March 4th date if that would work for you it would be just a quick update um just for Jess to say hello and kind of let you know how CAC is going this year that'd
be great we welcome that thank you for being proactive U you me that's the somerset that's Somerset date that's that is the somerset date so I will work on a Somerset Berkeley date um but on March 4th I will invite Somerset and work on a a I think the
April the next date would be because I wouldn't want to do it during our budget season I was trying to look at um dates that would be convenient um potentially the April 8th date for Somerset Berkeley after all our budget hearings we will be
happy to meet with her whenever it works for her at our whatever next regularly scheduled meeting we have so thank you I'll follow share our dates with her on a date we'll just we'll book that thank you if Madam chair if you could add um I was just wondering how the turf
uh project is looking into I know we're not we haven't received high level nothing into details uh and if it needs to be postponed to other me that's fine as well CP um can I just jump in and ask that we
revisit the AV situation for zooming somebody into a meeting because the audio is absolutely horrendous like I keep getting closer to my computer because you're all on maximum volume and I can barely hear what's being said so
um it's it's it's a problem we need to fix it I I didn't want to share my germs with you which is why I chose to do this meeting remotely um I think in 2025 we need to make this happen absolutely um I have a question for who
policy do you have a a subcommittee meeting sched do Let me refresh my room where is it uh the 5th March 5th March 5th is okay yes on the region side yes so
um for sorry just looking at a calendar um so you would maybe have some recommendations for the 11th or that's the public hearing we could actually maybe bump it to the next one but um
yeah the or the 25th I mean there two meetings after that in March so yeah okay great yeah so if there's anything that you want reviewed let us know the actual like if there's any policies you want us to specifically work on other
than we'll ask a question that it was I was going to ask you about a future item and um I know we've talked in in the budget subcommittee meetings about graduation requirements uh and and last school
committee meeting as well I was the last one um is if we consider graduation requirements changing those in any way is that something that would be best done first through the policy subcommittee and then to the full
committee or is that more of a topic that specific thing that should just be addressed right from the getg go with the entire committee I was I was thinking the latter but um I I just wasn't sure what that I think it would be easier for the full committee to
discuss before policy just so as as the policy exactly so we kind of know the wishes of the full committee to be able to work on a policy instead of having to come and then change it if if others are feeling differently I would
think does that make sense I always support full committee on everything so that's just the way I always feel but before you do present it to us I would like you know we did re you know we did hear from our student um not the student rep but our
student recorder uh about some issues or questions that or likes that she would like to see I would like to the administration to First focus on the school council I mean not the school council but the students the student government or the representatives we're actually meeting
with them tomorrow right tomorrow yeah it would be nice if you can get some of their input before you bring it to us because we all have strong last week yeah we all have strong opinions on what should and should not be on there and I think first hearing it from you and then
we can share our concerns as a whole uh in a policy you might only be getting a small window of of views and what it should or should not be yeah and with the policy sub committee uh most of the policies that are done there it's really looking at
masc recommendations some minor changes and when you're looking at graduation requirements it really is unique to the individual school and my preference is that is more of a global conversation than isolated with two members and and I don't know how
everyone else Fields I would love to know what our local schools you know like our local communities like I'm sure you could probably send a quick email to all your uh superintendent you have that information already I already got it I already did that I love you never mind
carry on I think um all right so it sounds like the wishes of the committee are to consider um a discussion on graduation requirements and would it make sense to wait till April April 8th meeting um
um we've got a lot of budget stuff going on in March I I think it's not I think it can wait till April for the initial discussion and then we can go from there we're obviously not going to change anything for you know current seniors are good right so it would
be um okay just schedu another budget subcommittee after that so okayy I know one thing um um Miss Ashley remind me one of the things that came up in budget subcommittee was a look at our policy on Chrome books
books um both like in terms of the cycle right in term and um maybe also the insurance piece and the revolving fund so I think that would probably be a should start with the policy subcommittee it's
fairly contained um I think those were the two that I graduation require one more if we could ask the administration to U reach out to fault River regarding the phone pouches that they're using that's
magnetic yeah so because uh it's working quite well there so and that's a major city and I'm sure they got some parents concern about a b and c but uh it seems like it's working out quite well students are more engaged and uh and
they're seeing some improvements in you know how the students are acting in school and results and things like that so and at a conference that we were at last week we're speaking with the Bristol waren uh administrative team and
they've also implemented the under pouches and that we're also seeing some pretty good gains and just engagement among students similar to what has expressed and I and I would like that both not only for the students
staff as well because I believe they're doing the only difference is one's magnetic and one's Velcro so it has to be not do what I'm told but everyone should be following that same policy am I imagining that there was
some consideration that there might be um from the legislature um suggestions about a cell phone policy to affect all students the attorney general has filed bills with the house and the Senate uh
to restrict cell phones in schools entirely um I I don't know if that is including y y pouches you know devices like that to have them or just they are not allowed in schools but uh there is some legislation that's been submitted
by the AG okay any other items I don't know if you can hear me any other item items okay the next item on the agenda is to consider the approval of the Open Session minutes of January 14th
2025 there in your packet does anyone have any issues or questions if not then I would entertain a motion to approve the Open Session minutes of January 14th 2025 as presented so moved second motion by Mr Mado and seconded by Miss O'Brien
we'll do a anything further on discussion we'll do a roll call Miss Ashley i m O'Brien I miss fera Mr Mado I and the chair votes I the next item on the agenda is public input do we have any public input this
evening of course um I just want to compliment everyone you know I've been bugging the crap out everybody asking for facts and figures and everything else but you know when we go to town me I like to know what I'm talking about I like to know
what I'm voting on and what we just went through this past town meeting trying to get you know the what you call past and everything I just want to say to people in the town you don't get it like I'm watching you guys I'm I'm watching what you put your hot and soul into this
trying to make us all happy to keep our taxes down and I just I just want to compliment all of you and I just wish more people instead of saying the things that they say on social media were to come and see all the hard work you're putting into it so thank you
thank you nicest public input we've had in a long time thank you very much does anyone else have any other public input Mr Austin you always get a special invitation Mr Austin I'm going to say
this as a citizen as well uh but also as a school committee what you just heard Miss steel say is you know she complimented us but we also have to compliment her because she's not on social media Med ripping as a PO she
comes here and asks the question I think that is the biggest piece that I appreciate we may not always agree but what but but what I'm saying it's it's easier to say it you know it's but at least it's when you come here and you
listen to us speak or watch us on TV if you do have a question reach out to us because we're going to respond to you uh but so kudos to you as well not only one way it works when there is communication and it's just not on behind the keyboard
ripping everyone apart so so I think you're also deserve the Kudos because you do question us and you do challenge us and that's a good thing so maybe we can ask our selectman if somebody from the um the finance and Advisory Board
could come to some of these meetings in we have one right behind you I know um but you know because we heard from the Selman a couple weeks ago like gave us the charge like I'm sure Berkeley also gave you the charge you got to keep
it love um but I know that everybody's doing the best they can without sacrificing services to the kids thank you okay um all right the next item on the agenda um I would entertain a motion
to enter into executive session pursuant to Massachusetts general laws chapter 30A section 21 A3 to discuss strategy with