##VIDEO ID:XQokNIBlcAY## okay I will call to order this meeting of the somerset Berkeley Regional school committee at 6:07 p.m. 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 acknowledge and permissible we'll do a roll call of members present Miss ferera present Miss Ashley present Mr Mado present Miss O'Brien pres Miss Solomon present and then and then also with us this evening our superintendent of schools Mr skover our Chief Financial Officer Miss Pellerin our director of curriculum miss hasell our principal Dr bford and our reporting secretary Robin Baro um at this time if you can please rise for the pledge I pledge aliance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for it stands one nation God indivisible with liy and justice for all please note that the next regularly scheduled meeting of this committee will be held on Tuesday February 11th at 6: pm here in the somerset Berkeley Regional High School library at this time I would entertain motion to enter into executive session pursuant to Massachusetts general laws chapter 3A section 21 A4 to discuss the deployment of security Personnel or devices or strategies with respect thet and pursuant to Massachusetts general laws chapter 38 section 2187 to comply with or act under the authority of any general or special law or Federal grant and aid requirements the approval of and uh to consider the release redaction withholding of the December 7 2024 executive session minutes and approval release redaction of the January 14th 2025 if ready executive session minutes and I would note that the committee would return to open session so moved second motion by Miss Ashley and seconded by Miss barrero do a roll call um Miss Ferrera hi Miss Ashley hi Mr Mado hi Miss O'Brien I miss Solomon I and the chair votes I all right so we'll return to open session um at this time the next item on the agenda is the um student teaching and learning I don't think we have a student report did you have any items conveyed yeah I'll just uh very briefly uh ran Vieira uh shared with me this afternoon since his apologies for not being able to attend tonight but he's um in the midst of a lot meeting deadlines for college applications so uh that's where where he is uh this evening uh we did meet last week uh with the student advisory Council uh he'll he'll give uh an in-depth update at the next meeting but concerns that they raised just among them um we talked about parking lots um steart parking lot and uh parents coming in in the morning um and and blocking some spaces um nice discussion about increasing school spirit students want to try ways to increase uh school spirit uh here at some Berkeley um increasing student voice they were talking about can um uh can we get like a suggestion box but I I believe it's already there's already something on our website and um some type of Google form or something where we Sol they're soliciting um uh comments from students uh and we had a discussion students brought up about concerns about cell phone usage in school and and almost um reting some some limitations uh more limitations uh that they see how um the negative impact that it can have on learning so we had a nice discussion about that I'm sure we'll be continuing that next time thank you um the next item on the agenda is recognition of our December Visionaries the committee would like to commend Haley shest empathetic Jacob Faria respectful Isaac Loro digital citizen Payton morasco independent and resilient Skyler Rivers academic Daniels Voda digital Citizen and Gracie Torres empathetic congratulations to those students on that achievement um the next item on the agenda do we want to take things out of order let's do that yes if it pleases the committee I'd like to take things out of order and um get to ski trip in just a minute but in first we need to move to um item number one under new business um the citation and recognition of our esteemed colleague Richard fenon maker um Mr Fence to maker can you come on down here so we can embarrass you properly right in the middle throw things at [Laughter] me the camera has on people um there are some folks here too who I think might like to say a few words so we're going to keep you up here for a few minutes that's okay all right um but before I might need my glasses also if I cry you won't be able to see um um so we're going to hear from some folks but um we wanted to on behalf of the entire committee and the somerset um K to8 and in the entire town of Somerset um we wanted to recognize you so I'd like to read this citation um at a meeting of the somerset Berkeley Regional school committee on January 14th 2025 a citation was prepared signed by members of the committee and voted inscribed in the permanent records citation of appreciation for Richard fenstermaker in recognition of Richard ferm Maker's out that's so much better outstanding service to the somerset Berkeley Regional School District as a dedicated member of the school committee and for his exceptional contributions as chair of the building committee we extend our deepest gratitude and appreciation throughout his tenure Rich has demonstrated unwavering commitment to the benefit of our educational facilities working tirelessly to ensure that the needs of our students faculty and Community were met with diligence and Care Rich's leadership collaborative spirit and thoughtful decisionmaking have left have left a lasting impact on both the academic environment and the physical infrastructure of our schools his legacy of service will continue to benefit generations to come we thank you for your invaluable contributions and and wish you all the best in your retirement we hope that this next chapter brings you joy peace and fulfillment especially with the littles be it hereby resolved that the members of the somerset Berkeley Regional school committee commend Richard fenstermaker in the official minutes recording this expression of appreciation and gratitude to an honored member of the somerset Berkeley Regional school committee here you go sir [Applause] do you want to say something first or do you want people to embarrass you I could rebuff want them to go first you want them to go first or rebut one of the other you want a rebut can I just tell you who's here yes please introduce your family wife Claire is over there and thank you for sharing him with us for so many years my son Eric my daughter Chelsea I mean Rachel and Mr oh my goodness they come they would really want to know if I was coming here so I might I do you want to hear what Julie agard had to say about you first sure okay so I have um so um Julie Gagliardi was um hoping to be here but she's not feeling well and didn't want to make you ill as you head into retirement but she did ask if I would read this okay okay um so um she says she's sorry she can't be here but wants to offer you her best wishes as you step off the regional committee and more importantly your her sincere thanks for all the years of service to this community in various roles um Julie says it was my pleasure and honor to work with Rich on the school building committee she's so glad that she convinced you to be the chair Rich's leadership of that project was amazing and I believe the way that he led our group of 20 volunteers over five years to complete a project on time and under budget served as a model for many other school building projects when he ran again to serve on the regional school committee after five years of leading that project it just proved how dedicated he is to the students of Somerset and the region he's a model for all and I wish him the best as he spends time with family okay now I'm going to go sit down so you can you want to say a few words mine won't be as fancy as yours just try to do this briefly and with not letting my uh I can't hear you do I have to face okay I've got a few just a few a few things to say I want first thank you for the recognition I think you youve got a lot of information there I would have gone for more money if I had known but uh 25 years ago I joined the PTO at North Elementary School to be more involved in my kids education and here we are today I've been on the on the thing since then I've been very fortunate that had great committee members and school U administers working through all the years the the years here I am most proud of having the opportunity to be part of the part of and in the planning uh and development of the somerset Berkeley Regional High School this was a project that walked in a variety of individuals into the in joint working together uh to the development of the school and uh the school for me that's the the biggest thing that and I love that project and uh and that's it I think that's all got for tonight if anyone has no never mind I'm going to say if you need some follow information or some books on the on the school I might have those but that's thank you so much [Applause] you I have a feeling I could be wrong that Mr Mado might have a few words but before we let him talk um I just wanted to recognize in the audience Mr Rick Pierce is here our um longtime colleague as well I don't want to put you on the spot Rick but I know you have a flare for words is there anything that you wanted to add I know you worked with Rich for a long time well I didn't come prepared to make any remarks really but um I just want to congratulate uh rich on his career as a servant in our community I remember when he first ran for the somerset school committee decades ago and he's continued his service to the community Through many many years U people have spoken about the uh his chairmanship of the building committee for our new high school obviously uh that was one of the motivating factors in my decision to run for the school committee I recognized that this new high school was the largest Capital project that the town had ever undertaken and uh his leadership of that project was extraordinary I not only did he cheer the monthly meetings of the building committee but he was a regular attendee at the weekly uh meetings in the trailer over on Luther Avenue where the project manager would report on the progress and U he would deal with the kinds of problems that typically arise over a project that took several years to complete So Not only was he a colleague but he is also my neighbor and a good friend and so I wish him the very best in his retirement and uh as he takes on a responsibility as grandfather which I myself have experienced and uh recognize that the older they get the great of the [Laughter] [Applause] [Music] challenge anyone else I'm just you know I said a lot last meeting but uh one of the things that you know Mr Pierce just mentioned and one of the things that we all um I've had that privilege of being a colleague of his for the last 19 years and it's probably uh for him too long but uh but I one of the things is he's a role model you know just like you know when we talk about the building committee um I met with a lot of the members and I asked how it went I met with him even when I was thinking while become the chair of the building committee I was able to pick up the phone uh that's the thing that I think I'll miss the most not that we can't call him it's just that he was always there uh he was a good stability for someone who uh you know that had that institutional knowledge that we could always go back to and that's the part that I'm going to miss the most so I just wanted to add um I wanted to thank Claire and the rest of the family we sit here at these meetings they go long they are frequent um and and a little further down the agenda we're going to try to fill some sub commit spots that Mr fener Maker has graciously um steered for so long and there's a lot of there are a lot of spots um I said before we could never fill his shoes but so it's a testament to how uh how um hard he's worked for the district but that is also meant you know you have shared him with the community so we're um we're grateful for that and we hope that you all as a family get to enjoy your time together especially with the grandbabies so thank you for that and just one more quick question CL how many times did you have to help him to get on Zoom during I'm just curious I know Mr Austin's here and we have family here and I would it be okay why don't we take a pause for a moment and let's take some pictures okay anyone get that yes all right let's do that I think we should capture the moment so huh well you know yeah we don't need to be in the picture but let's get a picture Mr Fence maker you your family that citation don't forget your citation here don't forget this this is yours to keep wherever you want wherever Georgia wants Jeff I think you should jump in a picture after the family St I don't know we need a good backdrop you're not getting in you're not getting in the photo yep that's we're not there we go that's what we need Sor getting [Laughter] get my good side this defense to take one Mr scoon over sure y'all are photogenic okay good fabulous thank you want to do one with the whole scen yes yes how that works you stay in the middle I think we're gonna have to like Ang I this is my good side no can you see over me can see spots I know Snapchat filter that's the problem congratulations thank you I'll all right which of these five are going to be my next Target now make I can't this who a bully now it's a hot mic F there [Laughter] okay I mean we do have a vacancy we do have a v we do have a vacancy couple months maybe we should do L and the best part is he doesn't have to stay for the rest of okay like ridiculous and when he's like chatting when he's talking I'm like he was my grandpa you know whatever he calls I know so cute no Noor borrow yeah borrow exactly we can yeah I don't think oh yeah than all right sadly moving on um I would uh just sorry just my mom face um uh just to finalize that I would entertain a motion to adopt the citation as prepared for Richard Fen maker so moved second second um motion by Mr Mado seconded by Miss per all those in favor I I'm not even calling for AOS osed so voted thank you everyone okay um reverting to the usual order the next item on the agenda is approval of the ski club trip to Smuggler Notch for uh February 2025 thank you tonight so yeah I'll be brief we do this for over 20 years now which is crazy um so um you know the justification rationale um this Trip's been going on before I was here said it's been going on for over 20 years uh it's beneficial a variety of ways it brings students together from different backgrounds kids get all put together and they get to meet uh new friends um build better bonds better relationships um it's great for these kids to learn do something that challenges them something that they haven't done before possibly um I learned how to ski on on a high school ski trip and uh and I got bit by that bug ever since and uh I just hope you know the kids who go they always have a great time and um you know it's also they get to see teachers usually the shop rooms get to see us another light um U you know it's it's always a great time you know and uh this year will be leaving February 1st at 5:00 a.m. and we'll be coming back um February 3rd um usually around 7 8:00 at night um so it's a again I'm asking for the approval said looking forward to it so I see there four boys that AR signed up that that are over there see that they can still sign up if they like promise to take them away for a long time week I'll pay you extra does anyone have any questions fabulous okay in that case I would entertain a motion to approve the ski trip to Smuggler's Notch February 1st through February 3rd so um motion by Miss Ferrera seconded by Miss O'Brien anything further on discussion hearing none all those in favor I opposed so voted have a wonderful time thank you for doing that um the next item on the agenda is discussion and potential action on the competency determination for the class of 2025 just going over if you want to sort of cue that up for us sure can uh so as you know uh with the passing of uh ballot question two on November 5th mcast is no longer a factor um for graduation uh requirements it's not part that mcast was the competency determination Factor um uh in Massachusetts and so we we can no longer uh use that for anyone who particularly in the class of 2025 who had not already met that competency determination so the the law which was passed on November 5th didn't go into effect until early December and we did have some um uh some retakes uh that took place in November before the law was actually enacted uh so with the current status for the class of 2025 is that we have for students who uh really have have not yet met that competency determination um so uh each School District now needs their uh School committees to approve what the competency determination will be for the class of 2025 uh just so that we um so we know and the students know really what to what they need to do in order to receive their diplomas this uh spring the state is uh is informing District that really we need to establish this competency determination uh equ in the subjects that have been mcast tested subjects so it's really through um grade 10 English uh through Algebra 1 and geometry and either introductory physics or biology which are the two mcast uh tested uh Sciences uh so what um what we're proposing is is that uh for ELA uh is really going with the the standard graduation requirement anyway all students need to complete four years of English in order to receive their diploma it's not just a uh State requirement it's a local requirement uh so the proposal in front of you uh was for that a successful uh completion which is uh means uh passing grades in four years of ela successful completion of three years of mathematics which is the graduation requirement uh demonstrating Proficiency in topics through geometry and Algebra 1 uh some students will complete that at really the geometry and Algebra 1 at the end of the sophomore year uh some students uh would be in a threeyear sequence so they would be completing that at the end of the junior year and then Sciences either successful completion of introductory physics or biology um the so there is a um because the uh the compens determination is really based on the mcast equivalent subjects and mcast we know is a that sophomore test U miss Andrew and I did have a conversation uh earlier about where that bar should be in ela whether or not it should be as I just proposed uh the four-year requirement uh but that really does go above and beyond what's expected for students because the the competency is I said is really the equivalent of uh the first two years of ela uh so that would be really the only other um I would say potential change that you could have and and certainly you can uh discuss that uh in just a little bit uh and I mentioned the the uh the focus is really right now on the class of 2025 but Dr prer is going to be presenting the program studies for next year too in that program studies it also outlines what the graduation requ requirements are for the class of 2026 uh so at the same time I my um request from you is whatever it is that you vote tonight for the class of 20 2025 we also extend to the class of 2026 that way it's in that program of studies and uh our current Juniors know what the expectations are for them to earn their diploma in June of 26 uh and then we'll have some ongoing conversations about really just what what should the competency determination be for future grades particularly for those who have not yet entered the high school um we have an opportunity to just look at some things differently but that's some future work and not really part of um what actions we need to write mov on discussion questions I am I will let you know that I had um some questions about this and I think that one of my there's a few different ways to tackle this on the one hand you can look at the direction to establish locally the competency determination as sort of aligning it with your local graduation requirements my concern with that is that if I think about the intention of mcast was to assess a student's Proficiency in skill through grade 10 English through um in in physics biology they used to be an engineering option I don't know if there still is right just those two um and then essentially algebra one and geometry so with that in mind and knowing that this this whole um process is sort of generated by a ballot question right so my concern would be I would actually be in favor of um making the competency determination really um just meet those basic um thresholds that the mcast exam was intended to assess and we still retain our rights locally to establish graduation requirements beyond that my and my rationale for that is I don't know what the next ballot question is going to bring or the next um directive but so I would prefer to to keep it very narrow and and align it with the intention of mcass that's my preference um and yet retain and I think as we look at program of studies and have a more extensive conversation about graduation requirements do that um I can imagine one of the intentions I think be um of the folks who voted in favor of the ballot question was to remove obstacles for students who had perhaps difficulty passing these assessments right and and to so in that spirit I wouldn't want to make the competency determination for our students um more difficult than it was under mcast if that makes sense knowing that this is only one piece of working toward receiving a diploma from Somerset Berkeley so it may look like it's lowering the bar but I don't think that's the case but I feel like this is like you know we go through grade nine and grade 10 you can establish which students have met these these requirements and then you you know you keep moving through your course sequence to meet the other local requirements so I would like to keep I would recommend keeping it very simple Ela grade n and 10 Algebra 1 in Geometry physics or biology specifically for this not negating our local requirements that's just my my take but I'm thinking other folks might have thoughts well I think if I could chime in here I think that you know it's January 14th and I think to your point right if kids have not already done this it's pretty hard to like Circle back and and do four years of you know successful completion of ela whereas they may within these four years have had two years or they may have you know be on the cusp this year and be able to get themselves where they need to be so I I do think they're certainly would be more flexibility in focusing on the you know grade levels that the mcast intended to assess um the only concern that I have like thinking about the future is then if we're to add something else in on top of this is that unfair to you know future students who you know it's just well you know I happened to graduate in the year that you know the ballot question was passed and so I got off easy kind of thing and now it's going to be more rigorous moving forward whereas if we go with something a little bit more rigorous now my sidebar question is how many students would to be negatively impacted by this that we know of and then it's like all right well we could scale that back in the future if there were some sort of different competency requirement that the administration decided they wanted to integrate you know with the incoming ninth graders is is sort of what I'm thinking so I'm I personally will go whichever direction the administration would like to go I think there's some flexibility no matter which way we go about it I don't necessarily think we have to worry about future classes and saying this class has it easier my daughter graduated during Co you know after Co she didn't have to take mcast to pass so I mean we've had that happen in the past for different reasons not necessarily this reason so I mean there's always something that could happen to change it again or change it to something else I don't know that we necessarily have to base this on you know trying to be fear to Future classes um I do get what you're saying because at this point this is making it more difficult which is the whole point of mcast was to the vote was to get rid of mcast and now we're asking them to pass four years rather than to I I do see what you're saying so which which they have to do to earn anyway we're not I don't want to you know they have to do that anyway but I feel like this is a separate polic the desie is asking us to make a very specific separate policy called competency determination in Li of MC and for that reason that's my rationale for keeping it very circumscribed and sort of disaggregating it a little bit from our local requirements which we want to be rigorous and robust and and I think we you know we retain the right even down the future to that's a whole separate discussion but to maybe add to that so I I don't want to I don't wish to lower the bar but at the same time I think about what was intention behind the legislation and um I realize we're also probably talking about we're fortunate that we're probably talking about very few students um however those students maybe are the ones in need of most support flexibility um so I don't I don't know whe that I see the advantage of making it this rigorous for this when we have you know other pieces that address that but that's just my opinion so I'm I'm just going to give my two cents since I'm being asked to vote on something the mcast the issue I had with the mcast is if a student failed the mcast but yet met all the local requirements they did not get a diploma that's the issue with the mcast this proposal is what is required to get a diploma in Somerset Berkeley High School so for me what mcast stood before the people in in Massachusetts said we don't want it it's no why are we talking about something that the people did not want now if someone had passed the mcass and failed these requirements to get a diploma in our high school would the student have gotten a diploma no the problem with the mcast it was superseding what is required in our district because if you failed the two years of you could have gotten all A's in the in Somerset Berkeley High School but if you failed that test you didn't get your diploma you had to make it up and try to so so I understand what you're saying but I'm not dumbing it down I'm just saying this is what's required for the Summerset Berkeley Regional School District to get your diploma you must have four successful years of ela not to because that thing doesn't exist anymore so I understand your point but I'm looking at it as my local responsibility to our students is we are requiring 4 years of E LA and with a passing grade just like dery just like Swansea just like every other school district is that the only other thing is that the state stopped it at year 10 but they also supersede what the districts were doing mcast was to keep every District in line we eliminated that so I'm not in favor of dropping it down to two years because wait a minute my child met this but it didn't meet the requirements for a diploma we where we're sending mixed messages in my opinion the message is sumerset if you want to walk across that stage you need four years of el you need three years of passing mathematics and it is with geometry Algebra 1 and again science three years of completion of either introduction to physical or biology so to me I don't see anything wrong with this and honestly anything that has mcast attached to it it's irrelevant now to me it really is because it it until the next mcast and again this is not a failure of our school district this is not a failure of the taxpayers this was a failure of desie they knew there was an issue and they just waited and waited listen now they're talking about mcast uh 2.0 too late too late too sad you know you waited too long the people spoke regarding what's going to happen in 3 years from now that's the next school committee's problem because at this point we're worried about what's today for 2026 and 2025 so so I I'm very comfortable with what's being proposed to us ask a question so the 20 25 and 26 students are aware that this was part of the requirement to graduate what you're proposing we re that that has always been nothing strange there yeah I agree with Victor because would it be contradictory to have two different sets of because one's going to override the other so one contradicts the other if you say this is our mcast equivalent expectant you know what we expect but this is truly what Somerset Berkeley is saying I maybe I don't completely understand the I don't know if you've talked with job your job alikes at all about how the other districts are tackling this I know some of my convers ations the the um in conversations I've had with some of my dog BLS it's been that to keep it to just align it with what mcast was intended to measure leave it there especially for a class of 2025 to keep it clean um and simple and I think others are doing the more we'll align it with mass core we'll align it with our local requirements so I think there's I've heard a range of different things I'm fine we're not we're not doing a bait and switch on any kids so that's you know there's no danger of that I just I'm trying to think about I don't know they CH unanticipated dominoes I'm also trying to think about the timing sometimes of this so if you have a student who's a freshman who passes so you have a sophomore right and they pass um they pass Algebra 1 geometry English 9 10 and um you know they they meet all what would have been the class equivalent you sort of know that they've met that and they're moving into meeting the rest of the requirements and if they don't then I'm thinking about your sort of at risk kids and who you're going to maybe do targeted interventions with based on that so I'm I'm fine either way it's the wishes of the committee and and upon the recommendation of you know um the the administrative team I just think this is this is um more than we need to do it's fine if folks want to do it it's not in contradiction with anything that we do but um I can just imagine there may be a student here or there where some flexibility because there is always a little bit of local flexibility sometimes whether it's a summer school course or there there are sometimes things that arise but would all those things still be in play if there is some flexibility to summer school or whatever we would still maintain that you would say that they would meet if they went to summer school for English one through our school and the summer school program they would meet their requirements that's how I would look at that and I just I mean my opinion on it is that Mrs Andrew I I understand what you're saying but I also think there's a lot of confusion out there already on what's going on and if we have confidency determination requirements that are graduation requirements our graduation requir really you can't get through the competency discrimination requirements you can't you can't get a diploma with just that you you can't say I passed the 10th grade requirements I want a diploma if you have a kid get four years of English and the two years of math because you need three like I think everyone's confused already I mean there's people out there that are telling me we're not doing mcast anymore we they're still taking mcats like there's a lot of miscommunication I think the more simplistic we can make it which is our graduation requirements that's now what we look at before we hand out the diplomas and walk out on the field my opinion is I just think Clarity is key right now and I have looked at the individual students and every student that is in danger of graduation we are meeting with on a term by term sometimes week by week basis with the senior class they understand the requirements because we had set them up anyway because we didn't know know what was going to happen with mcast they were in a fourth year in math they were in the science class they need so they already understood they had to pass one or the other now it's this um so no one is going to have a rub pulled out on them I didn't know this was happening they're all aware of what their requirements are if they're in that boat and for some of them because the pass is no longer there they've hit the third year of math they've hit the requirement we're good to go now where we weren't when pass well then can I ask a question related to that because this is obviously a partial this doesn't include social studies I mean I guess like so this does not align uh this is not a representation of our graduation requirements even this proposal because it doesn't include credits it doesn't include social studies it doesn't include doesn't include all the other things so it's a partial so I guess it's how partial do we want it to be I don't want to hold it up you know but I'm just saying it's this is not these are not our graduation requirements these are a a portion of graduation requirements and those three subject areas it doesn't address a whole bunch of other things that we also require you know it I don't want to make a problem where there isn't one I just think that knowing how this came to be makes me concerned for making it broader than it needs to be for this specific purpose that's my that's really my it may be a it may not be a problem but that was that's really was my concern um but you know I think I feel assured after hearing from the administration that they've looked carefully to make sure that this will not trip up any students this year and they're obviously having continued conversations so that is what you know has helped me get to the point where I'm ready to support this personally so and it's Dr bord said um because we've had the education proficiency plans in place which are no longer um sort of valid going forward but students who had not yet met that competency the school was working very hard with them to create what path they needed to be successful to show their uh their proficiency so those those plans are already very much in place aligned with what this proposal is and the kids know what they have to do and as Dr bford just said uh I think maybe even two of the four students if it was needing a science or a math they've already demonstrated that proficiency so we could already take four of those students and say okay well two of them now you you've already met the graduation requirement and now we've just already reduced it in half um you know I I understand and M is exactly what you're saying because uh you know I was almost looking at the the the two-year checking if we did that it's almost like a formative assessment right so halfway through High School we're checking in how do the kids um how are the kids doing in ela in math and science have they met that standard now it's like moving on to the second half of their High School career uh and then completing all of the graduation requirements is really that summative piece um I wasn't thinking necessarily that way earlier but I totally understand where uh your line of thinking is um but and just when Mr fener Maker was having his photos taking Dr brusser and I just had a quick talk and no matter what students have to meet those graduation requirements um if this proposal uh is approved students just won't know what that competency that they met that competency until May of their senior year rather than knowing it at the end of their sophomore year so that that's really the the key difference um it's just when they know that they have to check that box off to be on that path to their diploma could I just ask another question would say are all of these courses I should know this I'm sorry I don't all these courses full year courses yes okay cuz I'm wondering is the language about three years of science there aren't AR any semester based do we want to say courses or units or do we want to say years I don't know I like courses just because it gives us Flex if anything were to change I don't know but right now they're all full year I don't know if a student took a dual enrollment course I don't know I'm I'm imagining maybe options where do we want to say year do we are we okay with course in the pr stud is goes by credits each credit like each class is five full-time classes are five credits so if we wanted to change it to 15 credits that's how that would align with the program studies I like that idea justes you at the if you look at page five of the program studies it's 20 credits of English 15 credits of math and science you would add I can go into the next part must pass intro to physics or biology we would have listed in that and in math it would be the geometry the one i' okay do we have a motion anyone how on um it looks like I would entertain a motion to approve the competency determination requirements for the class n of 2025 and 2026 um as proposed um by Dr br and superintendent over so moved second okay we have a motion by Miss Ashley and seconded by Mr Mado anything further on discussion hearing none all those in favor I opposed so voted okay that leads us next into um the next item on the agenda is the discussion and action on the program of studies so I believe you were all given the program studies um prior to this meeting um to my knowledge I've never personally presented the program studies to the school committee so I hope I do the right thing here which is basically um I'm going to go through the things that have changed since last year um so if I don't talk about it assume it's status quo from last year so if um to start with on page five the sphs graduation requirements and I did highlight the in yellow what is going to change uh based on the discussion we just had which is we added that to the 15 credits of the science graduation requirement one of them must be either the intro to physics or biology which is very hard to graduate from here without taking one of those two classes but it is possible so that is why we put that in there um Mrs Andrews to your point before like if you tip all the project Le the way CL there's ways to do it most students don't but um so we added that and then we took away all references to mcast in terms of the graduation requirements so that is that's what we did there um we formally added also on page five the class of internship uh which that is going really well I think we're up to 11 or 12 students that are participating right now in an internship um three at the fire department I believe there's eight or nine at the elementary schools and middle school and then there's one person out the business community so we've kind of form formalize that process uh we did have curriculum that the students are following now so that is a formal class uh on page seven under the English language arts department we have we are trying to add to new electives to our program studies creative writing and journalism and speech and debate which is a blast from the past we used to offer that uh we are bringing it back um but that is all all of this obviously is subject to what students sign up for we run classes that students want so these have been added on page 12 this is not an addition because we did put this in the program of studies last year but this is the first year we'll be offering uh the and Plymouth colonist 1620 to 1678 that's the special topics in history uh program that we created last year it's a three-year cycle of courses that we rotate uh the courses every three years this is the second year so again that was in the program of studies last year but this is the first time that that class class will be offered on page 28 we formally put in our English language support class for uh F year English language Learners and on page 34 we have again another glass in the past we have uh resurrected the AP music theory class as an offering in our final performing arts department thank you does anyone have any questions I just have a quick question maybe Dr BR you just mentioned what's for 2026 correct this is these are the offers for next year okay all right because there is some that's for next year I like in the social studies Department yeah so that's how we wrote that um even last year that's what the program studies looked like for students to to know what's coming so that they can plan their their four years okay all right that's why that's in there and then the one that we offered this year which I cannot I'm sorry whatever one we offer this year that will be the following year it we'll keep like okay very good there any other questions I have just a maybe a to-do for us not specifically for the program of studies for 25 26 I have no questions about that but related and related to the previous discussion and I'd like to make it an agenda item going forward would be a conversation about um adding a fourth year math requirement to a future program of studies and graduation requirements we've talked about it in the past and I think that that is something we should um move to address not for any current student but would be for like an incoming class the timing of that um so we can move that to action item for future but I just wanted to mention it um because I think it's kind of all tied into these conversations um and perhaps um other conversations about graduation requirements walk in graduation and those types of things I think it's been a while since we've had a real look at at those types of things um and we probably should do that um does anyone else have any questions or comments okay hearing none then I would entertain a motion to approve the program of studies as presented for the 2025 2026 school year so move second motion by Miss Perera and seconded by Miss O'Brien anything further on discussion hearing none all those in favor I opposed so voted thank you very much our students have lots of great options and we know that what this means is that um as we go into school counseling week shortly school counselors are going to be getting very busy scheduling students so we'll thank you in advance we we know how much work that is so um so thank you very much um okay the next item on the agenda is to consider an act on the Commonwealth Massachusetts virtual schools 1% um cap and you have the memo in your packet we are Mr skover is there anything you want to say by way of introduction uh so the um the Commonwealth Massachusetts virtual schools statute uh allows school districts uh to to put a restriction on enrollment future enrollment at the Commonwealth U the Virtual Academy there are two um virtual schools in Massachusetts uh it could limit the uh the enrollment to 1% of our um of our students and and right now Somerset Berkeley is at 1.34% so we've exceeded that last year the somerset Berkeley Regional school committee voted um uh to not put that cap on and and that was my recommendation to you at the time um students who typically um enroll in the one of the virtual schools are enrolling because of school phobia or there's usually something and not all not in all cases but my conversations with families when they're making this decision there's usually some reason why uh they're they're choosing to enroll in one of those schools and um you know my my feeling last year and and I still feel this way is uh why are we going to limit that student's uh options but I also understand it was interesting with the information that you have to see what other school districts voted last year uh because we didn't have that information and i''s say maybe about a third or so of the of the districts voted to actually put restrictions um on the uh the enrollment maybe it was a quarter um so you know I I I I still feel uh like we shouldn't um but I also understand that um you know this is it is sending students to another school district as well and uh there's um which obviously costs uh the district money to send students to the virtual school which by the way they it's not $5,000 like school choice it's it's a much higher amount than that uh to send students to the virtual schools uh so there's a financial implication uh to this as well uh it doesn't if you vote to implement the cap it doesn't affect any students who are currently enrolled there they get to remain there and graduate from there if that's what they choose it just really limits the enrollment uh for future students until we fall below that 1% threshold again questions so if if we were to implement the cap and a new student wanted to enroll they their opt they would not be able to do that would not be an option for them so their options would be to attend SBA or or school choice to another Public School do you know how many students were over by so we had uh 12 yeah I don't have uh 12 students out of the 896 um enrollment which I guess that number comes out to be 1.34% so 1% would be yeah so about three students over just about but again this action if we were to take it would have no impact on currently en on those 12 students it were not they're allowed to continue and finish and it just restricts future enrollment right okay and do we have um information on the I'm sorry on the cost per student they bury that they yeah I didn't see that but I I've seen uh threads from superintendent um on the list serve um just uh discussing the uh the cost to send students to one of the virtual schools compared to the much lower cost through school choice that the districts receive but yet the virtual schools which are virtual they don't have the physical spaces like we do and everything else but it costs much more to send students there than it does to send students to case or a ponit or something through school choice um but I don't have they did not include the cost in this information so if I if I may Madam chair um I do remember this conversation last year when you had mentioned that you would like to increase the 1% and at that point I um I was very hesitant but I didn't make I don't even think I said a word word during the meeting cuz I wanted to take your uh opinion and bring It Forward seeing that it's 1.34 um I'm concerned and the reason why I'm concerned is one if a family moves to Somerset and their child's to come or Berkeley and their child's to come to either Somerset B Somerset Berkeley High School that's the school of that they purchase a home for um and the reason why I felt a little hesitant last year was if I want to send my child to stank the somerset school department doesn't give the family any money to go to stank you know it's basically but this is one of those caveats but if I want to do a virtual school I can um I I won't be supporting um the No Cap this year because of that one reason um I would if I hadn't heard that the 1.34 wouldn't be would be affected that I would have to reconsider because I don't like to give something to a student and then pull it back um but in my opinion um I just don't feel comfortable and the other real reason uh besides we don't give that benefit to Catholic or private schools we don't give that to parents we're working on a budget and at this point I can't put another unfunded mandate on our school department where five six seven students that want to go that's a mandate that I didn't budget for uh so that is the main reason one how is it fair for the other private school parents and two um our budget's going to be very tough so that's why I'm sticking with the 1% this year I feel like it's a little different only because students to school this point that are choosing to stay and do virtual school it's usually for a reason right not that they just don't want to be in the the classroom setting in a school for whatever the reason is so I guess my hesitation is that although budget is a real thing right and the money is is it more detrimental to enforce or not allow these students to do virtual school because we're over the cap I guess my perspective is that you know I think one of the things that we've worked hard to do here is we've put in um additional mental health supports for our students we' worked you know we all know that like there's been this re-entry into sort of like real regular school life that's been gradual and it's been harder for some kids than others um and I think we've been sensitive to that and I think that we put in we we have you three School adjustment counselors we have we have I think pretty robust Services um and we also have options for dual enrollment virtual High School I mean there are a lot of there's a fair amount of flexibility built into things in our program of studies and the supports that we offer our students and so I hear what you're saying about you know I think one of our there's the budget piece for me which I agree with Mr Mado um and I also think that it is also our responsibility as much as possible just like we've worked hard with special education students when possible to provide services here and bring them back into District that we also have a responsibility when feasible to work really hard to help our kids become resilient and participate in their school community no and so for that reason too I um you know every student is different and every family is different so I don't want to paint with broad strokes but I ALS I feel that we also are pretty we're pretty high up there and when you look at the list and we're this is a great school that has a lot to offer um and I know I understand fully online learning may be the choice for some students in their families I also would argue that that all there's a tradeoff there for for students um in terms of some things that they don't get um and that's always an individual family decision but we're pretty high up here we have a lot to offer I think we've worked hard the administration the team at the high school has worked hard to support kids in sort of that re-entry mode into sort of full-time regular face to-face school um so you know I I can't I I don't think it should be Limitless right we can't afford it to be Limitless we I think our resources are best spent um supporting programs in house so that's sort of why I would be in favor of the cap I two additional pieces of information I I just found so last year at this time we had 11 students um so it it increased by one uh since February of last year uh and the cost per pupil for fy2 is 9,727 almost twice school choice that's a teacher right 9,000 per at 12 times well it's 13 now right 13 students now 12 now 12 now 12 times my Math's not great but that's a teacher salary yes so and again we're not saying it's not an option but I I think it's reasonable I don't look at at as it's a teacher or two teacher salary I'm looking at it those are resources that we're taking away from our schools that we are not servicing the other 880 four students that's how I'm looking at it those are you know special ed is a different situation like for instance when we're bringing the kids because we want them part of our system but if if we have a student that has to go to the school of hearing and paired or something like that we can't handle that so that is money well spent this is a situation where where um yes there are phobias of school germs all of that but I also believe in 2020 how many students were doing remote be pre 2020 I don't do we have those numbers I would love to see what those numbers were or is this becoming something that oh I get to stay home in my pajamas and I have to leave the house uh I can play my video game you know so I would have to I those are the numbers that I really want to see before this whole remote thing even occurred um and I'll just go to colleges for instance what is the ratio between remote and actually onsite in colleges that's a number that I would love to know as well because I know a lot of students they do uh full all four years remotely but what is the ratio with that as well uh before and the pandemic because I think the pandemic is what really may have and I'm only I have no data about it but I would need to have that data as well so but I'm still looking at it as these resources are being removed from our 890 or 884 students um you know and don't get me wrong if they needed to ever be an exception and the superintendent really feels that there is something that's seriously guess what he always has that authority to come back and speak to us on something anything else in this okay in that case I would entertain a motion that the somerset Berkeley Regional School District restrict fulltime enrollment of future students in a commonwealth Massachusetts virtual school and set a cap to 1% of the district's total enrollment effective as of the 2025 2026 school year which does not not affect the enrollment of District students currently attending either of the cmvs and to authorize the recording secretary to submit a letter stating such along with the final minutes of this meeting to the Department of Elementary and secondary education commissioner on the committee's behalf so moved second motion by Miss Ashley and seconded by Mr Mado anything further on discussion hearing none all those in favor I opposed so voted thank you everyone okay mov along the next item on the agenda is the discussion for the process of filling the vacant seat on uh this committee um I just um would fill in the committee I wanted to let you know that I had a conversation with the chair of the somerset Board of selected Mr Souza um to review the um process as outlined in the regional agreement and um we agreed that the town would post the opening with a closing date of January 31st according to the regional agreement we have 60 days to fill a vacancy it's a joint appointment of the board of Selectmen in this committee um and we proposed holding a joint meeting on um February 11th just prior to this meeting um he is going to check with the other members of the board and get back to us and romen I don't know if we've heard have you heard from them talk maybe we can reach back out and just confirm if that date and time works for them so that we can all know that but tatively February 11th at 5:00 pm. what we would do is provide the members of this committee um the materials of any of the interested parties or asked to submit the resume letter of interest in a resume we review that and potential candidates would be interviewed in public um by the joint committees and then we would take a vote um on the 11th for that appointment they would serve until the suet down election at which time whoever is elected will fill the one year of Mr Fest Maker's um remaining ter that's sort of the process that we outlined the one thing that we didn't talk about that I think would be good practice would be to um develop a set of questions um in conjunction with the board of Select um to ask the candidates so that we um You Know cover that so um I don't know if the committee has thoughts on any questions about the process anything that we should you know Mr M well this is going to be my second time appointing someone for a school committee um what we did in the K8 side was uh we only had three candidates who who had uh all three of them came in they submitted their resume uh why their intent their letter of intent and things like that I don't believe we asked questions at the meeting I think we had the opportunity to reach out to them personally and give them call at that time uh instead of questioning them during the meeting so I think that might be a little cleaner in my opinion because you may ask a couple of questions and they may want to p pull out instead of oh I wasn't aware of this type of thing you know um but I'm fine either way the dates work for me but um one I'm really concerned how many candidates may or may not put in for it we could have one and that one person might not be the right person and we don't have to only if one person puts in that one person doesn't automatically get the position you know if we don't find that they're a qualified or whatever the case may be this is not an election we are appointing a person who we feel that can do the job um so if one person comes in doesn't mean you're it you know that type of thing and I see that a lot in town government in Somerset oh I'm the only person I put in for it and they appoint that person I'm looking for a qualifying a qualified person um and second if they're going to be interviewed are they being interviewed as a whole like a candidat debate or are we bringing them in as one at a time and the rest of them are outside waiting to come in type of thing so I would recommend that the chairs discuss what format we're going to use um you know are we doing more of a candidates debate or a uh hiring an employee um model because at that point we might not need 5 to 6 o' we might only need 5:30 to six depending on how many candidates there are right so and when is the deadline for the letters um January 31st okay so that gives us 11 days to I know I got some questions as to how many openings there actually are so I just wanted to put that out there there are two seats one is Kelly is the incumbant which will be on the ballot for three years then miss defense maker one year this is an appointment just until April it was some question because there was a one year for the somerset K through 8 uh and was questioned how those are appointed and those are appointed every year uh oh that confus me it was a little confusing to people because it was showing there was actually five spots when they're not elected they're appointed so Kate uh Somerset K8 appoints two of their elected members to sit on this board and then Berkeley has one of their elected appointed to is to make the full seven so just wanted to put that out there because I so basically George Austin messed up no I think there was some confusion when looking at it that there was so many openings they they weren't quite sure so I just wanted to put that out there that's but there is just one twomon apped position an interim until the election to fill the remaining one year left on Mr Fen Maker's term so um do members of the committee have a preference about process my inclination is I like when I ever interview anyone for anything I like to have set questions that I ask all the candidates the exact same questions and I like to do it individually um because it's not a it's it's not an election night right um and they're not so that would be my preference I've not dis that's not um specified in the agreement how we have to do it and I haven't discussed that with Mr of the board but that would be my inclination would be if this board wanted to generate some questions um I think consistency and you know openness is key to the decision so so are you asking us to submit you some you and Mr soua some questions and then you will compile because many of them sub to Robin submit it to Robin and then we don't break any yeah yeah I think maybe the best thing would be for folks to submit some questions and Robin if you don't mind sort of compiling we might have some duplicates and you know I don't think we need 10 of them I think Les is more there more we might have a different perspective in some of the questions that the board of Select might come up with but I think we can um confer with them come up with a set list and that would be my ination folks are comfortable with that so we'll reach out and have that any other questions question on that process where we are just one so to Victor's Point let's say it's one person and we don't deem them or nobody does we just run with that vacon until the election it's not ideal it's not ideal so um is there a process to like I mean I suppose we could reopen but we would be on a tight timeline to meet the 60 days I we ask a little bit of time nobody's pulled papers yet for the two open seats so right right it's concerning that we have 11 days for somebody to show interest yeah Mr Austin we need your help yeah my only concern again is you know this is not a an election you get what you the options there are um and that's usually what it is but an appointment I'm going to have a hug time voting yes for someone that I don't believe can do the the job correctly or goes against all the beliefs of a school Committee Member you know um and two months is really a very short window it really is you're talking three4 meetings but you know what that window is budget budget and we really we we need to have some we got we have to I'm concerned that the amount of work that we're already putting into the budget and someone coming in out of the street out of the blue who may not be um acclimated following what's going on in the news start changing things and I don't want to stop backtracking things that we've already completed and moving on so those are the things that really concerns me um if it wasn't budget season hey you know what they I don't disagree at all my concern is the same if it's not we can't build that is there an opportunity to take in somebody else the k through eight that would be willing to if they would have to submit a letter they would have to submit a letter just like anyone else in the agreement so I guess what we're saying is we're we are seeking um uh Somerset residents who are interested in serving um in an appointed intering capacity on this committee to submit um a letter of interest in a resume um the posting is on our website and also the town of Somerset website um if you have questions about that you can reach out I would say to the superintendent's office um and they can answer some preliminary questions about what that involves and let's hope that we get some great candidates if we don't and we can't agree on a candidate or there's no appointment made I guess we can we'll have to um take a look at the regional agreement and see if it stays if it stays open until the the election just a a quick reference from what happened many years ago our first vote was a tie just ju with the three with the four members of the just it was it was a tie there was no winner um that we had to caucus and oh on an appointment on the appointment so just it was the election was a tie by the way that year too uh but I'm just saying the very first ballot with the sele it was a tie so it could get to a situation where it's a tie what do you do then you know that type of thing so but hopefully we won't get to that okay we cross that bridge one if we can to it um okay um next up on the agenda is um oh I kind of sorry I said read right into that the schedule The Joint meeting so if we can hold to 11 at 5:00 pm and we will confirm that um the next item on the agenda is to discuss an act on subcommittee assignments to fill those vacated by Mr Fence to maker um there are openings um we have filled his opening on the budget subcommittee um we still have openings on the ask me collective bargaining the health and insurance trust representative which is time sensitive we need to fill that quickly um OPB and the tri District collaboration those are the ones that are open and just as folks are thinking about things the trid district collaboration is I don't know that that's we dissolve that one Believe it or I thought it's sort of um that's as needed and it's not needed right now um uh we are not in the middle of collective bargaining right now so that would that's sort of all resolved um with asme so it's really the health insurance trust and OPB that are the two that are I'm already on OPC so I I I'm willing to serve on both if no one is interested uh both the health and the uh oped does anyone want to fight Mr Mado you make a I'm ready I'm ready to debate I'm ready well in that case on behalf of a grateful committee Mr M we appreciate that welcome to OPB and health insurance trust sub committee um I think maybe we could hold off on we can even hold off on asme and try District until election and We R do everything anyway right unless something happens and we're going to redo that any there are folks on those both of those committees anyway so I think we're good okay so we're going to hold on those thank you Mr madow um the next item on the agenda is Staffing update Mr SC over sure uh we have uh one resignation a special education teacher so that position has been posted um we also uh have a somewhat of a request and and maybe Mr Austin can help with this as well um we have a shortage of van drivers uh so there is uh for Staffing it is uh these are hard to fill positions uh so we're looking for someone with some available time a little bit of time in the morning um it's usually maybe hour hour and a half commitment in the morning and then again in the afternoon uh driving our special education Vans usually just within town uh coming from you know often times uh high school middle school and elementary school either all three or a combination of those um and just bringing a couple of students three students home then going to the next School uh so it's it's uh a Daily Commitment but it's not a full day so it's Chunk in the morning a chunk in the afternoon and uh uh pays $30 per hour so um it is certainly a position that we are having a difficult time finding either substitute drivers or if we have a a vacancy uh finding someone to fill those um so I just put that out there for everyone uh and I know it it says Staffing update but um because we didn't have a student representative report I I'll just do like a superintendent update at the same time um we have uh uh the Civic show showcase happening this Thursday night uh all of our Junior students who um have been participating in the Civics and financial literacy course on the first semester of the year they will be showcasing their presenting their projects uh in the student dining Center Thursday night at 6 PM uh so I invite um certainly all of you I know you you actually receive the invitation I believe from the social studies department for that and invite the public to come see the the great things that are kids are doing and the the projects um that they've been working on um uh Mr Vieira Ryan Vieira um I mentioned earlier in the student um report one of the things that students mentioned last week at the student advisory uh council meeting as I as I mentioned was the um concerns about phone uh phones in in school and the impact that it has on students um prior to that I shared with you um information about a guest speaker that I'm um bringing in on Thursday February 13th Dr Jill wall she's a uh professor at Buu she's an expert in uh social media and devices and the impact on adolescence uh so she'll be um giving a a talk to um to us uh to parents I've extended the invitation to neighboring school districts too so if there are other school admin administrators school committee members who are interested in learning a little bit more um I think it's hearing from students and um I think hearing from an expert like this it'll give us some foundational understanding of the impact that cell phones are having on students um in case we want to explore uh creating some policies to really limit the usage in schools and being having a very firm limit um unlike what we've done in the past um and I think lastly uh we talked earlier in the fall about ice skating here some Berkeley we lost a good opportunity last week it was so cold uh but it was just on the heels of coming back from vacation uh I've talked with uh Chief Barrow and um Chris Wickman from the water department uh Town Administrator uh so I think the um the water department may be coming out tomorrow to try to um create what we had last year by accident out in this front soccer field and uh make use of this cold weather that we're having uh We've we've clogged we've intentionally now plugged the drains that were accidentally PL uh plugged last year clogged and um so we'll see what happens uh you know if it's something that works out then maybe this is something that we can do every every winter you know the weather it's you never know uh you can get uh 4 days in a row of sub30 weather and it's perfect and then all of a sudden it's 50° and everything melts and then that you've lost your opportunity until the next winter um so we're going to try that so if you see or if anyone sees uh the uh the Water Department out here uh flooding this field over the next day or two um you know that that's all that's happening okay and and hopefully it works out can I just ask a circle back to the van driver question so I just learn so it it's um an AM and PM $30 an hour do is do they have to be folks have to be 21 or just valid drivers there other criteria valid driver's license you know what uh absolutely valid driver's license that's a that's a requirement have to a special license um if any questions someone can email Somerset Vans SB regional.org uh that is an email that goes right to Mr Rosario and he will be able to answer any question that someone has so it's Somerset Vans SB regional.org great $30 an hour nothing maybe we'll find some more thank you okay great next item on the agenda budget and Financial um budget subcommittee report budget subcommittee held their first meeting just prior to this today um we were fortunate to get a good jump on things thanks to the work of Miss p and provided us with a lot of important information um [Music] we sort of backtrack so knowing that we need sorry my notes are in here so to hold our thank you um the plan the schedule would be to hold the vote for the preliminary budget vote would be February 25th public hearing March 11th final budget vote and approval March 25th and those dates are already in the calendar which just so we're working backwards from that so we are going to Endeavor to meet weekly um most often on Tuesdays prior to this meeting to get that work done so that we can present to the full committee a preliminary budget by the 25th of February so I just have a quick question so in six weeks or so we're going to be asked or maybe a little yeah about six weeks we're going to be asked to vote for a preliminary budget um we haven't seen any paperwork I know you've probably received received it today what I would recommend is share every document that you receive with us because if I hear the number on February 11th and then have to be making a choice in for I might not be prepared to vote Yes or no and I know we have to take a vote um and I know you're working on the budget um I I'm very comfortable saying this out loud this is a very tough year as we all know um I have to see what a level service budget looks like um before I even consider any additions um so I would recommend that we get a level service budget to us immediately um so we can see what that impact's going to be um because I have a feeling you know it won't be as easy as we think it will be so I just want to let I just want the public to know I need to see we need to see that number and I don't want to see it two weeks before I have to make a vote because I want to really digest uh a lot so I don't think we think it's going to be easy um did I miss anything okay um the next item on the agenda is the December fencil so the um um December finat also includes the budget amendments that we had approved at a previous meeting and I do want to say that in our budget subcommittee we're looking at also the current budget and the future budget so as we do that questions will arise it'll fine-tune what we're doing in current year and in next year um so when we find those questions and we have those answers we'll be bringing them back to the bo does anyone have any questions on December can I just can we just revert back to budgeting um obviously FY 26 we're already working on it and I'm just going to give you know our Administration some I I understand you know working with your team is extremely hard to get this budget especially presenting to us but you know as budgets are going to become a little bit more and more difficult I'm going to go back to the years where I first started off we would get the pre we would get the superintendent's budget in December sometimes early January and we were working on it along until we got to and I don't know if it's because of the whole budget subcommittees um but I feel like getting the budget in February to make a decision for town meeting in APR May or even during election seasons and all of that so I'm just going to encourage the administration that should be our goal moving forward is getting something either the January meeting as a presentation the superintendent's budget not the budget Workshop but the superintendent's budget to be placed to us um because I think M Ashley said it best at our school committee meeting last week we were we were looking at the number when the selectman was at our meeting um before we meet with Town officials and things like that she put it in a way that kind of woke that kind of reminded me how we used to do it I remember slicing apples at Wilbur school for uh Thanksgiving pies uh for the needy and Mr madas and I were already talking about the budget and how it was going to be presented next week or something like that so I think we need to get ahead of the game uh especially as it's getting more and more difficult so that's just a goal of I would like to put on you so I don't disagree I would love to do this earlier as well there was a difference between now and then two budgets there two two budgets that I quick two budget same staff working on two budgets yeah um that's that takes a tremendous toll on everyone um and so I that that's it completely understood I know and I'm not trying to I definitely know uh but I'm just thinking it's just extremely difficult uh I know you're working hard I know everyone's working hard uh but it's just it's really it's tough to really look at every line item and as you are building two budgets I'm reviewing two budgets as well so now my time is cramped where I was used to just watching it you know so that's why so maybe find a happy medium type of thing yeah all right thank you everyone next item on the agenda berley and Somerset Public Schools updates Solomon do you have an update for Berkeley um news from berley uh our community school is trying very hard to prove to us that that wants to be replaced um we had in so many ways I don't know if I want to hear we had on Christmas Eve day we had a hot water pipe burst and flood the library um completely flooded it the and because school was already on break for the holiday um thankfully I guess the steam from the heat set off the fire alarms which notified the fire department and found it relatively soon um so there's a couple of takeaways the thankfulness of that and that school was not in session kids were not sitting on the floors in the library um you know on mats doing things um but flooded the library so we will be our custodians worked very hard that week ripping up the carpets and we didn't lose too much um just the steam from the the from the steam the books kind of you know some of them we lost posters on the walls things like that but um so we're working to replace carpet that we're going to find bottom of the barrel clearance carpet that we can put down for the two years that we need it to get us through um so that happened to us um superintendent Ryan announced a couple of um a few number of grants that we received from the somerset Berkeley Education Foundation so I just wanted to in another Forum thank them for their continued support um of us in our programs um I think that was oh I had the just the a little fun thing the our student reps um reported to us on their newest Venture they've set up what they call the nest which is a concession stand at all of our basketball games and they are um little entrepreneurs in there um they've got candy and popcorn and merch from the schools that they're selling um even quite profitable for them and everybody loves it don't quote me on this but it's the first of its kind in our area no other K8 anyway has that kind of setup at their schools so they're having fun doing that aw that's it awesome thank you who wants to give the somet update Mr Michelle misser Miss ashle I did pull up the agenda in case Miss fera needs a break we typically make her do it while you still can't all right so our last meeting was actually relatively brief we did not have a a heavy agenda there we honored our students of the month we had our uh two student Representatives speak to the many activities happening at Somerset Middle School um we had um a citation to honor one of our retiring lunch and playground supervisors at North Elementary Judy Marley um we also had a citation to honor Onyx who was um a therapy dog at Somerset Middle School who recently passed away and we had we received a building committee update um for Mr masado I don't remember I honestly don't remember the specifics I don't have my notes with me but um we talked about I I know there's been some changes you know at the somerset middle school as you know the kids have been using the building and the faculty's been using the building there's those little things that pop up such as the loading dock I know we've talked about that one a few times um we had our superintendent update regarding uh some appointments and resignations we had our December financial statement we also talked about the opportunity that we have uh to participate in an msba accelerated repair program um for window replacement at North and South Elementary schools and um so we're looking forward to moving forward with the next step of that process which is you know bringing um you know to the community this opportunity and giving them uh the chance to vote on approving funds for our um oh I'm going to I'm going to choose the wrong words it's it's meeting exhaustion we're coming up on the third this is the third hour so forgive me um but it's the evaluation what do we call this it's the feasibility thank you feasibility thank you um we also talked about um the Articles the other articles that we have coming up at special town meeting in Somerset um we you know are looking for some funds for a feasibility study for North Elementary um to put up walls we don't have walls in in the interior of that building um and there's a lot that is involved with doing that um so that would be uh another um warrant item as well uh did I miss anything there we have Chase Windows oh yes and completing the chase window project uh we are doing the overwhelming majority of the windows right now um but we acknowledge that you know that's something that some point we're going to have to get the windows for that uh the the rest of the building as well um um and I think that was pretty much it okay thank you yep um the next time on the agenda topics not anticipated by the chair I have nothing great um action items for future meetings other than those discussed here anyone have if you do you know who to send it to is in charge um okay next in the agenda I would consider um a motion to approve the December 17th 2024 Open Session minutes as presented so moved second motion by Mr micho seconded by m f anything on discussion hearing none all those in favor I opposed so voted and we have public input actually I have a question about um the fouryear math requirement that was briefly stated during the um requirements conversation I wanted to know what your opinions would be on how that would impact students who don't plan on going into any stem Fields kind of similar to how it would impact uh students with English who don't plan on going into any literary Fields like what if a student wanted to go into an Arts field and they had um been robbed of a spot in an Arts elective in order to have a replacement for the final year of math requirement because seniors tend to really value their choice that they are given um in that final year and that like flexibility that they're provided with as upper classman usually are um given the priority making it more difficult for lower classroom to get those can I be the first to say great question just so you know I love that question it is a great question I think what I would say is because it's not that specific thing is not on the agenda for tonight we won't get too far down the road but what I would encourage you to do is it's simply a it's a thought that we will um address at a future meeting um but that's a very valid question and what I think would be great is when that is agenda for the committee for you to um come back and ask that again and in the meantime um if you have conversations with other students or want to bring that forward to get that student perspective I think this committee would very much value and appreciate that because that was a general consensus amongst students when I asked them done interviews for am where students who are in Music and Art Fields they tended to um be very in favor of removing mcast because they felt that it didn't really impact their um future career goals and even with like you know the current um four year requirement of English that's still kind of an extra class out of so we're only given seven classes in our senior year and sometimes there's added new um electives like for example the journalism elective um that was recently added where let's say if there was a math requirement than if a student had other electives that they were planning on doing and they didn't have that room for that journalism elective but would they do as a senior I think that's a that's a great question and I'm not putting you off but I since it's not since we since it's not on our agenda to discuss at this time I wouldn't want to go too far but I I think it's a great question and I think the student perspective on sort of the implications of if there were if there were there is not right um any change considered to graduation requirements course offerings all those things that hearing from students um whether it's through public input at this meeting through the student advisory Council those are all great ways to get that that information to us and we would absolutely want to hear that before any decisions were were made thank you can I ask I'm sorry what's your name hi nice to meet you my grade student just draging right you did a really nice job thank you we don't get a lot of public input so we're thank you for thank you very much usually we're looking at Mr Austin and you know have nothing so thank you a great question anything else okay um in that case I would entertain a motion to adjourn so moved you're not motion by Miss Ashley SED by Mr Brian all those in favor I post so voted thank you everyone have a great evening