Good evening everybody, and welcome to the school committee Westfield Public School Committee Meeting of December. First, Ms. Kuci, can you call the roll? No. Jeffrey Gunther. Here. Kathleen Hillman? Here. Bo Sullivan. Here. Heather Sullivan? Here. Mike Terrell. Here. Tim O'Connor is absent. And Chairman McCabe President. All Rise Republic. Sorry about that. I dunno what I was saying. Um, I'd like to open up the, uh, public Participation portion of the meeting.
Anybody who would like to address the school committee, we'll leave it open for about 15 minutes. Anybody who would like to address the school committee on a topic of their choosing could certainly do so. And you have up to three minutes to address that topic. If anybody wants to address the school committee, feel free saying none. Let's move on to the Westfield High School Public Participation portion. I'm Mr. Je. Good evening everyone. I'm Chuck Dreek, the principal of Westfield High School, and I'm joined today by Patty Healy, who is our career center counselor, and five of our students who are currently participating in our internship program.
As all of you, I believe are aware, we've had our internship program going for a number of years now, but this is the third year that it's run under Patty. We've seen it grow. We've seen the quality of the programming grow and also the quality of the internships, uh, get stronger throughout the years. And we just thought that it would be exciting for you guys to hear some of the experiences that our students are having in the community. Patty, Good evening. Everyone Love the colors. Thank you. Well, you know, just had to Once a bomber 'cause once a bomber always a bomber. Correct? Correct. But thank you for having me tonight.
A quick rundown. Um, as Mr. Raznick was saying, the career center has evolved a little bit. My favorite part is that we're getting some really great true internships and so many students like the five that I have here tonight, are very interested in learning more about their career before they graduate from high school. The area, the largest area that we currently have is the medical field. We have students in physical therapy, radiology, oncology, skilled nursing, and behavioral health. Um, engineering is brand new to us thanks to Pro Ampac. Our second largest group is education. Both the middle school elementary
and preschools have representation. Abrook Village in Westfield, we have someone in the recreation department, Westville Fire Department, Westfield Dispatch, and Mountain View Landscaping. One of my favorite things to see was watching one of my students assist in putting up the goalposts. Woo hoo. And that was quite recently. Um, yes, I did pick the nicest day of the week to go watch that. Um, almost everyone here actually. Yes. Everyone here I have seen an action. That's one of the things that I require of the students, is that I go see them in their position. It's wonderful to hear them come into the career center, give information about their day, their week,
good, bad or indifferent. And it's another thing to see them actually in action two that you're gonna hear from tonight. I had the unique experience of being at the fire department watching one in action while I heard the other come over the radio from dispatch. Oh, cool. So it was kind of a neat, neat thing to see. But most importantly is just the experience that they're getting, the time that they're spending. And it's all, or almost all of what the internships are unpaid. If anybody wants to pay him, let me know. Okay. And without further ado, come on up. Hello
Good evening. My name is Mohammad. We, I'm currently enrolled as an free rev clinic, as an intern at Free RevB Clinic at Ville High School. It is a student based program in which students get to recreate and de redesign websites of local businesses. And, um, by using WordPress, being part of this program has helped me apply my knowledge in real life situations and helped me apply my knowledge. I have become more confident, more responsible, and aware of my skills that I need to succeed in this field. This internship has also helped me succeed in this field.
This internship has also helped me better understand my field of interest. Looking forward ahead once I graduate, I planned good college for cybersecurity. Oh, cool. And work with web designing and web development so I can practice and learn more security management for a website and computer management systems. This internships help me guide my goal, guide me to going to my goals. I'm excited to continue learning as a, as a complete my complete as a complete my placement. Thank you very much. Thank you Mohammed. Hello everyone. It's nice meeting with you here today.
My name is Chris Shay and I'm an intern at Westfield Fire Department. I intern at, uh, broad Street, which is just down the street from here. And that internship has really opened my eyes to what I want to do when I'm older. A few of my uncles are firefighters and I always took interests in the profession. And having this internship really showed me that I want to do it because first day I did it, I met with everyone. I worked with fire prevention, uh, Chris King, great guy. And then the Chief Training Officer, uh, Chris Brown, who's also amazing. And when they're not there, I work with the captains and I get to participate in the training,
which is also great. They show me everything they do. I get to go along with ambulance calls. I can't do anything, of course, I just sit there and watch. But that is, it's a great experience to have 'cause you get to see what these people can do and just heat of the moment situations. And it kind of made me want to do firefighting even more. So I signed up for an EMT program starting at Westfield State in January. And then after that, my high school plans are to work for a MR, which is a private ambulance company outta Springfield. And then around this time next year, start my paramedic school, which is a two year program. And then just try it again on a fire station
and make my living from there. It was beautiful seeing you out today. Good for you, Chris. Thank you. Good, Good evening everybody. My name is Jack Todos. I intern at West Regional Dispatch. And my internship has really widened my perspective of what I want to do in my life. 'cause I wanna be a firefighter and that has really showed me how fast things can happen, how things can just pile up really quick. And it, even though I haven't been able to like talk to anybody over the phone, I have been able to see all the situations play out and how fast everything piles up and, um, how everything plays out. Even I've talked to people over the radio.
I usually dispatch people. I've, I've dispatched Chris actually to some scenarios and it just plays. It just goes quick. My future plans are I want to join an EMT program to get my EMT license and now I wanna start my journey to become a firefighter. Um, I wanna get my paramedic after I get my EMT certification. And then I'm gonna start, I'm gonna try my best to maybe intern at another fire department once I get older or just go into a, an ambulance program and get myself into the programs there.
Thank you very much. Good evening everyone. My name is Kylie. Um, my plans after I graduate high school are to attend a four plus one program, um, at a college and double major in education and math while I go. Um, right now I am placed at the middle school in both a Math eight and an Algebra one class with Miss Guyette. Um, it's giving me the experience that I feel is necessary to, um, support me in my future career as a high school math teacher, but it's also an experience that I feel not many people get
to partake in, which is why I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity my internship has. Let me, um, not only just help in the classroom, but also teach and lesson plan as well as, um, form very steady relationships with the students. And honestly, I feel like that's my favorite part in it. And that's why I think that everyone deserves to have an internship is because it gives you hands-on experience in the career that you want to spend your spend the rest of your life in.
And it helps you decide that that's where you want to be for the rest of your life. Thank you. Nice. Thank You. Kyle. Remember us four years from now. We're always looking for good math teachers. Math Teachers. Does his mic work? Wow. Hired. Hi, my name's Morgan Harlan and I have an internship at Holyoke Medical Center in the oncology unit. Not only has my internship here confirmed I was correct in what I wanted to do with my future, but it also helped me grow and become more prepared for it. The HMC staff are beyond welcoming, welcoming and supportive. Always going above and beyond to explain new things.
Encouraging me to be confident in all that I've learned so far. And answering all my questions that come up. I always feel like they're just as excited about my growth as I am. The amazing patients are just the same with every interaction. I learn something new. Starting my day with them every morning has been the biggest blessing, leaving a huge impact on me. You never know how much a smile conversation or helping hand can truly matter. This internship has really opened my eyes to the world of healthcare and I can't wait to graduate and start my journey of becoming a nurse practitioner specializing in oncology. Wow. Thank you. Thank you, Marty. That's all we have. Any Questions? Super. Mr. Sullivan.
It, it's not a question, um, but more of a statement. If you listen to all five of them, the areas that they all picked, they're all working and helping other people. They're all EMTs or oncology or, you know, cybersecurity and teaching all of that. I mean, all five of these areas are to better everybody else. And I think that's a huge part of this. That's where leadership comes from and those U five have taken that first step towards bigger goals. So I I congratulate you all on, on what you're doing with this. So, good job.
Well said. Anything else? Moving on to the student high school presentation, um, representative. Sorry about that. Hello, I'm Colin Wet, president of our Student Council Executive board, And I am Sharon Gurung, um, fellow e-board member. A very exciting and festive November to talk about and then a lot of upcoming things for December. Starting off, our Westfield High School transition program visited local businesses in order to obtain donations to the food pantry and hosted their annual Thanksgiving celebration. November WHS Pathways program has also begun to, uh,
begun A student led a newsletter and are working to start their own student leadership program. Principal. Dr. Recently has hired Mr. Irwin Santiago as an assistant principal who is helping oversee, um, the Pathways program Going into the topic of futures and colleges. We actually had our Massachusetts Collins Acceptance Celebration, um, held in our counseling department event took place over four days, included 20 colleges and universities, and ended with nearly once or ended with 160 college acceptances in nearly
$1.5 million, potentially awarded to students in merit scholarships. Well done Mrs. Mcil. Yeah, Mrs. Mc. Uh, Camille's, uh, PO pottery class has also had a hot chocolate, uh, social last week, which students voted on the best design for their hot chocolate mugs. Our culinary art students host a Thanksgiving feast in their classes. And, um, 12 students from our band and chorus were named, uh, as are named as senior District winners.
Uh, this month and the day before break, we had a very successful powder puff, hall wars, and pep rally. Seniors were able to take the win in all of them and in all of them, but we had a great display of sportsmanship in collaboration and excitement from all classes. On the same day as our pep rally, we had our homecoming dance. This was held last Tuesday. It was leading us into break, and we had nearly 300 students attend, which is some of the best attendance we've had in recent years, similar to our masquerade from October.
We'd also like to extend the congratulations to the winner of the bomber Pie T-shirt Con Test. McKayla Ellis. Moving on, we're gonna be talking about December, December marks the start of our winter sports season. I know we've had plenty of tryouts, signups, and practices already happening. Um, one to look out for is there will be a ski meeting on Wednesday, December 3rd. And, um, for a while that a high school has been using, uh, an e hall pass system on site called mga. Through the site, students can, uh, be awarded points, uh, Chuck Bucks, we call them, named as Chuck.
Yep. Named They're very old principal. Okay. But I do like that's really kind. Cool. We, And today we've just announced the first winners of the PBIS raffle using Chuck tickets. And, um, there are five people who won homecoming tickets and, uh, five others who won assortment of prizes from dunking gift cards to movie tickets. Now, I know you were all there when the 2027 Peru trip was confirmed. Um, but what's important to know is that there'll be an informational meeting Thursday, December 4th at 6:00 PM at the high school. And an RSVP um,
can be found on QR code on posters near room three 30 and room 3 26. The high school has also recently, uh, formed a new club spearheaded by, uh, me and fellow students, Lanie Ching and Hailey St. Jean. Um, uh, the club is the Asian Cultural Club. This club is, um, club celebrating Asian, and, uh, celebrating and sharing, uh, Asian food traditions and celebrations of certain things and holidays within, uh, WHS students with WHS students. The first meeting is set to take place on Friday,
December 12th, and the WHS Winter concert is set for Tuesday, December 16th at 7:00 PM You should come. It's a great concert, great amount picks some songs. Uh, our also, our, uh, WHS Core Winter Concert is also, uh, December 18th at 6:30 PM We should also go, but band is a bit better. I say. Says that Finally to wrap up. Uh, WHS will be hosting a given tree through the Salvation Army to help purchase gifts for families in need this holiday season.
Anyone interested can visit the main office of WHS. Thank you. Thank you, thank you. Well done. Unless that was weird. A little brief. Right. How about, uh, item number six, Uh, Mr. Mayor, um, just real quick, uh, Tom Lewis, uh, uh, coach of the Westfield Swim team has agreed to come and, and talk to us about, uh, a dedication that's coming up, um, of a plaque for Navy Special Warfare operator, first class Christopher Chambers. Um, as many of you, uh, likely know, he died, uh,
in service to our country. And, uh, was a, was a swimmer here in Westfield, uh, back in the two thousands. Yep. Uh, early two thousands. Um, so, uh, Mr. Lewis, thank you for, thank you for coming tonight. Um, can you tell us just a little bit about Okay. After speaking with, uh, Mr. Terrell last night, um, basically what happened is, um, Chris passed away tragically and we put forth the effort to raise money to dedicate a plaque in his honor at Westfield High School. Um, that plaque has been, um, purchased
and I've been working with, uh, athletic director Boros, principal Raik, and, um, Troy hanky at the VFW to put together the ceremony next Thursday the 11th, to dedicate the plaque and unveil it for, um, hopefully the family's. I believe the family's gonna be there. And afterwards the plaque will be hung, um, in the hallway between the, the door leading into the gymnasium where the other memorial plaques are held are, are posted so
that, you know, the, there was discussion of maybe posting it outside the pool. And, and I wasn't enthusiastic about that. 'cause very few people would see it. 'cause unless you've been to the high school and know where you went in out of the pool, very few people would see it to, to display it outside the gymnasium with the other, um, memorial plaques. Everyone who walks through the building every day would walk by it and see it and hopefully read it. Um, anyone who comes into the high school to see an athletic event such as a basketball game or a volleyball game or whatever, would be forced
to walk by and see it. And so we, we chose a, a spot that hopefully would honor Chris in a, in a nice way. Um, and the, the, uh, presentation of that is next Thursday. Thank you. Any follow up from the committee? Thank you Mr. Lewis, for doing this. 'cause sometimes we don't even honor our students, so thank you for presenting this plaque and the ceremony and putting it together for us. Thank you. You're welcome. Ms. Sullivan. Yeah. Um, Tom, thank you for doing this. Um, I obviously am gonna vote in favor
of the plaque and the location. I think it actually is a better location than in the pool. I was thinking the same thing. Nobody besides the swim team or parents of the swim team are gonna see it or other schools. And, uh, I think you've got a pretty good spot. 'cause I know a lot of people see that area. Um, one, there was a, there was a proposal out about a month ago, six weeks ago to name the whole pool after Chris. Um, I was in favor of that. I think he was the perfect example to name something after. Um, I think he's a perfect example for our kids to look up to and to aspire to do good things and to be a good person and to give back.
Um, obviously part of that reason is we lost him tragically way too soon. Uh, but, uh, recognizing him in this way I think is a, is a great honor. I think the family will be pleased. Um, you probably already know that. Um, so I, I appreciate the work done behind it. And, uh, I know there's gonna be a motion eventually. So I'll, I'll vote, obviously in favor of this to hang the plaque there, Mr. Lewis? Yes. Um, I've had the good fortune of being able to work with you on this thing since its inception. I just really want to give you my heartfelt thanks for doing it. I appreciate all the work that went into it. I know that there was a lot of wrangling behind the scenes
that it, it was a little bit confusing. Which brings me to my very last hurdle. Um, do we need a motion to accept the plaque as a gift? I don't believe that we need to have the actual dollar amount, but we do need to accept it as a gift, I believe. So. Is there a motion for that? Uh, make a motion to accept, uh, the plaque as and the placement of said plaque as, as presented Motion been made by Mr. Terrell and seconded by Mr. Hillman. Um, is there any further discussion on the exception? Uh, accepting of the plaque as a gift, saying none.
All those in favor? Opposed? Motion carries on on that issue. So that's the last hurdle I think that we have to go through again. Tom, thank you very, very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Next item, school committee meeting minutes. Uh, I'd like to make a motion to approve the school committee meeting minutes of November 17th, 2025. Second Motions been made in second. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Mr. Sullivan, can you do me a favor? I Can try. Can you take your chair? Uh, Heather supposed to.
Heather. Heather, can you take the chair for just a second? You wanna do what? You want me recess? Supposed I'd like, I'd like to make a, make a motion for the approval of homeschool applications. Number 1 61 dash 1 72, uh, excuse me. Numbers 1 62 through 1 72 for the 20 25, 20 26 school Year. Second motions made. And second. And all in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Motion carries. Um, number nine. Um, I'd like this is, I'd like to make a motion
for the first reading by title only to amend policy file IKF graduation requirements. Second. Okay. And there should be a discussion. And, um, Christine, she would you please present? Yeah, I'm gonna pull up the slides if Susan wants. Thank you. Oh, Susie? Yes. Thank you. We reshuffling your deck now. So this is the presentation that we had done on November 19th, I believe that included the competency determination and some suggestions were made at
that time by the committee. And so Mrs. Hillman had asked us to return to the presentation prior to the discussion. We've got our best tech person. I Could see that It should just be another room. She's gonna nail it. Oh Yeah. That's why I said please, we can Sign. This is very tricky. Oh, it is. And there it is. Okay. Here it's Really well done. All right. Thank you. Thank you. So we had Okay. Okay.
We had looked at the existing requirements for both schools, but first we reviewed mass core recommendation, uh, from the Department of Elementary and secondary Ed, which we aspire to. So the Westfield High School requirements are mostly in line with Mass Corps, with the exception of the math requirement. So by increasing that to four,
we will be in line there. And then the one that, the one requirement that still will not be a Westfield High School graduation requirement at this time is World Language. WTA currently requires two and a half credits of social studies in science. They do have a different schedule, number of instructional minutes because of their week on academics alternating with shop.
And there are some related courses. The majority of related, which means related to their career tech ed program are science related. So we, Eli, if we eliminate related from the electives line and just have electives one credit, then when we increase science to three, it's already absorbed. Then we do have a requirement of
financial literacy at Tech Academy, which is part of a social studies requirement. And most students will be able to complete the three social studies credits. But depending on their shop and the hours required for their competencies, they may have certain requirements substituted or waived. And that would be the principles purview.
So these are the proposed changes at Westfield High School that we talked about. The addition is Computer Science one credit and, and electives remaining at five. So with the increase of the computer science one, credit and math moving from three to four, the total credits required for graduation will be 24 At Tech Academy. This shows the increase in the social studies
and science, the decrease in that related electives line. And we are still at the 32 credits. And Tech Academy is waived from the requirement of World Language and Arts. CTE schools are not required to do that. One thing I forgot to mention on the other one is these changes that will take effect with the freshman class of 26 27 school year. So the graduating class of 2030.
In order to realize all of these changes, tech Academy will require an additional science teacher, and Westfield High School will require an additional math, pe health and computer science. And the PE health is not due to a change with the requirement. It's due to the elimination of the sport exemption, which ensures that all of our students meet the PE
and health requirement. And then, and that's it for the graduation changes. Thank you. Any questions Dr. Gunther? Um, so I know the, the one part of Mass Corps that we're not adopting yet across the district, as you mentioned, is the foreign language. My assumption is that we still, we anticipate having enough language available and that we're counseling students aspiring to four year universities into those courses. Given how often that's a graduate or a requirement for those Placements. Yes. Similarly to the math students that are working there on their path
to college, if that is their choice, uh, they determine the requirements. They're working with their counselors. And we also have options for, uh, language through Edgenuity for initial credit, uh, online platform. If a student wanted to take Chinese two years of Mandarin Chinese instead of Spanish or French, uh, which is what we offer, then they would be able to do that through Edgenuity.
Thanks. Any other questions? I just want, I just wanna thank you for doing all this work. It was a humongous uptake from where we were before and we are getting closer to those mass core. Thank you so much. Thank you very much Mr. Sullivan. And I know two weeks ago you were in front of us too, talking about the same topic. Mm-hmm. And we, I did mention that we were gonna have a meeting of the whole to talk about this with both subcommittees with the policy subcommittee and the curriculum. You have talked to both committees. We had it in policy committee tonight.
We talked to the chair of the curriculum committee and everybody is now on the same page. Everybody's got a chance to ask a question. So this would be the committee of the whole that we were talking about two weeks ago and we can move forward now. Yes. Towards the goal of submitting all of this to Desi, um, by the deadline, which is December 31st. Correct. Do you want to, so that Keeps us on track. We, The first reading. Go to a second. Uh, We can do, I think we can do it. Do we or do we have enough time? Yeah, we, yeah. Sorry. There was a little caucus going on over here.
Just wanna make sure I got my eyes outta my t's crossed. Alright. Um, thank You. Super. You ready to go forward with first reading Title I, So Mike, you do first reading. Oh, okay. Uh, Bo Sullivan. Yes. Heather Sullivan. Yes. Mike Terrell. Yes. Jeffrey Gunther. Yes. Kathleen Hillman. Yes. Chairman McKay? Yes. Item 10. Okay. Um, I'd like to make a motion, um, for the second and final reading by title only to adopt policy file IKFE, competency determination.
Second. Motion made, made and seconded by Mr. Sullivan. Is there any further discussion saying none. Ms. Sullivan. Heather Sullivan. Um, Heather Sullivan. Yes. Mike Terrell. Yes. Jeffrey Gunther. Yes. Kathleen Hillman. Yes. Both Sullivan? Yes. And Chairman McKay? Yes. Item 11. I'd like to make a motion for the approval of amendment memorandum of agreement between the Westfield School Committee and AFSCME Clerical Union secretaries. Second Unauthorized mayor to sign in. Still sign on Behalf of the committee. That doesn't count. Motion been made.
And second, is there any further discussion on the matter saying None. Mrs. Sullivan. Jeffrey Gunther. Yes. Kathleen Hillman. Yes. Bo Sullivan. Yes. Heather Sullivan. Yes. Mike Terrell. Abstain. Ab Epstein. Sorry. And AB absent for the next one. And Chairman McKay, Before I give the Yes, I just want to thank everybody who was involved in getting the negotiation process done. And I'm happy for the way it turned out. Yes. Item 12, I'd like to make a motion for the Approval of new scholarship account, the Michael Gonzalez scholarship. Second Motion, then maiden. Second. Motion been made.
And second, do we have some further discussion? Good Evening Everyone. Mrs. Barry. How are you? So this is currently a scholarship that already exists. Um, the issue is that it exists in multiple different bank accounts throughout the city. Um, so I've been working with the city treasurer to try to bring it all into one account that exists under the city. And by you approving that, we would be able to do that. Um, so the signers on each of the accounts that currently exist would go to the bank, obviously close out the bank account and bring a check to my office and we deposit in this new scholarship account.
So we'll just have one account. Total Accounts reasonable. Any other questions? Ms. So Mike Terrell? Yes. Jeffrey Gunther. Yes. Kathleen Hillman. Yes. O Sullivan? Yes. Heather Sullivan? Yes. Chairman McCabe? Yes. And while you're at it, Mrs. Barry? Yes. I wanna take item 13. I'd like to Make a motion for the acceptance of the Westfield Public Schools financial statements. Second. Second. Motion been made. And second, Dr. Gunther was the second. Any further discussion? Mr. Is Barry? Sure. On the expense side, um, at the top of page two,
you'll see our legal contract services line is in a deficit. Um, we have three pending, um, lawsuits currently that are accumulating, um, quite a bit of legal fees. Um, so there you'll see a transfer on the agenda for that. Page three at the bottom, heating fuel. Um, the projections have actually decreased. So the original projection for natural gas was 1.2 million. Um, we're at 1 million now. And then for electricity on the top of page four, the original projections were 1.5 million.
Um, we're at 1.6 million now, um, for projections. And that was due to a hot start to the summer on page. That's clear. It's clear. Get a pool On page five. The OUTTA district vocational tuitions. So we actually have a balance there. We had four students that were approved and budgeted to attend Smith Vocational. They all ended up at the high school. Um, and we also had one student that was approved and budgeted to attend LP vec. And the same thing. Did not end up attending lp.
VEC ended up in one of our schools. So that's why we have such a, a significant amount of funds there. Um, at the bottom of that same page five, you'll see the $75,000 that hasn't been touched yet. That's obviously, that's our legal settlement lines. That's for any of those pending lawsuits that we have. Um, currently in motion. And page 30 at the bottom under the sped in district transportation. So we do have, um, a balance there. That is because we are currently only using 18 out of 22 of our mini buses. Um, and that is due to a lack of our vendor being able to attain drivers.
I did talk with Pam Kaki last week and she did indicate it's not that there's a lack of need for those mini buses. It's more of a lack of being able to get the staff to actually drive those mini buses. And same thing on page 31. You'll see under regular transportation, the pupil transportation line has a balance. Again, we're only using 27 out of the 29 regular buses. Um, McKinney-Vento does also come from that line. Um, and we are running high. So that balance may actually need to be used to, to fund the McKinney Bento line. And that's all I have on the expense side
There. Any questions on the expense side? Mr. Sullivan? I got one from the business office. You got advertising? Yes. And I have no idea if you buy the advertising or what the advertising is, but what is the Advertising? The advertising. So anytime anything goes out to bid for the district, we have to advertise it in the paper. Um, and it's a pretty significant cost usually. And now it's about a thousand dollars. So that is what that line is for. The reason I ask is obviously I thought advertising was something completely different, but you've got all these school systems out there on television saying, come work for us. We're great, we got great benefits,
you're gonna get a pension, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Do we ever do that? No. And those people from those districts come to work for us. Wow. That was my question. I just, it wasn't for these guys. It was to show that there's no money in our budget to do that. We don't have advertising. We don get, I know. 'cause we don't get it. I wish we didn't have to advertise the RFPs. Right. Because that's an expense that should be completely digital if you ask me. How about the personnel side? How we over there? So on the personnel side, just a couple things to point out. Um, on page three, the instructional coaches, you'll see that line's in the deficit.
The, um, the person was actually just charged to the wrong line. So the paperwork is in motion to have that fixed. That line is not actually in a deficit. Um, page seven, again, you'll see a whole bunch of charges for Abner Gibbs and Franklin Ave, which obviously makes no sense at this point. So it was just, um, accounts that kind of lingered over in people's personnel lines that didn't get updated. So those have since been updated and paperwork's done to move all those. Um, page 16. This is the paper mill bilingual teacher about halfway down the page. Um, so unit A members now are at about 23%, um,
of what's been expended for the year for their salary. You can see that this position is at 33%. I'm pointing out just this one, but it, you'll see it throughout the bilingual teachers. We didn't change the number of bilingual teachers that we have, but as students shifted, um, after the budget process, we did shift where bilingual teachers are. Um, so for example, here there's an additional, um, 0.5 position that moved from Munger Hill to Paper Mill. So funds will need to be transferred, but it's not, it's not an additional position. It's just we shifted some positions.
So you'll see that throughout the bilingual, um, teaching positions. Page 17, um, at Southampton Road, there's a teacher in para line that are also over where they should be. That is because due to class size, um, at the real last minute, we ended up having to add an additional kindergarten classroom before the start of the, the school year. Page 19. Um, at the bottom, the paraprofessional line is in a deficit. And that is because we had to hire an additional, um, preschool paraprofessional. And last one again, there you'll see on page 34, there's some, um, charges to Fort Meadow lines,
which obviously again don't make sense, but it was just lingering in people's personnel lines and those have since been fixed and the paperwork's been done to move them. And that is all I have. Any questions on the personnel Side? Dr. Gun actually questions sort of bridges the both, I know each year we sometimes talk about the, uh, sort of the split between sped contracted services versus full time when we have things that we can't hire for or vice versa. Is that, what is the trend this year in terms of like, is that track that split basically tracking to what we thought it would for budget or we more on the regular staff side, more on the contracted
Services side. I'd say it's trending towards what we, um, budgeted on the expense side. Right now it looks like there's money in the contract services line, but that's just because we had done a, um, contract amendment, um, that has not actually like hit the lines yet. It's what hasn't been. And I'd say, I mean I don't wanna speak for Susan, but I think we, we were ended up being a little short in terms of staffing on the preschool side of things. Um, and ended up needing to increase the number of staff we had and we did that through contracted services. Got it. Um, and unfortunately we've been very unsuccessful.
Again, if you look throughout the budget, um, hiring psychologists, you'll see all those lines have 0% expended because we just have not been successful again, hiring them. Page 48 Expenses. SPED speech assistant 16, almost 17,000 over. Yes. Um, so that was two BRTs for the river school that we added, um, that were not originally budgeted. We had to add to the RISE program. Okay. That was it.
Anything else? Nope. I think I'm good. Okay. Ms. Sullivan. Kathleen Hillman? Yes. Uh, Bo Sullivan? Yes. Heather Sullivan? Yes. Mike Terrell. Yes. Jeffrey Gunther. Yes. Chairman McKay? Yes. I also want to thank you for the work that you did on the other side of the house, uh, explaining the, um, personnel issues and increases throughout the, uh, FY 26 year. I appreciate it. Um, next up I'd like to make a motion for a budget
transfer in the amount of $66,200 from account 5 0 0 8 6 9 5 3 2 1 out of district vocational tuition tuitions in state to account. 5 0 0 7 6 1 4 3 5 3 2 legal contract services. Legal Second. Motion Maiden. Seconded. Any further discussion? Did say none. Mr. Sullivan. Bo Sullivan. Yes. Heather Sullivan. Yes. Mike Terrell. Yes. Kathleen Hillman. Yes. Jeffrey Gunther. Yes. Chairman McKay? Yes. I'd like to make a motion for a budget transfer in the
amount of $20,000 from account 5 2 5 0 1 2 3 5 2 0 Munger Hill professional full-time teachers to account 5 0 0 2 9 2 3 9 5 4. Professional development substitutes. Second. Motion has been made. And second. Seconded by Mrs. Hillman. There. Any further discussion? Mr. So in general, 'cause you've got, what, six six transfers here? Mm-hmm. You want to tell us what all those lumped together? Sure. During the budget process, we had done an MOA with the union, um,
and they add relinquished $190,000 of their unit, a professional development funds. Um, the district made a decision that as we received the fair share earmark, um, and were able to prepay tuitions at the end of the year, um, to reinstate those funds to them. So I'm using funds that are accruing in personnel lines due to late hires, or we actually had a lot of schools, um, hire low this year. Um, teachers low on grade and steps. Um, so I'm using money that's occurring in some of the personnel lines to cover that. $190,000. Nice.
Okay. Mr. Sullivan. Uh, Heather Sullivan. Yes. Mike Terrell. Yes. Jeffrey Gunther. Yes. Kathleen Hillman. Yes. Bill Sullivan. Yes. Chairman McCabe? Yes. I'd like to make a motion for a transfer of $50,000 from account 5 2 5 0 1 2 3 0 dash 5 1 1 2 0 Mung Hill Professional full-time teachers to account 5 0 0 2 9 2 3 6 5 1 0 0. Professional development payroll. Second Motion been made. And second, and it has been explained earlier. Mike s Yes. Jeffrey Gunther. Yes. Kathleen Hillman. Yes.
Both Sullivan? Yes. Heather Sullivan? Yes. And Chairman McCabe? Yes. I'd like to make a motion for a budget transfer in the amount of $23,622 from account. 5 2 8 1 5 2 3 5 1 2 0. Uh, wis musical music professional, full-time teacher to account. 5 0 0 2 9 2 3 6 5 2 0 0 0. Professional development purchase of services. Second. Motion. I made second. Any further discussion? Same. No. Jeffrey Gut. Third. Yes. Kathleen Hillman. Yes.
Bo Sullivan. Yes. Heather Sullivan. Yes. Mike Terrell. Yes. And Chairman McCabe? Yes. I'd like to make a motion for a budget transfer in the amount of $45,378 from account 5 2 9 2 3 2 3 5 20 Westfield Middle School, special education professional, full-time teachers to account 5 0 0 2 9 2 3 6 5 2 0 0. Professional development, purchase of services. Second. Motion by May 2nd. Sorry. Any further discussion? Saying none. Kathleen Hillman. Yes. Bo Sullivan. Yes. Heather Sullivan.
Yes. Mike Terrell. Yes. Jeffrey Gunther. Yes. Chairman McKay? Yes. I'd like to make a motion for a budget transfer the amount of $20,276 from account 5 2 9 2 3 2 3 5 20 Westfield Middle School, special education professional, full-time teachers to account 5 0 0 2 9 2 3 6 5 7. Professional development in-state travel. Second. Motion been made. And second, is there any further discussion? Good. Yeah. Yes, sir. Sullivan? Yes. Heather Sullivan. Yes. Mike Terrell. Yes. Jeffrey Gunther. Yes. Kathleen Hillman? Yes.
And Chairman McKay? Yes. I'd like to make a motion for a budget transfer the amount of $22,324 from account 5 3 0 1 3 2 3 5 20 Westfield High School math teachers, full-time teachers to account 5 0 2 9 2 3 6 5 7. Professional development, instate travel. Second. Motion been made. And second, is there any further discussion? Heather Sullivan? Yes. Mike Terrell. Yes. Jeffrey Gunther. Yes. Uh, Kathleen Hillman? Yes. Bo Sullivan? Yes. Chairman McCabe? Yes. Thank you, Mr.
I'm gonna let Bo take this because I have not signed a warrant. I do 'em here. Uh, weekly warrants for November 14th, 2025. 24 batches totaling $292,575 and 57 cents. And November 21st, 2020 5, 21 batches, totaling $684,975 and 6 cents. Thank you. Done. Next, I'd like to make a motion for the acceptance of a gift to Westfield Middle School from Lifetouch Shutterfly, LLC in the amount of $2,151
and 89 cents to be used for educational purposes. Gift account. Second. Who just did that? Mike Terrell And Mike Terrell and Bo Sullivan. Second. Oh, that's it. Like both. Alright. Is that, is that, uh, donation part of a give back process? Or they just decide that they're just gonna give back? Give back. So I've experienced both. I have, But typically, 'cause I've seen it several times before. I just wondered if there was a program. It's, but sometimes they help, um, in other ways as well, if you have a need. So, but typically it's a buyback program. I'm not
Looking at gift course, I just I know. But when you see a larger amount like that, it typically is another arrangement. Okay. As well. But this could be all pictures. That'd be great. Yeah. Mike Terrell. Yes. Jeffrey Gunther. Yes. Kathleen Hillman. Yes. Bo Sullivan. Yes. Heather Sullivan. Yes. Uh, chairman McCabe? Yes. I'd like to make a motion for the acceptance of the My Cap Planning and Implementation grant. Second. Motion made and second further discussion. I'm happy to take any questions if you have, if you have, it's a, it's
A $7,000 grant, Right? It's for training. So the, uh, the Department of Developmentary and Secondary Education is encouraging districts to have every student use their platform for career planning. Um, so for example, we had adopted years ago Naviance, but the state has come with their own. So this 7,000 is gonna be used to train the staff at Westfield Middle School to help you start in seventh grade with it. So to start, we we're gonna be required eventually to implement this across all, uh, seven through 12. But this is a grant that was available to help with
that training and so that our staff know what to do once they have it. Ms. Sullivan. Jeffrey Gunther. Yes. Kathleen Hillman. Yes. Bo Sullivan. Yes. Heather Sullivan. Yes. Mike Terrell. Yes. And Chairman McCabe? Yes. I'd like to make a motion to accept, uh, for the acceptance of the Fair Share earmark Second Motion been made. And second, um, we covered it the last time. Okay. Do you want to cover it again? You can, but, So, uh, just a reminder, it's $250,000 thanks to the hard work of Senator Vela. Um, and we will be using it to, um, do an audit
of our special education department. And then also, as you remember, we had to severely cut the technology lines through the budget process. So we'll also be using the funds to purchase technology. And at our next meeting, we will be going over, uh, Dr. Rosenthal and I to talk to you about what the study is gonna look at for our special education programming. So I wanna, um, say something about Senator Reveals. Um, he was incredibly nimble with this. Um, this was not originally for the Westfield Public Schools, it was for a different project. But when he realized the, the problems
that we were experiencing, we'll say the, um, the original earmark was dropped and he moved forward and, uh, made the earmark to, uh, the Westfield Public School system, to which I'm grateful for. Uh, Same. And I just wanna comment. So the intention when we talked about it last year was to, uh, restore, uh, personnel, but we aren't able to use this funding for personnel. So it was a swap game to get some of this done. It really was. It really was. Anyway, Ms. Sullivan. Kathleen Hillman. Yes. Bo Sullivan. Yes. Heather Sullivan.
Yes. Uh, Mike Terrell. Yes. Jeffrey Gunther. Yes. And Chairman McCabe. Yes. Kudos to him. Thank you. We appreciate it. Thank you, Shannon. That's interesting. Next up, so As we just, uh, concluded, although I think this whole season right now is about thank being thankful, um, I wanna express our appreciation as a district to, uh, Ralph and Sue Figgy and Eileen and Jimmy Yoakum for their, uh, continued work, uh, task that I gave them many years ago to a Thanksgiving drive
to help feed our needy families and our school department. And, uh, this year they were up to 232 meals that we distributed that Friday and Monday to families. Um, and I also want to recognize Westfield State University as part of that process is their students have been working on a two, a two year fundraiser and actually donated to that drive, uh, over $5,000 to help us, uh, in this year and years to come. And I also would like to recognize Westfield Gas and Electric, who are, uh, giving us a check on Friday for $2,500 to help.
So, as you know, we have, all of our schools have some sort of food pantry and clothing closets for our kids, but keeping those stocked are a challenge. So this will help them go a long way with that. So it, it's really quite terrific. Um, I again wanna shout out Westfield Gas and Electric, because a lot of people probably don't know this, but every year they do a Westfield warm fund. And 40 families in the Westfield, uh, public schools will have relief, some relief from their heating costs this year. And that is terrific. And they work with the principals on that. Um, I want to recognize the Greater Westfield Chamber of Commerce. Commerce is they're doing a spirit of the season campaign,
looking for non-perishable food items, unwrapped toys or gifts or new winter gear that will be donated to Westfield Public Schools. The, uh, boys and Girls Club, as well as the Westfield Food Pantry. Um, this week we are also going to be accepting a $1,200 donation from Blessed Buys or the First Congregational Church, uh, for, uh, to help with supplies for our food pantries and for our clothing closet. And really at the welcome center where we welcome so many families and bring people in. Uh, and then I just have to give a shout out again to, um, the Westfield Police Department
because Cadet Chief Brooke Darling is still doing again, the toy drive. And Chris, where? December 6th and seventh. Walmart five below. And where else you said three this morning and I can only remember two. Sorry. All right. But the, the, My general thing is, is I am, I think we are so blessed and, and to be a part of this community that is just truly generous. And I can't thank you all for the people who are participating because what I, I think we all realize if our students are hungry, not fed right or not, um, in a good place for a variety of other reasons, learning becomes
more that much more challenging. So this truly is a community effort, and it's fantastic. Walmart Play Now Find, that's the one I forgot. I think of plane. Sorry. Okay. So, uh, please, uh, that's this weekend, uh, at, uh, I guess right on, um, in the Plaza. So if you're there and wanna buy an un, obviously you don't wrap the toys, they're unwrapped. But, um, I just, uh, yeah. Thank you for all the, uh, for all the, uh, generosity, donations. Our kids are, are better off because of it. That's all I have. Thank You very much. Oh, I'm sorry. One last thing. Despite the plea from the students from Westfield High
School, as they were leaving, I will not be making the decision about whether or not we have school tomorrow or delay or anything until the morning. And I'm, I'm only putting that, listen, I, I'm, the mayor's already agreed to take my call at four 30, so we're good. And, and, um, but the fact of the matter is, folks, every time I look at a different app or a different thing, it, the, the forecast changes and, and that snow rain line is really, I, I, I don't know where it's gonna be. And so It appears it's east of us right now. So who knows? We'll see you at four 30. See You at four 30. I'll hear from you. FaceTime. You FaceTime. I'll FaceTime at Not happening. That's not happening.
He won't be able to sleep tonight. That's a better idea. Do you want a Google Calendar invite, mayor? Well Wake up call. Well, um, that comes to me, I guess, uh, inauguration for everybody, if you don't have it written down on your calendar, is January the fifth, 2026. Uh, welcome to the new people and sorry to see the old people go, but you know, we'll, we'll do more, more on retired people, Old The experience who retire experience. We're gonna do more on that next, next time. Um, the Mayor's Ball is on January 17th. All are welcome. There's more to come on that. Um, yeah, life is pretty good.
Um, thank you for, uh, the update. Um, Mr. Superintendent. We have been, uh, extremely blessed and fortunate with the amount of giving that has gone on across many, many. I just went to, um, Delilah Freeman's Coco fundraiser out on Russellville Road that was supposed to raise $900. It wound up raising like more than $1,700. And, you know, I mean, there's all kinds of events like that throughout the city. So, um, you know, I'm grateful for our community. I'll just leave it at that. I can throw it in there. Just as a, as an aside,
Wednesday morning, uh, obviously the day before Thanksgiving, the club was open, we had 20 turkeys show up. Just here you go and give 'em to all your families and staff and everything like that. So, just to pile on the community aspect of this, it's, it's amazing. It's not Like this in other places. I just want people to know that Okay. Is the Open pantry that, uh, that Out in the green? I hope you guys all like it. 'cause I can up with the Yeah. But somebody else had to put it together and do it. So, um, but we have never had a fundraising month like we did this month, um, or last month.
And that's the biggest ever. So we are super appreciative and it feeds our, you know, our kids too. So I happen to be down at, uh, And by the way, thank you Mayor Kate, but you Sign up there. You're welcome. Um, I was down with, um, axon Nagel Yep. Um, for their food drive for the Mayflower Marathon, which raised $260,000 in three days. Wow. Um, people are gimmick. They understand what the problems are and oh my God, I think we're blessed and the need is increasing. I mean, I just, it really is. We see it every day. School committee update. We got one of those, Oh, let me just, We're switching gears.
Sorry. Did I catch up? I'm sorry. Okay, I'll go first. Um, on Saturday, um, two of our students, Caitlyn and Christina, uh, gle, uh, did a solar walk. And if you go up onto the rail trail right now, you're going to see plaques that take you across the planets. They did it all themselves and it was very fun event. And they even had the astrology club from Boston come out to attend the That's awesome.
Yeah. I'd like to also thank, um, um, Randy Brown and Fran Kane. Um, this Solar Walk was a, the solar system encompassed in a mile walk of the, uh, Columbia Greenway Rail Trail. Um, and they affixed all the stuff complete with QR codes. It was pretty cool, cold, but it was cool From the stop and shop to the 10 bridge stop and shop To the 10. Dr. Gunther, back to you. Um, I just wanted to name appreciation for the, had the opportunity to attend the Girls on the Run 5K at, uh, Western New England University last Sunday,
and was just struck by the number of current and former staff who were there supporting Highlands Southampton Road School and Wiss, uh, volunteer coaches, running buddies, spectators. This is just a life changing experience for kids and seeing the number of staff members out there, um, donating their time to be able to support the kids outside of the school day was just really, uh, really heartwarming. So thank you to everybody who was there all the Time. We have a C community, don't we? Yes. Anything else? Items to refer to subcommittees?
Any reports from subcommittees? Uh, yep. Uh, today before this meeting at 5 45, the Human Resources and Policy Subcommittee met to discuss the graduation policies. Anything else? Any minutes that we need to approve? Oh Yeah, that's me again. I'd like to make a motion to accept the Human Resource and Policy Subcommittee meeting on November 17th, 2025. Second motion has been made and seconded. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries I'D to make A motion, I'd like to make a motion to accept the facilities and Capital Planning subcommittee
meeting minutes of, uh, November 17th, 2025. Second, second. Motion been made. And second this time by Mr. Sullivan. Just nipping out. Shucks. Any further discussion? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Um, yeah. Are you gonna be weeping? Uh, my heart could be messy. Yes. I'll have the tissues ready. I think I'm ready. Copy. Bless. Um, the next regularly scheduled school committee meeting, which is also at the Sullivan's Last School Committee, um,
is on December 15th, right here at seven o'clock. Is there another motion? Motion adjourn. Second motion's been made. And second At this time by Mr. Terrell. All of those in favor? Aye. I, I are adjourned at 8:01 PM.