Good evening everybody, and welcome to the Westfield School Committee meeting of October 20th, 2025. The time is seven o'clock. I'd like everybody to rise and give the pledge of allegiance. One, One. Mike, that's one. Right off the bat. See, I got nervous. We, we have to call the roll. Go ahead, Mike. Uh, Jeffrey Gunther. Kathleen Hillman. Here. O Sullivan. Here. Heather Sullivan. Mike Terrell. Here. Tim O'Connor. Here. Chairman McCain Here. Now we have,
does anybody from the school wanna start us? Uh, no. You want me to do it? All right. I pledge the, to the flag, the United States, United America, and to the Republic for One Nation. Nation, God, the invisible of liberty and justice For Thank you Mr. O'Connor. Sam. Mayor, I'd like to make a motion to take item three, which is a Highland Elementary School presentation. Uh, next please. Second. Motion been made and seconded. Any further discussion? Saying none. Motion passes.
Mrs. Mato de football. Gonna break record. Good evening. Um, tonight we are excited to share some of our, the innovative STEM work that's happening at Highland Elementary School. I'd like to begin by recognizing Ms. Olivia Diamond. She's our kindergarten teacher at Highland and Ms. Jordan Eker, a grade four teacher, and they both serve as Highland's lead STEM teachers. They've been instrumental in guiding our school's implementation of both St. Math and Project Lead The Way
Math St Math is a visual game based math program that uses, that's used in grades K through four. It helps students build deep conceptual understanding by engaging them in solving problems without words or numbers. Through these visual experiences, students make mathematical connections and strengthen their problem solving skills. The program features of Penguin Gigi, who helps make learning interactive and fun for the students. We're proud to share that students at Highland are not only
making strong academics through ST Math, but they're also developing perseverance and confidence as mathematical thinkers. In addition to ST Math, students are participating in Project Lead The Way, hands on project based learning experiences that connect classroom concepts to real world challenges through Project Lead the Way students work collaboratively to solve problems, test ideas, and think creatively. Building essential skills like critical thinking, communication, and collaboration. Both of these programs align beautifully
with our district's vision of preparing students to be curious, innovative, and engaged learners. I would like to now invite Ms. Diamond and Ms. Iker to come up and share their students and their work. Mrs. Maselli? Yes. Um, if any of the parents wanna photograph or video or capture their, their children and they want to come in and fill 'em behind us at the diocese, you're more than welcome to do so. Or you can just hang out in your seat and let the show go. Go. It's up to you. That's what I said.
I agree. Okay. So you gonna look right Over there. Okay. We're ready when you're So these, this is Kolby and this is Sophia. And, um, we do a bunch of different, um, student progress tracking at our school. We have a schoolwide, um, tracker. We have a classroom tracker and we also have individual trackers here that they both have and they'd like to share with you. You wanna open your folder, what you Have? Who's that? Who's this? Gigi.
So this is Gigi. And what do you do with Gigi? What do you have to do with him when you earn something? We color him in. Mm-hmm. So every time they get, um, a percentage they color in a part of Gigi. And when you color in the part, what do you earn? What is this A ticket? Yep. So we get a Gigi. It's a little Gigi Pokemon cards. They're gonna collect them all to get their progress. And then do you wanna see what we earned as a whole class? What did we get to do? Do you remember? Color? The whole penguin. And we Did a dance party. Dance party, And we had a dance party for the whole class and we earned our 5%.
You wanna share anything else? Do you love Gigi? Yeah. Do we like St Math? Yeah. Thank you. Good evening. Um, so each project Leadway module starts with an introduction story. Ours was energy all around the world and the it presents with an open-ended real world problem that the students will solve by the end of the unit. Um, here with me today is James Kane and Lila Cremona and James is gonna start us off. Our Project Lead Doing model is called Energy Explorations.
We have read the introduction story to know that we are helping businesses to use energy. It's your turn. Yay. It's Your turn. We are learning all about energy through centers that are hands on and fun. In Activity one, we are exploring how energy is used all around us and how it is is used in real life. The centers we did so far are a mar a marble on a track, a VX kit built car and bowl using a wiffle ball in cups. So in Project Lead the Way we use launch logs,
which are on the screen, and Lila has one as well. And right now we're focusing on what they observed and they wondered at these centers about energy. So how energy works, um, they have the cup set up in, um, bowling and they use the whiffle ball to slowly roll it and see what happens, and then quickly roll it and see what happens. There is a marble on a track and they see what happens when they put the marble on the track. And then this car can be moved, uh, depending on how you move it. And they are looking for how energy is used in all of these. Um, so on the first center that we did
is the, I did first the marbles. So I noticed that the higher the ramp is, the faster the marble goes. And um, I wondered if height has more gravitation than when it's lower down. On the second rotation, we had the car and I noticed, I observed that the blue wheels do not turn, but the black wheel on the front does. And I wonder how the rubber bands make the black wheel turn. I observed on the last, um, center that
the harder you roll the ball, the cup, um, the harder that you roll the ball, it knocks over less cups than, or it knocks over more cups than if you roll the ball soft. And I wonder how the cups are hard to knock over when it is slower than faster. Descent de-Center showed us how energy is all around us. And then lastly, um, I have begun emailing businesses in Westfield about a
partnership opportunity to discuss how these businesses use energy in their everyday life. Um, and I'm looking forward to hearing back from them so that we can provide our students with real world experiences right here in Westfield, um, to get their perspective and kind of have an impact on our community. Uh, thank you for having us. So it should be obvious that we took this out of order. Um, for the folks who are here from Highland, thank you very much for your, uh, presentation. It was wonderful as always. And if I had to hazard a guest, you probably don't wanna stay for the rest of the meeting, see how smart I'm getting.
So if you'd like to take a two minute recess, Motion to recess. Second. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Two minute recess. I got twice. Do I need a motion? I can make a motion to return to our general school committee meeting. Second, second. Motion been made and seconded. Any further discussion? Say none. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Back in session. So we have an interesting, um, We have an interesting lineup for public participation tonight. We have two separate and distinct groups here tonight and only a finite amount of time. So I just would like to caution everybody just as a matter
of business, um, you know, that this won't be a give and take between the speaker and the committee and then back to it's simply public participation. So maybe the easiest way to do this is public participation is open for 15 minutes and it allows up to three minutes a speaker, which doesn't give us an awful lot of time. Um, am I allowed to ask how many from one group? I don't know. Ask whatever you want. How many people who wanna speak on lights, just raise your hand for me. Okay. On lights, they got it.
The, the, the right group got the message. How many people wanna speak? Uh, on, on, on another topic? How about that? Just three. Do want, can I pick the three of you and we'll just take the three of you? Is that okay with you guys? No. You got a four? You got a four? Somebody hiding in the corner? Is that a light person? How you doing over there in the corner? So, I mean, I, I'm willing to go truthfully, I'm willing to go three and three and call it a day, if that's okay with the body. We'll go to 18 minutes. And is that okay? We good? Well, wants to start? Do we want the, the, let's go.
Lights, first. Lights, camera. Action. So all you have to do is identify yourself now, come on, identify yourself, and we're gonna set the timer and away we go. Okay. Uh, good evening. My name is Aaron Boyd and I'm a member of many performing arts programs in Westfield High School. I'm sorry. And the, can you repeat your, your first, your name. Um, wood. Okay. My name's Aaron Boyd, and I am a member of many performing arts programs in Westfield High School. Um, I'm the vice president of the WHS Choir, so I speak for many young performers. When I say we are a large group with a less than ideal home base at the moment.
Um, both the bands and the choirs work incredibly hard on our music performances, even going so far as to have earned countless awards during their annual competitions. Um, yet even with a performing arts program as strong as ours, we still deal with broken stage lights and messed up speakers. Uh, this isn't just about safety, it's about what we love. One of the most important parts of Westfield High School has been neglected for quite a while now. Um, and we deserve to have a proper place to put on our numerous shows throughout the year. A stage that that reflects the hours of, uh, word put into the choirs, bands, and drama club. Uh, I've experienced firsthand the technological issue standing in the way.
Um, I've had solos where I was told, I'm sure you would've sounded great if we could hear you. Uh, I can't begin to express how disheartening it is to have your weeks and months of work go down the drain due to a broken speaker or microphone. Um, the performing arts are not just confined to this one school either. Um, it spans across the entire city. Westfield is an official cultural district, a hotspot for performing arts from primary school all the way to secondary education at a college level. So as a cultural district, we should reflect that title in our schools. Westfield High School needs a new lighting system. One, we more than a fifth of the lights function properly, if at all. Um, please try to look at it through our perspective.
We're being held back from doing what we love because of something out of our control. It is important to us, so it should be important to you as we are the present and future of the performing arts of Westfield. Thank you. Thank You, Aaron. Real quick, can you gimme your address please? Uh, 70 Deer Path Lane, Westfield, mass. Thank you. Somebody from the other side? Anybody? This is regarding the contract for the food service workers. My name is Sue Wood. I've been working for, What's your last name? I'm sorry. Wood. Wood. Got it. I've been working for nine years with the food service program.
I was hired by Suela and even though I had plenty of experience, I was required to get a two week training, which we don't have much training now. I think we've been overlooked for years. We're a dependable, hardworking group of men and women who are employed by the city of Westfield. We've had to adjust to many changes over the years, yet we still manage to serve the children. Two meals a day with a smile and some of our students only eat at school. It's a very important job. We're responsible for preparing the nutritious meals,
taking in mind that students have allergies and special food needs. Some of our jobs are food prep, cooking, cashier duties, money handling, serving lines, cleaning, sanitizing, operating equipment, and sometimes stocking the shelves. We're not getting the respect we deserved, not by the teachers, the principals, the food service director or the school committee we're asking for a decent raise and a starting pay that could attract good workers. We're asking in fair, for fairness,
not hiring someone off the street at the same top pay rate that took someone else 10 or 15 years to get to how we see the management getting an 11% raise over three years and we're offered a whopping 4% raise over three years. That's just unfair. Another unfair thing, I'd like you to be aware of this year's training day four out of 45 employees had planned, had plans on August 21st
and were unable to attend. There was no alternate plan for them. I was able to find the same training with the school bus drivers on a different day for $85 and they could do the rest of their training online. Well, that was unacceptable. They had to pay $165 to do it on a Saturday morning. The food service director has already paid $5,400 for up to 60 people, which we only had 50. Um, that's $90 a person and I don't understand why they had to pay it again.
I could go on about unfair practices, but I won't. We just wanna be treated fairly. Thank you, Sue. Paid man, paid well. Thank you. Yep. Sue, could I have your address please? Pardon me? Can I have your address please? One 50 Russell Road. Westfield. Thank you. Thank you, Sue. Hello, my name is Autumn Estee and I'm from Westfield High School. I participate in their show choir and their drama club. Um, I have been in choir for most of my life, I'd say about seven years now.
And I've been performing in the drama club for five. The performing arts have been a very large part of my life and they have been a large part in the lives of many others. This is why I'm asking for your support. A lot of our equipment is outdated and dying. Our light fixtures among other things are like near 50 years old Go And only 20% of them are still working. Even then those 20% of lights, we don't know how long they're gonna be keeping up for. We would replace these lights, but the only issue is money.
It is no secret that our performing arts haven't gotten a lot of funding, mainly due to the point that they aren't always viewed as essential. However, the impact that they leave on students is magical. And those students, they give everything they have, which includes the choir and band. We compete every year. We get the money to compete mostly out of our own pockets and fundraisers. And we came back with stories and a lot of trophies and for drama club, the last musical we had called All Shook Up had the most lively and entertained audience that I have ever seen.
We accomplished so much in the last two years alone, but imagine how much we could do with just a push in the right direction. To wrap up my little blurb, the participants of the performing arts, and I would greatly appreciate it if you'd be so kind us to give us a little hand when it comes to our lighting fixtures, sound fixtures, and other things that are just out of our control to fix. Thank you for listening to me and me and my peers would greatly appreciate if you could help out. Um, have a nice day. Thank you, autumn. Good. Autumn, autumn address.
Can I just have your, your address please? Uh, 27 Robinson Drive. Westfield Ma. Thank you. Cafeteria. VARs Food service. Sorry, I apologize. I don't have anything for me here. I didn't even wear my good hoodie for this event. Um, I'm speaking for the food service workers at Westfield Schools. Um, I am a parent of three girls raised in this, um, town their whole lives. I grew up in this town my whole life, though I never once grew up wanting to be a lunch lady. Can I hold it up just a second? Yes. What's your name? Patricia Petite. Nice to meet you. Um, it due
to circumstances recently there was an opportunity where I was going to take a job in the schools, um, working in food service. It just worked out for hours and additional income. But when I met with the person, lemme just give you a quick rundown. I have over 25 years in food and alcohol service industry. I am certified in allergens and food safety. I am also certified in lab and micro microbiological, um, lab safety. So I have excessive training for all of these things. I'm overqualified. But when they told me how much the pay worked out to be,
and it really worked out to me not being able to feed my own family even with an additional job. So I don't understand how the school board intends to get qualified people to be able to take and hold these jobs when they have to have at least one to two other jobs in order to do this. Um, basically my family would have to be on food stamps and public assistance in order to work for the school system. Um, so it's just as a community member, we would just like to ask that we make it possible for our, the people
who are feeding our children to be able to feed their own children at home when they leave work every day. So I don't know if you need more assistance from the community in fundraising in awareness, we are happy to do that. Um, I would love to be able to consider, again, taking my experience and applying for that job. I just need to know that there is any potential at all to be able to support our families while working in the schools. And I just don't see how these women are able to do that at this time. Um, I don't know what more I can add, but thank you. Patricia, can I, can I just have your address please? Um,
Six seventh Street, Westfield, Massachusetts. Thank you. Thank you. Patty. I didn't recognize you. The hair color. I'll Always look this up. Hi, my name is Caden Smith and I'm a student at Westfield Technical Academy and a proud member of the Drama Club. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to speak tonight. Westwood High School's Auditorium is one of the most used performance spaces in our community. It serves the largest student population in the district and is home to our show choir, bands and drama program, all of which bring students, families and community members to together year round.
Unfortunately, the lighting system is severely outdated. Only about 20% of the stage lights still work and many fixtures flicker or burnout, even with the new bulbs, they fail again within weeks because the equipment is too old. This is the only unreliable and it's unsafe. The wiring can't handle modern use and often trips breakers. Professionals who've examined the system agree it's beyond repair and must be replaced. Westfield has a proud tradition of supporting the performing arts. Our students, whether in band, choir, theater, earn recognition across Massachusetts
for the dedication and talent. They deserve a safe, functional home venue that reflects the same quality. Recently, the city made a major investment in our athletic fields, which is absolutely needed, but a small fraction of the cost, maybe less than that, would be just enough to fix the auditorium. Lighting, improving safety efficiency and performance quality for years to come. As an officially recognized cultural district, Westfield values, creativity and performance. Upgrading this auditorium isn't about fixing lights. It's an investment. The arts, our students, and our community's future. Thank you for your time and consideration
for this important investment for Westfield High School and all who, uh, who perform there. Thank you. Aiden. Can I, I'd like to add just a second. Thank you for also doing some research in behind your, the facts that you're trying to, to get out to people. Mike, can I just have your Address please? 23 Atwater Street. Thank you. Thank you. I think we have right. Hello, I'm Patty Bo and I live at 30 Summer Street. I've lived in Westfield for about 12 years and I've been an employee for the city for over six years. As someone who works in food service, I understand how vital it is to serve nutritious, balanced meals.
These meals significantly influence our students' cognitive development, energy levels and ability to focus. These meals also ensure food security for the children and our community. Proper nutrition plays a key role in preventing sicknesses and absenteeism, which enables our students to attend school regularly and fully engaged in their education. Between our nine schools in Westfield, we average 18,000 meals served per week. That which is 72,000 meals per month. This is all achieved with only minimum permanent staffing levels.
As a committed younger staff member, I intend to continue working for the city to attract future employees and to retain current ones, and excuse me. To attract future employees and to retain current dedicated team members. Our pay scales must be updated to be competitive with surrounding school systems. I am concerned without these changes, we risk losing valued staff and failing to attract new talent. Our requests are not unreasonable. They aim to bring our compensation in line to where it should have been for years. Thank you for your time and consideration.
Thank you, Patty. Okay, next item. Westfield Technical Academy. Good evening School committee. How are we today? Sorry, I'm stuffy. It's from the pool. Don't mind me. My name's Sophia Pres from 300 Springdale Road. So let's talk about my school. Um, the student attendance has chosen focus on Westfield Public Schools improving our attendance rate. Um, the goal for us at WTA, according to the latest data, Westfield Tech has achieved the 96.4% attendance, the start of the year of top of all schools.
In Westfield, our percentages of students who are chronically absent have fallen 8.7%. And also among the best rates in Westfield, our students continue to come to school to to the school at the place to be Tiger's pride. Our student run restaurant will be open Thursday and Friday. So put down your reminders for your dining pleasure last week, um, the Pride opened their monthly veteran luncheon.
Um, was sponsored by Joanne and Bernie Couch at the Russell American Legion. And don't forget to turn in, turn into Tiger Talk, which produced bio graphic students, um, juniors and seniors. Um, from eight to nine and our new located, um, 1 0 7 FN WSD on chat with Mr. Daley, Ms. Grim and Mr. Hastings. And we are the number one rated shell on W-S-M-F-F. I'm so sorry about Superintendent Spotlight. I'm really sorry. As we started the school,
WCA welcomed numerous staff members in our community. Seven new academic teachers and four new shop instructors were added. Two of the shop instructors are graduates of the school. They're very happy to able give back to the school and help them with, help them with their education. And now we turn to sports. The fall. The fall sports teams are wrapping up their fall, regular season, summer, heading into the postseason. The boys and girls cross country will be running in the PI P-E-V-I-C-A championships this Sunday at Stanley Park.
So let's support them. Um, the team will be finishing up their season this week. The boys move up into a tougher league this week. The boy, sorry, I'm like, sorry. The boys soccer team will finish up their season this week. Um, they moved into, um, a tougher league with many close games against these strong opponents. The boys were very, the boys were a very young team and planning quite a few freshmen, which give them promising for the future. The girls soccer need to win two of the remaining, um,
games to qualify for Massachusetts Division four. Um, to keep them agile to play. The golf team also moved into a tougher league finishing with an O six record. Recently played in the division three Western Mass tournament where they finished, where they finished only four strokes away from moving from the states tournament. The team also set a new school record for the lowest score match by scoring a one 50 in their latest match game against Turner Falls at Western Mass Tournament. Senior Dan O'Connor shot a 75
and finished in second place one stroke out of the first. Dan is qualified for the State Division three championships and will be played on October 23rd. Don't forget winter's also starting swimming's also starting, um, I have to mention that I'm very sorry. Um, a couple of our shops have recently visited in our community manufacturing students ventured over to advanced manufacturing in Westfield to see their facilities and how they operate things. Our aviation students visit the old Rhinebeck Arrow
dorm in New York to learn about the early days of the flight. Were focused on World World I and both trips were educational and spreading to students this fall. WTA woken 160 freshmen, um, this week, I mean a few months ago. Um, they completed their, their one days in their safety training. Um, they also completed their first week of their one weeks not to get confused. Um, this is the highest number of students have entered, entered in a year at Westfield Technical Academy.
Once again, WTA is the place to be. Thank you. Have a good night everyone. Sure, go ahead. I'd like to make a motion to recess. Two minutes. Second. Motion be made. And second. Any further discussion? Opposed In favor? Opposed? Motion carries. We're in a two minute recess Motion. I asked that like times. So I feel for you right now. Trying, I'm trying. Lemme show you something. Do you know what's getting picked up? Your forehead? Okay. No, no, no. So when you come to the microphone, make sure
that you adjust it down so that when you're looking down at your paper, the microphone is between you and the paper. So that when you talk, you're now talking over the microphone rather than the microphone talking on your Phone. You, I look at you and Is just an extra. Um, So I just Vote. We should actually, Mayor, I'd like to Make a motion to return a session. And second, all the members present. We are all in favor. Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries at 7 37.
Next seven. No, we got it. I'd like to make a motion for the approval of Westfield Technical Academy House Building Agreement between the Westfield School Committee and Westfield Technical Academy Foundation. Second. Motion been made. And second, is there any further discussion saying none. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Question Hold. We're going back to, hold on, Tim. Uh, just a question on that. Um, academy Foundation. So is there, um, You know what, actually let's do this guys from the foundation wanna come up. 'cause it'd be good for the folks outside to actually know
what we're, what we're up to. Yeah, that's a question building. I am not Matt Gomes, he, uh, threw his back out. Hopefully not at work. We're falling off a ladder. Oh no. Um, so he, what he has given me is just the info on what this house is gonna be like and where they're at right now. Is that Sure. Sufficient? Yeah. Is that what it's gonna It's a, it's gonna be a 72 St. James Avenue here in right up by Highland. Yep. Um, three bedroom, two bath, one car garage. About 1500 square feet. It's gonna be a very, the lot is, um, not wide but long.
So it'll be 31 feet wide, 68 feet long. Um, all the permits are in place. Site has been excavated, concrete footings have been placed. Wall forms are being installed and should be poured within the next week. And after the site is backfilled, um, the students will start framing. Um, all the proceeds from the Mill Street project are, use it being used to this one. Uh, Polish National Credit Union, again, is financing at 0% interest. And all the proceeds from this will be used to help support the construction program, the foundation, um, and will help with more acquisition of, um, stuff
for the cabinet making program. Um, which is doing real well. The, the students in cabinet making, which there are 10 officially that have chosen that. Um, we'll be making the cabinets for the house. Terrific. Thank you Mr. Hastings. That, uh, kind of explains why there's a big hole and a fence around it at St 72 St. James. Um, are there any questions from the committee? Yeah, I got One. Yep. Um, not, not for nothing, but we're in front of us to approve the contract and the holes dug.
The excavations work. The footings are already poured. Isn't that a little jump in the gun? A little bit. I don't know. I mean, you, you did the, you did the work without, without the contract. So Matt, he's been working on this for Oh, I get it since last and I'm glad it's done because construction season and I get all that. But what if somebody fell in or somebody got hurt or something like that? It's not our insurance at that point. I hear you. I just, I just, I hear you. Was wondering why it happened so quickly? Not that I don't like the project beautify that neighborhood. Uh, but, uh, uh, it just seemed like a little, little quick
And I will revert, I will forward that to Mr. Okay. Thank you. I'm looking at somebody else. Never. Nevermind. Uh, is there any further questions? I think we're pretty much all in favor of you guys building your house. Yeah. So Can we say, ask forgiveness? You know what I'm gonna do, since it does involve a, can you, uh, Mike, can you call the roll on this, please? Sure. Kathleen Hillman? Yes. Post Sullivan? Yes. Mike ll Yes. Tim O'Connor? Yes. Chairman McCabe? Yes. I'd like to make a motion for the approval. October 6th, 2025 school committee meeting. Minutes second.
Just one. Correction. Motion's been made and seconded. Is there any further discussion? We have some Discussion. Just one elimination on page. Lemme just write it. It says, um, run Stanley, come run and stroll and roll. Sunday, October 5th. I think that was from last time. It just eliminate it on the last page and then we'll be good. Sorry, I got booted out during the recess, so it's taking me a second to get back up to speed. Where are we, Kathleen? Um, 15. Yep. Above it, it says run Stanley.
That's fine. Can we just edit that up, Cindy? Yeah. Okay. Any further adjustments to the minutes? So otherwise it's perfect. So all those in favors with the, uh, one edit JA opposed? Motion carries. Thank you Catherine. Ms. Hillman. You're welcome. Item seven. I'd like to make a motion of reconsideration on a vote taken on October 6th pertaining to the Westfield Technical Academy application and mission policies for 20 25, 20 26. Second
Motion been made. And second, is there any further discussion on the motion to recall or reconsider reconsider seeing none. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. I'd like to make a motion for the approval of the Westfield Technical Academy application and mission policy for 20 25, 20 26. Second Motion been made and seconded by Mr. O'Connor. Is there any further discussion? Yeah, there's a bit of a learning curve here for me. Um, I was the one that cast the deciding vote, the deciding no vote last time.
And it was because, to be quite honest with you, I wasn't familiar with all the different nuances of, of how this was about ready to, um, to change. Um, and I, at this point, I'm certainly satisfied that it fulfills the need for the, the technical academy. So I would be voting a yes on this motion. Is there any other discussion? Same. None. Mr. Terrell, we call the role please. Post Sullivan. Yes. Mike Terrell? Yes. Kathleen Hillman? Yes. Jim O'Connor? Yes. Chairman McCabe? Yes. I'd like to make a motion for the approval of the Westfield Public School calendar
for the 20 26 20 27 school year. Second Motion member made and seconded by Mr. O'Connor. Is there any further discussion? Mr. Ky? You good? Uh, just that, yeah, I mean, so we do two years in a row. There's a chance we'll have to bring it back to do a modification potentially, but for future planning. So we have field trip requests for the following years that we're holding back until our calendar is adopted. So we have a frame of reference. Um, also helps people know when April vacation is so they can plan on those things. Uh, so again, uh, these are our, our, our calendars for now.
If we have to come back, we can. Thank you. Mm-hmm. Any further discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. I'd Like to make a motion for the approval of the Westfield Public School calendar for the 20 27 20 28 school year Motion been made. And second, is there any further discussion? Yeah. Mr. Sullivan. I believe December, 2027. Um, you missed two days. It goes right from 20 December 20th to December 23rd. So I think 21 and 22 need to be in there. Sorry, Cindy,
Can we Pass it with that face? Well, it, it is, it's, it's Christmas, so I'm thinking, doesn't matter if people are looking Christmas day a Thursday. It's not. Okay. So We'll fix that. So can we pass the court, Pass it with a, with an amend the motion. I can't tell you how many times we've looked at that. I I can't. Do you need it pass tonight? Is there a timeliness issue or, well, no, but can we fix it? Send it back and then have it be presented fine corrected? I I think if you just pass it, amend it. I think you're okay. I was just asking. Yeah. Okay. I, um, the motion is to pass it as amended,
adding back in those two days. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. I'd like to make a motion to approve the memorandum of agreement between the Westfield School Committee and the Westfield Education Association. Unity Paraprofessionals Registered Behavior Therapists as presented and authorized the mayor to sign on behalf of the committee. Good. Motion been made. And second, is there any further discussion, Dr. Morris? Okay. Is it worth going a little trip backwards to go forwards? Sure. So, uh, as you might remember, uh, the, uh, rbt,
um, were part of the non-contract chart. Uh, they advocated and voted to join the Westfield Education Association. This came to the school committee a month and a half ago. Uh, that was supported by the school committee. We then entered bargaining and came up with what we think is a very reasonable entry plan for RB ts to be part of Unity D. It brings them to the point at which the Unity D contract will be rego when their contract ends. So it's kind of for the next, this year and next year. And then at that point, they'll be fully folded into the Unity contract. It was, uh, supported and voted by the membership, and that's what we are bringing to you tonight.
Perfect. Anything further? Sorry, I'm taking a note here. Rbt Are registered behavior technicians. Yes, I knew that. I just, sorry. No, also know that. Yeah. No, you got me a hundred percent. Any other questions? I'd like to thank all the people who worked on it. Um, all those in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Yeah, uncle, that's three. Anyway, um, call the roll. Mike. Uh, Mikell. Yes. Kathleen Hillman? Yes. What was I thinking? Bo Sullivan. Yes. Tim O'Connor. Yes. Chairman McCade. Yes.
Does that mean I'm not Three? You're out. Uh, weekly warrants. October 3rd, 2025. 13 batches totaling $200,761 and 8 cents. And October 10th, 2025. 24 batches totaling $628,911 and 39 cents. Thanks for your work on this stuff. Thank you. Superintendent's reports who? Yeah. Yeah, she's over. She'd like to make a motion for the acceptance of the following grants, the Irene and Georgia Davis Foundation grant, uh, in the amount
of $240,000 to be used to purchase Ignite Reading tutoring seeds for elementary students. Second. Motion been made and seconded. Is there any further discussion? Oh look, sir. Um, so these, this grant funding, um, is provided by the Davis Foundation, um, to purchase Ignite seats for first graders. It's, um, it will allow for 96 seats. For how many? Any questions? 96. 99 6. Thank you. Gotcha. So is this a, a, uh, a Davis Foundation grant? Is that recurring or, I mean, it, it is.
Are there annual grants to be applied for at the Davies Foundation? Um, they have open, um, grants so anyone can apply at any time. This is, I think, one of the first times that I've applied for a Davis grant. So, um, but they do have a foundation that is open to, uh, quite a few criteria. One of them is early literacy, which is what we are focusing on for this one. That's great. Can I thank you for the application in securing the grant ahead of the vote. Anybody else? Kathleen Hillman? Yes. Post Sullivan? Yes. Mike Terrell. Yes. Tim O'Connor? Yes. Chairman McCabe? Yes.
I'd like to make a motion to accept the Connecting Activities Grant in the amount of $14,000 to be used, uh, to offset costs associated with our career center at Westfield High School. Second. Motion made and seconded. Any further discussion? So this grant we receive, um, through Mass Hire and we work with them to fund, um, a portion of our career center. We work to, um, to fund our Career Center liaison, um, stipend, um, Patty Healy to attend different trainings, um,
and provide transportation for students to, uh, do career exploration. Thank you. Any questions for Ms. Sullivan? Say none. Mr. Rell. Bo Sullivan. Yes. Mike Terrell. Yes. Kathleen Hillman. Yes. Jim O'Connor? Yes. Chairman McCabe? Yes. I'd like to make a motion to accept the Hate Crime Prevention grant in the amount of $42,000 used funds to support implementation of programs designed to prevent hate crimes and incidents as a bias in public schools. So this grant is directed towards, um, Westfield Middle School. They were the ones that were awarded this grant. The funding is going to be used
to purchase curriculum similar to, but not necessarily No place for hate. Um, there is going to be some professional development for our staff. There's also, um, funding earmarked to bring in speakers to have events for the district and for the community. Um, and that's about it. Yeah. Any questions? Mr. Rell? Call the while Mike Terrell. Yes. Kathleen Hillman. Yes. Bo Sullivan. Yes. Tim O'Connor? Yes. Chairman McCabe? Yes. I can make a motion to accept the Innovation Career Pathways Implementation Support grant and the amount of $50,000 to be used
to support the innovation Career pathways at Westwood High School. Second. Second, ms. So this grant we do receive annually, um, and it does help fund assist funding for our three pathways at the high school, the biomedical, the manufacturing, and now the business and finance. Anything further? Again, thank you for your work. Mr. Terrell. Mike Terrell. Yes. Kathleen Hillman. Yes. Bo Sullivan. Yes. Tim O'Connor? Yes. Chairman McKay? Yes. I'd like to make a motion to accept the targeted Tiered Math Off Ramp grant in the amount of $3,500
to use purchase instructional materials for Fractions Advantage Recovery that will be used in training our staff. Second. I made a second. Any further discussion? I heard fractions got nervous. So, the, um, A VMR, the Advantage Math Recovery, um, we do use two as an assessment to address specific math, um, learning needs for our students. So, Mr. Cho? Perfect. Kathleen Hillman? Yes. Bo Sullivan. Yes. Mike Rell. Yes. Tim O'Connor. Yes. Chairman Mcca. Yes. Mike Ha. Motion to accept the Tiered Math Academy Tutoring grant in
the amount of $15,000 to be used to provide high dosage math tutoring. Second. So this funding is, this funding is, um, more focused for our second graders across all five elementary schools For high. I'm gonna, I'm gonna ask what does the term high dosage matter? Yeah, exactly. A lot We're injecting. Very focused. Okay. High doses and a lot of doses. Really big. Any further questions? Sorry, Mrs. Gie, It's a DEI term.
Yes. Mr. Terrell Dei Term. Kathleen Hillman? Yes. Bo Sullivan. Yes. Like Terrell? Yes. Tim O'Connor. Yes. Chairman Ett? Yes. Thank you Mr. Slo. Thank you so much for all your work. Yeah, I I, no, Joanne's fine Joan. Joanne's fine. I I mean, you can stay up here. I do it. It's not, it's a comment. You're more than welcome to stay up here. But as I was reading these, I didn't get a chance to necessarily talk about the, the Hate Crime Prevention grant, which I think is, is unfortunate that we have to apply for at a middle school level. Um, but if it's gonna help with, um, some of the challenges
that we've had, then I think it, I think it's great. Just wanna mention that. Yeah. So also on that same grant, I'm gonna do it anyway, now that he opened the door. Um, I would've been really comfortable if there was a period after Hate Crimes. Just if it had just said the funds will be used to support the implementation of programs designed to prevent hate crimes. Period. Just throwing it out there. Just as an aside. We're good. I said it. Moving on. Tonight's tonight. Thank you. You'll understand later. Good. Yeah. Good. Next one's what we got Superintendent,
mayor Superintendents update. Alright, so last week we had our first, uh, we, we have our AI committee, our Artificial Intelligence Development Committee. I guess we had our first meeting. We talked about what our goals are gonna be. Some key actions, um, that we wanna identify some principles for ethical use. Uh, we need a district and some school policy. Uh, and of course we started with a needs assessment planning. So both, uh, Mrs. Hillman and Dr. Gunther are also on that committee. Uh, we have students on the committee, which I think is phenomenal. And they are already teaching us things, uh, as to
how they, they use it. And, uh, it, it was, it was pretty interesting. Just very good. A great, I think a nice, a nice group of people, uh, with some varied representation. We have a member of the Boys and Girls Club on our team for ai, so maybe we can, when we collaborate with stuff, because whether we like it or not, folks, it's here, it's coming. And our kids told us that and how often that they actually use it. And, uh, we did know that, but, alright, so attendance as, um, WTA shouted out, uh, through Friday, 10 17, our top five, our WTA at 96.4%.
And then number two is Southampton Road School at 96.38%. So we're 0.02 apart here. Southampton Road, uh, and then Munger Hill is 96.18%. Uh, Westfield Intermediate School is 95.74. And Paper Mill is, uh, 95.33. So our attendance is still looking good. And look at folks, I, I just, I want to be, there will be a flu season coming that, that happens every year. There'll probably be a stomach bug or two, but right now we are Very proud of our numbers. Um, yes. Uh, just also, uh, we learned, uh, confirm today,
secretary Pat of education. Patrick Tutwiler will be visiting Westfield Public Schools on December 1st from 10 to 12. He'll be visiting some classrooms at Westfield River Elementary School, and then he'll be out at Hangar two to talk to some of the seniors in the aviation program. Uh, this is also STEM Week, hence our stem high people. Were here actually this morning, uh, their fourth grade students went to a field trip for some STEM activities at Westfield State University. Other things we have, we have pre-K, uh, fall STEM stations. It's awesome every year. Um, I just like to blow up the pumpkin, but, um, they, they, uh, the kids really enjoy that.
Um, our eighth grade students tomorrow are going, uh, to, uh, computer students for innovators are taking a trip to West Westfield Gas and Electric. So that is a, a great activity on Wednesday. Baystate Medical Labs are visiting, uh, Ms. Eileen Lynch's ninth grade biology classes at Westfield High School. Um, and then even on Fri, and there's a bunch, I'm not gonna read the whole thing to you, but even on Friday, Westfield Technical Academy is going to Westfield River Elementary School, uh, for grade two to work with their Future Builders Club and the Future Builders Roadshow, which is obviously appropriate, um, for that.
So, and then, uh, this week finally, uh, we will be having, um, our lockdown drills starting tomorrow. Mr. Rogers is collaborating with the Westfield Police Department and the Westfield Fire Department. And those will be Tuesday through Friday of this week. Messaging went out to all families. It was in the newspaper. It's on our website. Uh, and please contact Mr. Rogers. Um, if you need any more information, Can you give me a list of that? Yes, Chris, we gotta send that to list to Paul. Can you give me a list of that please? Absolutely. Thank you. And that's all I have. Explain later. Uh, Mr. Rogers, um, thank you very much
for convening MEMA and all of the professionals from public safety, including firefighters, paramedics, police Department, and Public Safety Dispatch, and the Westfield Emergency Management Division. Um, that was probably the best attended meeting I've ever seen. I've been doing it for about 30 years. So con congratulations to you and congratulations for your interest in it. Thank you. Uh, I do want to make sure that Captain Eric Hall gets quite a bit of credit too, was a joint effort And really it was error Was spearheading it, then it grew from it.
So just, just to make, just to follow up with the mayor said, um, that, that event that we had at Westfield High last week, that started at the end of last year in a brainstorm session that Captain Hall had with our, our district wide safety team. And then from there, it mushroomed into that event, including heaven, like we said, the Air Force there and, and dispatch and the health department and, uh, police fire, and pretty much every department in the city. It was, it was truly amazing. A tabletop exercise, um, of that size and, and what every department got from it,
including our department, was truly outstanding. So thank you for recognizing the, you're Welcome and special thanks to Ronnie Gibbons who works behind the scene. You never even know he was there, but he's the emergency management director, so thank you for that. Um, a couple of, I can either do 'em in school committee or I can do 'em here. In terms of updates. Um, right now we're not allowed to talk back and forth to the folks in public participation, but we should know, or it should be noted that there are quotes out for lighting at Westville High School. That means that the process of trying
to get this thing fixed is underway. There are no promises being made. And, um, currently the contracts are being negotiated with, um, the food service. As I was corrected, I said the wrong words. Um, the food service personnel. So we hear you. And we're, we're still in the, obviously the process of that moving forward. Um, so that said, school committee update, Of course, it's always me. It's okay. You're doing the work. It's all good. Um, I just wanna thank Brian Deco for informing me more about IA than I ever thought was out there.
Um, I thought it was just a small little smidgen and he opened my eyes. In fact, Caden, who was here talking about the lighting, was telling me he was doing it since seventh grade in 2016. Mm-hmm. So, I mean, ai, he's been doing it since then. So I wanna thank you putting together that AI team because I think it's a wonderful goal. Um, the other thing was today I attended the task force meeting with Chris, and I am so pleased with the attendance. We have so many people working on that attendance.
We are just glowing. I was like so energized. But before the meeting, um, I had a technical problem, so I couldn't get on with what this new authorization piece. And I was like, oh my God. For an hour and a half I tried and tried and tried. Finally I got the bright idea of calling Nate up at the tech center. So I called at like 12 o'clock and I was put, had my little ticket and Nate said, when can you come? I said, right now, I went right up there. He took my, my computer, he took my phone
and he got me going. I had 10 minutes to get home before I got on the tech, the, the task meeting. But I was like so impressed that I was able to just go and take it because of Nate. So I give a shout out to Nate and I thank Chris for his leadership With that attendance. Everybody who was at that meeting was so supportive of each other and everybody gave a report about how it's going with this task force. And I think it's, it's because of that team and the administrators that we're seeing a big up Chuck
with the, with the attendance then I'm done. Thank you. Anybody else? Items to refer to subcommittees old business subcommittee reports? Okay. Again, that's me. Yep. Okay. Tonight we met on October 20th, um, and we discussed the following policies, physical examination and screening of students, um, school, uh, admissions and also competency, determination and graduation requirements. The curriculum subcommittee will be meeting on November 3rd
to discuss that, followed by, uh, more work with the policies. And that's my report. Thank you Mr. Terrell. Yes. Thank you. Uh, facilities and Capital Planning subcommittee met, uh, this evening. Uh, the only really report to bring back to this group, uh, for the time being is that we got an athletic field update on the site work that's being done up at the high school. Um, the softball, just as a recap, as everybody knows, Boardman Field, softball field and the new athletic complex is being worked on substantial
completion as expected in November of 2025 for the softball field. And the girls softball team will be the first to utilize that field in the spring as it'll be closed throughout the winter months. The athletic complex, uh, is scheduled for substantial completion, uh, for both the athletic complex and the concession stand, uh, for August of 2026. And Board for Boardman field site work is expected to begin in early November, 2025. That's all Bathrooms. What'd you say the final completion date was Mike. Uh, there's no final completion date listed for athletic,
uh, but August of 2026 is for the athletic complex and concession state. Um, so I've had a chance to tour this complex. It's, uh, it's pretty cool. The work is, uh, moving right along. And I'd be remiss if I didn't thank Tammy T for all the work that she and her committee have been doing on the athletic fields itself. It's, it's really kind of something to be seen. And I should also say, because it was said earlier, um, that's being funded through the GE it's not really being funded through the, the general funds of the city's taxpayers general funds. So I just wanted to point that out again. Um, next regular scheduled meeting
of the school committee is November 3rd, 2025, right here at seven o'clock. Motion adjourn. Second. Second. Motion has been made and seconded. Is there any further discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. We're adjourned. A 8 0 6. Thank you.