Good evening, everybody, and welcome to the June 1st, 2026 Westfield City School Committee. Yep. Who's got it? Mr. Sullivan, do you have it? I do. Oh, Mr. Terrell, you have it. Okay. Thank you. Jeff Gunther. Here. Thank you. Sullivan. Here. Jeff Gunther. Here. Mike Terrell, here. Kathleen Hillman. Here. Mo Sullivan. Jeff McCabe. Here. I'll rise for the President's Pledge of Allegiance. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
I would like to now open up the school committee's public participation period that will last up to 30 minutes. Each speaker, if you would like to address the school committee with any matter of your choosing, please do so. You have up to three minutes per person to participate. How's that for P's? Excellent. You got it down? Ralph Figgie, 53 Brookline Avenue, city council liaison to the school committee. I'd just like to take this opportunity to congratulate the class of 2026 upon their fine achievements
and wish them the best of luck in the future. Nice. Thank you, Mr. Figgie. Would anybody else like to address the school committee? Seeing none, moving forward. Item four, Westfield Technical Academy student representative. Should be Westfield High School. Do we have... Did I skip one? Westfield High School. Westfield High School. I have Technical Academy. Oh, you know why? Because I'm reading the minutes from the 18th. Oh. Standby. We have a correction. Yeah. How about let's go to Westfield High School? You have it. Yeah. I was going to approve my own minutes. Sorry about that. It's all right. Good evening, everyone. It's me, Sharon, again. I'm a junior. And I'm Seamus. This is my first year on E-board, and I'm one of
its new five members. And I'll be hopefully coming to more of these as well, so nice meeting you all. Nice to meet you, Seamus. Nice. And so, to get us started here, to old business. Last month, the band had its spring band concert. It went very well. And the band and chorus had gone and come back from our trips over to Pennsylvania and to Virginia, both coming back with superior rating and higher trophies. The NHS banquet also took place throughout last week. Prom also happened last
Friday, I believe. It was an amazing event. Gray Horse was a beautiful place, and it all went lovely. And out of all the schools there, as I don't know if you know, but Gray Horse was having several restrictions on us this year since other schools had left the place kind of not as well as it should've been. But Westwood High had left the place beautifully shining pristine, very good, and they were telling us that we were doing very well with being within the parameters of how one should behave at an event like that. Unfortunately, this
year, our Memorial Day, as you know, had been canceled. Very sad. But two of our very own Westwood High School band members, graduating senior Hailey St. Jean and junior Sarah Collins, represented our city and our high school at Greenville's Memorial Day service with the playing of Taps. Last week, a civics showcase at MassMutual Center also took in place, where students showcased their civic projects in front of judges of civic issues they found very important to them. And-Also last Friday,
the seniors went on their Boston Red Sox game trip at Fenway Park, and unfortunately, the Red Sox lost- Sox ... but they still had a wonderful time. The senior awards ceremony also happened last week, with many seniors, of course, getting awards. And lastly, to end old business, the last day of seniors was May 29th, and senior sunset and luau were also during that time, where they had TSA and wedding at the school as their senior prank, which we had to put our shoes off and then get everything metal
off us and then walk into school barefooted. Very fun, but very sad moment. Now I'm going to hand it over to Seamus for new business. All right. For new business, most recently today, we had the senior awards, where great juniors like me and Sharon got book awards from colleges, and awards for excellence in subjects. And this was for the junior class, and a bunch of amazing juniors got awards. And also today, there was a boys soccer interest meeting in Room 17 for this next year's season.
Then tomorrow, we have two major events. We have the senior banquet and the first of the two days of the science MCAS for the freshmen. Then on Wednesday this week, we have the second day of that MCAS, and for the seniors, we have their graduation practice and their walkthrough through the intermediate and- Elementary school ... elementary schools. Then on Friday, we have the senior assembly and graduation happening. So it's a good send-off for the seniors. There probably will be tears.
I know I'll be one of them for sure. I'm going to miss some of my friends. Yeah. Nice. And then senior assembly is just the in-school one. Graduation's the out-of-school with all the people getting recognized individually. Then going into next week, we have step-up day, where the middle schools get to come up and experience the high school and see where they might take classes next year. And that'll be the eighth and the ninth. And shooting out towards the end of the month, we have our last day of school on June 22nd. It should've been
earlier, but we had some snow days and such. So- I've heard ... we're getting out pretty late this year. Yes. And as has been happening through the school throughout the year, we have our Mingo raffles, and the winners for the most recent one are two winners for the $5 Dunkin' Donuts, one being Delaney B. and Dad J., one for the Circuit Coffee one, Jada H., one for the Two River Burritos one, Jayden B., and three for the $5 Applebee's, Alexis
H., Farou A., and Vadim Z. And we're currently raffling four more with a $25 Sephora, $25 Starbucks, $10 Two Rivers, and $10 Hangar Pub & Grill. I'd take place, but I lost the last one, so I can't. I'm unfortunately out of entries. And these are available in our school store at all three lunches, and we are not carrying over Mingo points, so these are some of the last ones, thus
my investment in the Dunkin' one. And we also have attendance buyback and assignment passes for kids struggling and just needing that final push to end off the year. And before we end it off, I forgot what I was going to say, actually. But... Oh, yeah. We just wanted to say thank you for an amazing year, and thank you for all you have done for us. It's been a pleasure, this being my first year fully doing a school committee meeting. It's been a pleasure, nice to know all you and to be doing this, and we thank you for your time and listening for us.
You're very welcome. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Can't wait to see and do more of these next year. So can't wait. Have a great time. And I find it very unfortunate you can't make it this year, Mr. Mayor, but you'll still be in our hearts during graduation. Well, I don't know that. It's still up in the air as we speak, so. Oh, really? All right. I'll do my best. Thank you. Thank you, Sharon. Have a great night. You too. Thank you. How about now we try it? Approval? I'd like to make a motion to approve the May 18th, 2026 school committee meeting minutes. Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Is there any further discussion?
Seeing none, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. Item six, acceptance of foreign exchange student to attend Westfield High School, 2026-27 school year. I make a motion to accept Max Piper from the Netherlands as a foreign exchange student at Westfield High for the 2026-2027 school year, pending the receipt of his J-1 visa, and on condition that this involves no financial obligations on the part of the Westfield Public Schools, and if there are any such obligations, this acceptance is rescinded. Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Is there any discussion?
Mrs. von Clark, does he swim? I'm not sure. All right. Well- Yeah. Can we get that figured out? Mayor, may I request a point of personal privilege? Sure. Oh, good Good evening, everybody. I would like to sincerely say thank you to school community, to administration, teachers, and students out here for welcoming me this year. Also, as an exchange student from the Kyrgyz Republic, I have incredible opportunity to travel to Washington, DC, and represent Westfield and West Massachusetts for civic educational workshop, where we had a
discussion with senators all over the 50 states. And, I was representing Westfield High School, and our school was nominated for award, and we won that award, and the certificates are coming this Wednesday. And I would like to give this to school committee, and student, and teachers. I'm especially grateful for the kindness, support, and opportunities that I have received throughout my time here. This experience, it was unforgettable experience, especially living in Massachusetts. One of the highlights of my year was spending time with my friends and with my host family,
especially with Westfield High School, being able to swim. But unfortunately, I wasn't able to done it. So thank you for listening me. Thank you for- It's been our pleasure to host you. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Home school applications. I'd like to make a motion for the approval of home school applications 196 to 205 for the 2025-2026 school year. Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Is there any further discussion? Dr. Gunther. I just have a question about, is it typical for us to be approving ones for the last three weeks of the school year at
this time of year? Those of them are actually getting a deferral for next year. Don't we have to approve them again next year? I'm not sure. But they turned into me from Okay. There are a few new though. Just to mention. I just have a comment. Sure. I was surprised by the returning homeschool student. That was the first time I've ever seen that. Yeah. I mean, I don't want to talk about one situation since it is just one, but there is an explanation about that family. Okay. Thank you. I'm not sure. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Oh, that's me. All right, mate.
Give me just a moment. Do you want it? I'd like to make a motion for the approval of a field trip for Westfield Technical Academy, Mazur Northeast Technology Center, Windsor Locks, Connecticut, on 6/12/2026. Second. Second. Oh. That's all right. Motion's been made and seconded. Who wants to second? Dr. Gunther gets to second. Any further discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. I'd like to make a motion for the approval of field trip from Westfield Technical Academy to the Amazon Fulfillment Center located in Windsor, Connecticut on June 17th, 2026.
Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor? Wait, is there any explanation for what a fulfillment center is? Is that just where they train or... I've never heard that term before. It's like where they ship from. All the packages that are being- I thought you said something else. It's where they hold all of their... They get a bunch of merchandise. I have it if you'd like it. Yeah. Okay, please. Exploring careers in robotic industrial maintenance and management. Oh, robotics. Okay. Thank you. You're welcome. That's awesome. Any further discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Item nine.
Robotics. That's interesting. Good evening. Stefan Zaparowski, Superintendent of Schools. And I need the mouse. So, on Friday I emailed you a ton of stuff, I think, if you were able to open it, is in Google. But just a quick review. The first goal that we set out for this year was to conduct a comprehensive evaluation in the effectiveness of special education and our EL inclusive practices across the district. And develop a plan to improve instruction in all schools for implementation for the '26, '27 school year. So this goal is a little bit more lofty than we
had originally intended it to be. And so, we did, as you know, in the last meeting, go over the special education review, which we had hoped would be done and given to us sooner. Of course, getting it so late was... And then of course, kind of looking at what the recommendations were, our critical piece. And we also have the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education coming out next week, and they're going to do what they call an integrated monitoring review, which they do every three years. And then our EL, our English Learner student program walkthroughs of all schools. I sent you the data on that.
We also had an integrated monitoring review in December by the state for that. So we have the data from that as well. So we have all the... And then our central office team, and I sent you, we do our field trips to schools. So I sent you what our forms were, what we were looking for in those particular classes that we went into, and what we found and the data that that collected. So, um Our next step is to develop and implement a comprehensive district improvement plan to strengthen inclusive practices and improve student achievement outcomes for students with disabilities and English learners.
And one of the other things I realized is that ought to be a goal that we work together with the school committee on because it is so large, I guess. And there are going to be some needs that come along with that, that we're going to have to express that and look into. But that is goal one. For goal two, by June 2026, all schools will implement structured monthly grade-level team and content meetings with administrators to review student performance data and develop targeted instructional strategies. So, that has been implemented. We have monthly grade-level team and content meetings to review student performance
data and develop targeted instructional strategies. We've also expanded student data used to inform instruction at elementary and secondary levels. And so we will look at end-of-year data to see if that has helped. We do expect that it will. And so finding that people are on the same page and knowing what the students in front of them, what their data is in terms of achievement, and putting in appropriate interventions and such has been critical, has been important, so putting the system in place. And so now we need the end-of-the-year data, which looks promising.
Goal three, by June 2026, Westfield Public Schools will implement artificial intelligence tools and practices in at least 25 math and ELA classrooms district-wide to enhance personalized learning, streamline administrative tasks, and improve student outcomes as measured by student performance data and feedback surveys. So what we are seeing is that there's at least 40% of staff that have reported using AI tools to support their work with lesson planning, differentiated tasks, and even deciphering data and different things that you can use it for, which used to take a lot longer than it does now. When you put it into AI, it kind of brings it up.
It kind of summarizes it pretty well. Student use included app development and use, GEMS to provide feedback on writing tasks, research on project assignments. And we have a policy that we moved forward. It's not a school committee policy, but it's a district policy, and it will go into all of our handbooks for next year. It is a living document. I think AI is going to change so fast that we're going to have to tweak that on the regular. But we want to continue to support responsible AI use among staff and students. We want to create a smaller leadership team to maintain updated policies,
resources, and emerging practices. Our large group was quite large for an AI committee, but in order to just monitor it and keep it going, we need to keep on top of that because it's not going away anytime soon. And then our fourth goal, by June 26, reduce chronic absenteeism by 1.3% for all students. We were going to go from 20.8 to 19.5. Three and a half percent for special education students, so we were going to go from 28.5 to 25, and then 3.5% for English learner students from 29.7 to 26.2, is what we wanted to go to, I think.
The best point is that we not only met this goal, I would tell you that we exceeded it, and actually as of today. So these numbers were as of May 15th. As of today, all students ticked up a little bit to 16.9, but our special education students decreased from... Even when I put this together and sent it to you on Friday when we got the new data today, from 23.54% to 22.9%. Mm-hmm. It's still high, but it is far better than where we were at
29.7% for last year. So that is really a 7% decrease in chronic absenteeism for that group. And for our English language learners, it was reported at 19.94% on the 15th, and today when we did it, it's 14.29%. So it went down, our English learners, from 29.7 to 14.29%. So every school put an attendance team together, put some strategies together to get our numbers up, and it worked. And it worked pretty well. It doesn't mean that we're done.
This is a constant effort, but we're starting to see our district numbers closer to where they were pre-pandemic, and I think this is an area of celebration. I know Kathy is on the attendance committee, so she's seen this data as well, and I think we talk about student achievement and everything else, and I always think back to something the mayor says, "Fanny in the chair." Fanny in the chair. So when- Different times, but that's it. Yeah. And if you're in the chair, you're going to learn more, and probably do better just because of that. But I just wanted to provide a brief overview, and if I can answer any questions
you have as you go through all the data that we sent you, please let me know. Thank you. Any questions for the superintendent? Thank you very much, Mr. Zaprowski. Nice report. Kathleen, you ready? Are you ready for my marathon? I'm ready for you when you're ready. Let's go. Oh my gosh. Giddy up. Okay. The committee met on May 27th, and there were three people in attendance, myself, Jeff, and Mike, and Dr. Rosenthal. So, the first reading, I'd like to make a motion to approve a first reading by title only of policy
JFBB School Choice. Second. Motion been made and seconded. Is there any further discussion? There's no tripping. I just have one. There was one line that we added, and it's highlighted in yellow, and there still needs to be one correction where it says hair lengthNo space, please. We're eradicating the space? Okay. Down at the very bottom. And that is it for that one. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Okay. The next one for a first reading, I'd like to make a motion to
approve a first reading by title only of policy JCAA, Physical Restraint of Students, and it's going to be changed to Time Out, Seclusion, and Restriction of Students. Second. Motion has been made and seconded. Is there any further discussion? Of course. This has been reviewed by Dr. Gregory Rosenthal. We have a total revision of this policy from Massachusetts School Committee, with some small changes from our own attorney. We are adding
on page four, Safety Care Training. We are erasing the "and" with number seven for that page. Page number five, we're going to omit the word "and" on the seventh bullet down. And on page nine, we're going to add Documenting Time Out. I have a question. I'm having trouble following. I see the current policy that's being replaced. I don't see the proposed policy in our packets, unless it's in the... Is it in the physical packet that-
Yes ... we're-- Or like- Yes. Like this. Sorry. Are we in the thing that we... Yes, I see that. I see that we're cutting out. Do we have the new- The whole thing. But do we have the new policy language? This is it. It's replacing it. I don't think we have that in our- You don't have this? In the SharePoint. I think it was in- So, Dr. Gunther, I was with you. That was the question I had. Ms. Hillman was talking about items one, four, seven, eight. Oh. I don't have that. You don't have it? There is no 10B. That is correct. 10B. 10B one would've been the new... Oh. Oh, okay. On the agenda. It's only the- On the agenda. Yeah. It's only the current.
Here, there's the school that we just approved, and this is 10B2. That's where you're cutting out. Yep. But there is no... On the shared drive, Cindy? I'm looking right now. I'm in the shared drive. It's not there. This was a lot. I thank Cindy for all her work, because this is astronomically large stuff. Well, we're okay. We don't have to panic about this, but obviously we can't pass it if we can't see it. Right? I think that's where we are. So as far as item 10B goes- Table it. We can vote no and it'd just come back to us. Can we just withdraw the motion? Or table it. Table it.
Yeah. We can. I need a motion to withdraw the motion. Or withdraw it yourself, Kathleen. Who has to make it then? It's in the first reading, though. Right, but there's no way to read it. It's in the first reading. But I can't read it. So other than that one little glitch. Okay. Kathleen, can you withdraw your motion? Oh, okay. I can withdraw my motion. There you go. And we'll catch up to it next time around. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion's been withdrawn. Item 11. Okay. Item 11. All of these are going to be a second and final reading. So I'm going to start off with file ADC, Tobacco Products
on School Premises Prohibited. I make a motion to approve for a second and final reading. Second. Motion has been made and seconded. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Okay. I make a motion to approve for a second and final reading of policy file GBEBC, Gifts to and Solicitations by Staff. Second. Motion has been made and seconded. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. I'd like to make a motion to approve for a second and final reading,
file GBED, Tobacco Use on School Property by Staff Members Prohibited. Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion passes. Okay. I'd like to make a motion to approve a second and final reading of policy file HA, Negotiation Goals. Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Do you have something? I should get a buzzer. I'd like to make a motion to approve a second and final reading
of file HB, Negotiations Legal Status. Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Is there any further discussion on this item? Seeing none. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. I'd like to make a motion to approve for a second and final reading, file JFABF, Educational Opportunities for Children in Foster Care. Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. I'd like to make a motion for a second reading and final reading of policy file JICFA,
Prohibition of Hazing. Second. Motion's been made and seconded. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. I'd like to make a motion to approve a second reading and final reading of policy file JLCB, immunization of students. Second. Motion been made and seconded. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. I'd like to make a motion to approve a second and final reading of policy file JLCD, administrating medicines to
students. Second. Motion been made and seconded. Any further discussion? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Okay, let's see what else I've got. Turn the page, please. Okay, I'd like to make a motion to approve for a second and final reading policy file JRA, student records. Second. Motion been made and seconded. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Okay, I'd like to make a motion to approve a second and final reading of policy file KBBA, noncustodial
parents' rights. Second. Motion been made and seconded. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you. I'd like to make a motion to approve a second and final reading of policy file KF-R, community use of school facilities. Second. Motion been made and seconded. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none, all those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Phew. Thank you very, very much, Kathleen, for your work and to our colleague over there, Ms. Minicucci.
Oh. Yes. Yes, definitely. It's all her. And can we make sure that we get that one other item, 10B, in the shared drive for the meeting on the 15th? We'll take care of it. Okay. Good. Excellent. How about we accept some revenues? I'd like to make a motion for the acceptance of the special revenue accounts as presented. Second. Motion been made and seconded. Is there any further discussion? Mrs. Barry, how are you? Hello. I actually don't have any discussion tonight. There really haven't been any significant changes to any of these accounts since the last time that I presented. Where do we stand with the deletion of the debt accounts, for lack of a better term?
So there's a bunch of them that I have- Oh, all right. Hmm ... eliminated. And some of the ones that have been brought to zero, I've taken off the page altogether. There's a few left that I'm still working on that have just a small amount of money, but for the most part, we're getting there. Well, the only reason I bring it up is because right off the bat, there's Fort Meadow with $1.16 in it. Yeah. So they had used almost all of it to make a purchase for preschool students in general. So the next order they do for preschool, they're going to have to just use that
balance up on that line. Awesome. Okay. So we can't use it for Fort Meadow. So we're using it for preschool students in general. Okay. Anybody else? Okay. Thank you. Mr. Terrell? Nick Sullivan. Just... We're looking for a yay or nay to accept. Yay. Yes. Jeff Goslin? Yes. Jeff Gunther? Yes. Kathleen Hillman? Yes. Mike Terrell, yes. Chairman McCabe? Yes. Thank you. That wasn't your fault, Kathleen. We're good. It's hard being called first. The weekly warrants, May 15th, 2026, 22 batches totaling $361,600.45. May 22nd, 2026, 16 batches totaling
$5,049,234.06. Thank you. You're welcome. Approval of non-contractual benefits. I'd like to make a motion to approve the non-contract chart as presented. Second. Motion been made and seconded. Any further discussion? Dr. Morris, how are you? Yeah. Good evening. I think the only thing I want to note, there's not a lot of significant changes other than 2% increases that you see. I did want to note, though, that there is an additional role that we are proposing to add to the non-contract sheet, which is, I don't know, probably
eight or nine lines down, seasonal outdoor caretaker. As we look at some of the exterior of our schools, we're recognizing that in certain seasons, like the one we're in now, there's a need for additional help. It's not necessarily something that would be all year round. Like in winter, for instance, things are different. But it is something that we feel like is relatively low cost and can really increase the beautification of our schools as well as for safety. So, that is the new role that's on the non-contract chart. I think everything else is probably as expected.
Dr. Morris, where is that? It is right under HVAC assistant, electrician, building craftsman, HVAC plumber, HVAC assistant, seasonal outdoor- Not on our sheet Not on our sheet. We don't have. It's all right. We just don't have it. So- I thought I got the worst ... I would be in favor of it if I saw it. But can I go over something just to make sure that I have it right in my head, or do you want me to wait until after? You want me to wait till after? Okay. I'll wait till after, but... Okay. Very good. So if I had seen it- Yeah ... can we move this to the item to the 15th?
Absolutely. Yeah. Can we approve the other parts?No? Okay. It's a package. I think it's better to do all of this. Okay. It's a package? Yeah. Okay. Thank you. To withdraw my motion. Second. Thank you. Motion been withdrawn. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Thank you. Don't take it hard, Cindy. It ain't easy. You got a lot of papers flying. It's all good. We could take care of it. We only need one day. Even if we need to do it in one vote, one fell swoop on the 15th, we'll take care of it, okay? Mr. Zavros. Okay. So today, we had two finalists for our Westfield Intermediate
principal position. And the finalists met with our central office leadership team, they met with our principals, they met with me, they met with students, they met with staff, and they met with families in the library at WIS. And that actually ended about 6:10 today. So we certainly put them through- Good God, there's laughing ... Well, look, you're picking a principal. It's a pretty big deal. It's a process, and I want to thank everybody who participated in it from the initial screening, and of course, Dr. Morris's efforts with that. The people that were on the committee, which included members of COA, which
included school committee members, and also staff. And then just our principals that came to meet with them today as well, and all the parents that showed up, and the staff that stayed after today, which I understand, as Kathy told me, it was packed. It was packed. So there was a lot of terrific participation. So the next step is that now I have to review all of the feedback, which will take me some time because there's a lot of feedback after meeting with all of those groups. And then we will have a decision. But I'm excited. I think we have two strong candidates, and I think the process, which didn't exist before I came
here, and I think we have a good process, and I think Dr. Morris has enhanced it a bit as well. So, that's exciting. Last Friday, I was able to go to Westfield River Elementary School to help with bicycle helmet distribution- Yay ... as part of the Kiwanis. And every third-grade student in the district is going to get a free helmet. So actually, tomorrow morning, I'll be at Paper Mill to do the same. It's a great experience. The kids are happy, and they give a lot of fist bumps. It's free, and obviously it promotes bicycle safety. And Brad Cassin from the Kiwanis gives a little
piece before we start giving out the helmets just about bicycle safety, how to get noticed, how to not get hit, and such like that. So that's pretty exciting. There's a lot going on this week, as you obviously know. Seventh-grade band and chorus just wrapped up at 7:00 tonight at Westfield Middle School. Tomorrow night is WISSAPALOOZA, which is at Westfield Intermediate School. The band and chorus concert will be performing at 6:00 PM. And then Wednesday night is the eighth-grade band and chorus concert at Westfield Middle School. And then, of course, Thursday night is graduation, Westfield Technical Academy at 7:00 PM where the
weather still looks phenomenal. Yay. Kill it. Don't come. Friday night- Maybe ... Friday night will be warm, actually. Pretty warm. It did not show rain, and it's Monday. I'm feeling pretty confident, Mayor, that we're going to have a good night. We've had a clean sweep of events, by the way, so far. This year. This year's been pretty good. Absolutely. I'm kidding. Right down to your Easter egg hunt, because I remember years past where that's been soggy, to say the least. And then, of course, the last day of school is June 22nd. It's an early release day. And then the last thing I just wanted to address is some of our landscaping, and
Dr. Morris alluded to it earlier. So historically speaking, when I first started in this district, and granted, that was some time ago, there were a significant number of people that worked at what we called our maintenance barn. In fact, there were 12 additional people. And over time, we have reduced that number. Every year I've been superintendent, we've had to eliminate positions because of budgeting. And so we're now down to four. And these folks also cover the vacancies in our schools when we have a custodian out. So particularly if you have someone who's opening a school, you need a custodian in that building to do that.
So it has created problems for us, and I admit we need to do better. So one of the things that we have done, and it was alluded to on the chart, is to add these seasonal positions, because really where we're getting stuck and getting caught behind is in the April, May, June, July, August, September. And so we're thinking that if we're able to, and taking it from the intermittent custodial line, so we're trying not to make it cost any more, but using that a little bit more, for lack of a better term, smartly to use it more efficiently or
effectively by adding these seasonal positions. And I believe Dr. Morris will be posting those as soon as we can. The hope was to obviously to improve the non-contract chart so that we could post those sooner than later. But I think just hearing that there are a lot of students even looking for summertime work, this might be something that we could do to help some of our local youth get positions. Certainly, we're looking even at the... Once it passes, I will talk to Mr. Sperry from our horticulture department to see if we can get any horticulture students who will already have their OSHA 10 card by that point. If they are looking for some summer work, we will have
that availability. So, I'm optimistic, especially after seeing on the news the other day that youth are having a hard time getting jobs these days. So I think that that will be helpful for us. But again, I know that we need to do better, and we will. But the significant reduction in staff has impacted us, and that is unfortunate. But we will get it done. We're alsoIn the next couple of months, putting in some work on the landscaping at both Paper Mill and Monger Hill. That had actually been planned some time ago, and we were planning, that'll be done, I believe Shannon said, over the summer once the
students have left. So that's all I have. Any questions? Superintendent's report? So before we go into the mayor's update, I'd like to address the last piece that Mr. Saprazynski talked about. It's my understanding, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that the custodians are responsible for the grounds out to the curtilage to the sidewalk, and then the maintenance staff is overlaid on top of that, run out of Mr. Rogers' office to take care of the larger field cleanings. So that tells me at some point in time
that principals are in charge of custodians. I have it correct, right? Correct. And that you are in charge of the maintenance staff in the larger areas of concentration that are beyond the curtilage. Okay, so the school sizes didn't change, right? We didn't have any school size change that I know of, and our custodial staff is still the same custodial staff that we've had historically, not the maintenance side, the custodial side. So I think where the breakdown may be is that the custodial side needs to
be aware of the amount of complaint, I don't know how else to say it, that I receive personally because it's not getting done right. I have been asking since I came in in 2022 for this to be done correctly. That means that principals are responsible for their custodial staff. I can't be any more explicit about it. I am sure that there are mechanisms in place that are supposed to take a look at how those operational strategies work, and I just hope that we redouble our efforts, because without
going into it, it failed this year. But it's failed in other years as well. So if you look at City Hall, I am the principal of City Hall. Fair? My custodians are responsible for the upkeep and beautification of our outward-facing public frontline presence. I have tried as best as I can, and if it sounds like I'm a little emotional about it, it's because I am, to have curb appeal. Because when your children are walking into schools that aren't mowed, aren't kept up, the beds are crappy, dirt and dust are just blowing around, and
private citizens have to go and do the beds themselves, it's not right. It just simply isn't right. That's all I'm going to say on the subject. It's just not right. We need to redouble our efforts on our curb appeal on our schools across the board. There are a couple that are better than others, but my goodness, when we have rows of grass in a first baseline, that you can't discern between a baseline and it just... Okay, I'm good. Sorry, but I had to say it. I'm just tired of getting my head kicked in for something that I don't have any control over.
So as the school committee chairman, I would like to see as part of the goals of the superintendent's office in '27, is to see a marked improvement in the management and operation of our curb appeal. Can I say it that way? Because I'm not trying to point fingers. I'm just saying there's no reason I should personally be to blame because somebody doesn't mow the lawn. It's not right. So I've said it. It's off my chest. Mayor Mike, it's not every school that's having that problem. That's correct.
Some. Some. I'm with you. I know the some. Okay. But I know the others that I'm not going to name either- Yep ... that I have had to personally call and ask them to mow their lawns. That should never, ever happen. Just shouldn't happen. So I'm off my soapbox. I'm going to go into a more pleasant discussion under the mayor's topic. How about that? I had the pleasure of speaking for Dollars for Scholars. Dollars for Scholars raised $363,000 and gave out scholarships to 137 students. That is by far their best year. They're over $5 million
raised since their inception. So good to them and good to Cindy Neary for all the work that she put into it. Really, hats off to her, and her team. Cindy Noodle. NHS, National Honor Society, is always one of the best days of the school year. It was fabulously attended. It was super to be there, and I thank them for their invitation. Senior awards were also pretty cool at Westfield High School that I was there for, and the 10 aviation students who graduated last Thursday with their degrees. We had one student that not only
graduated with their degree, but tell me what the words, is already ready to go. First ever? First ever while- Before graduation, has already passed her FAA tests, so she's certified by the FAA to be a mechanic. Yeah. And she's already accepted a full-time position at Gulfstream. Her sister also works at Gulfstream, right, Lydia? Am I allowed to say it? Sure, I can. The Posnier family and Sophia. Yes. I know I get it, if I continue to keep talking. So congratulations to Sophia on being the first ever FAA certified senior from West Hill Tech.
That's crazy. It's very, very cool. So I hope I picked up the mood a little bit, and moving on to school committee update. Yeah. Just to the committee members, you should have a copy of the superintendent's review sheet that you received tonight. If you could kindly return that in at the next meeting. I know that's a tight turnaround time, but we still have to put everything together after that's completed. So, just a friendly reminder. Are we-- Is this the same version as last year's in that we can use the digital copies that we used last year? I believe it is. Yeah. The digital copy's still editable, right?
It's in the shared access file. I have paper ones if anyone- Great ... wants a paper one. And I don't make you read my handwriting. I know that. Anything else? Thank you. Can I just? Yeah, please. Sure. I have been super busy with school activities. The first one I went to was DESE, the Civics project at the MassMutual last Tuesday. We had students from the middle school as well as the high school presenting their civics project. The young lady, Addison, from the
wrestling group came, and she presented, and there was a very interesting one from the middle school also. It was called Period Poverty, and I thought that one should really go for some place, so I gave them some recommendation as to where to go. There was a cellphone one, and our students were superb in their presentation. There was also a group on talking about Nestle's product that should be heard by everybody in the city because it
was really, really well done. I also attended the AI subcommittee, and then I also attended the high school scholarship. I gave a scholarship out, which is always a great honor. And the banquet, wow, wow, wow, by Mrs. Collins and Mrs. Lynch. What a great honor for our students there. Every one of them felt like they were something out of this world and special. It was such a joy to be there. Thank you.
Anybody else? Next. Subcommittee reports and recommendations. Oh, here we go again. Me. Huh? Okay. So on May 27th, I met to discuss the following policies, JFBB and JCAA, and one of those was presented and accepted today. So that's my report on that. Thank you. Minutes? Minutes and minutes. We'll let finance go first. I'd like to make a motion to approve the finance subcommittee meeting minutes of May 18th, 2026. Second. Motion been made and seconded.
Is there any further discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. I'd like to make a motion to accept the minutes for Human Resource and Policy Subcommittee meeting May 27th, 2026. Second. Oh, here we go again. With a very quick second. Motion's been made and seconded. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. The next regular school committee meeting is on June 15th, 2026, 7:00 PM, right here in this chair. Is there another motion? Make a motion to- Excuse me. Oh. Go ahead. I'd like to make a motion to end this meeting.
Second. That was interesting phraseology. Sure. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries, 7:51. Hey, might as well make it fun, right?