Good evening everybody. Welcome to the Westfield Public School Committee meeting of April the seventh at seven o'clock. This is Sullivan. Jeffrey Guther. Here. Kathleen Hillman. Here. Bill Sullivan. Here. Heather Sullivan. Here. Mike Terrell. Here. Tim O'Connor not here. And Chairman Mcca Here At this time. At this time, I'd like to, um, call for a moment of silence. Um, Tim O'Connor's mom has passed away, uh, over the weekend, so if I could get that done. Thank you. Mrs. Sullivan, do you have anything?
Yeah, I just wanted to say a couple of words about, uh, GA O'Connor because it's most fitting that we're in a school committee meeting and, um, and that her son, Tim, is not only a member of the school committee, but, um, vice chair, um, Gail, uh, I have some facts about it and then a little personal note, but, uh, Gail graduated from West Wheel High School in 1955, where she was the Bronze Tablet winner. And, uh, we seem to mention it every single year. Tim has to remind us all that that's a fact.
Um, she got her undergrad, her master's, and her advanced graduate studies in education from Westfield State. And she taught here in the system for 35 years and spent most of her career as an elementary school teacher at Juniper Park. And for anybody who had a chance to meet Gail, be taught from by Gail or, you know, she took student teachers. She was an amazing, amazing person who loved children, who made elementary school fun back when it was really fun when they did a bunch of plays.
I've been at birthday parties, um, at Tim's house for the kids and all the adults had to get up and run with a spoon in our mouth with an egg. All of us participated in plays and she had all of our, um, costumes. I have the great Carac, um, piece that I still have at in my closet. I sent a picture to Tim over the weekend, which no one else will see. Um, but she was just an amazing person and anybody who had her or had the pleasure of working with her knows that she was the best, absolutely the best. So, um, a shout out to, uh, the memory of Gail O'Connor.
Thank you very much. Mr. Sullivan. Before we go any further, do we have any Southampton Road elementary schools that know how to do the pledge allegiance? I bet you all do, right? You guys wanna help us out a little bit, huh? Okay. I pledge allegiance to the for one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and no justice. Thank you. You guys. I note we have, uh, open for public participation, uh, Kate, almost.
That's right. Exciting is good. We have about 15 minutes for public participation. Anybody who would like to address the school committee is certainly more than welcome to do so. You have three minutes of time per person, and we'll start off with the good counselor from Ward two. Thank you. Ralph Fige. Uh, 53 Brook Lane Avenue. Uh, the city council liaison to the school committee. There has been some discussion of how to put a non-binding referendum onto the ballot, and I'd like to read from the city charter that process. The city council may have its own motion,
but shall upon request of the school committee in the case of a measure originating with that committee pertaining to the affairs under the administration, submit to the vote of registered voters for adoption or rejection at a general or special city election, any proposed measure or proposition for the amendment, repeal, amendment of any measure in the same manner with the same focus, in effect, provided submission of the petition. The reason I bring this to you is there was a lot of discussion at the council over the SOI that was forwarded to us from you.
So it's my opinion that if there will be a non-binding referendum, it needs to come from the school court. Thank you very much. Thank you. Is there anybody else? Hi, I'm Rachel Bullock at 59 Bailey Drive, and I'm here tonight to help support the voting in of the new special ed service, um, director. But I also wanted to, and I'm a part of CPAC, which is the Special Education Parent Advisory Council. And before voting in him, I'd just like to, uh, give a big shout out to Deb and for, um, all her, Deb Eckert, the current director, um, for all of her communication and help.
And, uh, she's a wonderful person and we're gonna miss her. But we're looking forward to our new person. So thank you. Thank you Very much. Thank you. Would anybody else like to address the school committee? Seeing none, Katie, you know what time it is? Come on. Okay. So my name is Kate Richie and I am the principal at South Hampton Road School. And I'm really happy to be here tonight and super excited 'cause I have some students with me in thinking about what we wanted to share, um, we decided to focus on the amazing work that our staff does to ensure
that all students feel welcome and safe every day. So to get started, um, we wanted to share a little bit about our SEL curriculum that we use, which is called Choose Love. For those of you that don't know, choose Love was founded by a mom from the Sandy Hook tragedy, and students are taught to choose love whenever they can. They move through four topics, kindness, gratitude for forgiveness and compassion. And here's just some of our bulletin boards that we have and a student in one of our art classes. And then talking a little bit about the way
that we encourage positive behavior, we use, um, our stars. And I'm sure that our students could just repeat what our stars stand for, but students who show these, um, things receive Starbucks because our mascot is the SRS Stars. Um, and then they can cash them in for positive things that they can earn doing a craft with me or extra recess, things like that. Um, and they really seem to enjoy that, right, guys? Yes. Um, and then a lot of what we do focuses on our message
of kindness and respect. So this year we partnered with Booster, um, and did a glow run. The theme was a kindness quest. And so every day the students were engrossed in adventures of the main character Ethan, and what values he would need to get to his next step. Um, and so our booster run was a huge success. And then to keep with our theme of being kind and being active, most recently SRS participated in a school-wide heart challenge. And here speak to us tonight we have our PE teacher,
miss Bus, and then we have, um, Reagan Panis and Luna and Scott Schuler and Steven and Andrew Smitty to share some exciting facts with you guys. Come on with you guys. Okay. I just, this is how I, this is part of how I get people to really get excited about this kind of thing. Um, um, so I just wanted to say, uh, we are at, uh, 1600 and change and counting. Um, and how do I do this? Just the space bar.
Like, okay, I remembered you saying it was different. Um, and I just, I really appreciate being here because there are, so, I mean, our district is full of wonderful teachers that could be here sharing the cool stuff that they do. Um, I did wanna point out that as Mrs. Richie said, SRS and all of Westfield is more than just about the academics. It's about, um, educating people on how to be the best human beings they can be. And with the Kids' Heart Challenge put on by the American Heart Association, um, students are able
to show compassion because they're raising money for people whose hearts, um, people who are born with special hearts. And during the unit, I have younger students identify activities that cause their heart to beat more quickly. Um, they then draw a picture of their favorite activity. I have older students, um, taking their pulse and getting heart rates after doing various activities and then graphing them. Um, and I also have some reading where students then underline textual evidence to answer things.
So just a really quick snapshot of one particular unit, um, that really shows you how our specialists, our specialist teachers, integrate so many things into their curriculum and really focus on how to, um, make things age appropriate, developmentally targeted tasks so that each year we're building upon the foundation that the students received before. Um, and one of the highlights of the Kids' Heart Challenge,
and this is, um, a great example of when you can fuse the PE and the health lessons together to have kind of like a wellness, um, curriculum, uh, is a, an obstacle course. And in the obstacle course, students start in the lungs. They pick up oxygen, they then travel through the gym, um, through labeled body parts. They start, like I said, the lungs. Then they go to the left atrium. Uh, they go through the mitral valve, the left ventricle,
then the aortic valve, then the aorta. And then they choose whether they want to go to the body or the brain. They go through obstacles to get there. They drop off their oxygen. Um, they pick up carbon dioxide and travel back, um, going through the right side of the heart this time and are able to then end up back in the lungs. And so they're acting as a red blood cell and a red blood cell, of course, brings our oxygen and nutrients to the parts of our body that need it. And, um, just kind of showing that,
um, they're moving, they're learning. Um, I'll probably let them talk about the tiny tunnel that, that you see. And, um, I think I've said, Hold on just one second. Yeah, I would be remiss in Tim O'Connor would be all over me if I did not make this announcement. So I'm gonna make it, if parents wanna actually take pictures going this way so they could see their children rather than sitting behind them and they can't get any pictures. You guys are more than welcome to come in, fill in the blanks, get come in behind us if you'd like to, if you want to just stay with you where you are,
you're certainly more than willing to do that as well. Thanks, Kate. There are no takers. Thank you. So how about, Okay, so it's not about what I do. It's about what, remember right. The tunnels in the obstacle course were arteries. Arteries lead away from the heart. The large tunnels in the obstacle course were clear, clean, healthy arteries. The small tunnels were arteries with plaque built up. How quickly your heartbeats or your heart rate changes with activity. Your heart is a muscular organ with four chambers.
We did a lot of different types of rolling on the, um, ramp. Some of the rolls were log rolls, pencil rolls, four rolls, and egg rolls. My favorite part of the obstacle course was the spring springboard. The springboard and vault. Your heart gets stronger with exercise. We inhale oxygen. The heart and the lungs work together. Like teammates. We exhale carbon dioxide.
Your blood goes around and around like a circle. The heart is part of the she atory system. Your blood develops o oxygen to your body or delivers. I can't read today. Habitats we are form, we form now can help us be and stay unhealthy, I believe. So If you make more unhealthy choices, then healthy choices over and over again, you are more likely
to have deceased. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. Nice job guys. Thank you. And we won't hold you hostage for the rest of the meeting. By the way. If you guys want to take off, you're more than welcome to do so. I think it's time for the upperclassmen from Westfield Tech. Hello. Hello. Is and I get to start reading this book. Pardon? Am I get to start reading the Yep. By way. Who are you? First one, tell us who you are. I'm Nathaniel River. Santos. Nice to meet you Nathan. Nice to meet you all again. Well, in March, over 50 of our students from 11 shops participated in the skills USA
competition against some of the area's best career technical students skills. USA Massachusetts is the largest chapter in the nation. With more than 32,000 members, over 30 WTA students earned either gold or silver medals. All silver and gold medal winners will be moving on to compete in the Massachusetts State Leadership and Skills Conference. Congratulations to all that. Participated. Uh, this past week, WTA was visited by a team of 10 educators from across the region who represented
the NE A oh, the New England Association of Schools and Colleges. The NE A team collaborated with WTA staff on the self reflect study done by staff. This year, we anxiously are awaiting the findings and thoughts of the ES team as WTA heads for accreditation in Spring 2027. As always, tigers Pride restaurant is open every week with service on select days from 10 45 to 1215
for your dining pleasures. This coming Friday, the seniors will be providing their capstone buffet with a BR guest theme. This will be a taste of several items you would see at Disney World. Our dedicat, our dedicated culinary arts department, looks forward to serving you and is grateful for your continued patronage. On Friday, April 4th, all juniors at Westfield Technical Academy participated in the InControl Craft Prevention training. This training allowed students to ride along
with professional drivers and learn improved driving techniques and strategies. InControl was the first state certified driver skill development program in the United States. Each student that participated enjoyed a 10 through 15 minute ride where they experienced safe driving techniques in how to enhance their awareness of the dangers of distracted drivings. This event is sponsored by a grant obtained through the Westfield Police Department. Westfield Tech has started MCAS testing season. All sophomores have recently completed the two day English
language arc portion of the state testing. Sophomores will be called on again to complete the math MCAS test in May. Our freshman class is slated to take the science MCM CAS in June. Despite the jury weather, our spring sports season has kicked off and are excited to get outside and get the season going. Softball and basketball or baseball are no longer the only spring sports available to WTA students. We participate in cooperative agreements with Westfield High School and Unified Track Boys Lacrosse
and Girls and Boys Tennis. We also currently have student athletes playing girls lacrosse with Hampshire Regional. The junior class has been very busy. They recently attended the career fair hosted at Westfield State University this Thursday, April 10th. They will all be attending the Credit for Life event at Westfield High School. The second annual Staff Rock Paper Scissors Tournament has reached the Elite 8 66 staff signed up this year. And the final four will be conducted on Thursday, April 17th
during the talent show. No administrators made it out of the first round, but Officer Turon is one went away from the final four. Our annual staff versus student basketball game was held on March 13th due to injury and age. Once again, the staff was defeated by the much younger student team. The staff battled to the end. However, they had too many shortcomings and many pounds to stay with the students. The staff is willing to take this beating though, as we raised over 1000
for the Rob Ari Scholarship Foundation. The deadline for applications for next year's ninth grade class has closed. We have received 240 applications, including 67 from out of the district students, and over 170 from Westfield current eighth graders. This is the largest pool of applicants ever at WTA, once again showing that WTA is the place to be. Thank you, Mr. I have file. I'd like to make a motion for the approval of an appointment of Dr. Gregory Rosenthal, administrator
of Special Services and Student Support Services. Second motion ma'am. Second. Is there any further discussion? Mr. Raz? Hello again. Um, and really I just want to thank the committee and I know Heather was a member of the committee and of course our HR director, Dr. Morris, for putting this together. Um, I believe we have an outstanding candidate before you, but I'm gonna let Mike talk about the process a little bit and then introduce Dr. Roosevelt. Thank you. Thanks for having me up here. Um, so just wanted to thank again, like the superintendent said the committee. Thank you, Rachel.
Yep. Rachel's here. We had administrators, we had different educators. We had a high school student who was outstanding. Um, and it was great to have that voice. Think Stephan had that idea. And Chuck was able to identify a student who was eager to join. And she was no shrinking Violet. She, she let us know what she was thinking. Um, so we had a number of applicants. Uh, then we whittled it down to the people we wanted to bring in for an interview. Uh, at the, after the interviews, um, I said, you know, we'd like to identify a couple finalists. And we looked at the ratings and it was very clear that the committee asked
for only one finalist to come forward. Um, they felt like one finalist really stood out from the groups. Not to say anything negative about the other folks, but they said, really, we, we don't want to have multiple finalists. We don't feel like we need that. We feel like we have the person we want to hire. So, uh, you know, I I wanted to listen to the committee who spent hours reading through applications, uh, and, and doing that time. And so that applicant's Dr. Gregory Rosenthal is here tonight. Uh, he's current special ed director in Douglas. Uh, has worked in at a district school as well as in district schools as a teacher, as an administrator.
Uh, and the committee really felt like he had the human side, was able to connect and really think about kids' needs, but also the administrative and management side that's needed for a job as complex as this director role. So, uh, really happy that he is joining us and we're bringing forward him forward for your support tonight. And thanks for driving out tonight and, and being with us. Thank you, Dr. Morris. You welcome. Especially after having a budget meeting. Um, I was just, I just briefly, I was a part of this. Um, I thought everybody did a really good job. I thought it was a great process. Um, that student I just spoke with, um,
Chuck about I thought was a great choice. Uh, I had her as a reading interventionist back in the day, and she has, um, she is turned out to be a, a little cracker jack. She was awesome. So, um, she as well, who I saw cheating on my paper said, oh, we have the same score. Um, so she, I I think you, you, you hit every, um, you know, having Rachel on there, you know, just every, you hit every target for us. And I think especially with the fiscal times that we're heading into, um, we're gonna need, you know,
that and, and we're gonna miss Deb for sure. Um, but I think this is a, a nice fit for us. And so I welcome a board. Mr. Sullivan. I, I just, I, I echo everything Heather said, although I was not part of the committee. But first I want to thank Deb, um, for her many, many, many years of service to Westfield schools of a hundred percent. You've done a heck of a job. Uh, and, and a job that's not easy to do. So I know we're looking for big things. Uh, when, when, when do we start? Tomorrow? I gotta have two of them, right? So, uh, we, I mean, the start date would be July 1st,
but actually what one of the things that we built in is some crossover time. Um, so that Deb's able to carry on to her experience, her knowledge, uh, and that we have a smooth transition. It's not one of the jobs that someone can leave the day before and someone else just picks up. There's just too much know institutional knowledge, too much memory and too many ongoing, you know, kind of cases that we want to keep monitoring and make decisions about. So we'll have some summertime crossover for that, which I think is, is, you know, uh, I think it'll pay dividends down the road. Agreed. Welcome back to Rosa. Yes. A little premature. Yeah. Little premature. Listen,
Saying all these glowing things. I know, I assume during the process there were some conversation about district and out of district and bringing it back into the district. I assume those conversations were had Yes. Part of the committee. Oh, well, we, I can't discuss it. I signed a piece of Paper's going on every committee from now on. Come on up, Dr. Augh. Sure. So thank you everyone, and thank you for inviting me out tonight. Uh, yes, that was definitely part of the discussion. Don't come any further. You didn't sign anything. Um, but It was definitely part of the discussion.
Having the experience in ABS for schools and bringing that wealth into in district, um, is something I really want to take a look at, uh, within the district without going Understood. Understood. Are there any other questions for Dr. Rosenthal? There's a motion made. And second, is there any further discussion saying none. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Can we do a You wanna do it? You can, but it's not a financial matter. So I'm gonna hit with that Mr. Sullivan. But Mrs. Sullivan Would like, Would like to do, this is a roll call vote. So I'm gonna swing it back to Mr. Sullivan. Okay. So Jeffrey Gunther. Yes. Kathleen Hillman. Yes.
Paul Sullivan. Yes. Heather Sullivan. Yes. Mike Rell. Yes. Tim would say yes. And McCain Yes. For the vice chair? Yes. Yes. Thank you. Thank you so much. Thank you. Congratulations. I just wanna thank you everyone to Mr. Sullivan's point. I would love to start tomorrow 'cause I want to see what the buffet's like on Friday and, um, On Friday. Right. So, and if you need someone to play next year, count me in not a boy talk. And, um, before,
before we get off topic, I do wanna Thank you. I do wanna say something to, uh, Ted. I don't, she's, where is she? She's around. Thank you, Ted. Thank you very much for your service. We certainly appreciate Dr. You're take a bow, please. Thank you. Um, I'm gonna get emotional here. So, um, so looking forward to retirement, uh, to be with the grandkids, uh, but really love Westfield and we'll miss it for sure. So, thank kidding. And, and just, uh, just so you know, I mean, you have, you are so student forward. You worked so hard in such trying times and we appreciate it.
And I know the students felt it, the parents felt it. I mean, I've never worked with somebody who in this position that wasn't like, hated, you know, and called everybody and put it all over the place. So I appreciate all the work and, and that you did. And we, we'll miss you. Thank you. You are welcome. Thank you, Deb. Much appreciated. Thank you. How about 10 minutes? I'd like to make a motion for the approval of the March 17th, 2025 school committee meeting minutes as presented. Second motion by made second. Is there any further discussion? Seeing none. All those in favor? A a opposed motion
carries a trip. Wants the trip? I'd like to make a motion for, uh, the approval of Westfield High School Field trip, uh, American Precision Museum in Windsor, Vermont. May 23rd, 2025. Second Motion got made. And second. Any further discussion on that? Have fun. Have fun. Say, say none. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried. Uh, I'd like to make a motion for the approval of Westfield Technical Academy Field trip to Costa Rica. February 12th, four 14th to February 21st,
or 24th. 2026. When I read this, I thought it was a mistake. I can speak to the dates if you'd, so, uh, there's been a motion. Is there a second? Second. There's a second. By Mr. Sullivan. Mr. Sperry, would you like to come on up and Sure. Give us a little insight here. Yeah, Sure. Thanks for having me. Uh, so, yeah. Uh, Nate Sperry from Westfield Tech Horticulture Teacher. Uh, over the last two years, uh, you've been generous enough to approve our request for the, uh, trip to Costa Rica. It started with, uh, just a, a, a trip from Horticulture Technology last year. It broadened out to, uh,
applicants from the entire senior class. And, uh, so we would like to, uh, now there's a lot of enthusiasm, uh, in the student body to, uh, to participate. And so, uh, we'd like to keep it going. The reason why I'm asking at this point, rather than next year, is because we'd like to get going on fundraising, uh, earlier because it's pretty, it's, it's the difficulty to raise the money that we need in a short period of time when we get back to school in the, in the fall. Uh, the reason for the dates, uh, is because our ab calendar isn't necessarily set yet. So our shock week and academic week isn't really set. So I'm not sure where the, where the, where those are gonna,
those dates are gonna fall just yet. Ms. Help, I was just a little bit concerned about the, um, advisory for Travelers to Costa Rica. Now it's kind of high and there is a alert out now. So yeah, there's an alert in almost any country. If you go on like the, uh, um, state Department website, I mean, virtually any country that you choose to travel to, it'll be like level two or whatever it is. And that's where Costa Rica is. Would There be any time if it goes higher than that? Yeah. I've never seen it higher than that. I mean, Costa Rica's statistically safer than traveling the United States.
Thank you. Will you come back and tell us the, the correct dates? Just the, so we have 'em? Yeah. Oh, yeah, I can do that. Sure. Yeah. I just think I, that'll be, so the issue is, is that, uh, because of the days off, we try to keep the shop days and academic days even. I get it. So they, you know, we haven't really, I guess, fleshed that out just yet. Sure. But I'll certainly keep Absolutely. Any further questions? Say none. All those in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Motion carried. Thank you Mr. Thank you. I'd like to make a motion for the approval of the homeschool applications numbers 180 8 to 1 93
for the 20 24 20 25 school year. Second Motion been made and seconded. Dr, I got two questions on this one. One, um, there just seemed to be a few typos on this one. In the packet there's two number 180 eights, and the, the enclosure says there are three new, but there are seven listed, but six numbers. And so I'm just wondering who were, how many were actually approving. And then the more the, the, other than the tactical question, just wondering about if we're seeing any trend here.
Seven. Well, six or seven or three new seem like a lot for this late in the year. And I remember we did a few last session as well. I'm just wondering if we're seeing any notable uptick in homeschool applications for the end of the year. Ms. Chef Barki, do you want to defer to Dr. Shey or, so I can Talk to Christine, but actually, um, we're about 40 something less than where we were previous year, so we're actually less than, uh, in the past. So I looked at our, our packet last year. We were around, we approved, I think number one 70 in May,
and we're at 1 93 now. Alright. It was at two 50, uh, uh, right after Covid. So it was higher than that. So, um, I'm not sure why they're increasing. Christine, do you have any, any ideas? Um, I don't have idea if increasing, but we certainly look three whatever, either early or late. But lemme check into that. And I think we can get you the actual notes. That would be helpful. Does this have a time constraint with, it could be any kind, because I just defer this one
to get more clarity on what the Yeah, I, I think I would, uh, I would be inclined to hold off on, on a vote for this one. Um, just to kind of Clarity on the numbers, but also, Well, I think I would go back five years. It's typically a little more fair historically speaking. Sure. I the format of the, of the chart is interesting. It, it's, it's not really overwhelmingly amenable to figuring out what it says. So maybe we could just clean it up a little bit.
That's, that's all. I'm not picking on it. It's, it's been the way it's been for a hundred years. I get it, but it doesn't make sense to me when I look at it that way. It doesn't make it right. Like, exactly. Just doesn't, it doesn't flow well. So, um, where, where does this get sent to then? Mr. Sullivan? Do you wanna just Curriculum, wasn't it, so what do you mean? Why don't we just, why don't we just vote? No, we could. Do we need to? I could. Does anybody agree with me that it should be just table? I agree. We should. I, I don't table accuracy on the number.
I don't want a table because No, I, I'm saying saying no. And then we come back. Can we vote no and Put this back on the agenda next Month? Sounds good to me. All. Can I just rescind the motion? Yes. Yes. Alright. Second. Resend it instead of vote. No, I'm looking at my guy over there. Rescind the motion instead of voting. No, you Can rescind it or, mm-hmm. Which is, which is, which is may table to the next meeting. Is there a motion to table I motion to table this to the next meeting? All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carried. Thank you. Council motion. Mike was your second. You Were not resending. And Mike, uh, Mike Terrell was the
second for motion to table. Motion table. Thank you. Uh, now I know why Ms. Vaughn's here. Uh, item 10. Oh, Mike gonna make me safe. You want Rich? No, I'll do it. I'll do it. Good. If I pronounce it wrong, I apologize. Now, am I gonna say it phonetically like it is? Is that how you say it? Uh, I'd like to make a motion for the acceptance of a foreign exchange student to attend Westfield High School for the 20 25 20 26 school year. Uh, a motion in order to accept. Is that right? That's He by Jimmy. Jimmy, Of course.
From Vietnam, uh, as a foreign exchange student for Westfield High School for the Mexico year. Second. Motion been made. And second, is there any further discussion? Thank you again. That's, it is really good work. Thank you. Do do we need, and we may not, he may speak fluent English for all I know. Vietnamese interpreter. No, there's nothing like that. This is all, they have a certain English level before they're even allowed to come. Thank you. They Go through a pretty rigorous process to get there. Good. Good. All in favor? Opposed? Opposed. Your carried. I love it.
It I'd like to make a motion for the creation of a new gift account. Westfield Technical Academy. Electrical wiring gift account. Second. Motion. Been made a second. Is there any further discussion Mr. Hastings? You just walked out. Photo? Uh, yeah, actually are they, are they the only ones who didn't have a gift account? I wouldn't say the only, but I think as, uh, if you'll, you'll notice on the next page, uh, that there were some donations in memory of an individual. Mm-hmm. And so those funds would go into the gift account. So that just hasn't happened for the electrical wiring department before,
but it has happened for others, but not all. Okay. If that makes any sense. I mean, that's what the funding typical. Are we gonna run into a timing problem? It doesn't matter to me. Yeah. But is are we gonna run it through a time problem? Like we're gonna say yes to it, then we're gonna say yes to the thing coming in before it actually gets done. I, I don't, it doesn't matter to me. Well, we need to create the account in order to put the funds in. Yes. Right. It goes That, that's the order of operations. Right? But it's a technically created now, or when we get back to the office is my million dollar question. I'm okay with do it right now When we created.
Okay. Any further discussion? Say none. All those in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. I'd like to make a motion for the acceptance of the Westfield Public Schools' financial statements. Motion been made. Second. There's a second by Dr. Gunther. Is there any further discussion? Everyone? Shannon Berry, director of finance. Um, so I just wanna talk more globally about the FY 25 budget in general tonight. Kind of starting with the expense side. So we've had recent estimates, again from the g and E. Our gas and electric numbers look good still within
what we had budgeted. So that's good news. Um, all spending is now shut off for all departments in schools. So they had until Mar Yes, March 14th to get in requisitions. Um, so now it's just, if it's an absolute emergency, you know, the other day, special education needed, um, a specific item for a student. So that kind of stuff will still go through. But in general, spending is over. Um, and then unfortunately, I am coming with some not great news tonight that I have been estimating that the transportation deficit was $600,000.
Um, I was informed by our transportation manager on Friday. We are looking at slightly over a million dollar deficit. So I'm going to go through the lines where I did not do the transfers for this meeting. Um, I did one that you'll see next, but I have gone through and really looked where we can pull money from. So I'm almost to the million dollars on the expense side. So I'm just gonna run through really quickly. Um, on page one, professional development purchase of services. There's $15,000 left there that I will be transferring On.
Page two, the legal contract services line at the top. Another $15,000 just below that system. Travel in state travel, um, as I'm sure you're aware, we have frozen all travel. Um, so there's $13,000 there. I am going to take, um, I just recently received, um, bills for workers' compensation and unemployment. And in good news, those have been trending very low this year. Um, so I'll be reducing the workers' compensation purchase order by $80,000 to take that from there. And unemployment by another 150,000
on page four. The bottom line security services, there's another $10,000 there that I will take The top of page six legal judgments. Um, there was, there's $74,625. So that is the transfer I do have on the agenda tonight. I just want to remind everyone this line in particular, but just in general, I don't know what's gonna happen between now and June. We do not appear to be settling any cases that we currently have in process before the end of June at this point. Um, so it does not appear we'll need the legal settlement money. But again, with any of this, if something happens, you know,
we have a maintenance disaster and I need money for a new water heater, um, we're gonna be in a different situation. So, and then on page, Sorry, page 30 33. So the gas and diesel line, our transportation manager went through, um, and looked at the fuel adjustments and it actually looks like our transportation vendor will owe us money this year. Um, so that is good. And then we won't need that $115,000 there.
Um, I do wanna do some more checking into that, but as of right now, it appears that we will be able to transfer that money. So in total from all those lines, that's $473,125. Um, and then Joanne has, um, Joanne level and our grants manager has scraped together everything she can on our two 40 grant. So we have another half million dollars there. Um, that she is gonna make it available for special education transportation, which is an allowable use of the funds. So as you can see, we're almost up to the million there to cover the transportation deficit. Um, I'm expecting that there's some other purchase orders
that, you know, before the end of the year we'll be able to close out, um, to get to that full amount. Um, I did just wanna point out on page 33 at the top and the bottom of 32 tuitions in state, um, there's a deficit of $113,000. We actually had a student come back to the district, so I was able to reduce the purchase order. Um, the new deficit is $50,000. Um, and so I'm going to be able to transfer money on the next agenda from the out-of-state tuitions, which still have a balance. So that'll cover that deficit. And then also, I just wanted to point out on pages 30
and 31, um, the maintenance lines are in a slight deficit. Um, maintenance has a lot of open purchase orders just because as things happen, they need to have money available with different vendors, but they were able to reduce some purchase orders to clear that deficit. Um, again, just on the personal personnel side, more globally, as I'm just looking at this overall at this point, um, and going through each payroll rather than each individual line, um, we are looking, I'm going to err on the side of the worst case scenario. Um, a $350,000 deficit there. Um, so that would be worst case scenario on that side.
There's a lot of things up in the air. Um, we are already in a deficit on our short term subline. Um, so it depends, you know, absences will directly affect that line. So there's just a lot of things that are still up in the air on personnel. So that's all I have for tonight, Dr. The, the overage in transportation, is that coming in in predominantly from the special education transportation entirely? Yes. Like, It's actually, it's two lines. So let me tell you exactly. So this special education outta district transportation line, we had to increase the purchase order by $632,000.
Sorry. So that, but that line down that much. The regular transportation, the people transportation, these weren't done until Friday. So it's not gonna be reflected here, but they are done now. Um, regular transportation, people, transportation, um, a change order of $401,000. So that is due to McKinney Bento and foster care transportation. So it's all the out of district transportation. Um, just two separate lines And, and the, the sped out, so the sped out district, I get the number. So we're, it's like a 70% increase mm-hmm. Over what we had budgeted. Mm-hmm. And that's just due to volume and distance and mm-hmm.
All the factors we didn't know at the time. Right. Anybody else? I have a couple, but Can I make one last point? So I know when we talked about taking away out of grade again when we did the budget last year for FY 25, um, you know, really the only option is if we're over budget, in my opinion, the the best option would be, um, to use school Choice to cover the deficit. Um, if we still have one. You know, I, I was close to being able to cover the deficit with the transportation, um, issue I had known to date.
And the personnel, um, as you can see, I pulled together almost a million dollars total. But, um, you know, now with that increase, it's trying to figure out a way now to cover that 350,000 on personnel. So I empathize with you. Mm-hmm. Um, let's say that you're not able to cover mm-hmm. What's your best guess at a number? So it looks like I've covered transportation. Mm-hmm. Again, with all my caveats that I don't know what's happening between now and the end of June. Mm-hmm. I'm looking at $350,000 would be my worst case scenario on the personnel side. And the game plan to close that is
School choice. And if you use School Choice, but you've already used School Choice for something else today. Well, so we have a balance of about 2.6 million in school choice. Mm-hmm. So if I had to use, I'm with you. I'm just, yeah, No, I know. So we're planning on using almost 2 million for next year. Mm-hmm. I'd have to tap into the 600,000 that's left. So that's how we would have left. And then the revenue that'll come in next year of about 1.2 million. So we're basically talking about 1.4 million, almost 1.5 million for all of next year. Yes. In school choice. Right After, after we pull the budget.
After the budget. Right. So we will end FY 26 with one and a half. Correct. Right. Yeah. Right. It's, did you hear that counselor? It's Not what school choice is for. Okay. Thank you Shannon. Because I think this is an incredibly difficult, and the transportation, I appreciate how much work you put into that. Thank You, Heather. I appreciate it. That's Ditto. Yeah, me too. Yeah, I, I just wanted to reiterate something I said about an hour ago, maybe a little more about this budget is expenses and not personnel. I mean, I know you've said 350,000, that's not anything to sneeze at.
I get it. But you're talking more than a million dollars for transportation, basically. And that's, you know, I would love to say it's the cost of doing business, but in my view it's not. It's All, so I'm hopeful that there's a special appropriation out of the executive office. Whether or not that comes to fruition or not is interesting. But I can tell you that, um, I sit as the, on the executive board of the Mass Mayor's Association and we're all pretty much in exactly the same boat for exactly the same reason. So, um, even if you were to just take a look at,
and I'm not trying understand that, I'm not talking about special ed students. I'm not talking about that. What I'm talking about is just cost. If you look at the, the reason why I kept asking the number earlier mm-hmm. Um, the six times 60 and the, and then the five comes after $350,000, which is exactly the cost of the, of the current deficit. And somehow that needs to be got to our legislators that at some point in time, it's not sustainable to keep doing this. You just simply can't say, I got the 14%, by the way, I really did understand the 14%.
It's similar to the DPW problem we have. If you never raised the rate for 20 years, and then you're looking at a, at a rate increases a much larger rate increase rather than had you just continue to keep moving a rate increase commensurate with the market. But they didn't do that with special ed in some circumstances. So now we're facing these deficits and we're facing 'em across the state. So I am hopeful that there is an executive order, uh, an executive appropriation that goes to the, um, to the, um, legislature to, uh, to receive it. But again, um, with the gap, the way
that we have the gap in the city of Westfield that everybody on the planet thought that was the right thing to do, I don't know what's gonna happen. It's, it's gonna be difficult. Just the reason why I'm putting a fine point on this is 'cause not only do we have it this year, but we are definitely gonna have it once again in next year's budget. So it's just something that we need to be cognizant of as we move forward and we try to bridge the foundation net school spending issues as, as we have them. So thank you very much for all that you do. It's, it really is appreciated. Thank you. Good. Annie, did you wanted to cover anything on the personnel side or you good there? No, I mean, if people have specific questions, I can,
but I, I think most of them we've gone over a few times now, so. Yep. Ms. Sullivan Sullivan. Yes. Heather Sullivan. Yes. Mike au Yes. Kathleen Hillman. Yes. Jeffrey Gunther. Yes. Mike Ade. Yes. Next item approval transfer. Uh, Where are we? 13 transferred transfer. Oh, my budget transfer. Hold on, let me find that. Let's see. You'd like to make a motion for a budget transfer in the amount of $74,625 from account 5 0 5 7 8 1 43 5 7 6. Legal settlement judgments to accounts.
5 7 2 2 3 3 3 5 3 3 1. Special services, uh, special education out of district transportation. Second motion been made and seconded by Dr. Gunther. We've already been apprised of what this is. Any further discussion into this saying None. Can you call the role Heather Sullivan? Yes. Mike Terrell. Yes. Jeffrey Gunther. Yes. Kathleen Hillman. Yes. Bo Sullivan. Yes. Shannon the Yes. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you Shannon. Heather. So, um, I'm gonna report on the weekly warrants,
but Bo did them for me. And I just wanna say thank you. Teamwork. Teamwork makes the dream work. So, um, March 21st, 2025. Bo signed 25 batches, totaling $599,007 and 61 cents. Took me all day Too. And then on March 28th, he went back and did it again. 25 batches, totaling $785,311 and 29 cents. Thank you, Mr. Sullivan. Item 15. Uh, I'd like to make a, uh, motion for the acceptance of the following gifts and donations, uh, donated
to the Westfield Intermediate School, uh, from St. Mary's High School in the amount of $500 for field maintenance for Westfield Intermediate gift account, uh, from the donated to the Westfield High School National Honor Society from Bob's Discount Furniture and the amount of $2,000 for furnishing the National Honor Society Room at Westfield High School. To the Westfield Technical Academy from the following donors, um, Elm Electric from West outta Westfield Crane, Yvonne Interiors, the Home Depot Competitive Kitchen
Designs, errands, distribution Center, mill River Slab Works, dunking Donuts, Kunal Auto Repair, park Square Realty, Coldwell Banker Realty, McCain and Sons Plumbing and Heating Budget. Cabinet Sales and Raleigh Rug for, uh, the Recharge Room for faculty and staff at Westfield Technical Academy. Uh, donated to the Westfield Technical Academy from Karen Andrews. Uh, miscellaneous wood and tools to, uh, for construction technology department,
approximate value, $5,000 for use in the construction technology gift account to the Westfield Technical Academy from the following donors, Frank and Elizabeth Bto, Hamden County, four H Youth Fair Association. William and Susan Bonini. Jan and Wendy Jensen. David and Holly I Monte, Timothy and Debra Elliot, Richard and Dina Meter, Eileen Murray James and Margaret Bartley. Robert and Lorraine Bon Spa. Diane Miller, Deb Carrington, Linda Hoffman, Mona Deponte,
and Mary Kay Tierney all donated to the electrical wiring, uh, department gift account. And finally to the Westfield Technical Academy from Patricia Stack in memory, uh, of John Stack Senior in the amount of $150 for the construction technology gift account. Second Motion been made and seconded by Mr. Sm. Is there any further discussion? Thank them all. Thank them all. Uh, one quick thing for the, uh, um, electric wiring department at Westfield Tech is for, uh, in memory of, uh, Michael Morrisey. Mm-hmm.
Oh, memory of Michael Morrissey. Sorry, I missed that line. And as always, thank you to the, uh, to all of the, uh, folks who donated. Who second it? I did Paul. Okay. Mike Terrell. Yes. Jeffrey Gunther. Yes. Kathleen Hillman. Yes. Fellow Sullivan. Yes. Heather Sullivan. Yes. And Chairman indicated yes. I'd like to make a motion for the acceptance of two grants. One, investigating History grant, and the second a Project Lead the Way grant, the investigating history grant, uh, in the amount of $19,600 for Westfield Middle School and $71,900 for Westfield Intermediate School.
And the Project Lead The Way Grant, uh, for the amount of $40,000 for the Westfield Technical Academy. Second Motion has been made and seconded. It's very further discussion. Sure. Hi, Ms. Allen. Um, so for investigating history, um, these grants are actually three year grants. So it's a total amount spread over three years. So we will receive three payments totaling the amounts that we're approving today. Um, so for investigating history, um, just a little background. It's designed to support students learning by offering a comprehensive and structured approach to understanding history and geography.
The lessons align with the mass, um, hold on, history and social science framework. Um, but it prioritizes some standards for deeper exploration. So the curriculum is anchored by themes enabling students to engage with essential and supporting questions. And it's going to cover grades five, six, and seven. That's awesome. If anybody have any questions, any, none. So I'm gonna do these separate, right? Uh, you don't need to. The First one you did because you did 'em both as one. Yep. All right. So Project reads away way.
Oh, so Project Lead the Way Here. She's, So, um, we talk all the time about our pre-K to 12 PLTW, uh, engineering pipeline. And the last school in the district, Westfield Technical Academy, is on board. Yay. Uh, yeah, that's really exciting step. It's gonna take place in both a shop. So what's really cool about what we did is, um, in most, uh, technical schools that have PLTW, they just do it in one shop. So that's only, you know, if you have 20 kids in a shop,
you know, you're only hitting so many kids a year. But what Westfield Public Schools decided to do is put it on both sides, academic and shop. So two of the courses are gonna be offered, um, by Kevin Grimsley in it. And then, and it is the, so Project Lead the Way has three compartments, biomedical, um, IT and engineering, but the engineering and it are so closely tied that actually the standards covered. It's an engineering curriculum, but the standards covered by the CTE Shop fit better with that engineering side. So two of the, um, digital electronics
and principles of engineering Principles of engineering is already offered by Renee Sweeney at Westfield High School. It's an excellent course. If anyone ever wants to come see it, feel free, we can set up a time. Um, but the Digital Electronics is the new new course we'll be adding at WTA on the shop side, on the academic side. In two years, we are gonna offer introduction to engineering. Um, when the state changed the ability to test in engineering, we switched to physics first at WTA. And so, um, course that kids love
and aligns to, I'd say 10 outta 12 shops is engineering. And so to be able to offer that on the academic side again is like super exciting. And it's very high level. So, um, it comes with college articulation agreements. Uh, students who do well in the course and well on the test can get credits at places like R-I-T-W-P-I, so, you know, um, really good schools, really good opportunities, and it continues and completes our pathway, um, in Westfield Public Schools. Thank you, Laura. Nice job. Thank you.
Any other questions? Any questions for Lauren? Same. None. Can I do Okay. Um, just trying to think. I'm gonna do it. Okay. Jeffrey Gunther. Yes. Kathleen Hillman. Yes. Paul Sullivan. Yes. Heather Sullivan. Yes. Mike Terrell. Yes. Um, and Chairman Mcca? Yes. Thank you Ms. Le. Thank you, Mr. Superintendent. Alright, so first I just want to really shout out, uh, El Electric and Holly Lergio. Um, so the Recharge room, so there was one done at the middle school, and I went to that grand opening, and then there was one done at the high school,
and I went to that grand opening, and then the tech academy may have had the least pleasing teacher's room in the entire district. So I, I said, you know, Holly, if, if there's any chance you might be able to do, and she's like, I don't know if I can get the donors. And of course, she came through because that's what she does and Elm Electric. So, um, that room really has seen a huge transformation and I'm, I, I'm just happy all three of them have. So it's, but Elm's, uh, generosity is, is just terrific. And we thank them. Um, the other thing, so, uh, last, uh,
March 20th, we had the General Advisory Dinner at WTA. And I just wanna, uh, as thank the, the businesses that support not only Westfield Technical Academy, but also our entire district. And there are so many in our, our, our, our relationships with businesses are, are, is very strong. Um, and I will just say that I think in terms of the food that the, that the tech Academy culinary Stu students put together, it was absolutely, Kathy was, it was amazing. So good. So, um, March 27th, we had our career fair at Westfield State University. We had it in Scanlon Hall instead of the Woodward Center.
Uh, we had over 65 businesses and, uh, I think we liked the new venue better. We started Endeavor, walked across camp a little bit, not that far, you know, but, uh, to Zo, uh, I'm sorry, to Scanlon and went inside. Uh, and, um, it was just really great. And again, I want to thank Westfield State University for letting us use their space, but also Westfield Gas and Electric for providing transportation for our students. And we also, we had White Oak present this time. St. Mary's was present as well. It was just a great day. And the kids were, it just seemed as I was, uh, uh, as the vendors were walking out, I was sitting at the table
and they were just talking about the kids were engaged, there were kids really interested. It was really great to hear the feedback was, was very positive. Uh, the following day I was back at Westville State University with Lauren and Ralph, and we were judging canned structures. Another, uh, uh, thing that was put together by, uh, Al Electric and the food pantry. And so all these food donations were built into these structures. And myself and City Councilor Bridget, Matthew Kane, and Reverend Paul Nesbitt, we were the three judges. So we got to judge the structures based on certain criteria, and the students put a lot of effort into it. It was great. But the best part, of course, is that all
that food gets donated to the food pantry, which is huge. Um, and then, uh, April 3rd, uh, Dr. Morris and I did a radio program, uh, for Superintendent Spotlight, and we featured some of our paraprofessionals, because if you didn't know that April 3rd is Paraprofessionals Day. Mm-hmm. Uh, so we had, it was just a great show. Um, and, uh, culinary Arts also helped us. It was a National Chocolate MOUs day, so we got to provide chocolate mousse to them. Uh, so it was just a really good program. It's on our Facebook page, it's on our website, and it's on, uh, WS KD Community Radio, uh, page
for YouTube, if you'd like to check it out. Uh, and then April 4th, we had our, it was last Friday, we had our senior breakfast. Uh, and this was kind of the makeup for the Pops concert that we had to cancel on because of the, uh, the trees that fell, the wires at Westfield High School that day. Uh, it was a terrific event. I wanna shout out Pat Kennedy. I have a playlist here. It was just fantastic. The music was great. I can't tell you how many people thought, thought it was wonderful. In fact, they thought it was so wonderful that they want us to do it every year, uh, which is not a, that's a good problem to have. Uh, but I also, again, the original luncheon was sponsored
by Westfield Gas and Electric, so I want to thank them. But I also want to thank MGM Westfield Technical Academy, the YMCA and the Boys and Girls Club, uh, for donating raffle prizes. In fact, Bo only went for, he raised a hundred dollars. They, they offered a hundred bucks. Bo went up for auction. No. Uh, Can we just sit it there? Yeah. Okay. And so, but I really want to thank Michael Swindoll and Tina Gorman who helped put this event together. Uh, breakfast was, was excellent. It was just great. Uh, later on that same day, I went to South Hampton Road School speaking in Project Lead The Way. Oh, awesome. To see a, a group
of our fourth grade preschool students learn about matter, what floats and what sinks. And, and what I want to tell you is, um, first of all, I got up off the floor easier sitting on the carpet with the kids and Senator SSO just pointing that out. He, it's okay. Um, uh, but I, I just, it was, the kids were so engaged, it was just so, so involved. So I want to thank Lauren again for bringing the Project Lead the Way to the district, because it's truly just our kids were, were so engaged in the questions they were asking and the discussions that were happening even at four years old was just awesome.
Uh, and then the very next day, I was able to attend into the Arts, which was April 5th. Um, and, uh, I really, I, the art display coming from somebody who has like, absolutely zero artistic talent, uh, stick figures are a challenge. What our, our kids can draw is just absolutely incredible. Uh, I really want to thank Heidi Cody, uh, who's our BIPS coordinator, uh, or whatever our new title is. But, uh, and the art and music staff and the student volunteers, I mean, this is truly a community event. There were lots of people around. It was great to see. Uh, it was awesome. And then coming up
April 10th is our credit for Life Fair. So that is this week. Uh, the first session is at eight 15. The second session is, I think at 10, 10, 10 o'clock. Uh, this is a really, uh, awesome authentic learning experience for our kids. They're given a credit score. They have to get apartments, cars, jobs. They get tempted by things like vacations. Uh, so it's a real, it's a real world, uh, experience. And again, I want to thank our vs. And our Credit for life committee for putting this together and our supervisors that put a lot of work into this as well. And then finally, uh, there is no school on Friday, April the 18th, or Good Friday,
April break is April 21st to the 25th. And I'm saying this because we only have one meeting in April. And then just the last time, maybe I need to clarify, but our last day of school is June 18th, not June 20th, if you Yeah, the last day is June 18th, not the 20th. We only had one snow day. We thought they were two. We had some debate, but it really only was Well, so, um, June 18th is the last day. What's the last day? June 18th. And that's all I have, but that was a mouthful. I'm sorry. It was a lot today, but there you go. Well, you forgot Pat Kennedy. So I, did I not
Thank him for Yes, you did. Pat Kennedy. Oh no. Oh, Oh, there was a big to do with the Massachusetts music. Do you want me to steal everything? You, I was gonna tell you the reason why and nevermind. Um, yeah, pat Kennedy was honored at the DCU in Worcester for his years of, uh, public service and all that he does to keep the bands up and running. Not only the bands at the high school, but the bands throughout the district up and running. So that was, uh, pretty cool. Um, there, there's lots going on in, in April as, um, Mr. Zaki points out. There was the, um, commemoration
of the 50th anniversary of the ceasefire of the, uh, Vietnam War, which was very cool to attend, actually. Uh, it was the same day as, uh, the Hall of Fame and the same day as the, into the arts. And, you know, so, uh, we get pulled in a lot of different directions. I am going to be attending tomorrow the local Government Advisory Council, of which I've been asked to, to serve. Um, and that's another entree into the, the discussion relative to chapter 70, chapter 74, and all those things. Transportation. So I hope to do well for you there.
Um, on April the 10th, um, I'm a part of another MMA, um, process, which again, will gimme another platform to talk about, uh, things, school and, um, unfunded mandates. Um, the, the, the point that you make, um, Mr. Superintendent about the 75% is actually 44% is a really big deal. It's, um, to, for folks that don't, you know, you're not involved in the day to day, it's a really big deal. So we really do have to figure out how to close the,
the 30% gap that we're, we're not receiving. So hopefully there are some friendly ears and we can get that moving forward. I'm not gonna continue to work. We've been here a while, so I'm gonna keep going. Um, school committee update. I got one I'd like to a, a a shout out. I want to do, um, with my other hat on with the Boys and Girls Club, um, Mr. Mark Martino, uh, Gary Martino from the Tech Academy with electrical wiring. I called him up and had a project for him, and he and his students came over and redid all the lighting in the gym at the Boys and Girls Club. And being 24, 25 feet in the air
and hanging all those lights is not an easy thing to do. And then I said, well, why you got this and they're here. Can we do my teen center, which is about 19 feet in the air? They did that too. And, uh, the GE helped me out getting the correct lights, the LED lights. Uh, so, but the, uh, the electrical wiring at the Tech Academy was supposed to take it two weeks of their shop weeks. They did it in one week. Uh, and everything is outstanding. So I just wanted to, to thank them publicly for what they did for the, uh, for the club. It was a, it was a great project and it's done. And, uh, that's fast. That it was very fast.
The next guy, I worry about replacing him that meeting. So, um, I, I forgot today, uh, Westfield Technical Academy Horticulture Group was right here on the grounds. They're handling all of the cleanup and beautification of the grounds here, not the lawn. We got other people doing the lawn, but the, the, the ification that you see going on at City Hall is, uh, the good work of the Tech Academy students. So thank them for that. Um, anything else under the school committee, Ms. Hillman? Um, I just wanna give a shout out to all the art teachers that displayed at the high school on the fifth.
It was phenomenal. There were marionettes and, and, um, pottery. And it was just phenomenal Puppets. They had puppets, Marionettes. Oh yeah. Is that what it is? They were, they were just puppets. They were marionettes Told you zero artistic talent. And I just, that I just showed you he's gotta go the lingo. And I just wanna give a shout out to Melissa Larson, who's a first year teacher with us. She was there the whole time explaining everything, and she sent out invitations to her students who were displaying.
And she stayed there the whole time. And she set it up on Friday. So I'd like to give a shout out to her and Karen West, who is phenomenal with all the wonderful things she does at the high school. And she has a project that wants to be done up there. So I kind of said I would support her with that. I also wanna thank, um, Corey who did the sing-along and all the music teachers, they were all there. And the sing-along was so awesome to see all those students. I think about 500 students participated
and it was the bomb. It was good. Dr. Gunther, just to add onto that really quickly, um, the big sing we got to attend. My daughter was in the third grade Highland Choir and the excitement that she had to sing alongside high schoolers and all the other kids, I just, I really thought it was a great event and I'm really glad that we do that as a district. Yeah. How many years? We've been doing it a long time. They said it was, but we paused during that pandemic era. It was a pandemic. Yeah. Really. How about subcommittee Reports? Recommendation. Hello?
We got some minutes. I know we do. Oh Yeah. Uh, nothing to report. How about minutes? I'll make a motion for the approval of the instruction curriculum and assessment subcommittee minutes from March 24th, 2025. Sorry. Motion been made and seconded by Mr. Sullivan. Is there any further conversation? I just want to report out a few things we talked about there that we could expect to see. Um, we discussed the PE and health curriculum update, which will require, likely require some broader stakeholder engagement in the next year as they look to continue that committee work
and, um, bring forth a recommendation on adjusting that curriculum. We reviewed the Student Opportunity Act plan update. Um, if you remember, uh, we approved that plan around sometime earlier this year, end of last year. Um, and so we got an update on that plan, um, including our progress on some of our core goals, um, including some of the progress we're making in increasing the diversity of participation in our Pathways program, which is one of the things that we were focusing on during this with the Student Opportunity Act funds. Um, we discussed the graduation requirements again,
which was, this is the second time we talked about that. Um, we talked about the desire to get the graduation requirements to better match the mass core, um, including things like having four years of math, but are delaying a recommendation to implement that. Um, given the budget impacts of that, um, the budget impacts of that would be felt, not necessarily in the next year, but a couple years out. And while personally I think we need to be trying to realign to align our grad requirements with mass score, we talked about, given the budget uncertainty, wanting to wait on that and also see what comes out of the, um, state legislature
with regards to graduation requirements with the MCAS requirement coming out. Um, so we're, we have some ideas, but we want to wait and see what the state requires and then come back with a better recommendation. And then finally, we got a deep dive into some of our midyear intervention data. Um, and we're able to see some of the great growth that's happening there, particularly in the early literacy, um, where some of the students, they were able to show us students of a similar background, similar performance, those who received intervention making 2, 3, 4 times the growth of students not receiving intervention in many grade levels.
Um, and so just really drove home the effectiveness, particularly of our early grade literacy intervention. Um, and so was really impressed by that also, um, you know, in a little disheartened, but we have something like 90 students just on the wait list just at WIS for intervention. And so I know that's something that's on my mind as we going into budgeting season. Those were our four topics. Can you go back one? Yeah, yeah. I must have missed it. Um, diversity Pathways. Um, so in our stu, so we use our Student Opportunity Act,
our Student Opportunity Act plan covers, um, there are two main goals associated with it. Our expansion of pre-K and our pathways and some of our, uh, data that we're using to show that we're using that money effectively to expand those is not only to increase access, but also to make the participation in particular, the Pathways programs better represent our student demographics on the whole. And so we were able to see some progress that we were making in particular in like el um, these
Are like, uh, the health healthcare pathway. It's not the Pathways program. That's what I, sorry. Yes. Thank you. I knew you were Pathways. That's, you were, I was like, have you seen the Pathways before? Yes. Sorry, I was just, thank you. It's biomedical and I apologize. I get it. I totally understand that. I'm sorry for my ignorance. I apologize. No, sorry. I should have clarified ms. Um, this sa this before this meeting, the human resources and policies met to discuss chapter it, title IX policies. Gimme,
Gimme one second. Ms. Hillman, we, we had a motion. I'm sorry. Sorry. Approve the minutes. Sorry to approve the min. Sorry. No, it's my fault. I thought it went through. Um, all those in favor to approve the minutes of the curriculum committee. Aye, aye. Aye. Uh, nays. Motion carries Ms. Holman, sorry about that. That's okay. I had still sitting on, I just Thought we had done that, so my apologies. Um, so we met earlier this evening to discuss the Human Resources and Policies Group met to talk about Title IX and the changes. And we are going to be resending some
and revitalizing old ones. So that will come up before next time, hopefully. Okay. Um, next, regular. Any else, any other committees? So the next regular school committee meeting is May 5th, 2025. I do have a question relative to the special meeting of the school committee, uh, budget review on April 14th, 2025, 6:00 PM at the Westfield Intermediate School. Um, that is a date that's tentatively set. I would like truthfully, to keep that date.
I am aware that there's another, there's, I'm aware that there's a conflict, so, um, I think we should probably let that play out for a day or two to see where we are. And then, um, if we could move it forward, I would like to, city Council has the, um, the right to have a, the city budget for 45 days. And I'm a little worried that it won't get to them in time if we don't have the meeting on the 14th. So when we have the meeting on the 14th, is that our desire at that time to vote yay or nay after the public hearing, close public hearing,
and then vote yes or no? Um, because if that's the case, uh, that's the smoothest way for the city, but I understand if it had, if it has to be moved, there may be a, I can. Um, so the city council meets on the, that Thursday, right? So I, I'm the 17th. I, you know, I would have to craft a spec, special letter as a, as a result of that meeting to get it to council. Um, so if we're good, we're kind of playing it by ear for a day or two, um, I think that's the best pathway for us to forward. Does that sound okay? I'll let you know. Okay.
Un understood. Yep. Understood. Anything else? Motion to adjourn. Second. Second. Motion to adjourn. And this time beaten out by Mrs. Sullivan for the second. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Motion carries. Thank you.