all right seeing none we'll move on to our action agenda first item fiscal 24 year end transfers and incumbrances superintendent recommendation uh the first is to encumber fiscal year 24 funds to be expended for salaries and goods and services so in everyone's packet that's document uh A1 superintendent's recommendation is to vote to approve 2,724 n68 as the total incumbrance for FY 24 um as included in the document those encumbered salaries have already been earned prior to the end of the fiscal year there any discussion from the committee on this no okay the second item uh to approve fiscal 24 line item transfers so that would be a document A2 in your packet um one is to transfer 69,1 18449 from various line items in regular Ed to sped expenses transfer 328 14065 to various items in sped expenses transfer 51 52746 to various line items and sped expenses transfer 107 43750 to various line items in sped Transportation expenses trans transfer $497 to various line items in sped Transportation expenses transfer $ 3,46 20 to various line and sped Transportation expenses for total transfers 54 64665 3 cents are there any discussions comments questions from the committee on these transfers no okay hearing now to move on to the next one so item number three to approve total expenditures for fiscal 24 that would be document A3 and A4 so um or A3 um so to approve 21 milon 42973 to9 cents as a total expenditure for fy4 declare $ 5,429 and5 as regular as Surplus regular expenses unexpended funds from the FY 24 town meeting appropriation to be returned to the town of Westport general fund any discussion comments questions from the committee on that item um Mr Thrasher has his hand up okay good yep yes thank you Mr chair um I actually have a quick question regarding the uh the energy credit and the eversource bill that was outstanding um is there any update as far as uh what the the plans are to to address that uh just wanted to double check before we approved all the these expenditures is it okay for me to speak Evan sure um as far as I know I have not heard anything yet back from Nicole um the town accountant was still on hold but just so you know I know that we did receive a summary um on this that from Karen so basically at the same part I did not encumber as per directed in that summary I did not encumber the June's bill so what we're hoping is that once this clears up that um the credits will go ahead and wipe that that last bill out that last invoice for June so at this point that's kind of where we are with this we're still on hold waiting I guess for everu and I don't know don't hold me to it I think it's the brilley road something with the credits there and getting that cleared up there okay excellent thank you I I know that ever had said it would be all right to withhold the payment on that for now so that's good um if it does end up being an issue where the credits do not cover um it may be necessary I think to to apply for uh a a transfer from the uh from the town uh from the reserve fund uh but at this time it looks like we're we're good so correct that's excellent all right thank you so much for your work on that and uh Mr chair that's all I had thank you thank you um on that note I will add that I think while it's you know good that this was a you know an error that is beyond our control and is not is not you know due to our usage or or other things um it is still an you know an increase in an expense in our budget that you know if this doesn't get cleared up in a reasonable amount of time that you know it does cause concern at least from accounting P an accounting perspective um so our view and also the Town treasur View to my you know to my understanding was that if we were able to get the reserve fund prior to the 15th um I know the finance committee was against it um but I think that our view going into it and the town Treasures view going into it was if we can get that Reserve to cover that and if it's not needed to transfer that back to the town which would go to free cash which I believe would happen anyway after the 15th um you know that was the that was the the request for the transfer from the reserve fund a couple weeks ago in front of the finance committee so um I just wanted to to clarify that point as well got Chris I see your hand up yep yes thank you Mr chair so uh about the uh the finance committee is also meeting this evening um and uh I would ask maybe do we have an updated number as to exactly how much of a discrepancy is left um because if so I I may try to I I I I think I would try to to get that that uh that Reserve idea passed so where it would be held um but not necessarily transferred unless it is it's it's deemed to be needed I think I think that's we still have a little bit of time here next few days anyway um to do that so I'm not sure what's your thought or what what if if this is something that we want to pursue I'll certainly uh give it give it a go at tonight's meeting but uh I'm just curious what the what the chair and what the thans broke up in the middle for me but but from the pie piece that I heard um I would say you know it's worth noting that it's still on our radar um at least from from this committee's perspective and from an accounting perspective it's still a you know a concern and we're keeping an eye on it and you know given that we haven't this this issue hasn't resolved yet it's certainly you know I I think the the thought of of some members on the finance committee from what I gathered from that meeting was that this issue would would hopefully be resolved by this point um over the few weeks since that last meeting of the finance committee which unfortunately it has not um so I think it you know for the finance committee's edification it may be worth noting that that we have not this situation has not uh been resolved as of yet um from what I'm hearing from from Melissa on that so would would it be possible to get an exact figure as to what the numberers because I know there was a an estimate for a transfer uh but would it be possible to get an exact figure to ask for this evening yes I could I could get you that information okay thank you very much now I I think obviously the the hope is that it wouldn't be needed right and this would would resolve but but in the event that it doesn't and you know that there's there was talk at the last finance committee of of shut off notices and um I certainly don't think that's an ideal situation for us to put our school department in um to be in in this situation so um like I said hopefully it it it's resolved but I think it is um worth noting for the finance committee giving an update that that it's not yet been uh uh solve so I just have one other thing when I'm sending information I'm working on a projection so I can't really give exact because I do not know what the June bill will be so that is a difficult thing at this point know that so I can give an approximate of what I'm projecting but we won't know that until we receive it understood I think an approximation that that that should suffice for now too so thank you so much again for your work on this yeah thank you anything else from the from other committee members on on that item all set okay all right all right the last piece of this uh action item is number five to approve returning fiscal year 23 unexpended encumbrances to the town of Westport general fund and prior year Grant unexpended funds to the town of Westport general fund so that would be 7,000 y the Y yep so A5 $ 7,17 57 prior year encumbrances and from the grant accounts was from rural Aid fy22 34 cents and from Reserve fund uh Foundation Reserve FY 222 $2.90 is there any discussion from committee members on that item no okay all right before we uh make a motion on this I just wanted to commend our business department for the hard work that they do Michelle and Melissa um you know closing out the year isn't isn't easy there's a lot to go through and uh you know even throughout the year just the the carrying out of the budget and you know the planning for it and uh implementing it it goes through a long process and a lot of different iterations so we certainly appreciate all the hard work that that you put into it you know our our district as is no secret is uh always in a tough budget situation we have you know revenues that aren't growing to meet increasing expenses and that's across all Town departments so we're certainly sympathetic to the town's perspective on this also um and we really need every scent that we you know that that comes to us from from town meeting to to support our staff educate our students and that's really what this is about so um you know I just wanted to to thank you both for your your hard work um and you know as we go into fy2 you know it's again another situation that's less than ideal given the appropriation from town meeting but you know we we make it work with what we have and the resources and our our great staff to support our students so um just just want to say thanks for that any other comments from the committee again thank you Michelle Melissa it's a lot of work and uh a lot of uh hair pulling but thank you for all that you've been doing yes I I Echo the chair's sentiment thank you very much for all the hard work thank you I also want to just commend to the other two in the business office because it is definitely a a team effort on on all parts to make it work so thank you for recognizing that thank you okay with that being said I will entertain a motion to approve fiscal year 24 year transfers and encumbrances uh the superintendent's recommendations for those I'll make a motion to accept uh all the business we just did on the budget and think I said that right budget um meeting now I mean for this last Amendment I'm sorry it's early in the morning yes so the fiscal 24 year and transfers 2024 budg I'll second okay all right motion mean seconded is there any further discussion okay hearing none we will take a roll call vote i glor cab I Christopher Thrasher I Jason Pico and I Evan gendro so that carries unanimously second item on the action agenda Westport Community Schools Bill warrant dated 62824 $4,840 41 and 7224 $299,000 71 299 $299,000 $711 all right is there any comments questions from the committee on those no okay this is on as a as an action item Lori is that do we need to take action on this or for the bill warrant no you don't okay it's just accepting it sorry my fault all right all right so we will not take action on that item um item C review and act on minutes school committee meeting of Tuesday 61824 is there a motion to approve so move Mr chair I'll second okay motion remain seconded to approve the minutes any further discussion hearing none we'll take a roll call vote I Gloria cabal hi Christopher Thrasher hi Jason Pico I EV gendro okay item D to review and act on the letter to the select board regarding the district's move out of the former high school so the the Town Administrator had asked us for uh a letter from the committee to the to the select board um I don't think this is this is certainly not meant to be a detailed proposal it's more of a a communication to the select board outlining um you know that we're planning to move out of the high school and what that would look like you know us continuing to uh take on the grounds um Mowing and weed whacking maintain those maintain some space in the garage and two offices off the garage um this would also include building checks so I just wanted to I so I drafted a letter that was circulated to the committee for discussion today um if there's any recommendations thoughts from the committee questions be happy to entertain that Mr Thrasher yes thank you Mr chair so I uh have have been thinking that no matter how this this all shakes out um it's going to require I think a bit of a workshop with uh the uh with the Town Administrator and and really I think that the select board might need to be involved to some extent as well um so I I had uh raised this idea with you last night of of perhaps uh or there was a at the select board meeting but perhaps there's a way to do maybe a quick committee um maybe members of the budget sub here and ask that the select board uh appoint a couple Representatives as well as uh getting uh Mr auin uh uh Mr posa and uh and Jim all together for kind of a workshop just to go over all of the logistics involved here um I think that the you know the intentions are clear here at the end of the day uh the school department needs to save $90,000 and needs to better support our staff in uh in the schools off in the schools uh so however we get to that uh to that end um and and and trying to take every step uh that we can along that line along that road to uh to ensure that this does not negatively affect the town's bottom line either I think that there's there's a win-win way to to get this done but I do think it's going to take everybody in a room uh kind of hashing it all out just to make this happen um as smooth as smoothly as possible so I don't know what what your thoughts are on or the rest of the committee's thoughts are on that I thought that was uh when I talked to Evan last night was a good idea but to have the whole select board because the select board's still very divided so if you put everybody all in the same room the whole school committee and all people that are you know need to be there would be much better to uh have all opinion not just the opinion of a couple of people I will note so the um just to give context what Mr thresh was referring to at the select board meeting was last night uh the select board on their agenda um included a discussion item for the long-term building committee's recommendations on that so Mr Thrasher serves as the chair there and presented the long-term building committee's recommendation for the old high school um and as part of that our the the move of the school committee um that we've been discussing came up as part of that discussion uh So I responded to a couple of questions from the select board on that but you know with the intent that that the um communication to the select board would come following today uh our discussion and approval of this letter at least to get the ball rolling on that discussion um so I I think that it would be good to get the select board and the school committee together whether that's an iteration of you know representatives of each board or if that you know if that looks like you know in in the past the select board during their regularly scheduled meetings has had other boards in to discuss certain items on their agenda so however that looks like um I think as long as we get everyone sort of you know in in discussion on this because the select board still had some questions and I'm not sure if it was a you know if how much has been communicated from the town side and shared with the select board so I think it would be helpful for everyone to get together and discuss this because there's concerns on the town side with cost there's concerns on our side with cost um I will note a couple of relevant pieces that were discussed at the select board meeting uh for our purposes was that uh the Town Administrator had showed the uh article from town meeting I believe a couple of years ago which laid out the transfer of the building to the to under the select board's purview and the language in that in that uh article included the care maintenance and operation of the building was under the select board's purview um and transferred from the school committee so I just wanted to note that for the committee's purpose um and also there was questions about winterization and what that would look like and if we were to do that my my one of my questions to the committee today would be you know do we want to include uh winterization as part of our communication to the select board or you know should we hold that for further discussion um I think part of it is you know if if the long-term building committee is making a recommendation and uh you know that their recommendation included that the town would pursue a plan for the municipal use of the building in the future so I'm not sure if the if the select board would want us to winterize it would you know what that would look like so um again just one of the committee's thoughts on that Mr Pico I see that your hand is raised yes thank you EV um I do worry a little bit about the uh winterization piece um just due again to uh you know part of the reason why I think you know certainly us and the town want to continue to use the property is for for um Youth Sports so I think the the winterization would shut down um the use of the uh basketball court for um you know for our kids um you know and again I understand that there would be um added expense um by not winterizing and now needing heat um for that but I think it's something that should be um discussed and and certainly worked out um you know between all the parties to uh make sure that the kids don't lose out um I know that the basketball league was uh without a home for a few years there um when uh when the middle the old middle school got closed and we were building a new one um and I know that you know a bunch of people in town have worked hard to get it back up and running um over the last year or two so certainly something that I think would uh would be beneficial to the town to uh to keep up and running thank you Michelle and I did have a conversation with our head of facilities as well well and I guess it's extremely costly to winterize so I would be concerned about us putting that Dollar on our budget to go out and winterize the building with the unknown because it is such an old building um I know that he mentioned the type of winterization that would need to be used was going to be extremely costly so I I would just be caught I think you know we probably want to be cautious on that end for that what that cost would be I bet you doesn't wouldn't even touch the utilities right right thank you yeah and and I I'm in agreement there I I left it out of the letter um but I just wanted to get the committee's thoughts on it Mr Thrasher so I I I do share the same concerns when it comes to the uh when it comes to the cost the potential cost of winterization um I also you know I I say again at the end of the day what the the school committee what the school department needs is to save we need to save $90,000 and we need to better support our staff as with the staff that we have in the other schools um how we get there I think there there may we may have to find some sort of wiggle room because what I what I will tell you on the town on on the town side of this um there is a significant cost that could be incurred with uh with the increased Insurance costs if the building is completely vacated um I know this might not be the most popular thing to bring up here but I I think we really need to look at options that may be available to leave something uh of in the building whether that's maybe like one tech office um I I even think it may be worth thinking about keeping the uh the uh out of school time program there as well uh because I mean the town needs I believe the insurance it need it's 31 or 32% of the building needs to be occupied or least used um and I think currently there's some wiggle room on on what exactly used means but if the if everything school department is is vacated out of there um there's that wi room is not going to exist anymore for the town and and if and if if it ends up being a situation where the school department saves $90,000 but the uh the town you know it costs 250,000 more I don't think that's going to help us in the long run be able to secure the budgets that we need uh to to maintain and to uh to have an upper trajectory for for our our school system so I I'm wondering is there you know I'm curious about the the superintendent's thoughts here and then the rest of the committee as well I just is there some way we can figure out how to save $90,000 how to support our staff at the schools and at the same time make sure that the building is still somewhat occupied at least enough to cover the uh the requirements for insurance I just on that on that point I wanted to you know add one thing there so I think that's that's great to think about and there are certainly legitimate concerns on the town side with this um I will note that I'm not sure if if the only scenario I would see that not being workable would be if if the district was still incurring the same expenses from that um you know because the part of this was a was a budget discussion so from a fiscal perspective if that we were able to maintain that percentage um while also saving that $90,000 as a results of this move which would mean that the town uh I believe right now 50,000 of that is the town charging for utility expenses um and the other 40s for custodial so I think that would be workable uh from my perspective as long as as long as we would save that 50,000 utility and the 40,000 custodial cost whether that means that the town doesn't charge for utilities whether whatever that looks like um I think that would be workable um I would add that you know at the end of the day as as I said this to the selectboard last night um the goal of the committee here and the intention of the committee you know going into this was we need to save $90,000 and uh support staff in in the other buildings so that's where the you know the decision came in um but whatever that looks like in terms of you know longterm with the building that that or the percentage rather that it's occupied um I I'm certainly open to working with the town on that as long as those two goals are accomplished how is the select board uh working with you on it because you we know you've already said what needs to be done are they um okay with like giving other options or this is what they want um you know I I can't speak for them I'm not sure um I think it that's why I think the discussion would be helpful with uh between the school committee and and the select board to discuss this we've you know I know the business office has had preliminary conversations with the Town Administrator and uh the finance committee chair but you know I think short of us having details on on cost is difficult to to say uh what the you know what that would look like for the from the town side um but sorry go ahead are we incurring a cost of moving all this stuff too everything that's going to cost to move to get all the offices done to get all this isn't there a cost to that that's coming from us that it could be saved somewhere else Michelle if you could address the the move piece right so the move piece we would be having someone come in to move everything so there would be a cost to that I don't know what that cost is yet we're waiting we were waiting for dates to see what the that to get the estimate cost on that um what you mentioned something else Gloria what else did you have a question on sorry no I was just saying the cost of once you know it's not just the moving it's also you know things that have to be done and you know maybe division petitions and equipment and all desks are the same stuff is there another cost that we're incurring because of the move because you know rooms are different sizes I that's what I'm saying is if you didn't have to move you wouldn't have to have these extra costs and the only cost that we foresee is really just the move having the a moving company come in instead of using our custodial staff where they're busy all summer we would just have just the move done and that would be the only cost as far as technology will handle the rest of it custodial will help with setting things in place maintenance will help with just putting you know like we've already looked at everybody's desk so everything would be exactly moving from what what we have here Technology's already worked on their piece too so okay good thank you I I would add to that too that the you know the the one time you know a onetime expense associated with with the move here you know was is at least for my perspective you know more responsible than continuing to incur the cost from the old building that you know regardless of what we decide or or our move here you know we would something would have to be done one way or another within the next year just because you know the there's already discussion of of having a debt exclusion on the ballot for for April about the renovation of the of the building for municipal use um so whether that passes or fails I think that would you know either way it it wouldn't be sustainable for us to stay in there um with no plan for the building um and having no plan for the last eight years or so five years um and then if it passes you know and it's renovated then that would certainly impact our use of the building and us having to to leave so I think either way looking into next year there would have to be some decisions made on this building uh whether we we stay or go um the question really um how I view it down to this fiscal year um the the the costs occurred from this fiscal year I know the the town has mentioned some potential um Appropriations that they can tap into from previous uh Town meetings associated with the building cost which could offset increases in insurance but again we're not sure on the we haven't heard an exact figure on that uh so it'd be tough to assign a number but I will say from a planning perspective given the recommendation of the building committee and uh discussions that the select board's having you know it it seems to be less sustainable for us to stay there you know even going into next year so uh just from based on on it's looking like there will be some sort of vote following uh plans from both the select board and the long-term building committee so I just wanted to note that superintendent auin I see your hand is raised uh yes thank you uh just uh very quickly um um any any talk of uh additional savings um would would no doubt have to include Personnel so I would want to do that offline you know just want to make that point all right is there anything further from the committee on this particularly on the on the letter perspective and and the communication to the select board so I I would just uh just say again I think some of the issues that Gloria Mist just brought up uh shows shows me the the the need for kind of a workshop committee type situation um there's a lot and I don't the only thing that I don't necessarily agree with is that it while I think there should be an element maybe of a report if you will to the full select board and that and and allowing the select board to to weigh in um to me this is not a necessarily a normal meeting type of situation that this is you know quite literally a um a workshop session uh public of course public meeting but still it would need to be you know I I I see this taking a few hours and taking and being getting really down to the nitty-gritty like you said like all right so how much does the move cost what exact day is this move happening etc etc so um I think my thought would be to add something in this letter that would address or would ask for a a a workshop committee or you know with a couple Representatives um as soon as possible I'm also not necessarily sure if this could wait uh you know the two weeks between until the next select board meeting so I'm just not sure if you know if you're looking at an August move out date at this point there's certainly a uh you know certainly a Need for Speed here and also I think that they're the other thing that's worth noting is especially after last night and and the long-term building discussions and everything this is um you know this is kind of at the top of the the agenda or is is a chief concern on the select board's mind and I and everyone's mind at the town I think this is a way to this would be able to we'd be able to Hash this out pretty quickly if if we just sat down and took a day and did it right yeah I I'm in agreement there I think you know the full committee um if the full committee wants to go to the July 22nd meeting which I believe uh this will appear on the select board's agenda we can also post that as ours just so there's no you know issue with with open meeting um so if a if you know if a quorum of us would like to show up to that select board meeting um and be available for discussion then we can I think certainly do that um on that date if we wanted to post that but to your point uh Mr Thrasher I think you know if a if a subor of both the select board and the school committee could get together in the next in the next week week and a half just so it can appear on the um well it would appear in the select board's agenda anyway just because of the letter but um if we could meet in the next week week and a half um on that that would be I think helpful just to iron out some of the the issues that have been raised I think part of that too would be helpful just because I'm not sure the communication that members of the select board are getting um you know if any so I'm not sure how up to date they are on on you know a lot of the logistics of this so I think that would be that would be helpful form the discussion on the 22nd so um so I'm in agreement with that and adding that to the letter um all right is there anything further on on that any further discussion no the only thing I would say is make if we can get things done as soon as possible because that move will take a lot of people a lot of work a lot of organization you don't want to put it you know it doesn't want to be they shouldn't put it off to the end because it's not fair to all those people who are doing the move and getting their stuff together a little urgency right AB absolutely no I I I agree with that um yeah I I think between this coming week and and the select board meeting on the 22nd I think that would between those discussions I think would be sufficient to to finally you know finalize this uh and the logistics going into it and have the select board you know have an understanding of this and and US understanding you know the issues that they rais so and addressing those so I think that would give an opportunity for that so my hope is that between the discussions that happened between now uh in the 22nd and the select board meeting on the 22nd that this would be finalized um Mr chair this is listed as an action item are you looking for a motion you yeah sure so if if I would entertain a motion to approve that the letter be sent to the select board with with the amendment that was discussed regarding uh a meeting with the board prior to the meeting on the 22nd I will will move that uh and and I would like I would ask that this move that the communication be sent as well uh excuse me with the addition of requesting a a workshop Committee in the next week and the appearance of the full um school committee uh or those who wish to attend at the next elect board meeting as well I'll second okay uh motion made in seconded is there any further discussion okay hearing none uh we'll take a roll call vote hi Gloria cabal hi Christopher Thrasher hi Jason Pico I gendro okay thank you okay that concludes our action agenda so moving to our informational agenda we have the superintendent report yeah very quickly uh we just received our uh our AP scores and we will have a report for the school committee um at the uh next meeting uh we cautiously optimistic uh about some of them obviously there are some that um we've taken action to try and improve for next year and uh we'll present all of that to the uh uh committee at our next meeting if that's uh okay with the chair that sounds great thank okay um next item uh Massachusetts Association of school committees and Massachusetts Association of of school superintendant joint conference 2024 early bird special attendance discussion yeah just a um as as you know Mr chair uh there is a joint Mas masc meeting that takes place in November uh you know uh the uh school committee members have attended in the past and uh have found it valuable so I'll stop there right yeah I I will uh add that I attended last year as a new member of the committee and it was valuable to me uh to hear different perspectives there's a lot of great panels that are held over the course of of a couple of days and you know it's even you know I think helpful just to hear the perspectives of other committee members throughout the state and the issues that they're dealing with um but also from a a technical point of view there's a lot of ground that's covered um and a lot of different types of panels that are offered so it's it's I think it's valuable they also offer for during that um I think they did last year at least I'm sure they will again um there's a a a session called charting the course which new members are required to attend by under state law within a year of of their election so um you know I know we have two new members so that would be a good opportunity there they have other sessions as well that they hold those I think they hold them weekly or or few times a month um but that's you know they that's included as part of that so so um it may be good there but I I would I would definitely encourage members to consider attending just you know I think it's a I think is valuable so um the commissioner usually speaks as well as part of the the keynote address um and it's you know it's nice to hear sort of where the the Department's at at the state level um and the direction they're heading the issues that are on their radar so um it's it's uh gives good context and insight into you know the the happenings around the state with with education and if anyone would like to attend um they registration is on their website and you know I'm sure you know Lori could could help coordinate also but um the registration is also on the on the site there's more information there they lay out the program so if you're if you're interested or want more details that's uh it's available there okay routine matters correspondences and notices I have none uh topics a chair could not reasonably anticipate 40 hour in advance of the meeting I have none there also before we adjourn I did want to read in um I was remiss at the beginning of the meeting not to include this but I wanted to read it in now um on March 29th 2023 Governor morah Healy signed in t Law chapter 2 of the acts of 2023 which includes a two-year extension of the option for public bodies to hold remote meetings effective immediately the legislation simply extends the current option for remote meetings through March 31st 2025 and does not otherwise affect the ability of the public bodies to conduct their meetings remotely through video and our audio conferencing under chapter 20 of the acts of 2021 so that was on our agenda I just wanted to read it in before we adjourn so if there's no further items I will rain a motion to adjourn I'll make a motion to adjourn and second okay motion remain seconded we'll take a roll call vote I Gloria cabal I Christopher Thrasher hi Jason P Ian gendro all right thank you everyone