Call this meeting of the Whittier Regional Votech School Committee to order. >> You please call the RO. >> Sure. Mr. Early, >> yes. >> Miss Sullivan, >> present. >> Mr. Rossy, >> present. >> Miss Carpenter, >> here. >> Mr. Lie, >> here. >> Mr. Fitzgerald, >> here. >> Mr. Murphy, >> here. >> Mr. Paglia,
>> here. Miss LOL >> here. >> Mr. Bow >> here. >> Miss TR here. corner >> here. >> Mr. Slovki >> here, >> and the chair >> here. Y'all please join us for the pledge of >> allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for it
stands one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Those attending tonight's meeting should be aware that the meeting is being audio and video recorded by Whittier Tech. Any audience members who wish to record any part of the meeting must inform the
chairperson who will announce the recording. This is to comply with the mass wiretap statute. First item on the agenda is public comment. Anybody here for public comment? Oh, apparently there's a list.
Uh Bernie Cullen, first on the list. >> Uh good evening. Um I'm Bernie Cullen from Rowley and I'm the Rally rep on the school building committee. Um I'm also the chairman of the Rally Water
Department as well. I have a number of statements to make. Um, and I'm going to try and be as polite as I possibly can. At the last meeting, this Whittier school committee voted 11 to nothing to adopt and forward to Desi
a plan to allocate seats at Whittier. Um, that runs counter to the original intent of the 1967 agreement. The submitted seat allocation plan is based on the 10-year average of the share of seats filled from each community.
The plan itself is not unreasonable given the circumstances, but it is problematic at a fundamental level. If you go back and read the 1967 to 1972 discussions in the Haveril Gazette about
the creation of Whittier, you will see that expectations were that each of the 11 communities would be sending a similar share of their students, a similar proportion of their students to Whittier. That was the expectation. That
expectation was the justification for the use of the relative size of the student populations in the capital cost allocation formula. That's the only justification that's possible to to make. The last 50 years have shown that
these expectations of having similar shares of students come from each of the communities has not been met and not been met by a very wide margin. Consequently, the submitted seat allocation plan that you've just made
exacerbates the existing inequities of the capital cost allocation formula. For example, the proposed seat allocation plan plus the existing 1967 agreement will force new port to bear
approximately 10.5% of the capital costs of any capital cost while limiting it to 2% of the seats. So again, that number is 10.5% and they get 2 2% of the seats.
It will force Rowley to pay 3.7% of any capital cost while limiting Rowley to 2%. Notice the disparity between Newport and and Rowley there. We get the same number of seats, but they they pay they're on the hook for three times the amount of
capital cost that we are. It will force Ipsswitch to pay 7.5% of the any capital cost while limiting it to 3% or 10 of the projected 340 places. There is one major beneficiary of the
proposed plan. Haveril is allocated 231 seats or 68% of the 340 places while paying only 44% of the capital cost. These numbers I believe speak for
themselves. I recognize that the state required Whittier to submit some kind of admissions plan on very short notice and that 70% of the freshman this entering freshman class comes from Hay. So I
understand that kind of dynamic. But the chosen approach illustrates why a revised witty agreement needs to be finalized before before anything else is considered. No agreement on the approp on the
aortionment of seats or any decision that has implications for major capital spending should take place until after a revised regional agreement is in place. The new Desi admissions process does
allow the allocation of seats by community, but the regulations as written ironically presume that such an agreement is already in place. No such agreement currently exists for for Whittier.
One will be needed sooner or later. The MSBA recognized the need for a revised agreement in its December 13th letter of last year. Paragraph 6, bullet one. In the same letter, the MSBA suggests that any
changes it to the agreement must be resolved prior to the MSBA approving a recommendation for preferred schematic design. That's the kind of the next step. This this makes sense for the MSBA
and its own processes. It does not make sense for many of the wittier communities. It does not make sense to even begin the design process before the nature and details of the new agreement have been agreed to by voters in each of the communities.
This is again putting the cart before the horse. political and practical realities of planning this project requires that a revised agreement needs to be in place before any of the necessary decisions as to the location,
size, or function of a new or renovated building are made. It is like going house hunting before you know how much of a mortgage you are qualified for and before your spouse has agreed to the move. You can do it, but it's like it's
a foolish waste of time and it is dangerous. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next person on the list is Sher David. >> Good evening. Sher David. I'm the chairman of the Raleigh Board of Selectmen and um my
issue is with this uh proposed rack agreement. As everybody knows, Raleigh was reluctant to come to the table to discuss this at all. We it was overwhelming. We voted down the first time around, but our colleagues had asked us to come
to have our voices heard and to find out what the project was about because we have this combined campus one-of-a-kind first of its kind type thing. We agreed to do that. So, being part of the working group, it was decided that the working group, which is made up of one
member from each town, would be the regional agreement amendment committee. That's not what's happening. We're now told that there are going to be four additional members put on our committee with the ability to vote.
I don't know how those people are going to be picked. It's not fair that one town gets two votes or three votes and the rest of us get one. We're just not going to tolerate it. This is not a good start transparency wise right out of the gate. I sent two
letters to Miss Ledge asking that this agreement not go before the board tonight so that we could be afforded the opportunity to discuss it with our boards, our town council, maybe have a public hearing on it.
And by the way, it never came back to the working group. This this document was formed and it never came back to the working group, the very people that it's about. So I sent two letters asking that this did not come to the committee tonight. and yet here we are. So that was completely ignored.
Um, as far as the school building committee, I I don't I don't I don't know why Frank Cousins and Rorach were assigned to be the chair and the co-chair. Typically, the committee picks their own chair and
co-chair. I've never seen it done any other way, but yet here we are. both have an interest in in the project. One's from Haveril and the other one is a trustee for the college. Um which as a reminder, we don't have an agreement with the college. The college is not a
stakeholder in this as far as we're concerned. Our 11 communities are okay. We are not um again in favor of four additional voting members being added to
our working group which is going to become this regional agreement committee. That's not what we signed up for. It's not what we agreed to. Um we're the ones paying the bills. We're not going to have another town vote on how we're going to spend Rally's money.
We're just not going to go along with it. I don't know what's coming further further on if this is the way we're going to start out, but Monday night I asked my board for a motion that if in
fact four people are added to the regional agreement amendment committee that they can vote, which is going to give some town somewhere two votes or three votes, we are prepared to send a letter to the
MSBA and we we will not support the project any longer. It's a shame it has to be that way, but right out of the gate, I've lost trust in the process and it hasn't been transparent. This is not what we agreed to. Not one single town agreed to this.
That document that was formed by Miss Lynch, your attorney AI has not even come back for us to discuss it. I wanted the opportunity for our town council to look at it as well. We're talking big numbers here. This is
now getting serious now that we're going to be getting into these agreements. We asked for that opportunity and we've been denied. Now we're in Now we're in a situation here. >> Thank you for your time. >> Thank you. >> Uh Michael Colburn.
>> Hi Michael Coburn. as I spoke last time trying to talk with all 11 region 11 community members you guys all talk to your own personal members it's really difficult right now um we have a town Raleigh the way they feel um other towns
are you know on guard right now and I know you guys are too and I and I trust that you guys will do what's best because I think we all have their best intentions to get a school for our kids but this is serious money. Last project was $442 million.
Towns, as we know, towns are voting down overrides right now. We have to get this right. We get a new school and we all have to feel comfortable in this process. And as we already have one town that's not feeling comfortable, we really got to think and work together how we can make sure everyone feels
comfortable because the end result, what we all want is the best school for our kids. We all have to trust each other. And if adding more votes and giving per the perception of giving one community more power is just going to put angst in
the process is going to make the process longer. So I hope you guys understand where you know Riley's coming from. I'm coming from. I want to see a path forward, but we all have to feel comfortable in that path. If not, we'll have a failed project like we had last time. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Uh, Bill Deo. >> Bill Deo, I'm a select board chair of the town of Zubri. Uh, thank thanks a lot for what you people do as a school committee. Um, I made a mistake the other night. I I read the regional
agreement and I paid particular attention to the section about amendments and it became clear to me that when they wrote that agreement, they encouraged you to add other people to the amendment committee.
Okay. So, if you add four members, I'm okay with that because I think the regional agreement says you're entitled to do that. Not just school committee people, but other people as well. Um whether they can vote or not is probably the issue I think I share with some
people um for the reasons that Mike already talked about. It would be nice if they weren't voting members. I'm not sure if they definitely have to be voting members or not, but maybe that's what you'll discuss tonight. Um and essentially, um
I think that I agree with what you did with the building committee. I sense that you had to probably identify when you served up the names of the people who were on the building committee. You were probably under pressure to identify chairman, vice chair, so on and so forth. Maybe
you weren't. I'm not sure, but maybe we'll talk about that tonight. But, uh, is what's done is done. As far as the RAC, um, like I said, I I feel really good about school committee people being there as leaison people um to report
back to you to your colleagues, but it would be nice if they weren't voting members for the reasons we've talked about. Thank you very much. >> Thank you. >> Is there anyone else here for public comment? >> Anyone else for public comment? Anyone
that submitted uh written public comment for the meeting? >> No, Mr. Chairman. >> All right. Next item on the agenda, approval of minutes October 1st, 2025, minutes of the regular school committee meeting. Is there a motion? >> Motion to approve. >> Second.
>> Motion by Miss Lel, seconded by Miss Carpenter, I think. >> Any discussion? Seeing none, please call the role. >> Mr. Early, >> yes. >> Miss Sullivan, >> abstain. >> Mr. Rossy, >> yes. Miss Carpenter. Yes. >> Mr. Lie, yes.
>> Mr. Fitzgerald, yes. >> Mr. Murphy, yes. >> Mr. Paglia, yes. >> Miss LOL, >> yes. >> Mr. Bow, >> yes. >> Miss TR, >> yes. >> Miss Okconor, >> yes. >> Mr. Slovski, >> abstain. >> And the chair? >> Yes. Passes. Next item on the agenda, payment of bills, financial report,
treasures report for September and October. Is there a motion? >> Motion to approve. >> Motion by Miss Tru, seconded by >> Mr. Cher. Any discussion? Seeing none. Oh, excuse me, Mr. Li. >> Uh, just a question. I don't know if um the school business manager wants to
address about the $2.8 million unencumbered balanced and fixed charges. >> Car, come on up. >> Just a question of clarification on on the 2.8 UNC million dollar unencumbered balance in fixed charges. What is that?
>> 2.8. Are you in the October one? >> Yes. The one that was just sent to us. >> Oh, okay. That is um that's mostly health insurance. The health insurance in our system does not encumber every month. >> Okay. Okay.
>> So, it's not encumbered. Yeah. Got it. Thank you. Any other questions? Seeing none, please call the >> Mr. Early. >> Yes. >> Miss Sullivan, >> yes. >> Mr. Rossy, >> yes. >> Miss Carpenter, >> yes. >> Mr. DeLe,
>> yes. >> Mr. Fitzgerald, >> yes. >> Mr. Murphy, >> yes. >> Mr. Paglia, >> yes. >> Miss LOL, >> yes. >> Mr. Bo, >> yes. >> Miss TR, >> yes. >> Miss Okconor, >> yes. >> Mr. Slovski, >> yes. >> And chair, >> yes. Passes. Communications Student Representative
Report, Richard Deico. >> Good evening, Mr. Chairman, Superintendent Lynch, and members of the school committee. Sports football. The Wildcats hold a 6-2 record and are preparing for the state playoffs. Players have shown strong teamwork and
the ability to finish games strongly. Both boys and girls cross country teams advanced to the divisional round of states in Northfield. The boys top runner set a new wittier record and the girls team placed third at the vocational championships. Girls volleyball finished 8 and 11,
closing the season with back-to-back wins against Georgetown and Northeast Tech. Boys soccer ended the season 4, three, and 11 with strong senior leadership. Girls soccer finished the season with consistent effort and improvement throughout October. getting
into clubs and activities. Student government hosted the annual pep rally, spirit week, and homecoming. Highlights included musical chairs, a senior tugof-war victory, and staff raises and inflatable costumes. Thanks to Metal Fabrication for creating an Eiffel Tower decoration for our
homecoming dance. Multicultural Club led the My Name, My identity campaign, promoting name, pronunciation, and respect. Members gave a presentation on K-pop's global influence and served as translators during open house.
Interact club supported the Rotary Club diaper drive. They will attend the Veterans Breakfast on November 6th and assist the drama club concession stand on November 7th. National Technical Honor Society introduction for 31 new members will be held on December 8th,
bringing total membership to 64. Tutoring begins in January. Skills USA is hosting the second annual Veterans Breakfast on November 8th, featuring guest speaker Joe Byron from Honor Flight New England. 12 students will attend the Fall State Leadership
Conference this month. The yearbook club is actively collecting photos and highlights for the yearbook. The poetry club expanded to weekly meetings with strong student leadership and creative participation. The environmental club had their largest turnout yet with 15 members working on a
leave the leaves awareness campaign in a 3D winter soil ecosystem model. Over 100 members signed up for ski club with their three winter trips planned. Peerto-peer is running a towel and blanket drive for the MSPCA through
November. Journalism Club released the first issue of the Wildcats magazine during the open house. Next issue is coming next month. Peer leadership assisted with school events and boosting 9th grade spirit week participation. Upcoming events include the parent teacher conferences
and February shop selections. The drama club is performing the bench and um I think the psych teacher is dead on November 7th. Woodier's first student directed one act play. Art club began clay and pottery projects completing first kiln firing of the
year. And finally, chess club with over 20 members, mostly freshmen, participating in the first tournament of the year. That's the report. Thank you. >> Thank you. >> Next item on the agenda is the principal, assistant superintendent,
school happenings report, Mr. Leanus. >> Good evening, Mr. Chairman, Superintendent Lynch, and the rest of the committee members. Um, I just want to say thank you for showing up if you did at the open house last Sunday. Uh, it was quite a success. We were thrilled to invite seventh and eighth graders and
students and their families across the district. Uh, the academic displays throughout the building were engaging. Hands-on presentations and our vocational shop areas, you believe them. >> The vocational shop areas truly
showcased the e excellence of our programs. Our visitors were delighted by delicious appetizers, crepes, desserts, and I guess the pulled pork was a big hit in the cup made especially for event by our talented culinary students uh and
their instructors. This was a fantastic opportunity to highlight our diverse academic and vocational offerings. Since open house, we've received 279 incoming ninth grade applications and counting to
this day. I want to thank our vocational coordinators, Amanda Crosby and Paul Muskovitz, uh, who's actually over at the YMCA receiving a a nomination for educator of the year award. Um, and our maintenance crew and the entire staff
for their dedicated and diligent efforts uh in making that day a huge success. Um, usually on the internet I get emails that aren't very positive, but I I want to just take this time to read an email from a parent who I did ask if I could
read this and she said absolutely. She was talking about the open house and what how she was amazed. Student tour guides and and those in the shops were respectful, informative, and polite. Staff were warm and welcoming and filled with pride for their shop and their
school. They were willing to answer any questions. Many staff knew her son. So she has a freshman here. Knew the name. As a mother, this was lovely to see since he has only been in the school for two months and there are over a thousand students in this school. The
organization of the event just flowed with information at each turn from the clubs to the products to the students. They they produced the many uh the main lobby with the robotic arm, the boat simulator, the car, the 3D printer, the
plumbing display were all so impressive. The brochures, information passed out at the beginning, then throughout the campus were colorful, vibrant, and very informative. And lastly, the campus felt safe the whole time. the presence of
security guards and SRO's. So, I was happy to receive that email the next morning along with other ones, but I probably shouldn't read those here. Middle school tours, they begun, believe it or not. We're in November. Uh, new report already came through October 30th. If you're interested in the dates,
um, I have them here of when your areas showing up, when your school systems are showing up. IPS, River Valley are coming up. Um actually no they showed up the fourth Hill View Triton Constantino JG Whittier Gateway Pucket Georgetown
Nettle Hunting and Namesbury will be come through before break. First quarter is over and report cards will be issued through Power School Friday, November 7th, this Friday. And uh as Ricky said, we're our one act play is Friday at 7 7
PM in our auditorium if anybody's interested. Also in honor of veterans uh and on November 11th which is a Tuesday we recognize eight of our staff members who have served in the branch they've served in our student government will be
part of the morning announcements on Monday morning because it's Tuesday we celebrate um Veterans Day November 10th as as they they too will recognize our veteran staff members those staff members names will be displayed on our
outdoor jumbo uh and Woody Techch. Also, if you notice when you drive in the parade of flags displayed on the school campus along the driveway next to Mega Kitty, that's all set up. That was set up for open house. Also, Mr. Fox, one of our our teachers
here, uh one of our English tutors who served in the army, who sent who was sent to Vietnam, set up the missing man table, which is set up in the corner here. You can see it over there. Um, and that's been there all year in the Poetsin restaurant. This table is a
symbol used to honor the fallen, missing, or imprisoned military personnel during morning announcements. Mr. Fox will explain the meaning of the table on that Monday. Whitt host the breakfast for veterans on this Saturday, November 8th at 9:00 a.m. in the
cafeteria, which is organized by the Whittier Skills USA. Thanks to our culinary staff once again and students who will prepare a delicious breakfast that morning for the veterans and their guests. And then the rest here I have parents night November 20th booster club
meeting November 20th on the 11th December that's the fall sports banquet. Uh we also real important the school safety. We're in the process of hopefully before mother nature gets to us with a snowstorm uh in and planning an Alice drill uh for the safety of the
children and the staff with the attack home games. We have Thursday night that's tomorrow night um a football game against Somerville and then winter sports meeting are taking place as as we speak. >> That's all I got for you. >> Thank you. Any questions?
>> Thank you. >> Thank you. Next item on the agenda is the business manager report. Miss Gossmus. Good evening, Mr. Chairman, Superintendent Lynch, and members of the committee. I have a few things for you this month. First of all is the
five-year capital plan. It's in your packet. Um, it serves, as you know, as a planning document, and we update it each year to project the district's capital needs over a five-year period, and we use it in the budget development process. Even though the district is working with MSBA and our regional
community members on the Whittier Northern Essex shared campus project, there will be some building projects that will need to occur to make sure that the existing facility remains operational over the next several years and those projects can be found in the building maintenance section of this
report. The items funded under the metal fabrication area were procured through a state grant, and the district recently applied for a grant in excess of $2 million that will provide funding, if approved, for improvements and equipment in several shop areas, including
electrical and plumbing. >> All right, let's take that first. Um, do it appropriately first. Is there a motion uh to approve the 5-year capital plan? >> Motion to approve the five-year capital plan. >> Motion by Mr. Murphy second.
>> And Mr. Fitzgerald, any discussion, questions on it? Mr. Early, >> what are we looking for buses down the road? >> We try to um renew buses every five buses every year. So, we had but we bought quite a few buses last year if you remember. So, we're looking at both
options, lease or purchase, whichever one is is the most advantageous. And we always leave money in the budget to try to replace our bud our buses every every five years. So, we have an inventory and we'll be looking at that again. >> You looking at any next year? >> Yeah, probably. Probably.
>> You haven't decided whether it's leased or >> It was It was easier to do the lease at one point, but now it's sometimes easy. Yeah. You have to look at both of them because >> um whatever is available and whatever the best price is. >> Yeah. Yeah. There was a time we couldn't
get some, so which is why we bought a whole bunch of them. >> Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Anyone else? question says um dental radiology training and it it says a trainer and it's going to wait till um 31 >> 2031
>> we just bought another one that's why it's every 5 years you have to renew it >> okay I just thought they had to wait because we had so many building improvements okay thank you >> Mr. Rossi >> um just on building maintenance on the fire suppression. >> Mhm. >> Is that the That's not sprinkling.
>> It is, but that is one of part of the grant that we wrote for two over $2 million. We're hoping that we can get some fire suppression in the areas that have fire just in those areas. Yeah. >> Okay. Thank you. >> Who else? >> Mr. Early
>> treatment plant. Where are you looking? Um where is the money for that? Some of that will be in the capital assessment every year. We we have to look and see where our funding is, but that's going to be part of our capital assessment. I'm assuming we did a lot of the work. We're doing a lot of the work this year,
but we've spaced it out. If you look at the plan, it's not as bad going forward. >> Who else? See none, please call the RO. >> Mr. Early, >> yes. >> Miss Sullivan, >> yes. >> Mr. Rossy, >> yes. >> Miss Carpenter, Miss Mr. Fitzgerald.
Yes. >> Mr. Murphy. Yes. >> Mr. Paglia. Yes. Miss LOL. >> Yes. >> Mr. Bo. >> Yes. >> Miss TR. Yes. >> Miss Okconor. >> Yes. >> Mr. Savoski. >> Yes. >> In the chair. >> Yes. Passes. >> Also in your packet is the variance analysis which is from July through
October. I did it for four months. Um there's a couple of reasons for that. One of them is we usually have the the credits where people move over in the columns for salaries. The due date is by October 1st. So it gives us a better picture of what the salaries look like. You'll see that there are a lot of
overages in most salary accounts, but that's only due to the fact that the negotiations were not finalized until the end of the year. And we had budgeted at a rate that was half a percent lower than what the actual contracts came out to be. So um I have prepared a transfer
request that will be brought forward at the December meeting. And what that will do is it will balance those accounts which we really need to do before I start the budget process for FY27 so that the accounts start with the right numbers.
Any questions? Not continue on. >> And finally in your packet is the FY27 budget calendar which mirrors what we have done in the past and it is uh there for your review and comment. motion to approve the FY27 budget.
>> Motion by Mr. Murphy. Second. >> Second. >> Mr. Sowski. >> Any discussion on the budget calendar? >> Seeing none. >> Mr. Early, >> yes. >> Miss Sullivan, >> yes. >> Mr. Rossi, >> yes. >> Miss Carpenter, >> yes. >> Mr. Deai, >> yes.
>> Mr. Fitzgerald, >> yes. >> Mr. Murphy, >> yes. >> Mr. Paglia, >> yes. >> Miss LOL, >> yes. >> Mr. Bow, >> yes. >> Miss TR, yes. >> Miss Okconor, >> yes. >> Mr. Slovski, >> yes. and a chair. >> Yes. Pass. >> Thank you very much. >> Thank you.
>> Next uh up is the associate principal, Mrs. Jensen on MCCAST data. >> Good evening, Mr. Chairman, Superintendent Lynch, and school committee. I am here tonight to walk you through our MCCAST scores and accountability for the spring of 2025.
So last November um based on the vote, MCCAST is no longer a graduation requirement in the state of Massachusetts. However, we still have to give the MCAST. I just want to make that clear because we are getting a lot of
questions of why Whittier has chosen to keep giving the MCCAST. We don't have a choice. Dees says we still have to give it. It's just no longer a graduation requirement. The performance levels did stay the same. So we have exceeds, meets, partially meets and does not
meet. So first we'll go through English. Um as you can see we we stayed pretty much the same with uh 62% getting exceeds and meets and we did lower the not meeting to only 5%.
Um how does Whittier Tech English results compare to the state? For all students, we were 9% above. For the economically disadvantaged, we were 23% above. For high needs, 19% above. And for students with disabilities, 12%
above. How does the growth how was the growth from their eighth grade test to their 10th grade test? In the exceeds, we had 3.2% more in that category. And then in the did not meet, we had 7.7%
of students get out of the failing category by the time they took it in the 10th grade. Next up is math. And once again, you can tell you can see that the statistics stay just about the same with 50% in exceeds and meets and um the failing is
5%. So where are we compared to the state? 4% above for all students, 16% above for economically disadvantaged, 15% above for the high needs, and 7% above for
students with disabilities. Again, for their growth from 8th to 10th grade, in the exceeds, we were able to get 4% more of students into exceeds and we were able to get 8.2% of students out of the failing category. biology which is given in grade nine.
Um we did see a decline in these results um where only 50% of students got into exceeds and meets um and 4% failed. But again compared to the state we are 4% above for all students 17% above for
economically disadvantaged 14% above for high needs and 12% above for students with disabilities. So then we get into our accountability and we demonstrated substantial progress toward our annual accountability
targets. We had high growth in English language arts and mathematics and we made progress for students attaining English language proficiency and I've just noted that this was a new indic accountability indicator for the spring of 25. So these are the categories and this is
how we did. So our graduation rate was 97.5. Our dropout rate was 0.4. For advanced coursework, we exceeded the target that the department of ed gave it to us. Our assessment participation is 100% and our accountability percentile
was 72. Any questions? >> Questions from the committee. >> Mr. >> What are we doing for the they're not meeting the 5% 5% and 4%.
>> So, usually we would do an uh afterchool program. We would get those kids back into tutoring because they would take a retest. Actually, they would have started to take it today, but they don't have to do that anymore because all they have to do is take it once. But the junior teachers have and the sophomore
teachers for science have their results so that they can work on the skills the kids didn't do well in their current class because especially for math it's cumulative. So if they were really struggling with volume then the junior teacher can work with them on volume in
their after school sessions before school or something like that. They can actually assign them. So we have LL for every student. So they can pick out certain strands and skills and just assign that to them as well
whether it's English, math or biology. >> Any other questions? >> I just had a quick question relative to biology. There was some increase obviously there. Um have we pinpointed what we think the the cause of that is
and have we put in plans to >> Yes. So, I met with actually them last week um because I when I talked to um Miss Lynch, I just said, "Well, maybe it's the freshman because they knew the vote had happened. The vote happened in November. It was June. Maybe they just gave up." But actually, that's not true.
Um the science department had changed a piece of their curriculum and they feel that is why the students did not do well. So they are re-implementing and readjusting their curriculum for this year to make sure that that doesn't happen again.
>> Okay. I just want to overall they were solid but if there's a decrease I want to make sure that we're identifying the problem and trying to >> come up with a plan to rectify it >> any miss carpenter. >> I just wanted to commend everybody. These are some great scores and some
really consistent scores. So great job. >> Thank you. Second that. >> Can I just say something? This really shows the hard work of of our teachers and how hard they have worked to make
sure that the students have the skills that they need. Um, and for for many of our kids, they, you know, it's difficult when they come from so many different schools all to one and our teachers really do double time it to make sure that the kids um have the skills and have the knowledge that they need to do
to do well on these tests. So, I really just want to obviously thank our teachers um for their amazing hard work and and obviously the administration for for helping guide that work. So, thank you. >> Thank you. And thank everyone from top to bottom. I mean, the scores are are
great. Um uh across the board, our scores are always consistently above state averages and our students are high performing and uh that's what you look for in any school district. So from the superintendent all the way down to um you know the principles, the assistant principles, the teachers, the support
staff, I want to thank you for a job well done. >> Thank you so much. Appreciate it. >> Next item on the agenda is the director of pupil personnel, Miss Morrison. October 1, 2025 school census.
Good evening, Chairman Wood, members of the committee, and Superintendent Lynch. You received in your packet the district's October 1 census report. I have included a comparison of the enrollment data from last year for your information.
As of October 1st, we had,88 students, which is three more than last year. I'm happy to answer any questions that you may have. >> Questions? Mr. Early. Mr. Le has said there 250
signed up. I believe there's more. >> Yes. >> 279. >> 279, but as of this afternoon, there were 352 new applicants for the ninth grade. >> Thank you. >> You all >> uh Mr. Rossy,
>> when does the window close for >> the grade nine? It is January 9th. Great. Thank you. >> You're welcome. >> Slow. >> Have the um sending schools, the guidance counselors, parents u had a lot of questions about the new admission
process? Have you fielded lots of calls? >> Yes, we have fielded lots lots of calls and comments. Um and we had a very nice meeting on Sunday at the open house where there was lots of conversation about that as well. Um and I think you know I think it was wonderful to have
them all there and come and to be interested about that and able to answer the questions. as well. >> Seeing none, thank you. >> Thank you. >> Uh, next item on the agenda is the coordinator of curriculum and staff
development, Dr. Fay. >> Good evening, Chairman Wood, Superintendent Lynch, members of the committee. I'm Dr. Kelly Fay and I'm here to provide you with our AC annual academic update. As you're going to see throughout this presentation, all of our
academic programs are really grounded in career readiness and ensuring that our students are prepared not only for the world of work but also um schooling beyond high school. I like to say that our for one of our former vocational
coordinators would always say all roads lead to work. So whether they're going to lead to work right out of here or they're going to lead to work right out of college, we're doing everything that we can to prepare students to be prepared for work. Within our English department, we're
focused on technical writing and bridging really the the gap between English and our CT areas. As you'll see throughout, we are aligning with Skills USA curriculum and integrating writing and communication
skills into real world relevance. Really, what we want our students to be able to do is understand the importance of writing beyond the classroom and that when writing for authentic purposes, it really is skills that employers are looking for.
Within our math program, we're continuing to focus on employability in alignment to the skills USA. We're assessing not only what students know, but how they work and really looking at the necessary 21st century skills.
Today's workforce really requires individuals who not only can problem solve, but also could communicate and communicate what they came up with in those problems. being able to adapt to the world and that's what we're integrating within our mathematics
program. For science, we're focused on safety and we're ensuring that our students can explore and exper experiment and really learn habits that help them gain confidence while also learning to manage risks and making
responsible decisions. And we'll find that throughout our technical areas as well. Within our history department, we have a continued focus on our skills USA and our American spirit award and the uh really implementing for our students
historical empathy really helping them to understand from the perspective of persons whether past or present and really um developing an awareness of integrity and civic-mindedness. Um and there there's a lot of work
especially it w it was said multiple times tonight. Um the history department is also a part of the veterans breakfast that is happening this um Saturday. Personal financial literacy as you all
know you approved and voted that in last year. So now it is a requirement for graduation for all grade 12 students. They take it in a halfyear course either the beginning of the school year or the end of the school year. And during that time, students are learning how to
manage their money money wisely, handling real world finances, making smart financial decisions, and really gaining financial independence to continue to manage their money. We were
lucky enough to obtain um a grant from a financial innovation grant through the office of economic empowerment and we were able just a little over a week ago to run a credit for life fair. We were in this little hub year where we offered
it to grade 11 and 12 students. But going forward, our plan is to well, we just applied this week for another grant. So fingers crossed we can obtain that for next year but going forward uh we will offer it to our juniors. We had
credit counselors or volunteers come in to help work with the fear and they uh were positioned throughout the fair to give the students kind of real world things to think about. And in talking with a lot of those volunteers, they felt like even in working with them,
they really could see themselves having an effect on the juniors, whereas they felt like the seniors didn't need as much help, but the seniors are out on co-op. They're in the personal financial literacy class already. So, those are skills that they're already learning.
So, we feel like having the credit for life fair in the fall junior year before they go out on co-op and really start making money makes sense for our students. Um, for our electives, we implemented
three new electives this year. Communication skills for college and career readiness. That is a halfyear course. And again, as you can see, all of our courses are grounded in our careers. Um really it's
writing and speaking skills so that students can learn how to present themselves in the workplace, how to really have those 21st century skills necessary to be successful. Um, our other halfyear elective is mastering soft skills for the workplace. And this
is primarily for our hospitality and culinary students. And that's really working with them or teaching them how to interact with others, communication, feedback, being your attitude, problem solving, things like that. Our final one
is a full year. We used to have it, we brought it back. Um, accounting. And this is primarily for our business and marketing students. And this is really teaching them to understand the financial aspects of running a business. How to manage uh responsibility while
also knowing the financial piece to be able then to communicate with your stakeholders whether it's your board or whatever when you're running a business. for staff professional development. We're still continuing to focus on
multi-tered systems of support because we understand the importance of that. We have implemented this year kindness, gratitude and positivity throughout the school and that really has um been a part of our first few professional
developments. So it's been a great great opportunity to see and then competency determination work and that really um focuses in on my next slide. So um as you know uh Katrina Jensen spoke a lot
about how the MCCAST is no longer in existence and that was our competency determination. um in November 2024, the voters voted to um eliminate that as a way to graduate high school. But in May 2025,
the board of education voted to amend its regulations for competency determination. So according to those regulation, districts have to develop a competency determination policy. So as a team we have as first as an
administrative team we really tried to dig deep into the requirements of what what the state is saying that we need to have and um how it's going to affect students. And then through our first and really second half day um staff
developments, we had the the staff really take a look at what they do in their classes, the requirements assigned by the state and then how um how they're going to implement that so that they have a buy in so that it's not a top-
down approach but that they're a part of the process. What the state is saying is that to graduate the students must fulfill the CD requirement determined by the local school district. So um as Superintendent Lynch um will probably
say to you, we had a policy committee where we brought it. So then it will go to full committee for you all to take a look at and determine um if you are in agreement with what was developed. Um students also then need to meet the graduation requirements of the school.
So you have our school graduation requirement. We have to then meet the competency determination requirement. And then the other um requirement as we do in everything we do is that students with disabilities have are have to receive FAPE which is a free and
appropriate education. And then we need to submit our policy to the state by December 31st. And that's all that I have for you. Do you have any questions? >> Questions? >> Um, what's all this talk I hear
uh on the state level about um uh additional, you know, kind of statewide uh competency. I don't know if it's competency determination, but it is like evaluating work and even like passing tests and things like that. Is
that part of the same animal? Well, so I think what you're hearing and I could defer to the superintendent certainly um but the the there's a governor's council to look at graduation requirements. So that has recently been
on the news as the state from what I have heard was one of their suggestions was to implement assessments that will be graded by the state and the the feedback is the voters voted no. So why would we do that? Um, this is the
competency determination, which was the MCCAST. So, we've always had MCCAST competency determination in our graduation requirement. We just didn't have a piece of it. It was the students took the test and if they passed the MCCAST, they then just had to fulfill
our graduation requirements. If a student did not pass the MCCAST, they didn't get a high school diploma. You know, we're very lucky that we've had a 100% rate for I don't know however. >> So, we've never had to we really since
2007 had had to worry about that. So, now this is an additional thing that we will um and that's why we wanted the teachers to really be a part of the process because it's what's happening in their classrooms and we want it to be standardized. So I can't teach English
nine and then my neighbor teaches English nine and we're not doing the same thing. We're only hurting kids. So they need to do the same thing because it makes a difference in what happens to the students. >> Thank you. >> I would say stay tuned. >> Yes.
>> As always seeing none. Thank you. >> Thank you. Next item on the agenda is reports and recommendations of the superintendent. Madam superintendent, >> good evening, Mr. Chairman, members of the committee. On Thursday, October 2nd, I did my check-in with Lane uh Dr. Lane
Glenn from Northern Essics. We continue to work together to share various perspectives on how we can work together um with the building project and how else we can expand opportunities for our kids. On Wednesday, October 8th, we held the municipal uh municipal leaders meeting. During that meeting, we
discussed the new admissions policy, the aotment of seats by town. We also reviewed a list of questions regarding potential amendments to the regional agreement, um, which the group had asked me to, um, submit to our attorney for clarification. At the group's request, I drafted a description of the what's
known as the rack and its charge. Um, this description was reviewed by our legal council and forwarded to all city and town leaders on October 21st. You have a copy of that that document in your packet this evening. The group also discussed the possibility of utilizing portions of the previous uh feasibility
study rather than conducting a completely new one. They express expressed interest in reaching out to MSBA to obtain clarification on that option. On Thursday, October 9th, I met with Lenny Mirror and I want to thank him for his time and expertise. On Thursday, October 9th, I met with Bob
Leage and Lane Glenn. We discussed various grants and opportunities that we can take advantage of over the next few years and months. On Wednesday, October 15 through the 17th, I attended the New England Association of Superintendent Conference. Um they had amazing speakers and it was nice to hear how other states
in New England are working through their academic issues. On Thursday, October 23rd 23rd, 2025, I met with um Hil acting police chief and the chief shares from Marramac along with Chris Leanis. We discussed how we can work together for school safety.
On Friday, October 24th, I attended the Northshore Superintendent Roundt in Danverse. Um, we took some time to really review the municipal report um that was issued um recently and we discussed, you know, the cities and towns and the funding and how difficult funding is going to be over the next few
years. On Tuesday, October 28th, I attended the Mass Hire Marramac Valley Workforce Board annual meeting. Um, I want to say that MSBA has approved our school building committee nominees. We hope to have a meeting with our new committee sometime before Thanksgiving. Uh, also we did submit our online
profile projection, chapter 74, our vocational technical education viability doc documentation and our educational profile questionnaire. All three of those documents should now be on our website. Our next uh requirement is to turn on our maintenance and capital planning information and we will have a
meeting with MSBA regarding our enrollment projections. On Friday, October 23rd, I met with Andy Vargas and other community leaders to discuss the loss of SNAP benefits. It was so nice to know that we have local organizations that are there to help with our most v vulnerable residents. I want to thank
Skills USA team for working quickly to set up a food drive for open house. It was very successful. We we put it out on social media and when I tell you people came in with bags and bags of of non-p perishable items, they they did. So, it was really a wonderful event and done at
short notice. On Sunday, November 2nd, we had our annual open house, which was very well attended. I I have to say, I've never seen it that well attended. Um the auditorium was full for um Christine and Chris's presentation
regarding admissions. I've never seen it used to be a small little room and we would it would be full, but this was the auditorium was full. Um and we received so many positive comments about and enthusiasm um and professionalism of our students and staff. the impressive
demonstrations in each of the technical areas and the outstanding academic, social, and athletic opportunities available uh for our students here at Bier Tech. Um and I I said as of today we have 299 in district applications, but I guess in the last few hours it's
gone up that much more. So um keep them coming. On Monday, November 3rd, I attended the Marramac Valley Chamber of Commerce annual boards dinner along with Cara Cosmus and Chris Leanes. And our guest speaker was Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. Um, I have for you tonight two
outofstate field trips um for the ski t for the ski team. The first one is on January 10th uh to Pleasant Mount Pleasant Mountain in Bridgeton, Maine. Um and it's a ski trip um with three um
three chefs. >> Motion to approve. >> Why don't we take them both together at the end? Motion to approve the Pleasant Mountain trip and Gunstock trip. >> Thank you. >> Is there a second? >> Here we go. >> Seconded by
>> somebody over there. >> Okay, Mr. Aussie. >> I'm shocked. Do you have a question? >> We will have all the paperwork for both of those field trips. >> Anyone else? >> Please call the RO. >> Mr. Early, >> yes. >> Miss Sullivan,
>> yes. >> Mr. Yes. Miss Carpenter M. Yes. Mr. Fitzgerald. Yes. >> Mr. Murphy. Yes. >> Mr. Paglia. Miss LOL. Yes. >> Mr. Bow. >> Yes. >> Miss TR. Yes. >> Miss Okconor. Yes. >> Mr. Slovski. Yes. And the chair. >> Yes. Passes.
>> Uh, old business. No old business posted. >> Uh, new business. Rules and responsibility of the rack. Open up for discussion. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um, so I tonight I'm under the impression we've had three selectmen from three different
towns express their concerns um as far as the school um school committee representation on the rack. So it is my duty to say that we should definitely follow what they have to say
and their opinions on it because we need all these communities here to be on the same page. We cannot have communities be divided because if we are divided this whole process is never going to move forward. >> Thank you
>> M. >> Sure. I just I spent a lot of time reading through the the legal advisory that you had gotten in the um bre document at the end of our uh packet. Um
I I just want to be very clear about what I think is the process. And um I'll just start by saying I I do think it's very important that each member of our regional municipality, cities and towns
that they have the voting responsibility as part of the rack. It seems very clear to me that the subcommittee of this committee is the governing body quote
unquote around the function of the group but that it's really important. And I think I even said at the last meeting in the initial development of Whittier TAC 50 years ago, it was the members of the community that voted and decided on that
regional agreement and that we should um honor that continued. That group is going to be making those recommendations um through their discussion and and debate of what they think that we as a
whole committee will be voting on. Um and that that gives us the opportunity to adjust or amend I think is the language that was in that advisory if we so feel we need to. Um but and having the
membership of the subcommittee not voting membership but the membership for communication purposes I think is vital and I just want to clarify for my own understanding even once we've approved any changes then it goes to desi for
approval then after that it comes back to us again for final approval but then it goes back to each of the communities for approval. So those communities all have an opportunity to have a voice and a vote on it both in the initial discussion of
the amendments and then eventually when it's gone around the block and back um and in one door and out the other they still have to then um adopt I I think I'm using the right language that
whatever amendments are made to the regional agreement. So, um I guess my feeling is they do have the voting strength as as a rack as the
committee um both at the beginning stages in terms of making the recommendations and then in the final stages in terms of adoption but that it is important that we have membership on that raft in terms of as as the governing body that It's functioning as
a subcommittee of this committee. Am I messing that up in any way, shape, or form? Because I think there's a lot to digest there. >> I wasn't aware of how how many approvals it would have to go through and that the towns and cities really do have the
opportunity both in the initial stages and then the final stages of creation and adoption. I yeah, I just want to build on that because of the thorough process that we have here. We need everybody involved
all the time. Um, and you know, we obviously have had a, you know, a while a failure to communicate. I know I'm, you know, the newest member on the board. Um, I certainly come from a perspective that is very sympathetic to
what was said tonight. And I shared this, you know, my concerns with this board and, you know, in terms of the school building um committee, I was the person who voted against it because I thought the perception was wrong, you know, and again, it's this
communications that we got to work through and and you know, we can't be perfect on it. None of us there's too many moving pieces to like insist that everything's perfect. But having said that, I mean, last week, uh, the
gentleman from Salsbury, I thought we had a great meeting. I was convinced that we should have a non- voting role in the rack. Um, and I was expecting to come here tonight to vote on that that way. Now, I do see in the thing how it
was presented and whatever. I mean, it was still officially that way. We hadn't voted on it, but it certainly was my intent to vote non- voting. And you know, I I I won't be on the committee one way or another. I'm on the school building committee. Um, but I want to go
to these meetings and I want to ask questions. I don't want to participate, but I I want us all to ask questions you guys to ask questions. And so, you know, but again, we're not going to make it perfect. I'm not thrilled with, you know, I voted no on the school
building committee. All right. But that's in the review mirror and it's not perfect. And so we keep going forward and you know in terms of the capital expenses I mean that's what the whole rack is all about and that's one reason
why I'm not on that committee or won't be part of the four and you know but I again I mean I I think we're the expense side is what we're doing right now. The capital side is to build a school and
regardless of the formulas, the capital is going to get us out of this problem. The problem is not enough seats and we, you know, can, you know, have concerns about our allocation and and one way or another, we need to have a
lottery and we need to have it this year. It's a mandate. We can't delay it. And I'm from West Newberry. I don't I got three seats. All right. I I don't consider that like that's all I got to
be honest with you. I consider that I'm protecting those three seats because when we have a lottery, we would anticipate that Haveril will have a lot more chances of getting more
students in Whittier than without having this limit. So I am supporting this limit because I am protecting my seats and I think that's how we need to look at it until we fix this problem and and
we got to be flexible. None of us are going to be happy. We need to communicate and I certainly am in favor of non- voting members of the school committee. Thank you. >> Uh Mr.
Um, I actually think I made this original motion uh to have four members. I had no idea it was going to cause this level of of angst. I think it was actually came from the fact that the Mars folks when they did a presentation had recommended that we we do that. So,
um it's very interesting to me that um hearing the concerns of the Rowley Select Board Chair, I'm sorry I forgot your name. um that this was not what was agreed to implies to me that that the municipal working group had felt like
there had been some agreement about them serving as the rack which I know we talked about is that what the intent was and we told that wasn't the intent. The long and short of it, I think our hope is that by having four members of the school committee at the table, we can
offer a perspective to the folks that are not on the school committee and also ask questions. I don't think it matters as much. I don't want to speak for the whole group whether it's voting or non- voting. And if that issue is what is precipitating the angst, then could we
solve this by simply clarifying? actually think it says it already, but in the bullet point that says four members of the Whittier Tech School Committee to say four non- voting. Up above it says one voting. So I imply I thought it was non- voting, but if we just clarify that that perhaps that
might relieve the angst and accomplish the very important objective of transparency and inclusivity, which is why I think we're having this conversation because there is a lack of transparency. We don't know what they're doing. They don't know what we're doing. Miss carpenter.
>> Not only that, I just wanted to for my own understanding and for misconceptions that might have been presented. I don't know how this was presented to the other communities, but in my understand, it was my understanding that we had not decided whether or not that our representatives were going to be voting members or not. That was something that
was going to be discussed tonight before before the vote. So, we had not it's my understanding that we had not determined whether they were >> It was clear as day at the last meeting. We had that discussion with Mr. Coburn. We said we would, you know, >> right? We have not decided correct on
any of that. That was my understanding. >> Anyone else? >> Mr. Russell, >> just as a sub as a subcommittee of the school committee, they're going to we will have minutes and agenda items and presented. So, I think that it's important that we do have that representation. Non- voting is fine with
me as well, but that way they can come back to the committee so we know how the agreement is made. amended. So we're part of that process. So when it does come to us as a package at the end, there aren't 400 questions to it. There might be four,
>> right? Because we'll be updated. We'll know what's going on as >> I was just got in the mail mystery building committee faces scrutiny over transparency and that's not good. So we have to really be very clear. I also did get an
email from my board of select the chairman asking could you come to a meeting and explain to us what's going on with and every you know with the admissions and everything they're not whatever but we have to be very transparent or we're not going anywhere.
Um just on that note, just from my experience in the in the prior um building project, it's a two-way street and I think it's very very important I I think it's very important that we have um regular updates from this
subcommittee on the progress of the RACK. But I think it's also very important on the U membership of the rack, the voting membership to be communicating back to their bodies and making sure that they're kept up to date so that when those changes are amended
that the general community isn't going, we didn't know anything about this. I think it's a two-way street and I said that right from the beginning when there was a lot of angst over communication and transparency. It's communication is two-way.
>> Mis have to work with the press. I mean, it's funny. I said to my husband, "Would you read this article?" And he goes, "You know, the article's not bad." He goes, "What's bad is the headline." He goes, you know, >> the article was pretty clear. So, >> can I make a motion? >> Uh, yes.
>> Okay. I would like to make a motion to remove the four school committee representatives on the rack but still keep them present at the meetings to answer questions and participate in the discuss on the rack but not >> we want non voting
>> non voting non voting members on the >> so they would be a part of the committee but as non voting >> well that's his motion if he wants to make that as a motion he can certainly do that >> doesn't mean everyone has to vote for it but if that's what he wants I over face. So the four members from the school
committee will be non- voting members who can participate in the discussion. >> Second, >> any further discussion? Mr. Joe, >> I just want to say I agree with all you all the members of the board. I mean, you all mentioned something and transparency, I mean, communication is a
two-way street. I work for the federal government. It's terrible, you know. So, again, another form of government. It's terrible. It see appears that way. Um, I want to thank all the slug people that came out tonight. There's new faces here I haven't seen. I mean, I'd like to see
you here more often. I would like to hear your comments more often. I mean, if we're hearing your comments, we have that feedback. >> Again, it's a two-way street. We have our meetings monthly. You're always welcome to come and speak your minds. Let us know where you're at,
what we might not be doing so well. We can't fix it if we don't know. So, I mean, I think this is something that we have to get done to move forward with a new school for our students. We need a new agreement. That was part of the deal with MSB, I believe. Correct.
>> Yes. So if we can't get there, we can keep the old school, spend more money fixing it, or we can all come together, work as a team, understand the other's priorities, you know, be willing to, you know, collaborate and, you know, just
come together, you know, and that's what we need to do. I mean, as far as everybody on the board non- voting, I was assuming I would, if I'm on the panel, I will be a non- voting member. I do not know about finance. Our position there is to remind the communities it is
about money. Yes, but it's also about education. It's also about the students. It's not strictly about the money. So, we want to cover that rack thoroughly. So, >> Mr. Early, >> thank you. I want to thank everybody
here myself. I'm the H representative 25 years. Never seen as many here in different towns. Well, the good part is some of these towns I don't Did any of you get the October for us increase
or decrease? >> Probably not. >> I'm gonna read it. >> No, they didn't. >> I'm going to read them. >> In three decreased eight >> Georgetown increased >> six. Groveland increased seven. Hel
increased 20. If switch increased two, Marramac stayed the same. Newbury stayed the same. Newport decreased nine. Rowley decreased one.
Salsbury increased two. West Newbury stayed the same and choice decreased two. I was on the committee the uh committee when it was set up for the original uh
school that was denied. We could have done a better job. We all have to get together. We all have to get on the same page. There is a lot of moving parts. There's a lot of work ahead of us and um I appreciate everybody being here. Thank
you. >> It's true. Um, I don't have a problem having non- voting members on this on the RAAC and the only reason is because it's all coming back to us and then it's going
out to the towns. There's many checks and balances here. So, as long as our presence is there, that's I think what's really important so that we can remind the cities and towns about those things that they might not know about Whittier. You know, you are learning about
Whittier just tonight and that's great. But it's going to be important to have us there at the table, whether it's one or two or three or four, it doesn't matter. And I don't have any uh uh preference in terms of voting or non- voting because I know I'm going to have
a vote later. So I and if things don't look right, it gets sent back to the RAC and they look at what our concerns are. So I think I'm going to have a vote a voice. So, I'm not really concerned about um voting members versus non- voting members. Thanks.
>> Anyone else? >> Can we clarify what the non voting is? Yes or no? Clarify what it is for non voting. >> Clarify what a non- voting member is. >> Yes. >> What our vote would be?
>> Yeah. What our vote is going to be. So >> he made a motion to approve this and but in the membership structure it's four non- voting members of the Woodio Votech school committee. So it's this document with four I think it was written that way anyway. You see above it says
there's one voting representative from each of the 11 cities. It doesn't say four members doesn't say four me voting members but if people need us to clarify to put the word dawn in happy happy to do that. Um to be to be honest, I'm not quite sure
um where the the how the controversy on this uh even started. It it doesn't make any really logical sense to me. But um the consultant originally came and it wasn't the consultant that we've been dealing with. It was a consultant that
the municipal working group has been dealing with. They came made a presentation. it was their recommendation um to put school committee members on that subcommittee. I think it was Mr. Lie that made the motion after they gave a presentation. We had some back and forth um on that.
Um so that's how it how it came about. At the last meeting, we had a discussion, as a matter of fact, it was me that brought it forward about having the school committee as non voting members. Um it seemed like everybody here was okay with that. We were going
to wait to see what the lawyers said just to make sure that we did everything appropriately. Um, I thought it was a great discussion. Mike Coburn was here. He engaged in it with us. So, I'm not sure how that which was a public meeting. I don't know how any perception
was that they were now I don't know how that happened. Um, I thought it was pretty clear, um, at at the meeting that that's what I mean, we had probably a 20-minute discussion about it. Um, and engaged with with the sol. So, I'm not
sure quite frankly how that happened, how that somehow um, I think all of us basically said we didn't really care about voting or or non- voting. Um, to me what I think is important is I understand the cities and towns there's
representative of financial interests, political interests, but for me I wanted to the only thing that I care about is there's somebody there that's representing the educational interests of the kids in in this building. That's and I think that's what the force um
school committee members do. And I don't think they need to be voting. I don't think it matters whether they're voting or non- voting. I think they will represent the educational interests um of the students of this building to that committee and uh report back here. So
again, I don't know how what I thought was really kind of already taken care of and not a big issue. >> Um I usually don't allow it, but if you want to >> I text just a member
of the staff that's involved. I don't really want to call them out. Um I said, "Did you find out if those additional four are voting members?" >> Mhm. >> They are with the caveat that none of the four can be from the same community
as each other. So Havville can't have two. So that's the information we were given that they were going to be voting members. Okay. Yeah, we discussed it at the last meeting. I brought it up because I attended the municipal working group meeting and it was brought that up
to me um by numerous communities and I brought it back to this committee um at the last meeting >> um and alls we were doing was everybody here I didn't hear there was no disagreement on changing from voting to non- voting members here and um that was
kind of how we we're just waiting to make sure that the legal council reviewed it and that's how it would so that's how I don't know that's why I was confused how we went from that discussion at the last meeting to that perception. >> That's what we were told when we asked. >> I think I can clarify a little bit when
that meeting was before we met with our or I met with our attorney and went over the questions that were given to us by the municipal working group. When I worked with the attorney, he was very clear that this group was a subcommittee of the Whittier Tech School Committee
and that the members of the Whittier Tech school committee should be voting members because it is a subcommittee of theirs. So that's what I brought back to to that to the municipal working group at that meeting. At that meeting there didn't seem to be any issue with that
with that possibility. Um, but it's clear that the school committee here is okay with not being voting members of that. >> But that's that was the recommendation that was given to us by by our school
attorney because again it is a as he said to me, would you have a subcommittee? Would a school committee have a subcommittee that they were not a voting member? And I said, well, probably not. But here we are. And I think what I'm hearing
from the school committee today is that they're okay not being a part being on that subcommittee or being a voting member of that subcommittee because eventually that that recommendations of the rack will come to them. >> Right.
>> Okay. Which is also why we asked for time to have our town council look at it as well before we enter into this in case there's anything else that we have to clear up. So, I mean, I think it is, you know, the law is clear. I think it is a
subcommittee of the school committee and um, you know, ultimately it does come back to the school committee. So, do I think it's a good idea that there's four school committee? Yeah, because if that doesn't come back, what if it gets voted down? So, there needs to be some some buy in and some discussion there um, as
well. But again, I don't think it's a huge deal on the on the voting versus non voting member or I don't think it's a hill to die on on World War II over that issue. I think there's far bigger u issues to be concerned about in this
process. >> Any other discussion? >> See none. Call the roll. >> Mr. Early. >> Yes. >> Miss Sullivan. >> Yes. >> Mr. Rossy. Yes. Miss Carpenter. Mr. Fitzgerald, Mr. Murphy, Mr. Paglia, Miss LOL, yes, >> Mr. Bo,
>> yes, >> Miss TR, yes, >> Miss Okconor, >> yes, >> Mr. Slovasi. >> And the chair, >> yes. Passes. >> Items not reasonably anticipated by the chair. There is none. Reports of the special committees, none in executive,
none posted for instructional, none for plan ops, none for salary, and none for policy. policy we have tonight. >> You had a meeting tonight, right? >> We had a meeting tonight. Yes. Um policy had a meeting tonight. We reviewed some policy recommendations from MASC and we
will have the first reading at the next school. >> Thank you. Uh no executive session posted. Is there a motion to adj point of personal privilege I guess? >> Absolutely. Um, for those that aren't
aware, I did um run for uh Newbury Fort City Council for W 6 and um I did win that election last night. >> Congratulations. >> Appreciate that. Not the intent of uh the announcement. Um I do feel like it's in the best interest of Newbury Port and
this committee and and the regional district if I if I serve in one role and not two. So, I did notify the mayor and the chair of the vice chair, excuse me, of the new Bridgeport uh school committee that I will be stepping down effective December 31st uh to give them
plenty of time to be able to appoint a replacement. So, next meeting will be my last meeting at Woodier. >> Well, congratulations. >> Best of luck in that new role for you. >> Is there a motion to adjurnn? >> Motion to
Gerald. Seconded by Miss Low. All in favor of adjournment? I >> is there anybody posted?